Woke up yesterday morning in Valence to the awful news about the terrorist attack in Nice . Bastille day is the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille at the beginning of the revolution to rid France of a tyrannical monarchy. It celebrates the unity of the French People in the cause of freedom.

On Bastille day morning we were in Valence watching the preparations for the Bastille Day celebrations in the evening . Clearly this is a big family day here in France and one could feel the excitement of the families watching the parks being prepared for the big firework display in the evening.

It is so sad that those who despise those hard fought for freedoms feel it necessary to murder children, women and men in order to gain publicity for their own perverse and blinkered view of the world.

France is a great country built around the three keystones of Liberte, Egalite and Fraternite. It is clear that this country will only be strengthened by these atrocities – it will not, for one moment, weaken!

The Mighty Rhone – so far.

We have now sailed up 221 kms and are in Valence Marina until Sunday when we head up towards Lyon and our next river – the Saone.   Our progress has not been entirely without incident!

Day One

Got up at 05 .00 so as to be ready for the first lock opening in Port St Louis at 06.20. At 06.00 the lock filled with one huge peniche (cargo boat) and two yachts. We scuttled over and nudged in at the back of them, switched the engine off and waited for the lock to empty. Lock emptied, gates opened,turned key to start engine – nothing!!! The fuse box for the starter motor had come apart!

After the other boats had set off we were ignomiously roped out of the lock by three cheery and sympathetic lock hands. At last we were in the mighty Rhone, tied up between some defunct wee fishing boats!

By 9.45 Rob had fixed the fuse box and we made our way into the main part of the river. The relief at setting off had calmed our fears about the river. We relaxed and got into our normal sea-going routine. About two hours into the trip Tiercel came to a crash stop – we had hit some underwater obstacle! At first it seemed that whatever we had hit had stripped the prop away but, after a few seconds, normal service was resumed by the engine and we continued on our way as if nothing had happened . We checked everything out and could find no problems. However, our relaxed mood had definitely been seriously dented.

We passed through Arles where there was supposed to be a visitor mooring pontoon but it was covered in wee local dinghies. Once past Arles the current got stronger and we were now doing less than 3 knots for much of the time. We saw very few other boats.The scenery on the river was beautiful and the wildlife, particularly the birdlife was prolific. Amongst the overhanging trees strange birds kept appearing and flitting between the riverbank greenery. At times it felt like we could have been on the Amazon. As we approached the ancient town of Tarascon the Castle and old riverside buildings came into view. Before we had time to enjoy them we noticed that the current was so strong that we were only doing one knot over the ground i.e. one third of walking pace. As we approached the two bridges that crossed the river a number of whirlpools formed which tried to take Tiercel off of her course . After a very slow last couple of miles we arrived at Beaucaire lock. It was now 19.00 hrs and we were very weary. The lock was huge – higher than Tiercel - with her mast on. We asked the lock keeper if we could stay the night on the waiting pontoon. She said it would be OK. It was fun watching the hotel boats and Peniches going through the lock. Marley got a good walk in the adjacent fields, dinner was eaten and we were asleep in no time.

Day 2

We set off at around 7.00 and went straight into the lock. As we entered its dark, slimy chasm the temperature dropped considerably. We tied up to the floating bollards the giant gates closed behind us and the lock began to fill – gulp!

The lock rises 15 metres so vast amounts of water need to flood into it from upstream. We fully expected to be pushed all over the place by the resultant pressure of water. However, the process is quite a gentle one and the lock filled without any drama . Soon we were standing in the sunshine and the gates were opening to let us continue on our way to Avignon where we arrived at 12.00. The quay at Avignon is right by the historic old town and one has to pass by the Castle, Pope's palace and the famous incomplete bridge upon which, according to the song, one dances.

We ended up mooring next to a large motor cruiser and its Australian owners . They invited us onboard for drinks that evening – very sociable – if I remember correctly! Subsequently we had dinner and wandered into the old town square, in front of the Pope’s Palace, where we watched a succession of dancers and acrobats with large hula hoops performing as part of a cultural festival.

Day 3

Today we decided to stay in Avignon, catch up with our shopping and do some sight-seeing. Our first port of call was the Pont D’Avignon which was started in the 12^th century and is still not complete – well, that’s about par for the course with Argyll’s roads department as well .

Avignon is a beautiful city and we will certainly return (by car) to see more of it.

Day 4

We snuck away from Avignon at 6.00 this morning and watched the effect of the sunrise on the beautiful old town - well worth the early start.

Today should not be a long day. Our target was to moor up at the pontoon in the hamlet of St Etienne des Sorts. We also had a couple of locks to tackle. The sun shone, the wind didn’t blow and all went well as we cruised slowly through the beautiful landscape of Provence.

We arrived at the wee village at around midday and settled in for a lazy afternoon. Nothing was open in this delightful village which seemed to consist of a number of narrow streets - cool in the afternoon sun, a wine warehouse and 2 restaurants. Everything was closed so we sat on the boat and watched village life do not a lot . The drinking font was just by the boat and seemed to be the gathering place for the local youth (all 4 of them). It also attracted passing cyclists to stop and take a drink.

All this activity made us tired so dinner was cooked and eaten, wine poured and drunk and then bed.

Day 5

We knew that today would be a long day, taking in the Ecluse de Bollene, the largest lock in France with a rise of 23 metres, followed by the dodgy Donzere Gorge which is a 3km narrow gorge where the water flows very quickly indeed. This section also has very few potential mooring places so we didn’t really know where we would end up.

The Bollene Lock was daunting once inside, but was no problem once it started filling. We averaged around 3.5knots through the Donzere Gorge which was being very gentle with us. So, now all we had to do was find somewhere to spend the night . Bear in mind that it is illegal to travel after dark on the Rhone. At around 6.00 we saw the small marina that we were looking for.We had been trying to contact them on the phone but without success. It had a very narrow entrance but we saw another dismasted sailing boat inside so decided to give it a go. Initially it showed 5 metres and, just as we were feeling as if we’d get in, the keel stuck in the mud. Eventually we managed to get off of the mud and out into the river but now had nowhere to stop. Luckily the lock keeper at the Logis Neuf lock allowed us to stay on their waiting pontoon for the night.

Day 5

During the night it rained quite heavily. We were ready to go at 7.00 and, just as we were donning our oilskins, a bizarre convoy of three rather disparate motor cruisers shot past us and into the lock. We later named them Pip, Squeak and Wilfred. Pip was an ageing but attractive large motor yacht; Squeak looked like the result of a night of unbridled passion between a B&Q double sized plastic bath and a Reliant Robin; and Wilfred was a classic French steel, liveaboard canal barge with a young family aboard – all very innocent looking .

As we exited the lock they immediately formed up into line astern formation and beetled off up the the wrong side of the river. We went over to the correct side and continued on our way. They were doing what rally drivers do, straightening out the bends to take the shortest possible route and thus moved from one side to another at will and illegally. We continued to trundle up on the correct (starboard) side keeping close to the bank to keep out of the stronger currents. We noticed that their tactic wasn’t working because, even at our steady pace, we were catching them. At one point they crossed to our side and we were found ourselves 3^rd in a convoy of 4.

We let them past again and they steadily went ahead. We then came to a difficult part of the river and found ourselves slowing down to avoid them. After the next lock they again shot off on the wrong side of the river. Again we caught up with them and had to manoeuvre to avoid a collision . Pip nearly hit us as it crossed over and cut us up (the driver had an umbrella up and couldn’t see behind her). Squeak then gave it laldy on his wee electric horn while shaking his fist at us and Wilfred stayed safely behind.

They then went over to the wrong side of the river and, again we passed them. At this point we arrived at the entrance to the delightful Valence marina. We hung a right and moored up while they continued to twist and turn into the distance along the wrong side of the river.

Days 6 to 9

We have now been here for 4 nights while a lengthy Mistrale blows through the Rhone valley. It is a lovely marina which is set in park grounds so there is plenty of opportunity to exercise Marley. Valence town centre is about 40 minutes walk from here and there is a huge supermarket about 10 minutes walk away.

On Bastille Day we took a stroll into town through the parkland and along the bank of the Rhone . Being Bastille day the town was mostly closed but we managed to get a coffee on arrival and then took a stroll through the older part of town. We discovered a 16^th Century building called La Maison Des Tetes (the house of heads) which is liberally covered in head carvings, gargoyles etc.

We noticed that the restaurants were starting to open up for lunch. After much humming and haaing we decided on the Restaurant Chez Grand Mere. It was the right choice. An excellent 3 course lunch for 2 (and Marley), including wine for only 30 Euros.

While we have been here it has been quite cold in the biting Northerly Mistrale so we have resorted to duvets on the beds again. Rob has stripped out and cleaned the engine cooling system which seemed to be letting the engine run a bit hot. Tiercel has also been re-fuelled and is ready for the next stage in our journey tomorrow which should take us within an easy day of Lyon and the River Saone.

We can afford to take things a bit easier after that. Our only deadline is to be in Macon (around 4 days from here and 2 days from Lyon) for the 30^th July when Will and Emma are coming out for a few days. After that we will be meeting up with Dave and Anne who are going to join us in the canals for a week or so.