Moving On, At Last!

Thankfully the canal re-opened last Monday and we were able to move on. I was really surprised that once the breach was fixed it only took about 2 days to re-fill the empty pound (which was 4km long) with water.

 

This is the newly fixed sluice which had caused all the problems

 

 

And this is boatyard in my previous post, with, it appears, all the boats safely re-floated. 

  

 

We even had a day of sunshine, before the heavens opened again. We've had about a week of non-stop rain, but today (fingers crossed), the weather seems to have changed. It's cloudy, we still need a sweater on but, IT'S NOT ACTUALLY RAINING AT THE MOMENT!!

 
We are currently moored at Franges, a wonderful village just outside Chalon-sur-Soane. The port is really well equipped and has a wonderful Port Captain, Celine.

Last night there was a Fete de Plaisanciers (Boater's Celebration); we all had to bring a dish and it was all shared, picnic style. The theme was "Spanish Auberge" so I made Garlic Shrimps, Roast Olives and Spanish Omelettes. They went down very well, so will try and post the recipes later on.

 

 
 Plenty of food and wine for all!

 

This morning we explored Franges a bit more, saw the impressive Cycle Statue and went up the village farm shop for cheese, eggs and veg.

 

 

The shop was wonderfully rustic, it just sells what the farmer has a surplus of and what they've made (jams etc.), but you can see the hens look pretty happy, so I am sure the eggs will be tasty.

 

 

The current plan is to head towards Nancy, so hopefully the weather Gods will stop the rain and open the canals!