It is now exactly 24 hours since the photo at the top of the previous chapter was taken. I am amazed at what happened overnight.
All that land is back. The ‘No Fishing’ sign (at least the back of it) is clearly visible. Although that bike may never be ridden again. It is as if all that flooding had never occurred. Back to normal in 24 hours. I am dumbfounded.
The underwater obstructions in the channel from the marina onto the Saône are gone. It is now easy to get onto the river and start cruising. And that’s what we’re about to do – for the first time since last summer. We have an appointment in St. Jean-de-Losne to have the Bimini repaired – or at least looked at.
It was a beautiful two-and-a-half hour cruise to get there. And when we got there, our favourite mooring spot was available. On the Quai National – right in front of a selection of wonderful restaurants. What more could we ask for? Maybe that our mangled Bimini wasn’t so mangled. Or…
…that we could stay there. We couldn’t.
The boat-repair shop that is going to tackle our twisted Bimini frame said we had to move to the “industrial” section of St. Jean-de-Losne. We have been there before. Full of boats waiting for repairs – not to mention many that look like they were abandoned many years ago – it is not our favourite spot to tie up and spend a few days. But we had no option. Tomorrow, we’ll find out what it will cost to repair the Bimini.
I should point out that beauty can be found almost anywhere – even in the basin in St. Usage (a superb of St. Jean-de-Losne). It is entered from the Saône by a lock – the first of 189 on the Canal de Bourgogne. A full moon can make all the difference.
