We are now in a Port De Plaisance (sounds so much nicer than “marina”) in the City of Lyon, about a km up the River Saone. Our 4 day stay in the lovely Port de Plaisance de Valance which is really a country park into which some pontoons and other boaty stuff has been inserted, was very relaxing and allowed us to stock up on food, booze,fuel and water. We were also able to do some essential boat maintenance. Our journey from Valence to Lyon was surprisingly incident free. We were able to take our time knowing that the worst was behind us and our only deadline was to be in Macon on the 30^th to meet Will and Emma.
 Day 1After feeding and walking Marley, we left Valence at 06 .00. As we moved into the river the
rising sun rose in the East and a full moon hovered over the Rhone in the South, presenting us with a beautiful memory of leaving Valence. Today was likely to be a long day for us with 3 locks and around 72kms of river to tackle. We expected that this could take around 13 hours. We arrived at the Valence lock with 3 other boats, all of which were going faster than us. 2 motor yachts and a catamaran. The 2 motor yachts we knew quite well and the Brit catamaran had been just behind is in Valence. After the lock the 2 motor boats left us well behind and the catamaran passed us a little less quickly . By the time we got to the next massive lock we had to wait for a large hotel boat to enter the lock before us. We and the catamaran tied up to a pontoon and settled down for a long wait – there was no chance we would get in with the hotel boat. Gina and the catamaran owner set off up the steps with our respective dogs when a voice came over the lock loud speaker
system saying, with just a hint of humour, “You may now enter the lock” . The pontoon became a flurry of dogs, people, ropes and boats as we entered the lock in the few inches of safe room behind the floating hotel. When the lock filled, the catamaran again shot off at a good pace while we pottered along at our normal cruising speed. We were enjoying the ride. The Rhone really presented itself at its best today as we passed the hills of vineyards, small villages and towns, all resplendent in the bright morning sun. As we puttered along we realised that we were making really good speed and were likely to arrive quite early. We passed the time playing ‘spot the chateau’ there were many of them ranging from the neat and simple to the ostentatious and outrageous. Soon we neared our final lock and saw some folk fishing in a wee boat. They were obviously rather excited about something . In the boat with them was a huge catfish. It was at least 4 feet long with a huge head and a mouthful of interesting pointy teeth. One of the guys seemed to be cuddling it (each to his own I suppose – what is the penalty for sexually assaulting a
giant catfish?) . He was actually struggling to put it back in the water. It slid reasonably gracefully over the side of their boat and disappeared into the murky depths of the Rhone. I bet his t-shirt smelled great after being smeared with the delicate frissance of a couple of gallons of ‘Eau de giant Catfish’. We finally arrived at the Port de Plaisance of Roches de Condrieu at around 16.00 – 3 hours ahead of schedule! It really was a delightful place – another marina situated in a country park It had been a long-ish, hot day and it was good to get Tiercel tied up and then down a long,
cool beer.
 Days 2 and 3We spent these 2 days doing odds and sods of jobs on the boat, going swimming in the swimming area of the park, which was a bit like Ruislip Lido in Middlesex except it was in completely open country surrounded by vine covered hills etc. It also had an automated water ski-ing area where a large circle of high wires operated a number of dangly cables with handles on the end. This was used by the local adolescents to spin stylishly around the park on water skis and ski boardy board things (wot?) . The marina was quite a large one with a vast range of boats ranging from luxury cruisers via converted peniches, sailing boats in transit, steel boxes with windows and an engine, to wee dinghies. The weirdest one of all was a sailing yacht of around 36’ with it’s mast mounted
horizontally along the deck. However, the owner had painted the whole thing a delicate shade of matt black. The only part of the boat that wasn’t black was a giant teddy bear perched on the anchor winch. We think he had tried to get a pirate style motif going, but it really was seriously weird.
 Day 4

Today we were up at 5.30 and departed at 6 back into the Rhone. The river really is beautiful in the mornings and the light is exquisite, EXCEPT, when the sodding sun rises straight in front of you and blinds you for the first few miles. Rob was actually having to use the compass to steer by and Gina had to read out the depths everytime the river turned to the East. However, this didn’t last for long and we had a pleasant journey for the last 40km into Lyon . As we came out of the last lock it deposited us straight into Lyon’s dockland which was quite confusing. Eventually we found our way down the last couple of kms until, with 323kms behind us we left the Rhone and entered the Saone. The west bank of the Saone has hills rising from it with many gorgeous and expensive old houses, churches, cathedrals etc hanging off of them. The East bank however is the old
docklands which are, like their equivalents in Glasgow and London, subject to some ultra-modern re-development. It is an incredible contrast, the old and sedate West against the shock of the new on the East.  The tiny marina is situated among the modern development on the East bank. Somehow it manages to be a haven of peace and quiet among the hustle of the new Lyon ‘Les Confuences’ developments.  As we have travelled up from Port St Louis we have met quite a few other crews and it seemed that most of them were in Lyon Port de Plaisance.  

Lyon.

Lyon is a major confluence of rivers, roads and railways .
It is not really a holiday destination but rather a business centre. It has a
reputation as a get-up-and-go city with more restaurants per Gothic and Renaissance square metre than
anywhere else on earth (according to the Rough Guide to France). 

On Thursday Rob went hunting for Fluvia Cartes (chart
books) for the canal section of our journey. We had originally planned to
travel on the South Westerly canal rout to Paris but the recent floods caused a
major breach in one of the canals near Briare which is unlikely to be repaired
anytime soon. This means that we now have to find fluvia catres for the more
Northerly route via the River Marne.

He was aware of a bookshop near the city centre which
sold these. He and Marley set out to find it. When they got to the address they discovered
that it was now a cafe! After 2 hours of
searching they came back to the boat only to be told by Pierre (owner of a very
dapper motor cruiser) that there was a chandlery 200 metres from the boat that
sold them – DOH! 

In the meanwhile Gina had found that we were surrounded
by supermarkets, including a Carrefour so
had been stocking up the boat with loadsa goodies . 

Yesterday we visited the Musee des Confluences which is a
large stainless steel building situated at the head of the peninsula where the
Rhone and Saone meet.   It is not a
traditional museum at all but a building in which they try to explain life, the
universe and everything without coming to any conclusions. Very French, very
thought provoking and an absolute must-see for anyone visiting Lyon. The views
of Lyon and the surrounding countryside
are superb. 

Today we head off to do the tourist bit around the old
City. 

Tomorrow we depart for a trip up the Saone to Macon where
we meet up with Will and Emma next Sunday.