26th September - 3rd October 2016. On to Thaon-les-Vosges, to be joined by John and Brigitte for a trip on the Canal des Vosges.

We moved on to Thaon-les-Vosges to wait for John and Brigitte to join us, finding some walnut trees on the way. We have not found as many as last year yet, but there is still time!

We bypassed Épinal, due to the low water level there, and are climbing up the flight of 15 locks to the summit level of the Canal des Vosges. We continue to use a single rope from the bows in these locks, which have unusual top gates, with a single paddle on each gate.

The trees are very pretty, along this stretch of the canal.

The trees are a handy place for our ropes, when we want to moor.

We walked to Bouzay reservoir, which is quite near to the canal.

Bouzay is the feeder reservoir for the Canal des Vosges, but the level is looking low.

Every village has its church – this is Chamousey.

This part of the summit level is not so enclosed by trees and there is an excellent towpath all the way.

The locks 8 – 12 are very close together, so walking on to prepare them, using our electronic zapper, saved a lot of waiting about. It was lucky that we came down these locks today, as the canal closes tomorrow. We found out about this closure later!

The reflections are good here.

This must have been a longer pound, as John and I are left behind.

Brigitte is enjoying her ride on The Puzzler.

We found an old Roman road as our route to Bains-les-Bains.

It was quite a long walk, but it was a lovely day.

On into the town of Bains-les-Bains.

This is the old lavoir, but the town is still a spa town, with 11 hot springs in use for treatment. It was used in Roman times.

The walk back did not seem so far!