We were awoken during the night by fireworks going off in the surrounding hillsides. No idea what they were celebrating, and it was definitely not July 14. But eventually we got back to sleep, to eventually awake to a brand new day.

In preparation for some cruising over the next week, I spent the morning ensuring that the bowthruster batteries were charged from the Bosch C7 charger, given that the blown fuse would not allow charging from shore power. Theoretically, I could have charged from shore power, by bypassing the blown fuse, but then the circuitry that the fuse was protecting would be subject to risk, and this was a risk I was not prepared to take (especially when the C7 could charge the batteries safely, even if it was slightly less efficient).

In the afternoon, Rita unloaded her bike from the boat and headed upstream where she was planning to go for a swim in the River Doubs just downsteam of Ecluse 49 near Malate. While she was away, I did some work on this blog, but in late-afternoon, she rang to see if I wanted to join her for a drink in the gardens of the nearby Malate Cafe. This sounded like a nice idea, so I agreed. I had intended to ride up to meet her, but then realised that it was not possible for me to download my bike from the boat single-handed. So I put on my walking shoes, and walked up river to meet her. It was a worthwhile walk, because the Malate Cafe garden was a nice place for a late-afternoon apero.

As evening approached, we left the cafe and headed back to the boat. Rita rode ahead and I followed on foot, which worked out nicely as everything was nearly ready for a late dinner on the rear deck when I arrived back at the boat.