29th July - 3rd August 2015. On the Doubs to Clerval, Isle-sur-le-Doubs, Colombier-Fontaine and Dampierre.

Every evening a train full of new Peugeot cars go down the valley, from the factory in Montbéliard. We counted ten cars per carriage, and there were 24 carriages on the train.

The river Doubs continues to impress us with the scenery, with cliffs amid the forests, which line the banks of the river.

We had thought about mooring in Clerval, but were surprised to see a no mooring sign by the mooring. All became clear later when we walked to the jetty, to find so little water depth there that even a rowing boat would have problems with mooring.

We continued on up Clerval lock, walking back to see this attractive village. There were at least ten large lorries parked along the road, and all the eating places in town were open for business.

The church in Clerval caught the evening sun.

This seems to be a good area for mistletoe, with some trees laden with balls of it.

This parasitic plant actually grows within the bark of the host tree, as can be seen here. I always thought that it was like ivy, just clinging on!

Just before Isle-sur-le-Doubs, the river Doubs leaves us, and we continue on the canal. This may be a high wall to moor to, but on the other side of the road is a large supermarket, and also a garage, both of which are a welcome find. Food and fuel were running low! The canal side villages may be pretty, but they do not have many amenities for the passing boater.

Cruising on, this line of trees along the canal are all walnut trees. They are laden with walnuts, all ready for the autumn. We will look forward to that, as there seem to be a great many walnut trees along all the canals in France.

At Colombier- Fontaine we reached the lift bridge at lunchtime. A train arrived at the adjacent station, so the road barriers came down. However, the train did not move for about twenty minutes, by which time there were some rather impatient car drivers! Once they had all gone, we went through the lift bridge safely.

On to Dampierre, which was very attractive, and looked better than this print shows!

On the next stretch, the canal bank was lined with wild flowers and was really pretty. There are several different yellow flowers, but sadly most of them are foreign to us, so I cannot name them all.

When we reached the point in the canal where it is crossed by the river Doubs, we turned round to retrace our steps. We have come 100 miles/ 160 kilometres up the Rhone to Rhine Canal. We are nearly at the summit but, as it is the mighty river Rhine at the other end of this navigation, we are now returning to the Saône. The Puzzler is not a suitable craft to take on to the Rhine.

10th - 14th July. Auxonne, Les Maillys, then on to the Rhone to Rhine canal to Dole.

The harbour at Auxonne is the first one we have seen since coming into France at the beginning of June. We are moored on a rough bank, just beyond the town bridge, having failed to find any boat prepared to offer to have us alongside on the free town mooring. One English couple even hid in their boat, in case we asked them! We found The Puzzler tipped at an angle on our return from our visit to the town,

The statue of Napoleon stands beside the Notre Dame church in Auxonne.

The Arsenal is an interesting collection of buildings, which were built as a place to make barrels. This part is now used for the weekly Friday market ( but today is Saturday!)

We loved these wooden stairs in Auxonne. Look closely to see the small cannons beside the gate too.

We moved on from Auxonne to this jetty at Les Maillys. It has been a lovely tree-lined section of the Saône but this was the first possible mooring after eleven kilometres, and we were pleased to be able to have this delightful German family alongside The Puzzler there.

We leave the River Saône here. This lock marks the beginning of the Rhone to Rhine Canal, at St. Symphorien. There is a small community of barges just above the first lock, and this is generally a much busier canal.

Nearly 7 km and 4 locks further on, the canal passes beside a chemical works, and there are warning signs telling us not to stop in this area. If we hear the sirens we must close all doors and windows on our boat, and leave the area as quickly as possible. This seems to be bad luck for our steersman, out on the stern of The Puzzler! Luckily, we heard no sirens.

It is quite nice to be off the River Saône, and on to the narrower canal, where we can moor anywhere, so long as the water by the bank is deep enough. It is Andy's turn to try and tune the satellite dish for the last day of Wimbledon. Djokavic beat Federer, in case you did not see this.

The Collegiate church of Notre Dame can be seen in the town of Dole, behind the town moorings. Every town has its church, and each one is so different.

Looking up this steep street in the evening light shows the church tower to its best advantage.

We originally stopped on the town moorings in Dole, but all boats had to move away to the other side of this bridge, because of the fireworks display tonight. Our access here is by the plank from the roof to the wall.

There were a few early fireworks and Shannon was not impressed! Once the main display started, she just hid her head and endured it.

The crowds arrived in force, and there must have been thousands of people there. It was an impressive display, celebrating Bastille Day which is, of course, of great importance in France.

Dole dates back to a fortress built on a small limestone overhang in the 12th century.

The town is full of interesting sloping streets.

This is the triege de la Cordiere, one of several narrow uncovered alleyways to be found in the town.

Louis Pasteur, of rabies vaccine fame, was born in Dole, and a museum here tells of his life and achievements.