For reasons which will become apparent later, we ended up spending the next few weeks in and around Auxonne. So all those activities are captured on this page.

Sun 4 Sept - manual PDFs, laundry, prefecture and Iveco preparations, sunset

I got a surprisingly good sleep in the van overnight, while Rita was still feeling a bit crook this morning. I went to Intermarche for some essentials shopping, then spent some time making sure I had all the required documents for our Carte de Sejour meeting at the Prefecture tomorrow. I then gathered all the photos I took of the Fleurette and Dometic manuals yesterday and assembled them into two PDF documents. Since the weather had imporoved a bit today, we did some laundry and hung it to dry on the rear deck.

In the afternoon, we cleaned the van in preparation for its inspection at Iveco tomorrow, and after a pleasant sunset, I slept in the van again this evening.

Mon 5 Sept - Iveco, failed Prefecture meeting, Ginguette, half-moon

We drove the van to Iveco in Dijon, arriving around 0830h. After waiting for the mechanic to arrive, we talked with him for a while, and learned that we would have to leave the van with them till Wednesday, after "the expert" had done his required inspections. We unloaded our bicycles from the rear of the van, and rode into Dijon to the Prefecture for our 1040h appointment. But we had been delayed at Iveco and underestimated the time needed to find and get to the Prefecture, and we arrived there just 5 seconds before 1040h.

We were admitted to the building by the security staff at the gate, and then asked to wait for our names to be called. We noticed people wandering around and chatting behind the counter for quite a while, and were eventually called to the counter. It was then that we learned that there was a problem! It seems that when I obtained my Carte de Sejour in 2018 at Montauban, I was issued with an ID number, which appears on the card, and a master file was then created with that ID number. Any further CdS applications (like the current one) are then added to that master file, so that only one file exists for any single person (for security reasons). It now appears that although I was issued with a card, the admin person at Montauban (who had given us grief throughout the entire process) had accidentally (or deliberately) failed to "sign-off" on the master file, meaning that it was now blocked and couldn't be used for a new application. The Dijon person said they had been trying for a few days to get the file unblocked, but could not get any response from Montauban. They therefore couldn't proceed with our current application, despite us driving all the way back from Moissac after learning of our meeting today. They said they would keep trying to get it unblocked, and gave us a new appointment time for next Monday. Which just means we have to hang around for another week waiting for another meeting! To say we were unimpressed was something of an understatement.

So, we rode our bikes through Dijon to the train station and caught the train back to Auxonne. We were so angry that we did very little on the boat that afternoon, but went up to the Ginguette that evening for a drink, in the shadows of the walls of Fort Auxonne.

On the way back to the port, we noticed that while there was not much of a sunset in the west, the clouds to the east were catching the last rays of tha sun, as the rising half-moon reflected in the water.

Tues 6 Sept - lazy day, Ginguette, tjalk

Despite forecasts of rain, which kept us indoors all day, nothing arrived. So it was a lazy day, just reading and hanging about (and still fuming at the Montauban flunky). In the evening we went up to the Ginguette for a walk, and drinks and dinner, and were rewarded with an interesting sunset shot of an old Tjalk, which we helped to moor up on the stone steps. The boat was skippered by an elderly German gentleman, who had his twenty year old grandson on board learning the ropes, in preparation for inheriting the boat when grandad stops cruising in the next year or so. What an inheritance!

Wed 7 Sept - Fartrans,wasted trip, Leclerc, storm

Rain was forecast for 1500h this afternoon, but given the frequency of inaccurate forecasts in France this year, we weren't willing to place any bets on it arriving. Instead, we drove the Scenic to Dijon to go to Iveco to pick up the van. When we got there, we spoke to Silvain (the mechanic) who told us that the "expert" had not yet made an appearance to do his inspections. This place is geting to be more and more like the Prefecture every day! So we told Silvain to go ahead with fixing the fridge controls and also to fit the security locks to the van door and the luggage compartments, and that we would pick up the van next Monday when we returned to Dijon for our next apppointment at the Prefecture. At least I got a little laugh from the name of a transport company on one of the Iveco trucks in the workshop.

We were disappointed with another wasted trip to Dijon, and so on the way home we stopped at LeClerq for some retail therapy, starting with some long overdue breakfast, and then some bargain clothes shopping (including two puffer jackets for the cooler days ahead). When we got back to Auxonne, I assumed the lead role in Kenny3, where I fixed the toilet for the third time this year, and then spent time drying out the bilge area under the kitchen floor, and then sealing the drain in the shower recess, which is where we suspected the water in the bilge was coming from (we'll keep an eye on this over the coming weeks to see if this fixes the problem).

The 1500h deadline for the forecast rain came and went, but later in the afternoon the skies darkened in the east...

...and finally we got some of the long-promised rain.

Thurs 8 Sept - neighbour departs, wood4good Zoom, Osprey, Saone bike ride, RIP QE2

For the past week, we have had the pleasure of two couples moored near us at the end of Pontoon B - a Scot/German couple and a Swiss couple. This morning the Scot/German couple departed the port to return to their winter mooring in the old ecluse south of St Jean de Losne, and we gathered to say goodbye to them.

In mid-morning, I had a Zoom meeting with Sebastian from wood4good, to talk about their proposed thinning of our plantation at Kanumbra back home (yes, the barge and the plantation have the same name, Kanumbra, which is OK except when I'm doing a digital search for something related to Kanumbra). While I was doing this, Rita went into town to buy some tax stamps from the local Tabac, which the Prefecture had told us we'd need for our meeting next week. This is despite the fact that the French Visa website states that the Carte de Sejour for the spouse of Swiss citizens is free - it seems that every Prefecture has their own little set of special rules (and fees).

In the late morning, we went over for morning tea with Rob and Elly on barge Osprey. They had contacted us to ask if we could get together to talk about campervan security, since they have a van in port and had heard about the theft of Vanumbra. So we went over and discussed vans for a while, and then spent another hour talking about all things barging. When we got back to Kanumbra, I followed the end of the one-day international cricket game between Australia and NZ, which Australia won to take a series win.

In the afternoon, we jumped on our bikes and rode south-west down the Auxonne canal until we got to the excluse leading down to the River Saone. Rita had intended going for a swim at her favourite spot here, but there was already a large group having a picnic there, so we continued riding south down the Saone, until we came to a launching ramp where she could easily enter the river for a swim.

When we got back to the barge, we learned of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. We are not monarchists by any means, but she seemed like a nice old chook, and we felt like we should pay our respects in some manner. But we were uncertain about the protocol for flags on ships, so we simply took down our Aussie flag and flew a black t-shirt in its place.

That evening we went for a quiet walk around the port as the moon rose behind the clouds.

Fri 9 Sept - post storm clouds, NRL & AFL Finals, colourful sunset

The morning dawned cool, with the remnants of some storm clouds to the north above the red barge of our Swiss neighbours, so we stayed indoors and both did some writing; Rita on her thesis and me on this blog.

The football finals were in full swing back home and today Penrith beat Parramatta in the first game of the NRL finals, while reigning premiers Melbourne Demons were eliminated in one of the AFL finals and Collingwood turned around their luck from last week to win their game and continue into next week. Apart from that, today was relatively boring, brightened only by a colourful sunset.

Sat 10 Sept - Besain, fridge, handball, dinner, Jo Sepp

Our Swiss neighbours left this morning to go back to Zurich, leaving our end of Pontoon B very quiet. I listened to the NRL finals games from back home, with Melbourne Storm being eliminated early for the first time in many years, while North Queensland squeaked home against Cronulla. Since nothing much was happening around Auxonne, we decided to go visit Sarah and Albon in Besain for the weekend. Having gotten rid of the coffee machine that was left in the van (by simply putting it in the recycling yard at Port Royal, and waiting less than 12 hours for it to disappear), we had asked Albon if he would like the small fridge for his work area at the farm, and he readily agreed. So we started the day by loading the fridge in the back of the Scenic, and driving to Besain. Given that it was a Saturday afternoon, Theo was playing handball for his local club, so we met him and Sarah at the gymnasium. It was the first time I had ever seen a game of handball live, and I must admit it was better quality than I had expected. Theo's team was particulalry well drilled, and won easily 32-20, with Theo scoring 4 goals himself. Very interesting!

After handball, we returned to the house at Besain where we handed over the fridge to Albon (who had just returned from a day of caving with Louis), and Sarah and Albon prepared dinner. After dinner, we enjoyed a game of Jo Sepp with them, before sleeping overnight at Besain.

Sun 11 Sept - Arbois ridgeline walk, Auxonne TriAthelon, sunset

The morning was cool, but sunny, with the promise of a nice day ahead. So we decided to take advantage of the good weather by going for a walk with Sarah on the ridgeline above the nearby town of Arbois. This ridgeline, at the head of a cirq, contains one of my favourite pieces of local road, which dives through a man-made gap in the surrounding rocks.

To the right of this gap lies the valley leading up to the cirq and accompanying waterfalls.

At the far end of this valley lies the town of Arbois, and its adjacent vineyards.

The walk started at the restaurant Le Fer à Cheval on the Rte de Champagnole, and was a mixture of shady walks through trees and exposed walks along the unguarded edge of the cliffs that fall down to the valley below.

After about an hour's walking, we arrived at the village containing the Chateau d'Artois.

We continued walking, headed for the Belvedere de La Châtelaine, an old stone fortress located at the edge of the cliff overlooking Arbois. There was not much left of the fortress, apart from some small buildings and the foundations of many others. But there was enough to get the imagination working as to what the fortress must have been like in its day.

One appreciated the impregnable siting of the fortress when looking out a window of the room shown at right above, which was located at the very edge of the cliff which dropped vertically to the valley floor.

On the way back to the car, we stopped for lunch near the Chateau d'Artois, then retraced our steps from the morning, Even though we covered the same ground, the scenery was fresh looking in the opposite direction. While Sarah returned to Besain, we then returned to Auxonne via the Aire de Pont rest area on the A39 motorway, because this was the Motorway Aire closest to Auxonne that had campervan discharge facilities. We thought these might be useful on future trips to and from Auxonne in the campervan, and hence worthy of an inspection in advance.

After we got back to Port Royal, Rita decided to go for a river swim, since it had been all of three days since her last swim in the Saone. While she was gone, I sat on the rear deck catching up on novel reading, and watching a TriAthelon that was happening in Auxonne. We had seen them all swimming in the Saone when we had returned to Auxonne today, and they had since done their bike ride to the south-west of Auxonne and now they were doing three laps of the run around the Port Royal marina. On the first lap, I had noticed one guy down the back of the field running much faster than anyone else; by lap 2, he was in the middle of the field; and on the third and final lap, I saw him streak into the lead as he passed Kanumbra, and headed for the finish line. Obviously, he was a very good runner and was not as good at swimming and cycling.

After Rita returned, we settled down on the rear deck for a drink and then dinner, as we waited to see what sort of sunset Auxonne would provide tonight. She did not disappoint!

Mon 12 Sept - misty, train to Dijon, another Prefecture failure, Iveco failure, Danube cancellation

It was a foggy morning over the River Saone, as we left the port early on our bikes to take the train to Dijon for our new appointment at the Prefecture.

The Auxonne Gare looks rather grand with its castellated roofline, but this appearance is from a bygone era. While there are still regular trains to and from Auxonne, most of the building has been closed up and there are rarely any staff in attendance, with automatic ticket machines and all the freight facilities closed. Nonetheless it does give you something to look at while you wait for the train. When the train to Dijon arrived, we realised that we had mismatched the time of day and taking our bikes with us (which we needed to get to and from the Dijon Gare, the Prefecture and the Iveco depot). The train was already near-full, and there were many people wanting to get on at Auxonne. Luckily the train door was right in front of us when it stopped, so we were able to get on early with our bikes and then squeeze ourselves in around the bikes as the rest of the people boarded. We stayed this way without moving for the 20 minute trip to Dijon.

When we got to Dijon, it was raining softly, so instead of riding to the prefecture, we walked our bikes with umbrellas raised through the centre of the city, since we had allowed plenty of time today to get to the Prefecture. It was a very pleasant walk along a pedestrianised street, past the Carousel Square and the Palace of the Dukes.

The normally bustling cafes in Place de la Liberation opposite the Palace of the Dukes was very quiet and, since we were still early for our appointment, we stopped for a morning coffee and croissant.

When we got to the Prefecture, we presented our appointment papers to the guards at the gate, and they phoned inside to check our appointment details. There was some delay and then a lady we had seen at previous appointments came out and asked us inside to wait. When we were finally called to the counter, the lady from last week's appointment told us that she had not been able to contact Montauban to get our master file unblocked. At this point in time, I was glad I didn't know enough French to tell her what I thought, and so I just let Rita handle the conversation in a more diplomatic fashion. I couldn't believe that they hadn't phoned or emailed us to tell us that the file had not been unblocked, thereby saving us the trip to Dijon. She was very apologetic, but that was not much consolation at this time. In the end, Rita asked for the contact details of the Montauban Prefecture, and said we would try to contact them as well (in parallel with their efforts). We left the Prefecture in not the best of moods.

We then got on our bikes and headed for Iveco. As we passed the port along the way, we noticed that VNF must have been very busy in the past week, since the port area was looking much cleaner, with hardly any surface weeds in sight.

When we got to Iveco, we spoke with Silvain and he showed us the three locks that he had fitted to the van door and the luggage doors. He also explained what he'd found with the fridge controls and how he had fixed them. We thought we had had at least one win for the day. But after he left us and went back inside, I thought I'd just check the operation of the fridge before we left the depot, since we intended to use the van next week. I couldn't get the fridge to work as it should, and Silvain eventually agreed that there was still a problem. But we took the van for next week, and would bring it back to be fixed properly in the future.

The reason we wanted to take the van with us today was that Arnim and Heidi were planning a week-long cycling trip along the Danube in Germany next week and we had arranged to meet them along the way in the van and cycle with them for a couple of days. However, when we got back to Auxonne, we checked the weather forecast for next week and saw that rain was forecast for most days along their intended route. We were now unsure whether they would even be doing their trip, and making a special trip up there in the van in the hope of cycling with them for a couple of days was looking very optimistic. So we reluctantly decided to cancel our plans with them. At least we now won't have to worry about a fridge that doesn't work!  What a great day this has been.

Tues 13 Sept - sunrise, Chateau Ray-sur-Saone, Malans Ile Art, flute sculpture, unblocked file

We woke to a promising sunrise, then turned over and went back to sleep again.

Since our cycling trip along the Danube had been cancelled, and we weren't going to be using the van this week, we took Vanumbra to St Jean de Losne and parked it in the secure carpark. We then stayed in the Scenic and, using a Chateau Guide Book that Rita had picked up at a tourism centre, we decided to head north along the Saone and visit a chateau in that region, since we may not be getting the chance to do any more barging up the Saone this year, the way things are going.

In late morning, we arrived at the town on Ray-sur-Saone, a small village on the River Saone, but just off the main waterway where a canal takes boats through a lock to avoid a twisty part of the Saone (a common occurrence on the Saone and Doubs). We went through the town and up a hill to reach the Chateau de Ray sur Saone. From the front entrance the Chateau looked suitably grand.

Unfortunately, the chateau was undergoing some restoration work and was only open for inspection on weekends, so we had to make do with looking from outside and wandering through the surrounding gardens. Nonetheless, these gardens were also grand and featured some huge old trees.

There was also a good view over the town and its position relative to the River Saone.

After wandering around the chateau grounds for a couple of hours, we headed back down to the town and found a small cafe, Yvette's, which looked like a good place for a coffee and a small dessert. As we sat there, we took another look at the tourism book and found that there was another attraction nearby, in the shape of an outdoor sculpture garden, Ile Art, in Malans. So we headed that way, and were soon there. The sculpture garden consisted of a series of sculpture exhibits, laid out alongisde a pathway that wandered though a small valley. The quality of the exhibits was variable, and we were left scratching our heads as to the meaning of this exhibit. In any case, Rita decided it was a good place for a little rest.

After a few more puzzling sculptures, I was on the point of giving up, until I found this one, which made a bit more sense to me. I liked the idea of the mother chook taking her unborn babies for a little walk (at least, I hoped that was what it represented).

There was another poulty-flavoured exhibit (at least from a distance) with these random black shapes pecking around in the grass under a tree. Closer up, they looked nothing like chickens!

I also liked this stone-age bookshelf.

Out the back of the garden was an open area that contained several exhibits by the same sculptor, with most featuring a large-scale rusted-steel angular theme. This one caught my eye, mainly because of the community conversation that appeared to be taking place up on the sculpture.

On the way out of Ile Art, we passed one more exhibit that grabbed Rita's attention. Normally, when we travel, Rita takes every opportunity of an emplty church to play her flute. This time, she found an empty sculpture!

On the way home, we swung by the Port St Pierre mooring on the Saone, where Rita hoped to get in a swim. Although there were two Piper barges moored there, she still managed a quick swim. Earlier in the day, Rita used the contact details she had obtained for the Montauban Prefecture to enquire about the blocked master file. She must have more power than the Dijon Prefecture, because when we got back to the boat she found she had a reply saying that the file had now been unblocked! We celebrated her success with pizza on the rear deck, as we enjoyed the warm autumn breeze.

Wed 14 Sept - limbo day

Today was one of those limbo days, where little is done and it's not much use making plans because of future commitments. After hearing from the Montauban Prefecture yesterday, we got in touch with the Dijon Prefecture and (to their credit) they immediately squeezed in another rendezvous for tomorrow morning. So since there was solid rain in Auxonne for most of the day, we did little but enjoy a quite day on the barge, reading and catching up with some other small jobs that were outstanding. Nothing worthy of taking a photo of today!

Thurs 15 Sept - another Dijon trip, Visa recepisse, rainy lunch in Dijon,

The rain continued overnight, so next morning we drove the Scenic up to the Auxonne Gare and caught the train to Dijon. Since we were only going to the Prefecture today, we didn't need our bicycles, which made for a more relaxed train trip. When we got to Dijon Gare, the rain had eased, which made for a pleasant walk through the centre of town. As we passed one building, I saw in the corner of my eye a striking sight, which caused me to turn around and look through the doors again. This relief sculpture was stunning and the light shining through the doors really brought it to life. Since I was finally going to get my Carte de Sejour today, it was with a sense of relief that I continued walking to the Prefecture.

When we got to the Prefecture, we were greeted like long-lost friends. The lady behind the counter thanked us for getting the master file unblocked, and then proceeded to ask questions and record answers, and then take fingerprints electronically, and finally went back to the printer in a back room and returned with the Recepisse (receipt) for my Carte de Sejour application, which certifies that the application was complete and had been approved.

The Recepisse serves as an interim Carte de Sejour, which I can use to prove that I can stay indefinitely in France (up to 5 years), for example when I am leaving France next month. When the final plastic card is ready, I have to return to the Dijon Prefecture in person to collect the card. However, when we asked when that might be available, she said that it could be a few weeks or a few months. Since I was due to fly home in 3 weeks time, we therefore asked what would happen if the card arrived after I had left France. They said that they would hold the card for collection at Dijon, but that they could only hold it for 6 months, from the date when the Carte was approved (i.e. today). This would mean that I would have to pick it up in Dijon by 14 March 2023!  This is much earlier than I was intending to come to France next year, so we asked what we should do if I couldn't be here before then. She then said that I would have to apply for an extension of time (a Bridging Visa) at the French Consulate (in Sydney). Since one of the purposes of getting the Carte was to avoid having to make trips to Sydney for visas, this seemed to defeat the purpose somewhat. It looks like I will have some thinking to do about how to handle this next year.

Despite this little complication, I was happy to have the Recipisse in my hand, so today we left the Prefecture in a relatively good mood. By now the showers had started again, so as we walked past the Place de la Liberation, we decided to duck into Cafe Hugo for a celebratory drink.

I enjoyed a cold beer, and was glad that the name of the beer did not have the words in reverse order!

I also enjoyed the blackboard sign for the toilets, saying that they were "mixed", and that Gentlemen should "think about the Women". I assumed this meant that men should raise the seat if they were standing to have a pee. However, when I later went to said toilets there was no seat to raise, so I guess the Dames would just have to sit on the porcelain rim!!

Since we were in a good mood, we decided to have a walk around Dijon and explore a little. As always, some of the architecture in the older parts of French towns was very interesting. I was particularly impressed by the arrays of gargoyles that decorated the front of this building, next to a church with some interesting towers.

Since the middle of the day was approaching, we decided to stay for lunch and found a street with numerous outdoor cafes. We let the locals choose which one to select, and went for the one with most people already there. We were asked whether we wanted an indoor or outdoor table, and since the rain had now eased we chose the outdoor table. We were very happy with this choice as we watched the passing parade of lunchtime Dijonians passing by on the street. However, we started to think that perhaps we had made the wrong decision when the rain returned with some force. Luckily, however, we had selected a table with an umbrella which diverted the rain just around our table, unlike the lady at an adjacent table who was forced to provide her own shelter.

We were particularly impressed by our young Italian waitress who gained shelter from the rain when she came to check how we were going, by balancing her tray on her head as a makeshift umbrella. Sadly, I was not quick enough with my phone camera to capture the moment (but it's still in my mind's photo album!).

After the rain stopped and we finished our lunch, we made our way back to the Gare and took the train back to Auxonne. When we arrived at the port carpark, we saw that the rain had been heavy in Auxonne, with the lower portions of the carpark turned into a lagoon surrounding the parked vehicles. This is why we never park in that area!

Fri 16 Sept - Iveco, slow Vietnamese dinner

The rain finally ceased and we woke to a clear dry morning. But it wasn't exactly sunny outside, so we stayed inside for most of the morning reading. Since our trip to the Danube had been cancelled, we took the van up to Dijon Iveco to enable them to get a head-start on the remaining repairs. On the way home, we stopped at Intermarche to stock up on supplies, for a little barge trip we planned over the coming week. That evening we decided to try again to have dinner at our Vietnamese restaurant/takeaway. When we got there, there was no one else sitting at a table, so we were invited to sit and have a drink while we perused the menu. However, while we were doing this, a group of three arrived, so we moved to a table for two to enable them to sit together. Then after we had ordered, another two groups of two arrived, so now all the tables were filled. And then lots of people came in to collect, or place orders for, takeaways. It looked like being a very long night. But at least we got to talk with the group of three, and realised that one of them worked at the port in St Jean de Losne. The other two were here to help him move a barge up river tomorrow. Eventually our food arrived, and as always it was very tasty. So thankfully the wait had been worthwhile.

Sat 17 Sept - moving Goldbach, Pesmes trip, pan case crown, Alain instructing, sparkly dinner

We woke at 0630h to noises on the next pontoon, and as good Neighbourhood Watch people we got up to see what was happening. It turned out to be the poeple we had met at the Vietnamese restaurant last night, securing their boat to Goldbach, an unpowered barge that had been moored on Pontoon C for the past few months. Goldbach belongs to a Swiss couple who live about Goldbach in whatever port it is moored, and also have a smaller boat that they use to cruise on the rivers and canals. Obviously, they are moving Goldbach to another port for winter, and since it does not have an engine, it needs to be pushed/towed to the next port. After they got the boats connected around 0730h, they disappeared and we went back to bed.

Around 0900h, we heard some more activity on Goldbach, as the pusher-boat started manoeuvring it away from Pontoon C, and soon it was approaching the end of Pontoon A on its was out of port.

I often have enough difficulty manoeuvring Kanumbra around the end of Pontoon A, so I was interested in seeing how they managed with this pusher configuration. But by taking it gently, and a bit of back and forth manoueuring, they had soon made the turn.

They then moved through the rest of the port and entered the Saone and headed north. Once they got in a straight line, they moved quickly up the river. I would have liked to see how they handled some of the ecluses up the river, especially the narrower ones.

Given the improving weather, and the lack of Prefecture/Iveco commitments, we had decided to start a one-week cruise tomorrow. But that meant we had today free, so we decided to go to an Art Exhibition that we had seen advertised in the town of Pesmes, just to the north of Auxonne. So in late morning, we drove the Scenic up that way. Unfortunately, the art exhibit was somewhat less than enthralling, but we did enjoy the view from the town walls over the River Ognon.

We then went for a walk through some gardens and around the town, and stopped for a coffee in a local cafe. We had also seen a notice for an Open Day at the local Village Forge, which sounded interesting. So we drove a little way out of town and found the forge. However, the midday tour had just finished and the next tour wasn't until the late afternoon. Since we didn't fancy waiting around that long, we headed back to the barge in the early afternoon.

But I made the most of the afternoon by using the corflute I had bought at Bricomarche during the week to start making a new lid for Rita's pan case (which had gone missing during the campervan theft). So with scissors and glue I got to work, and soon had the beginnings of a lid (although it looked more like a new crown for King Charles III at this stage).

As I worked on the lid, I listened to the arrival of many boats in port (it was Saturday, and many hire boats had just started their week-long hire from St Jean de Losne, and were making their first overnight stop at Auxonne). I also listened to our Port Capitaine, Alain, giving them instructions as to how to reverse into their mooring location (slowly, slowly, back, stop, forward, right, back, slowly, slowly...). He showed great patience, as, for many of them, this was the first time they had moored their boat, and they received precious little instruction when they picked up their boat this morning. Many were very grateful for the assistance, although some insisted they knew what they were doing, and only half of those were correct!

That evening, I used the offcuts from the pan construction to make lots of stars for our dinner table tonight. Together with the tiny LED lights in the wine bottle, it made a very happy environment for a relaxed dinner.