Up about 7 a.m. in Cuisery and it’s a beautiful morning. Time to pack suitcases and make our last run on the boat. Our last
café crème and then we untie and are underway. All is perfect. The sun is out, a light breeze and not too hot. Several duck
families along the way get fed our leftover bread. By 8 a.m. there are already lots of fisherpeople along the banks, some
using three or four poles each. They take their fishing seriously in France. Only one cranky person telling us to slow down.
We manage our first and only manual lock of the day at Loisy. Tamra and Dee handle the locks like pros as Lynn and I manage the lines and boat. Water levels are equalized and gates open so everyone jumps on board and away we go. We turn at the “Diversion Branges” sign to go to the Le Boat base rather than another lock and there are about a dozen or more Le Boat boats tied up. Must be the right place. We raft to one of the boats and head up to sign out.
It’s about 10:45 and we should have plenty of time to make Dee and Tamra’s 12:15 p.m. train in Louhans. We offload our luggage, finish up the costs (250 euro fuel deposit, 248 used) and also buy a French burgee for the Carpe Diem. Only problem is, it is now after 11:30 and we can’t find the manager and we have no taxi to Louhans. Waiting patiently while they assist another arriving couple, we eventually ask about our status. The receptionist goes into slight panic mode, makes a phone call and assures us a ride will be ready in five minutes.
In a few minutes the manager arrives but completely ignores us and speaks to some other customers who appear to also be his friends. Meanwhile, one of the other employees pulls up in her little wagon car and we load up with luggage and the four of us. A bit tight but we make it. Zooming down the road and it’s only five minutes to the Gare du Louhans. Tamra and Dee validate their tickets, we buy ours and we have twenty minutes to spare for Dee and Tamra’s train to Dijon. We will be waiting until 1:44 p.m.
After they depart we eat our sandwiches and I head out to find water, pop and iced tea. Lynn stays to watch the luggage and I wander a few blocks where I find a supermarche. One diet Coke, one Lipton iced tea with citron and one large bottle of water. Back to the station and we do crosswords and read books (via the Kindle app on my phone).
Eventually the train to Brassorg-Bresse arrives and we head out for about a thirty minute ride. A transfer and a short wait and we’re headed to Lyon. The Lyon station is large but we have Wi-Fi to get directions to our hotel. Hopes are not high as Tamra asked if for our rate (sixty euros a night) we might be “sleeping in a ditch?”
As usual, we walked right past the hotel, eventually retraced our steps and were so impressed with the building and our room that we couldn’t believe it. And one block from the train station so an easy trip on Monday to get to the airport. Best part, we have a bath tub. So by 4:00 p.m. Lynn is in the tub for the first soak and then it is my turn.
After returning to a human feeling we decide to just go to the hotel restaurant for dinner. But it’s only 5:30 p.m. and the restaurant doesn’t open until seven. A couple of glasses of wine in the bar and watching Japanese ping pong championships on the large screen TV and we’re ready for the buffet. We loved the salad bar with lots of typical choices but also pate, artichokes, olives and mayonnaise. Then the “hot buffet” with beef with mushroom gravy, saumon, chicken “Basque”, pasta and baked tomatoes.
By 8:00 we’re full and sleepy and it’s off to bed early.