I love it when a plan.... Savoyeux to Auxonne

Since quite predictably, nothing of our plan to date had come to fruition, with the possible exception of the bit where we were still heading more or less, or perhaps exactly in the direction we had intended to travel, we decided as the gloriously blue sky showed itself for the first time in a week, to review what was left of it and make a new one.

A little bit of mathematics involving our location, our deadline and our destination was all it took to determine that we had a very gentle pair of half-days' worth of travel, and five days to complete them before our planned rendezvous in Auxonne.  Addtionally, we had promised ourselves that we would spend more time in Gray and coincidentally a perfect day like today seemed to present an ideal opportunity to keep our promise.  In fact, we could stay for three more and really get to know the place.

With the new plan cast in stone, we once again in glorious sunshine, jumperless and shoeless for the first time in weeks, left the comfort of the canal and gently poked our noses back into the still swollen river,  where we found ourselves sometimes hurtling along at speeds approaching fifteen kilometres per hour as the river narrowed in the bends, at other times in the wider parts our more stately pace resumed.

Why, one may ask, does he keep prattling on about rivers and sunshine and beauty and countryside?  Surely there is something to tell of Gray?

Well yes, as a matter of fact there is, thanks for asking.   As we idled through it, the sun shone on Gray, it's ancient buildings sparkling after all the rain, teasing us, reaching out and inviting us to stay for longer than we had planned.

We may have too, had we been able to find a dock which was not submerged.  Call us soft if you want, but neither of us relished the thought of walking knee deep in chilly flood water to get to shore, and when I suggested that I may have to stay with the boat to ensure it was safe, the other of us came up with a new plan.

So tonight we are in Auxonne, suddenly at the end of the first leg of our summer journey, with fond memories of a near perfect day on the river, wondering where our plan will take us next.