16th - 17th June. Back into Paris then a major change of route. Down the River Seine and up the River Oise.

We cruised back on to the canal St. Martin, passing through the Bassin de Villette. This is an alternative mooring to the Arsenal in Paris. We are told that there is night life to be had here but no security.

On down the four double locks. We had to wait for two trip boats at one of these locks, but they are very efficient, and it also gave me a chance to go and buy our essential daily baguette, from a local boulangerie.

St Martin is quite a fashionable part of Paris.

Below the fourth double lock lurks the tunnel which leads us under the park, back to the port of the Arsenal.

There are frequent ventilation shafts along the tunnel, with trees to be seen above each one.

These plaques show the heights of previous floods, here in the Arsenal. The height for 2016, last week, is marked by the arrow. We met a boater who had recently come down the river Marne, which is apparently still in full flow. We should have been going up the Marne, but it sounded like a very bad idea, so we turned right, not left, out on to the Seine, and continued downstream through the centre of Paris.

There was one large barge ahead of us, and another right behind us, as if we didn't have enough to worry about with the force of the river!

As soon as there was room, we let the second one through. His wash made it a bit rougher for The Puzzler, but she is coping well.

We did not manage to visit The Louvre Museum, when we were in Paris two weeks ago, so it is nice to have another view of it.

The Eiffel Tower, which we did visit, is even more impressive from the river. At least this time the rain has stopped!

The huge football under the Eiffel Tower is there to remind us that Euro 2016 is going on in France at the moment.

Each bridge reminds us how much water is flowing along with us on the River Seine. Keep to the centre of all bridge arches!

It was very difficult to find a mooring on the Seine, once out of Paris, as any available jetty was under water. These attractive houses smiled down on us, as we sped by. Eventually we found a spot below Bougival lock, on a wall mooring, and I persuaded the three lockkeepers that, as the lock was under repair, and therefore definitely closed, we could stay there overnight. It must have taken them twenty minutes to come to this decision, but it was a really good one for us. After over eight hours, and 60 kilometres, we had had enough!

At Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, where there seemed to be hundreds of boats, we turned right on to the River Oise. At once, the force of the water was noticeably less, and we found this lovely safe mooring at

Vauréal.

22nd May - 28th May. Moving quickly on down the Yonne to Pont-sur-Yonne, then Montereau where we join the Seine, and continue downstream.

We did not move again until Tuesday, as it was just too wet! The river is now running fast, and beside each lock, the water thunders through the barrage. You would not want to fall in above that!

This cat came to the lock for a drink when it was full, but the eclusier walked past, and frightened her. However, as soon as the lock emptied, she came right down the steps into the lock for her drink.

We stopped in Sens for lunch, planning to get diesel there, but the pump was not available. Our water hose was not long enough to reach the tap, so we had to top up the tank by the bucketful! We moved on to Port-sur-Yonne, where the church is under extensive repair. There was just room for us on the jetty.

Five minutes later, Tim arrived with Randal, which is a hotel boat from the Nivernais, so he moored outside The Puzzler. We spent a pleasant evening together on Randal.

The barges seem to get bigger and bigger! We are waiting for him to exit the lock before we can go down.

There are no sliding floating bollards in the last three locks on the Yonne, so we are floating in the middle of the lock, so as to avoid the sloping sides. Usually it is obligatory to tie up in locks, but this is easier and safer, for going down a lock.

This is a lovely rural mooring, just on the edge of the village of Cannes-Ecluse. We found some elderflowers for our annual elderflower cordial.

Moving on to Montereau, we found Diana and Chris, and had a very pleasant lunch together on Esme. Joining the Seine, we pushed on to St. Mammès, and were relieved to find fuel at the bunker station there. Having heard that all the French refineries are blockaded, it had been of some concern that the fuel might have run out before we arrived.

Some of the houses alongside the River Seine could have come straight out of a fairytale.

On this part of the Seine, there are many residential barges along the banks. Apparently many of these are the homes of retired barge owners.

This prison dominates the landscape on the approach to Melun.

We had to wait before lock 4 for barge Navis and double barge Enola Gay to enter the lock. There was plenty of room for The Puzzler too, as these locks are huge.

Three kilometres after this lock we turned off the river into a small lake, which has moorings for boats of maximum length 10 metres, with a depth of 0.8 metres. It was perfect, with an end of jetty which was just the right length for The Puzzler. There was good walking around the lake, and Shannon enjoyed her first swim for a long time. She was also delighted to get away from the barges, with the wash they create.

20th - 22nd September. To Moret-sur-Loing, then up the river Seine to Montereau-Fault-Yonne. On to the river Yonne and sloping sided locks

The road into Moret-sur-Loing leads over the bridge and into the town through the town gate. Over to the left can be seen the 12th century church of Pont-Loup.

Unusually, the organ is mounted high up on the wall, inside the church. It is a beautiful church.

This fascinating old building is known as Bon-Saint-Jacques. Pierre Racolet redesigned the exterior in a neoclassical style in 1924, including his own “signature” of a rat in a pot of glue, the symbol of carpenters.

Leaving Moret-sur Loing, and the Canal du Loing, we were soon on the River Seine, and followed the barge Westphalie into an enormous lock. We are not so far from Paris here, but will save that for next year.

We are going 13 kilometres upstream on the Seine, before joining the Yonne river at Montereau-fault-Yonne.

A splendid bronze statue of Napoleon oversees the bridge at Montereau. This commemorates the French success at the Battle of Montereau, on February 18th 1814, when Napoleon led his men to defeat the Austrians, shouting that the cannon ball which would kill him had not yet been made!

On the other side of the road, this building has been painted with scenes from this battle.

This whole mural really gives an impression of the action then.

The collegiate church of Notre Dame, complete with flying buttresses, dominates the skyline, on the far side of the river Yonne.

It is just as impressive inside, and was built during the 12th to the 16th century.

Looking back to the “halte fluvial” as we leave the town, the rest of the battle of Montereau is painted on the building behind the mooring.

The locks on the Yonne river have sloping sides, presumably to make them stronger. It certainly makes them more awkward to use! We moored above the third lock, Barbey, and stayed there, doing not a lot, for two nights to give us time to recover from our energetic town visits.