We had hoped to head farther south – to Tournus – or maybe to Macon. We knew Lyon, even farther south, would have to wait until another year. As we plan to visit Avignon, Arles, the Canal du Midi, the Canal Latéral à la Garonne, Toulouse, and Bordeaux, we would have to pass through Lyon, anyway. Just not this year.
There was a storm warning for Tournus – in effect for a few days. We decided to head for home – north on the Saône – retracing the route we had been following. As we left Chalon-sur-Sâone, a further reminder of how COVID has affected just about every business. Luxury hotel barges – rafted three abreast. There would be no customers this year.
There were at least nine of them – and those are just the ones that chose to moor in Chalon-sur-Saône.
COVID had kept away many of the people who would rent self-drive boats for a week or so on the waterways of France. We saw a few of the fibreglass rentals, pejoratively called “Tupperware boats” – or “Noddy boats” by our British friends. But mainly it was commercials. They probably have an equally pejorative name for us.
Below, a fleet of Tupperware boats tied up at their base in St. Jean-de-Losne. Normally, they’d all be rented and on the rivers and canals. Le Boat has bases like this throughout France, Europe, and even one in Canada – in Smith Falls, Ontario. There are a number of other rental companies with bases throughout France. While no license or training is required to rent one (which has us staying far away when we see one), the fees they pay to the VNF help keep the canals open to us. We keep our distance but recognize the benefits these neophyte boaters bring.
Perhaps I am being unkind. (At least it’s not possible to identify who is at the helm.) Here is a YouTube video that shows what can happen when someone with no license or boating experience gets behind the wheel of a rental boat. Granted, most of the people who rent are responsible – but we are cautious when we see one. We’ve had to take a course, show that we can handle a boat, pass the CEVNI exam… They, on the other hand…