Day 3 - Getting the Boat!

For some reason, probably jet lag, neither of us could sleep last night.  We both woke around 2 AM and didn’t fall asleep till early in the morning.  I, of course, nodded off 30 minutes before my alarm went off.  We had rented a car from Hertz just a few blocks away but they didn’t open until 8 AM.  So, at 7:30, we went to McDonald’s down the street which was the only place we could get some breakfast to go.  We went into the side that they called “McCafe” where they sold croissants, muffins, cheesecake, macaroons and all sorts of coffees and cappuccinos – just like Mickey D’s at home, right? 

Dave got the car while I waited at the apartment with my McDonald’s croissant.  At 8:15 I carried our bags downstairs where he was now waiting with the rental car, a Peugeot, and we took off.  We had google-mapped directions to where we pick up the boat.  We made one wrong turn in Paris and another just outside, but with only a few minute delay we were on our way south to Louhans!  In fact, I am writing this in the car while my computer is charging using the cigarette lighter and David’s inverter – a device that plugs into the lighter outlet on a car (or boat) and you can plug American plugs into it!

Our rental car ready to go! 

We had hoped to return the car and then take a noon bus to Louhans to find the boat, however, there was too much traffic, so that didn't happen.  Instead, we came directly to the boat, dropped our stuff, and went grocery shopping.  It was good that we still had the car because the supermarket was a ten minute drive from the base.  David then left me to unpack while he drove to the car rental place (45 km away) and got a cab back.  Either we've brought more stuff or this boat has less storage room - probably a combination!  While he was away, the gentleman who "teaches" us how to drive the boat came by, and he doesn't speak any English!  I used gestures and my 2 or 3 words of French to communicate that David will be back around 3:30.  This should be interesting!  Here is our boat, the Vivaldi!

Port side view 

Interior seating area

Galley (kitchen)

Galley seating area

Bow cabin

Head (bathroom)

Aft cabin

Starboard side view

Dave didn’t arrive back at the boat until after 4:30.  We did the fastest walk through and “training” session ever!  We were on the water by 5:15.  Within ten minutes of traveling we came to our first lock.  Now, we’ve been through manual locks before but this was really new to us!  First you had to tie the boat to the side inside the lock.  Then you had to turn this large wheel to shut the door to the lock.  This is done on both sides. Then you had to turn these multiple cranks to start letting the water in or out, depending on if the lock was raising or lowering.  Then you had to manually turn the wheel again to open the lock doors on both sides.   I will be strong at the end of this week!   

Operating a lock

We traveled along for about an hour and a half  and came to our second lock.  We shared this with a very large (maybe 40 foot) boat.   We had the same work to do in this lock, except the people from the other boat helped.  Right after that lock the other boat pulled over and docked.  We kept going.  We were aiming for the small town of Cuisery, and hoped to get there before dark.  We luckily got there about ten minutes before the sun completely disappeared!  Some nice (British??) gentlemen helped us tie up.  Then we walked up a hill towards where we thought the town would be – a best bet is always to go towards the church steeple.  On the way to this town we must have seen 10 cats wandering around!  We walked up a dark street and came to the center of town where there were three restaurants!  One of them was really a bar.  We went in and ordered beer and wine.  The bartender didn’t speak English so she mistook my pointing to the glass and saying it was just what I needed for me asking for another round, which we got.  We asked about food but they only had a couple of sandwiches.  She strongly recommended the Pizza Grill next door where we went.  By the way, the bill for two beers and two wines was 7.20 euros!  Next door the food was delicious and equally inexpensive.  We walked back to the boat after dinner and went to bed!  We both finally got a very good night of sleep!