Burgundy, 2012

Cruise on the rivers of Burgundy, France.
  • 800-4285 : Verdun, slideshow large
  • master 3994 The Gare (train station) de Lyon in Paris. (Janet)
  • 800-4202 Gare de Lyon, train station, Paris. After a long plane flight, and an hour trip on a local Paris train, we embarked here on the TGV for Dijon. : Paris, gare de lyon, slideshow large
  • map of trip The map of our out and back route (blue) starting in St. Jean de Losne with a turn around at Branges. Total distance was about 200 miles. Most of the trip was on the big, commercial Saone River. Just south of Tournus, we turned east on the much smaller Seille River.
  • 800-4240 After an eight hour flight and riding three trains with lousy connecting schedules, we arrive at "a small town in France," St. Jean de Losne, where will will pick up our boat. : St Jean de Losne, slideshow large
  • 800-4239 The marina at St. Jean de Losne : St Jean de Losne, slideshow large
  • master 4014 In France, every nook and alley way can hold something interesting. (Janet)
  • 800-4538 Our 33 foot, "Countess 9" There's room for four, but we found that two of us fit better. The boat had two "heads" (bathrooms), stove, refrigerator, sink, and even electric heat, once we figured out how to operate it. The boat only makes about 6 mph, so some planning was required to make sure we got where we needed to be at the end of the day. : Cuisery, slideshow large
  • master 4027 Leaving St. Jean de Losne at the start of the trip. (Janet)
  • 800-4270 Departing St. Jean de Losne. We actually turned the wrong way on the Saone River. Been up too long. : river, slideshow large, soanne
  • 800-4276 The Saone River had commercial traffic such as this river boat and a number of large barges. : river, slideshow large, soanne
  • 800-4278 Cyclists on a path along the river. This part of France is great for cycling. The terraine is dead flat, and the villages are only about 3 or 4 km apart. : river, slideshow large, soanne
  • 800-copy-4285 Verdun Sur le Doubs is one of the most picturesque villages you can image. The old city sits on this island that is formed by the Doubs river (far right) and a moat that runs under the bridge. : Verdun, slideshow large
  • 800-4345 The marina at Verdun with the old city in the backgound. Our boat is the small one just to the right of the boat with the blue awning. : St Jean de Losne, slideshow large
  • master 4056 "Casino" is a chain of small markets, similar to a "Stop and Go." (Janet)
  • 800-4352 Every village, Verdun included, has their market days, when vendors arrive early, spread their wares, and customers come to buy. By noon, they pack up and are gone. Must make returns difficult. They are like rolling WalMarts, and you can buy produce, flowers, furniture, and meats and cheese of any variety you want. : St Jean de Losne, market, slideshow large
  • master 4058 Verdun - note the Peugeot Cycles sign. (Janet)
  • 800-4416 From Verdun, it was an easy cruise to our next over night stop at the large city of Chalon sur le Saone. : Chalon, slideshow large
  • 800-4417 From Chalon, we caught a train to Beaune, the capital of the Burgundy wine district. The 30 minute train ride was fast and smooth. : Chalon, slideshow large
  • 800-4428 Here we are in Beaune. Outdoor restaurants are very common in France. Possibly because space inside is so limited. : Beaune, slideshow large
  • master 4123 Old buildings in Beaune. (Janet)
  • master 4124 A carousel in a "place" (plaza) in Beaune. (Janet)
  • 800-4446 In Beaune, we visited one winery, Patriarche. In their "caves" under the streets, they have over 3 million bottles of wine. It was an on-our-own tour that took us about 2 hours of wandering through the nooks and tunnels. : Beaune, slideshow large, winery
  • 800-4474 Toward the end of the tour, there were tasting stations at which we could pour our own tastes in the taste vins they gave us. There were at least a dozen such stations in the caves, but after a while, we lost count. : Beaune, slideshow large, winery
  • 800-4533 After Chalon, we continued on the Saone to the Seille, where we turned east. Here is one of the small locks on the Seille River near the town of Cuisery, our next stop. The lock keepers are turning wheels that open the doors of the lock. It is a good thing we paid attention, because we had to operate this lock ourselves on the way back. I guess the lock operators took a long lunch. : River Sielle, slideshow large
  • 800-4547 A quaint street in the quaint town of Cuisery. The village is a 2 km walk up hill from the river. : Cuisery, slideshow large
  • master 4229 "Les Chats Noirs" - The Black Cats is a colorful book store in Cuisery. (Janet)
  • master 4249 Colorful doorways, such as this one in Cuisery are common in Europe. This one apparently opened into a courtyard. Note the uneven step. (Janet)
  • 800-4592 An elderly lady walks up the street. We saw a lot of elderly people walking to shops. : Cuisery, slideshow large
  • 800-4565 Every town has at least one church. While they my appear simple on the outside, many are ornate and stunning on the inside. This is the church at Cuisery. : Cuisery, church, slideshow large
  • 800-4601 Back on the Seille River heading toward Branges, we spotted numerous fishermen using this contraption to fish. They would lower the net into the water, then crank it up, hoping for a few fish. : River Sielle, slideshow large
  • 800-4640 This is the Le Boat facility in Branges, the turn around point of our trip. We had initially planned to continue on to Louhans, another four KM, and one lock. But it was far more convenient to stop here (saving 45 minutes running time) and take a taxi into Louhans the next morning for the market. : Branges, slideshow large
  • 800-4617 We ate lunch in Branges at an outdoor cafe where we had some of the best lasagna I've ever tasted. The cafe was next to this lock as another Le Boat was going through. Tight fit. This manual lock had just recently been refurbished, and there is still some more concrete to pour. The boat shown is one of Le Boat's larger and newer boats. : Branges, slideshow large
  • 800-4636 The main intersection in Branges. : Branges, slideshow large
  • master 4294 An old, vine covered building in Branges. (Janet)
  • master 4291 A Boulangerie is a meat market. Here's one in Branges. While we didn't go in this one, the typical boulangerie will sell you any part of a pig you could want - or not. One boulangerie we did visit had some tasty looking pigs ears. Yumm! (Janet)
  • master 4308 This "gentleman" stands outside a Patisserie (bakery) in Branges, just a short walk from the boat. For ten euro, I bought a bag of breads and pasteries that lasted us three days. (Janet)
  • 800-4646 The church in Branges is on the top of a high hill. We were not able to go inside, but the cemetery was interesting. : Branges, church, market, slideshow large
  • 800-4663 The morning after arriving in Branges, we took a taxi to the market in Louhans. This was the largest market we've ever seen. Virtually every street in the old section was lined with vendors like this. : Branges, market, slideshow large
  • 800-4669 More of the market. The streets are jammed with people, who seem to enjoy it as a social event as much as a shopping opportunity. : Branges, market, slideshow large
  • 800-4676 Produce stands are very common in the market. : Branges, market, slideshow large
  • master 4340 A cheese shop in the Louhans market. Cheese is everywhere in France, and a market the size of the Louhans market will have several. They are easy to find because of theirwonderful "aroma." (Janet)
  • 800-4698 The Louhans market include a "dégonfler le marché," or chicken market. It's the first time we've seen this. : Branges, market, slideshow large
  • 800-4705 Here, a satisfied customer leaves with his chickens and his bunnies. I stronly suspect he was not taking them home as pets. : Branges, market, slideshow large
  • 800-4713 A rooster, "watching over" a cage of bunnies. : Branges, market, slideshow large
  • 800-4721 This gentleman struck up a conversation with me at a wine tasting table. Because he spoke French, I had no Idea what he was saying, but I think it had something to do with what he was eating. I pointed to my camera then to him, he nodded yes, and I took this photo. Be thankful he is not smiling. : Branges, market, slideshow large
  • master 4372 We left Branges about 1:00 PM, heading down the Seille River. Since we were going with the relatively strong current, we made great time - probably 11 kph! This is a small lock very near the confluence of the Seille and the Saone rivers. (Janet)
  • 800-4745 From Branges, we made it all the way to Tournus, about 42 K. Tournus is famous for its narrow, curving streets. Here, a lady walks here bicycle along the cobble stone streets. : Tournus, slideshow large
  • master 4391 More narrow streets in Tournus. We didn't have much time to explore Tournus this morning because we had a long cruise upstream to Chalon. (Janet)
  • master 4395 The front of the church in Tournus. All the churches have this "door within a door" or they have a side door. The old wooden doors are too heavy - and probably too fragile - to be used regularly. (Janet)
  • master 4406 We just love these narrow streets. (Janet)
  • 800-4777 A flower shop in Tournus. : Tournus, slideshow large
  • master 4409 We hated to leave the picturesque town of Tournous. BTW, "Articles de Peche" means fishing supplies. Looks like a flower shop to us. Go figure. (Janet)
  • 800-4779 A view of Tournus from the bridge over the Saone River. Our boat is the one that is "double parked" about half way down the dock. We had rain most days, but it rarely interfered with our activites. : Tournus, slideshow large
  • 800-4795 Back in Chalon. Chalon was the only town we stayed in going both directions. The first time here, we had no trouble finding a docking space, and attendants came out to help us. The second time, we could not find a place to dock, and no one came to help us. We finally put the boat in a vacant slip, thinking it was better to ask forgivness than permission. This day happened to be our 44th wedding anniversary. : Chalon, slideshow large
  • master 4436 Little swan-lets greeted us in Chalon. Their parents taught them to beg early. In this part of France, swans are like pigeons, and we soon figured out we were wasting too many megabytes photographing them. But these little guys were cute. (Janet)
  • master 4456 A restaurnt in Chalon. We were attacted by the colors. (Janet)
  • master 4464 It's Happy Hour! Here I am enjoying Kir Royale (Creme de Cassis and Champagne) and a snack. (Janet)
  • janet kir royale-4808 Just so you won't think we were "knockin' em back," those are the same two Kir Royales as in the previous photo. Honest. : Chalon
  • 800-4812 We wanted a unique place for dinner, and we found it. It's a tiny place in a "cave," but just what we wanted. : Chalon, slideshow large
  • 800-4814 Simply, one of the best wines we've ever tasted. : Chalon, slideshow large
  • IMG 4467 We had to get a photo of the two of us on our 44th. Many times we've asked a waiter to take our photo on our anniversary. Most of the time, the photos are horrible. This is better than most. (Waiter)
  • master 4473 The waiter presented us with this momento of our anniversary. The text is chocolate, so we ate it. (Janet)
  • 800-4878 After leaving Chalon, our next stop was in Seurre. This is one of the two churches there. : Seurre, church, slideshow large
  • 800-4883 Again, the exterior was plain, but the inside was spectacular. : Seurre, church, slideshow large
  • 800-4894 A shot taken during "happy hour" in Seurre. Getting docked and tied up for the night was stressful with only two of us on board. Sometimes we had help, sometimes we didn't. Happy hour allowed us to unwind with some nice Burgundy wine, cheese and olives. : Seurre, slideshow large
  • 800 big lock-4929 This is the big, commercial lock at Seurre that we had to go through on our last cruising day into St. Jean de Losne. It is 200 meters long to accommodate the big barges on the Saone River. The dark brown on the sides roughly indicates the amount of rise and fall. Here, we are waiting for it to fill. Compare this to the previous little lock on the Seille. All locks close at 6:00 PM, so if there's a lock between you and your planned destination for the evening and it's after 6:00, you are stuck. : River Soanne
  • master 4570 As a contrast, here is an "ecluse ancienne," or ancient lock. There were many along our route. Mostly overgrown and no longer used, some now serve as small boat marinas. For very small boats. (Janet)
  • 800-4933 After waiting nearly an hour for a lock to change at Seurre, we had a short day back to St. Jean de Losne, shown here. : St Jean de Losne, slideshow large
  • 800-4944 The church at St. Jean de Losne. : St Jean de Losne, church, slideshow large
  • master 4591 The ornate alter. (Janet)
  • master 4602 We didn't see much laundry drying in the sun in France as we have on previous trips, but this was a rather colorful display. (Janet)
  • 800-4963 Our last meal on the boat. The day before in Seurre, we had inexplicably bought two pizzas. But after packing to leave the boat the next morning, neither one of us was in mood to walk into town (about 1/2 mile) to find a restaurant, which doesn't open until 7:30. : slideshow large
  • master 4612 Saying so long to St. Jean de Losne. We caught the train about 8:15 in the morning and we arrived in Dijon about half and hour later. (Janet)
  • 800-4978 Dijon is like a small Paris, complete with an Arc de Triumphe and a Notre Dame cathedral. : Dijon, slideshow large
  • master 4636 We lucked out - it was market day in Dijon. Here is a shot of some tasty olives. (Janet)
  • master 4661 A cute mother-daughter shot. Catch the shoes. (Janet)
  • 800-5008 She was hamming it up for me. I have no idea who she was. : Dijon, slideshow large
  • master 4702 Proof that accordians are legal in France. (Janet)
  • 800-5011 The entrance to Dijon's Notre Dame. : Dijon, church, slideshow large
  • 800-5014 The interior is filled with soaring arches and stunning stained glass. The churches in France (and most of Europe) do not have pews, as we're accustomed to. They opt for strait-backed chairs. I guess that helps keep the parishioners awake. : Dijon, church, slideshow large
  • master 4684 Large European churches have a number of small "chaples" along the sides. Here's one in Dijon's Notre Dame. (Janet)
  • 800-5029 More of the interior. : Dijon, church, slideshow large
  • 800-5030 I happened to have my big telephoto lens with me which enabled me to capture the incredible detail of the high, stained glass windows. : Dijon, church, slideshow large
  • 800-5035 More stained glass. : Dijon, church, slideshow large
  • 800-5055 My last shot of the trip. It is taken out the window of the TGV as it speeds at 100 mph toward the Gare de Lyon in Paris. From there we caught the "RER" local train to Charles de Gaul airport, then a nine hour flight home. : slideshow large, train