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We started our return journey towards Dole with an extra crew member, Vicki, but before we set off boating we had a day in Mulhouse which is a lovely decorative town. The outside of the tourist office was painted in such a way that it looked a bit like a theatre set. There was also a wide range of street entertainment in a variety of places across the town. Vicki and I were on foot and Paul on his fold up bike with little wheels. A trio called 'Les Diguindes' dressed in black suits with white faces carrying small cases were stopping people in the street and chatting. They focussed on Paul with his bike and using strange voices began to chat with him. Realising that he was English they went into speaking our language with strange voices and Paul swung into the spirit of the occasion using the same tone of voice. There was quite a crowd gathering with Vicki and I on the edge of the scene laughing at the whole scenario. Unfortunately Paul had the camera and so we could not capture the moment.

The next day we started boating at 9.00am as planned with the lock keepers heading for Montbeliard. On that occasion we travelled with a couple of Swiss men in a small boat that tucked themselves behind us in the locks, rightly so. Vicki by this time was well and truly versed into sorting out the ropes for locking and holding in the boat during lock operation. She did have plenty of practice as we went through 53 locks in two days. On the second day the lock keepers were not exactly dynamic, unlike the previous day , when we had someone that followed us through and really worked as part of the boating team. It does make a difference. On arriving at Montbeliard Diane and Vicki went into the park nearby and made music with the various structures. As we were doing a return journey we took the opportunity to e mail Odile who we had met earlier at Montbeliard to invite her and her partner, Christian, to have an evening drink with us. We had a lovely couple of hours together and chatted about lots of things including the fact that the baker did not have any croissants at 9.30am that morning. We said our farewells, had our evening meal, continued with a card game, Pumpernickel, which we played each evening to see who was going to be the champion over the three and a half week stay of Vicki. Just to relieve you of the tension about who was the champion....Vicki!!

Having had a good nights sleep we heard a gentle beep of a car horn alongside the boat at 7.30am. We did not think anymore of it until Diane went onto the bow of the boat with the intention of going to buy bread and hopefully croissants. There sitting on the deck was a parcel of 4 croissants which we just knew had been delivered by Christian . He popped by at midday so we were able to thank him. During that meeting there were sounds of sirens from the town centre and we learned from Christian that it was an occurrence for the first Wednesday of each month in memory of the freedom and survival from the bombardments of the 2nd world war. It was a reminder to us about France being occupied for a number of years which was perhaps a different experience to England. That was not an end to their hospitality. When we arrived back to the boat after a visit to the town in the afternoon there was another parcel on the front deck, 3 big pieces of Quiche cooked by Christian who is a chef. Needless to say the quiche was good. Christian was there at our first lock the next day to give us a wave and since then Odile and us have been in touch. Another friendship not to be lost.

We moved onto Besancon and made god time but unfortunately were delayed because we arrived at a tunnel followed by a lock during the lunchtime of the operator. We had to do a bit of back tracking in the river and with permission moored up alongside a big boat that turned out to be a 'Gite de France' listed bed and breakfast. Having got through the tunnel and lock we were quickly moored up at a sturdy pontoon. It was at Besancon that we did some visiting around the Citadelle and an 'Horloge Astronomique'. The nearest translation for us is an 'astronomy clock'. We may be wrong and if we are someone will inform us. This clock was built in 1867 and was an amazing fete of engineering showing times around the world, tide times at particular places in France amongst other things. It has figures which move at particular times of the clock striking. These movements are related to religious events. We enjoyed the visit.

Moving on from Besancon we had an overnight stay at Ranchot and then onto Dole. There was an interesting stretch where the canal ran alongside the river and we continued to have some lovely scenery. As we arrived at Dole there was help from a fellow boater to moor up and we were quickly settled alongside a pontoon. On the opposite side of the river there was a boat advertising snacks including Pizzas which were cooked traditionally. Vicki liked the idea of having Pizzas delivered to the boat and so you have by now probably guessed that a phone call was made and the pizzas delivered by a young man on a moped, the pizzas were good. The next few days made a change from our boating.

We moored up at St Jean de Losne and collected a hire car from Dijon to then drive to Vieure to spend a few days with Alain Suzanne and some of their family. Vicki was delighted to be able to have that opportunity. For those of you who have followed us through our various experiences you will know that we had a mishap with the wooden frame on the bow used to hold the front window and the canvas cover. With the help of Alain and Suzanne we found a joiner who, despite the fact he was on holiday, agreed to meet up with us in his workshop to look at what needed to be done to rebuild a replacement frame. He quickly 'sussed' it out, gave us a price which was very reasonable and said that it would be ready within a week. True to his word, the frame is now with Alain and Suzanne who are going to deliver it to us and incorporate a couple of days boating. The 15th August is fete day in France and at Vieure there is a Brocante, nearest thing in England is a car boot sale. Suzanne, Marie, Marion and Vicki were there ready for the sell. Buying was slow but still good fun. We also had a trip on the horse and trap with the Brunon family and us taking over the space in the trap, a chartered ride.

We returned to St Jean de Losne, delivered the car back to Dijon and went back to the waterways, destination Gray. There was an interesting experience at Gray with the sound of someone from VNF at 8.00am calling out "Is there anyone on the boat?" We looked out and at first sight we thought that someone had untied the ropes but no, what had happened was that the water level in the river had risen by several feet and the boat was floating over the quay that we happened to be moored up to. We were assured that the water level would drop during the morning and so we decided to stay put but protected the boat from dropping onto the concrete quay. Once the water had dropped quite a bit Vicki and Diane got off the boat to do food shopping and paddled to dry ground. The first time that has happened but who is to say that it will be the last! The joys of boating on river rather than canal

Vicki and Diane then left Paul in charge of the boat at Gray whilst they went to visit Paris. Lots of walking, using the metro which was really easy, and they saw the main sights of Paris including the climax of the final day, the Eiffel Tower illuminated. Vicki is now back in England and we have moved on in the boat to Corre having just entered the Canal de L' Est where we have been issued with another 'telecommande zapper' to operate the locks. Different to the previous one but also seems easy to use. The last stretch of the River Soane was lovely as we passed through lots of small villages with each village seeming to have their own church with a decorated roof. At one lock we had the company of a mule and a flock of sheep, that was different. We happened to be locking with a German family on a hire boat that day and their young lads were keen to help with ropes when going into locks and mooring up As we up date the web we are awaiting nephew Paul his wife Leigh and their two children Rebecca and Ben. No doubt there are more adverntures to follow as we move towards Epinal, Nancy and hopefully Strassbourg. Next month there will be the usual news to bring you up to date.