6th - 11th October. On down the Petite Saône, then the River Saône, stopping at Auxonne and St.-Jean-de-Losne, before joining the Canal du Centre at Chalon-sur-Saône.

The Petite Saône becomes navigable below Corre lock, meandering across its floodplain.

This dérivation (lockcut) meanders round the village of Ormoy, lying parallel to the river.

However, most of the dérivations are straight, like this one in Port-sur-Saône.

All along the waterfront here, there are mounted prints, showing the town as it was in 1900, then progressively through the last century. A by-pass is planned, so the last set of prints anticipate the town as it will be in 2020. We will have to come back to see if their predictions are true!

This is a typical dérivation, straight and not very exciting! Between Corre and Châlons-sur-Saône, these dérivations cut over 40 kilometres off the distance as measured, and marked, on the river.

Shannon was fascinated by the donkey by a lock.

The tunnel of Savoyeux leads on to lock 13. We had just left this narrow section when our alternator belt broke, so the lockkeeper had to wait while The Puzzler floated gently, until Andy fixed it. Luckily no-one else was waiting for us, though he only took ten minutes to have it working again, with a new belt in place.

On Friday we did over 40 kilometres, so were pleased to find this sheltered bankside mooring, near to Autet. Shannon enjoyed the small beach nearby.

The river Petite Saône is getting bigger!

At Mantoche Andy found a friendly duck.

Sally is taking her turn at steering on the river. We are covering long distances each day as we head for our winter mooring in Roanne, so it is turn and turn about on the tiller.

We spent a very pleasant afternoon in Auxonne on barge Inevitable, with Carole and David, before the rain created this rainbow.

The evening light, too, was very pretty.

Thick fog delayed our departure on Monday, but we still had time to reach St-Jean-de-Losne, where there were several boats moored. We were delighted to meet Boris in the chandlery there.

Our longest day yet was on Tuesday, leaving as the sun rose at 8am. It was a record distance for us of just over 58 kilometres!

We saw over 20 of these white herons, or are they egrets? They are heron size, and have white legs.

The Petite Saône is now the River Saône, and is a much bigger river.

Shannon continues to sleep her days away.

We are now sharing the big lock at the start of the Canal du Centre.

It is a relief to be back on to the canal.

4th - 5th October 2016. Continuing with John and Brigitte on the Canal des Vosges to Fontenay-le-Château and Selles, then on to Corre.

The Canal des Vosges continues to delight us.

At Fontenay-le-Château the streets are all cobbled.

There are sayings like these throughout the town. Roughly translated, these two say “Laughter is a tranquilliser without secondary effects” and “Creativity allows everyone to make mistakes. The skill is in knowing which ones to save”. If I am wrong here, please let me know!

From the bridge over the River Coney, the old castle can be seen up above the town.

There is not a great deal to see on the site of the castle!

However, Andy found an old catapult, from long ago.

The war memorial is close to the church.

Inside, the altar is unusual, being oval in shape.

The pulpit too is unusual, being carved out of stone.

The font too is very old, with 18th century carved figures on the shelf to the right.

A rocky cutting leads us out of Fontenay.

The bridge by the lock has a beautiful floral display.

There are some stunning houses overlooking the canal in this area.

However, with an ivy cover like this, your view must be limited! The red creeper is to be seen a lot, and really adds colour at this time of year.

Shannon has found all this sightseeing hard work. Where better to sleep than on top of the anchor?

She does not mind where she sleeps.

This was Andy's favourite canalside property! Beyond is the restaurant in Selles, which we would definitely recommend that you visit.

On the Canal des Vosges most of the lock cottages are inhabited, which is good to see. We have had a great week with John and Brigitte, who leave us at Corre.

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!