Along the River Bank. Tournus to La Truchere and a bit further, via River Saone and River Sielle - and the closest I got to 'wild' swimming.

As soon as we left the Canal du Centre and entered the River Saone I was keen to find a spot for wild swimming - or if not 'wild' then at least not in a swimming pool or a tourist lake.  This proved more difficult that I expected.  The river Saone is quite fast flowing and beautifully clear in the deep chanels, but of course these are out of the question as huge tour ships and commercial barges are fairly frequent and the current is strong.  There are spots along the bank that look tempting from the boat, but in fact the bottom is incredibly sludgy and slimy, and the weed is very creepy when you are in the midst of it.

Along the river bank with Swans, Little Egrets, Heron and Charolaise cattle are a comon sight.
Also delightful Kingfishers fairly easy to spot.

Less common, we saw a European Bee Eater, Corncrakes and a bird that looks like a small Heron, but I don't think it is a young heron but a different species.

Me on a 'lead' in lovely clear deep water off the pontoon in the centre of Tournus!

On a sweltering day this was bliss - the German lady in the boat next to us followed suit.

I had a good look for swimming places up the Sielle and even the river upstream of Pont de Vaux, but they were too small and looked murky.  Nothing so far has beaten the River Armancon to the South that follows some of the Burgundy Canal (Saint Vinnemer, near Tanlay) for a combination of location, deep water pools, clean water and slow flowing.

Lock at La Truchere.

La Truchere is the first stop along the banks of the Sielle.  Here we moored up in a slightly tricky, but delightful spot.  We were treated to the most delicious meal by some new friends and were shown around their lovely home. As we are quite often the ones who do the cooking for others, it was such a treat, in fact perfection - what a delightful evening.

We then followed the Sielle up just one lock to Cuisery - one of the 'book' towns of France - I have to say, only really interesting if you can read French and are not as addicted to your Kindle - as we are.