Occasionally we are treated to a view that seems completely timeless. The river stretches out in front of us, there are trees, a heron, even a white heron, waiting and staring motionless in the water, a swan glides gracefully towards the bank, and kingfishers dart across from one side to the other.
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| Saone at Verdun-sur-Doubs. Not timeless as you can see channel markers. |
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| Not so timeless here either with modern bridge |
During these rare moments, there is no sight of the large red or green channel markers, no bridge, no other boat and not even the ubiquitous wooden jetties used by the fishermen in their little motor launches. Not even a fisherman given away by a puff of white smoke from his cigarette, and a glint as he casts his line into the mirror calm water.
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| Sheep on an old lock |
Beyond the next bend and we are back in the 21st century, or at least the 20th century, with one of the huge locks constructed for modern commercial vessels. Our boat seems dwarfed by such a massive structure, but even our 55 ft boat looks large compared to the small motor pleasure cruisers that are found everywhere on the Saone. When you see one of these tiny boats in a massive lock, you can't help but wonder at the thousands of tons of water that must be displaced for something so small.
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| Entrance to Seurre lock. Right, large commercial moored, small Freycinet commercial with car leaving lock, cruiser waiting in front of us to enter. |
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| Commercial vessel |
Our first day cruising the Saone yesterday, we traveled 60 km from Fleurville to Gergy averaging 10 km per hour. Today we hope to get to Auxonne.
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