Lightning visit to the South...

15-17/10/2012

Getting in the van and hitting the roads for our lightning trip down south was hairy! Travelling at more than a hundred ks an hour faster than usual took some getting used to, and although France is not less beautiful by road, the difference is that at this speed, you blink - you miss it!

Many town names are familir now, and we found ourselves passing Moret sur Loing (first lock we took off the Seine), Montargis (France's answer to Venice) and spotted locks on the Canal du Bourgogne (which we don't really fit down so will not be attempting!).

Lock on the Bourgogne where it runs parallel to the A7

The Rhone

With our road trip mirroring where we'll take the boat from Lyon onwards, we were catching glimpses of the Rhone, wide and running fast, and most scarily, viewing for the very first time a huge commercial lock from the outside! Yikes! But the sun shone the whole way, and we watched the temperature guage rise steadily until it was still 20 degrees at 5.30 in the evening - that's how we like it! Lets hope that holds for when we pass with the boat in about a month's time - otherwise we'll be looking to buy an after market ice breaker accessory to put on the bow of the Goodbye George to tackle the Rhone in a real winter!!


We caught up with the Stares down south (Thanks guys x), checked the house was still there (in the garden all the plants I chose are history, the weeds are living it large! Pfff!) and had more confirmed good news on the medical front, so headed back up north with a spring in our step - aided by the guy at the car hire who couldn't stand the thought of us driving to Paris in the Citroen C1 we booked and gave us a 5 door 206 - luxury! Especially for Roxy, who got the back seat with our mattress topper to herself!!

So, onwards and upwards! Quick (?!) oil change tomorrow for each engine before we head off to continue our journey south (via the East!). The road trip reminded us that we have never really done France justice - travelling through from A to B without stopping to smell the roses... Who am I fooling? Without stopping to taste the wine and sample the cheeses!!! And the knowledge of what is to come has been helped by Raymond Blanc's TV show - The Hungry Frenchman (Oh la la!), so we prepare ourself for viande Charolais (the best beef!), the wines of Bourgogne, Champagne, Beaujolais (le nouveau vastly overrated in my opinion, but an excellent marketing coup for whoever came up with it!) and whatever else might come our way...

Bring it on!

Thanks again to the guys at Lagny - you've been great!
Merci encore a tous les gens a la Base Nautic de Lagny - pour votre accueil et pour votre gentillesse!