The Mighty Rhône: Part 1

9th June 2023

My last post ended when we arrived at the confluence of the Rhône and the Saône, leaving Lyon behind us.  I suppose I was expecting turbulent waters but the two rivers just flowed into each other, a line of buoys warning us away from the shallower water between the two flows, just beyond the amazing Confluence Museum building.

We barely had time to realise we were in a different waterway when, about 20 minutes later, we saw the Pierre-Bénite lock appearing.

As you know, by now we have done loads of locks, some big, some small, and so have grown a bit blasé. The Pierre-Bénite lock was on a different scale, even to the locks on the Seine.  It's a massive grey concrete structure on the left hand side of the river, with signs warning shipping to avoid the barrage which feeds a hydroelectric generator on the right hand side.

I used the VHF to call the lock for permission to enter and we moored to the waiting pontoon. Less than 15 minutes later the light went green and we entered the lock.

It felt massive, even though we were at the top of the full chamber.  I moored to  a huge floating bollard, easily big enough to secure a ship let alone a lightweight sailing boat.  

The lock gates closed behind us, rising up out of the water to seal the area and we began our descent.

The bollard creaked, noises of metal against metal. I realised it was a musical note, though my untrained ear couldn't tell you which one. The other bollards were all making their own sounds and all the noises in the lock combined. The bass note of the engine echoed too, all the sounds anchored by the rhythm of the mechanical processes involved in draining the water out. It was like whale song or a piece of atonal music, quite overwhelmingly beautiful.  This lasted for the full fifteen minutes we took to descend the 9.25m.

Once we reached the bottom the exit gate opened, rising up, again like a guillotine. This time I was prepared and stood under the bimini so that I didn't get an impromptu shower.

We motored along for about an hour and a half, reaching the Halte Fluviale in a town called Givors and tied up alongside. Another sailboat, around 12m, with the mast tied on top was moored there too. It looked like it had been there for a while as it was grubby and seemed uncared for. The only other boat was a fire fighter's boat at the end of the pontoon.

The pontoon had electric meters but when we looked it said we needed to buy tokens from the Mairie to activate it.  Igor had things to do so I set off on my own. First challenge, there were not one but two keypad controlled doors between me and the street. I went back to the boat and called the Mairie and a helpful lady who didn't speak English managed to give me the code, 5 digits. I tried what she said but it was wrong so I tried the first 4 digits and it worked. Woo hoo! I was out.

According to Google the Mairie was closed but the Hotel de Ville, or town hall, was open and about 10 minutes walk.  When I arrived the woman who I'd spoken to was there. I asked for the token and she asked me the length of the boat. When I said 10.5m she informed me that the pontoon was only for boats less than 6m. I tried to query this as the other sailboat was bigger than ours but she was adamant. I called Igor to see what he suggested. He said to tell her I'd made a mistake and it was only 6m. I did this and started filling out a form. She then said she couldn't help and I'd need to go to the police station next door. Off I went. I couldn't see a police station. It was hot and I'd had enough bureaucracy for one day. I figured if they hadn't removed a boat that was twice as big as it should be from a short stay mooring where it had obviously been left over the winter, my chances of being penalised for an overnight stay were minimal. I went back to the boat.

A little later we set off for a walk around town. There was a big Intermarche supermarket not too far. It wasn't the prettiest place but felt lively and lived in.

There were quite a few shops named after Victor Hugo - a butcher, a chemist and, I think, a vape shop. I wonder what he'd have made of that?

Saturday 10th June 2023

It rained overnight and when we woke, around 6.30 ish, it was overcast and only 17C. There was no reason at all to hang around Gigny so we set off at 6.56am.

It was so chilly that Igor put a jumper on, this would have been unthinkable a couple of days ago! I needed both a jumper and my denim jacket.

Around an hour later we passed the town of Vienne. The approach looked industrial, modern buildings and a McDonalds visible from the wate,r but it got prettier.

The urban sprawl gave way to older places and hills with vineyards growing in terraces.  Vaugris lock was a little further on. We arrived at 8.37am and called for permission to enter as the lights were red.  I noticed a large bug sitting on the tiller. I googled it and identified it as a musk beetle.

The lock keeper answered us, telling us to wait.  At around 8.50 a British boat exited the lock. We were told, again, to wait so a couple of minutes later we tied up to the waiting pontoon and turned the engine off.  It was a bit annoying but, between admiring the bug and admiring the scenery, we entertained ourselves.

The hillsides were a fascinating patchwork of vineyards, mostly different triangular shapes. We waited and waited. Around 9.30 a massive barge, Graciosa, entered the lock and we were instructed to follow her.

She was carrying a heavy cargo of sand and aggregate and the mariners on board didn't seem to be friendly. They shouted something at us like 'you can't park there mate' in French. We had intended to moor on the right hand side but moved to the left. This seemed to satisfy them.

Their engine was loud. If this lock was singing to us we couldn't hear it. We left at 9.50.

Once through the lock the favourable current picked up to 1.2 kts.  The views were stunning, hills rolling down to the water, more hills and mountains in the distance. As we exited the lock the sun came out and from then onwards it was very warm.

The bug was still with us.  It had moved from the tiller and gone to sit on Igor's shoulder. It seemed quite happy.

We passed down the river admiring the scenery.

An hour or so later we passed Condrieu, which seemed to have a nice marina with more vineyards behind it.

We continued down the river, entering the Le Péage-de-Roussillon diversion canal. The Rhone has quite a few of these diversion canals. They were built to avoid the need to cross shallows and also are straighter than the river itself. At the end of the diversion you meet up again with the main channel.

We still had our passenger, the bug. It decided it was going to sit on me and moved to my boob, then up to my shoulder.

I needed to go down below to write in the logbook and it decided to crawl across my neck to the other shoulder. I wasn't too keen on this as it was very tickly. I didn't want to swat it away as apparently they release 'an aroma' if they are scared, hence the name.  I came back on deck, and the top of the folded down sprayhood caught me as I passed it, knocking the bug away.  It sat on a winch for a few minutes before deciding it had had enough and flew away.

The diversion canal was very industrial. We saw the least inviting pontoon ever after the bridge at Serrières.  It had a high bank with bollards and a few barges tied up and was sited next to a yard with piles of sand and gravel.

We reached the Sablons lock, another monster with a 14.5m drop, at around 12.30 and were allowed to go straight in.

This was another 'singing' lock, not quite as musical as Pierre-Bénite. I amused myself by trying to sing the same note that the bollard made on its descent. Fortunately there was nobody around to hear me, other than Igor, and he is well used to my singing.

We moored quite close to the exit and as we neared the bottom we saw a whirlpool. Could this be where the plughole was to let out the water?

We exited at 12.52pm, passing the  hydropower station on the way out.  The canal joined the river  and this caused us to gain an extra knot or more of speed.

By now it was getting hot and we started to look for a mooring. Sixteen or so km further downriver we reached the Halte Fluviale at St Vallier. There were no facilities but it was a pleasant spot.

A lot of anglers came and went, along with a family of swans who checked us out.  I decided it was time for a rest.

Once it cooled down in the evening we went for a walk. The houses were different to those we had seen before, made of big stones rather than bricks.

We ended up at an Intermarche and bought some cheese, then walked back along the waterfront.

I started cooking merguez sausages for dinner and became aware of a barge arriving.

Igor went up to investigate. Their English speaking crew asked us if we could move up as they had nowhere else to moor.  I turned the sausages off and we moved the boat.

Great timing! (you'll be pleased to hear that once we tied up again I was able to finish cooking and the sausages were delicious).

Sunday 11th June 2023

We woke around 7am and were away by 7.05 as there was no reason to go ashore.

Setting off from a mooring like this is just a matter of slipping the lines, no need to disconnect anything. It was a bright morning with the breeze behind us and the current with us.

Thanks to the internet we are able to stream the BBC so put 6 Music on. It was a bit jarring so we settled for Radio 3 instead. It went well with the reflections on the water and the swans gliding past.

Around 8.15 we entered the Gervans lock, 11 km from our starting place. The light was red as we approached so I radioed and it changed to green so we entered.

We had the lock to ourselves and it was another 'singing' lock so Igor recorded it. It's hard to describe how the sounds come at you from every angle as you descend deeper and deeper into the lock.

Just after 9am we arrived at Tournons. There was a jetty so we moored then found there was a door with a keypad. A lady came up to us and we had a short chat. She gave me the door code to get out (after I'd said we'd only be an hour, I think in retrospect it may have been a private pontoon).

There were two parts to the mooring, the bit we went to which was reasonably deep and another part which looked shallow and awkward.

We set off to have a look around the town. There was an open area next to the mooring, possibly for car parking, but it was cordoned off.

There were lots of motorbikes - sparkly gleaming Harleys and Indians, old French bikes - on show, plus bike related stuff for sale. If you wanted a custom spray job to have your petrol tank airbrushed this was the place to be.

We bought an ice-cream from a café next to the bike show and carried on further but there wasn't much else of interest, just a nice little French town, so we came back to the boat.

We punched in the door code for the pontoon. It didn't work. Igor climbed over it and pressed the button on the other side so that I could just walk through.

We were in Tournons for about an hour, and an hour after leaving we were by the Bourg-lès-Valence diversion canal, which led to the lock of the same name by 11.40.  We had to wait 15 minutes for a barge, Moonray, to exit the lock but were then able to enter and were out by 12.10.

This lock was quiet. Maybe the floating bollards had been oiled. I felt slightly cheated.

As we neared the end of the diversion canal we were getting hot and tired and so started looking for a mooring. The French Waterways website mentioned a marina at Valence so as we neared it we slowed down to take a look. Finally, it seemed, a proper marina! This was too good an opportunity to miss so we turned into the buoyed channel and tied up at the visitors pontoon.

The place has a really good atmosphere, it feels safe and protected both from the elements and any people with bad intentions.  

We considered our next move. Our mast isn't due to reach Port Napoleon until the end of the month. Why not leave the boat here and go home for a while? The more we thought about it, the better the plan seemed.

Once the Capitanerie opened at 4pm we booked a month long stay. We only intended to be about 3 weeks but it is cheaper to book for the whole month. We were given the codes to the amenity block so could have a much needed shower, and as we were getting ready to go we noticed a British flagged boat at the end of the pontoon so went and introduced ourselves.

The owner of the boat, Ben, told us that his boat is Wayzgoose. Those of you who like sailing videos on YouTube will recognise this name, its previous owners Stuart and Marina have made lots of videos of its journey to the Med. We watched most of them and they were really helpful with our planning.

Ben was on his way back to Chalon as a solo sailor. Hard work to go upstream by yourself in the heat.  He knows the area between here and the Med and told us that this is where the Mistral wind brews and incubates, and that looking at the sky we were in for stormy weather. This northerly wind would make his task even harder. His aim was to set off by 7am tomorrow so we said we'd lend a hand casting him off if we were up in time.

We had a short walk before dinner, thinking we might go into town, but it was hot and after 20 minutes we realised we were only half way there so turned back. I sat on deck for a while and a cat introduced himself to me. I tried to take a photo but he was too quick.

Despite our early start this morning we didn't get to sleep till gone midnight, then in the middle of the night there was a commotion outside. Igor got up to investigate. Guess who?

12th June 2023 and on

It was nice to be able to sleep in a bit for a change, though I did feel guilty that we hadn't helped Ben to get going. Imagine our surprise when we finally got up and saw that Wayzgoose was still there. Once we finally surfaced we saw Ben on the pontoon and asked what happened. Seems that a 7 o'clock start was a bit optimistic. Igor helped him on his way at 9am.

We decided to fly back to the UK tomorrow so had to spend the day cleaning the boat and eating all the cheese we had stocked up with in the expectation of being here a bit longer. The swans nearby had a good feed of our surplus bread.

I was surprised at how grubby the boat had become. With our gruelling (lol) schedule mucky corners self propagate. Under the table, under the grid in the shower, in the dark corners, all are places that needed bleaching to get rid of the buildup of grime. By the time I finished it was all gleaming, how I like it. I even polished the cockpit!

It was still very warm in the evening. The clouds were ominously heavy and we heard the odd rumble  of thunder. It was too hot to cook and almost too hot to eat so we just opened a couple of tins of tuna salad, which was better than it sounds.

We booked to fly from Lyon tomorrow. The trip to the airport is a bus into Valence, then a train to the centre of Lyon, then a shuttle to the airport. We did a recce to find the bus stop and checked the timetable.

Once back at the boat the rainstorm started, hammering on the coach roof, quite deafening. We realised that the windows were leaking in our cabin. I mopped the water up and put a saucepan to catch the rest.  I love the sound of rain on the boat roof, it always makes me feel safe and cosy to be on the inside.

The next day everything went smoothly, unlike our trip back from Digoin. The bus was on time and the driver really helpful.

We were early for our train to Lyon, but not too early.  The train followed the river for a lot of the route and we recognised a many places. It gives a very different perspective to be above the water and going so fast.

There was a Westfield shopping centre next to the railway station in Lyon and we were able to get a delicious poke bowl salad for lunch, then a fast shuttle to the airport.

The plane was more or less on time and Max met us in Mill Hill for a curry.

He had our car so we were able to drive home and sleep in our own bed. What a contrast to our last trip back from France!

PS As of the date of writing, 9th July, we will set off back to the boat in a couple of days so the blogs should get a bit more regular again next week!

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