Finally at the summit.

The world is our oyster now, we have again conquered Rechicourt!  (Perhaps it always was.)

Well it's not that big a deal really, and despite it "conquering" us a couple of times before, once inside the cavern, The lock at Rechicourt is a pussycat, taking us to the top gently to the pond at the top of our climb and thirty five lock-free kilometres before the descent begins at Arzvillier on the incline which will carry us eighty metres down the mountain in a bathtub, and for twenty minutes or so we will be a tourist attraction.   Of course there are a few tunnels and a day between us and there, but it feels a little as though we are playing in some sort of sophisticated new age snakes and ladders contest.

Given the amount of precipitation this morning, we would not normally have left harbour today, but we were retracing our steps for the third time in a month and have places to go and things to see before Shell and Jules depart in a weeks time, so made the decision to soldier on regardless.  We now know that we can handle constant drizzle and moderate winds with aplomb.  We also have a date  of sorts with Alain, who may or may not be able to cast some light on the mysteries of our electrics, now featuring a brand new starter battery "on approval" from our guardian angels at NavigFrance.  

 "Let's make sure it works first " said Patrice as I pulled out my wallet.

Dumbfounded, I pointed to the plume of smoke clearly visible through the rain-gloom, a sure indicator that we'd managed to at least fire up the Perkins monster and by definition a sign that the starter battery was at least partially responsible, but he was not so easily convinced.   

I did tell him that we were off to Strasbourg, and the only way he would be able to tell if it doesn't work was by the way our berth would remain suspiciously vacant for the entire winter, but there was no chance of changing his resolve, and after refusing to wish us goodbye lest he should hex us once more, a broad smile erupted under the waxen tips of his moustache, and we disappeared into the mist.