Time for a stroll around Paris.

We are back in Paris just in time for the national election day on Sunday, May 7th.  We took a long walk, almost 10 miles, this morning and early afternoon before the rain drove us back to the hotel. Here are some random scenes from the city.  Tonight we had dinner at a small Indian restaurant near the hotel.  We were the only non-locals there as everyone concentrated on the tv set waiting for the election results.  As the winner was announced, the place erupted in applause.  Great fun to be part of that moment.  

France Canal Trip, Day 7. Besançon to Deluz.

We wake up to crystal clear blue skies in Besançon and start exploring this large city, working our way up hill to the old Citadel towering over the loop in the river above town.  An amazing feat of construction built at great cost during the reign of Louis XIV.  The walls were never breached.  

Leaving the marina in Besançon, we had to use the only old-style manual lock.  All of the gates and lock doors had to be cranked open and shut by hand.  Luckily, a couple of tourists came by and gave Devany a hand, while I manned the ropes holding us in place from inside the boat.

Our final stretch of the canal took us through gorgeous countryside until we made our final mooring of the trip at Deluz.  This has been an amazing trip, and we're already planning on doing it again in some fashion.  The canal boat experience was a nice step out of our comfort zone that turned out to be much easier than we had anticipated.  Anyone can do this.  We just proved that ;)

France, Day 6. Ranchot to Besançon.

 We leave Ranchot early because we'll have the most locks to go through (12) in a single day during our trip.  We're escorted out by a swan and light rain, which comes and goes throughout the day.  The land changes fairly dramatically as well.  We move from flat farm country into hill country, with dramatic cliffs overlooking the canal and river Doubs.   We arrive at the big city of Besançon just before 5pm.  It's a bit stressful pulling into a big metropolitan city, but there's little boat traffic, and even though the entrance to our marina for the night is very tight, we manage to back into our slip with no problem and have the rest of the night to explore briefly before dinner and early bed.

France Canal trip, Day 5. Dole to Ranchot.

We arrived in Dole last night around 7:30 pm.  It's the first time back to Dole in 20 years, and it all looks just as I remember it.  We moored in the marina that sits directly below Louis Pasteur's compound and museum.  Found an incredible dinner at a small restaurant up the path into town.  This morning, Wednesday, we woke to rain and gray skies.  Headed up into the old part of town for some sight-seeing, croissants, and cathedrals. 

We got back on the canal at 1:30 pm, and exiting the first lock leaving Dole, we found ourselves on the most beautiful stretch of the canal we've seen.  Trees draping over the water, soft pastel colors because of the weather.  Just amazing.  The weather got gorgeous in the afternoon as we made our way into Ranchot for the evening.   Just as we decided to walk into the village, there was a huge downpour, including hail!  Good thing we found an overhang at the local restaurant to wait it out.  The storm quickly cleared and we were treated to a gorgeous ending to the day.

France Canal trip, day 4

Today we make up for lost time due to the May 1st National Holiday.  An incredible sunrise greets us at Lamarche-sur-Saône as we head towards Dole.  The weather is on-again/off again rain, sun, clouds, sun, rain.  We also make our big move off the Saône River and canals and turn up the Canal du Rhône au Rhin towards Dole.  We're a bit apprehensive about this canal, as it's much busier and much narrower with a lot more locks, some of them quite deep.   As it turns out, our worries were for naught.  The Rhin is incredible!