On Y Danse, On Y Danse....

I'd like to say that we left early the next morning, but boat life seemed to have caught up with us and there was lttle sense of urgency!

Today we were to travel to Avignon. It was a fair distance, but it was going to be hot, and we figured we might as well be moving on water and thus creating a breeze, rather than sweltering in port.

The initial part of the journey saw us passing through the Donzere Gorge, one of the most attractive parts of the Rhone valley, through limestone hills.

It was known in much earlier times as a dangerous section but a side canal has meant the passage is much safer.

It was a simple trip and we were excited to be approaching Bollene, a very powerful hydro-electric power station, with a lock in which we were to drop 22m, the highest in France!

As it was such a deep lock we expected to be travelling through with other vessels, and were not suprised on our approach when we were told to allow a wood carrying barge to go through before us.

The guillotine dropped behind us, we easily moored up onto floating buoys and our descent began.

It was very impressive, the depth was immense, though we didn't really feel scared it was quite overwhelming and we were pleased on reaching the bottom and getting ready to leave!

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The Rhone is home to several nuclear power stations, due to its strong and regular flow which is used to cool the reactors.

The site we passed at Marcoule was the first of these and although its reactors are old and have ceased working the site has been used as a way to research dealing with radioactive waste. It looked pretty dilapidated as we passed, I hope they found a solution to deal with the waste, else we'd be glowing on reaching Avignon!

We were passing through Cotes du Rhone country with its rich wine growers, and could see various chateau remnants as we sailed by.

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Avignon is located in an arm of the old Rhone, 3km from the main river.

We arrived at 1830, having been delayed for 90minutes at the previous lock, we know not for why?

It was the Avignon festival with a huge gathering of theatre buffs and the town was buzzing.

There is no marina, and the port is basically just mooring along the town quay just beyond the Saint-Benezet Bridge. It was busy, but we manged to squeeze in towards the end of the quay ,with some expert manoeuvring from mon captain yet again.

There was apparently a Capitainaire, but it was never open during the duration of our stay...another free mooring!

Avignon is a delight to walk around on a hot summer night. The illumination of the old buildings is stunning and it is a lively and vibrant town.

From 1309 to 1377, Avignon was the seat of the Catholic popes. It remained under papal rule until becoming part of France in 1791. This legacy can be seen in the massive Palais des Papes (Popes' Palace) in the city centre, which is surrounded by medieval stone ramparts and I took a trip around it the following morning.

Mike was a bit 'churched' out by now , it was incredibly hot 36degrees C, and he thought it best if he and Sprocket visited a shady café in the old town for sustenance!

We loved Avignon, but the ridiculous weather this year had meant we had gone from being cold to excessive heat in a matter of days, and the facilities at Avignon are basic for boaters.

After our fill of sight seeing, we decided to move on and stop down river where we may catch some advantage of a breeze to cool down, and also be somewhere the poor dog could at least cool down with a swim.

Leaving late afternoon we arrived at the port of Aramon very soon. There is a submerged wall here which we were to go around and then tuck into the inside pontoon.

The inside mooring had silted up and so we had to moor on the outside , which wasn't ideal as we were exposed to wash from passing barges.

The town of Aramon was supposed to be worth a visit, so after Sprocket had gone for a refreshing and noisy swim, we wandered into town.

A nice enough town, with medieval character, but once again one of those towns where we had the feeling of nothing going on and not much being open. Is it a sign of the French economy, or was it just holiday season and they'd shut up shops for their own break... who knows?

Excitement was building, tomorrow we were to reach Port Napoleon and our entrance to the Mediterranean Sea, we were getting restless and Ramukanji wanted to be complete with mast and sails again!