The Long and Winding Rhone...

Actually, it's pretty much straight down from Lyon to Port St. Louis-du-Rhône, where we will enter the Mediterranean Sea, a distance of about 310kms.

The Rhone is a large river with a strong current, especially in these conditions with so much rainfall, and can be affected by strong winds such as the Mistral.

There are enormous brges,hotel boats and sea-going ships which we were again to share locks with!

With the recent rainfall there were also many logs and flotsom to avoid, and strong currents above the locks where there are also hydro-electric generators....what's not to like?

There were 12 locks for us to pass through on our way, and not an abundance of overnight stops!

The Compagnie Nationale du Rhone (CNR) looks after the area of the Rhone, its locks,irrigation canals and hydroelectric power stations which take advantage of the strong current.

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Our destination today was Les Roches de Condrieu, where there was a marina and a water park!

The current was strong and our speed was often approaching 9 knots over ground.

The boat travels at 6 knots through the water, the water itself is travelling at 3-4 knots , thus speed over ground is 9-10knots, think of stepping onto a travelator...

Thus, our approach to the marina was quite fast, and as it was quite a tight turn, we decided to go past and approach the marina from upstream to help with maneuverability, which worked a treat.

The marina was very full, but we got a lovely welcome from the capitain, though no tokens to the waterpark which other sailors had mentioned..

Having said that, the weather was not particularly inducive to swimming today.

Sprocket and I wandered off to explore the waterpark, which looked great with big floating slides and toys , and a waterski circuit using rope tows, great fun.

Sprocket was in his element swiming to his hearts content.

The marina was, I would say 'eclectic' with many boats I'm sure never moving anywhere and with different 'themes', some quite odd.

Generally marinas have some facilities for us to use, I try to avoid the washing machines unless they are proper industrial ones as they don't work very well and cost a fair bit. Stupidly I had put on a load of washing in what looked like an industrial machine, but on arriving back I couldn't open the door and there was a lot of beeping. Obviously, it was still lunchtime and thus my laundry was trapped for some time yet...

Our stay here was a little underwhelming , and we set off the next day towards Tournon which has a small marina for smaller boats, so we thought we would be fine to be able to squeeze in.

The countryside was very attractive, with many vineyards along the steep slopes we were passing through, and quite a few ruined castles and fortifications.

On arrival there wasn't a great deal of space, but we manged to squeeze into a good spot right beside a park and fronting the main street.

This was a superb stop, a really interesting little town with a castle, medieval streets to wander and an intersting history on suspension bridges of the Rhone!

We went to the chateau of Tournon, it looks like a castle, and looked at great models of the wire suspension bridges of Tournon. We weren't allowed to take Sprocket inside, but the ladies at reception were happy to have him sit with them whilst we took a tour with a lovely young man who spent a good hour taking us around the chateau and talking to us about the history of Tournon, all for a mere 5 euros, and Sprocket was thoroughly spoiled too.

The weather had finally improved, and we felt more like we were in southern France. The town was busy, a popular tourist destination for the french and we had a great mooring from which to visit the town and its offerings.

Below is a view from the castle, showing a typical southern France roofline. Notice also the countryside we are passing through which is lined with vineyards of some of the most famous wines in the world, stunning.

After an entertaining morning in the town, we decided to head off towards Valence a bit further south, where there was a decent marina.

Just as we were about to leave a large hotel barge decided to enter the little port!

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One of the reasons for wanting a decent marina was that it was the finals of the Euros and England was playing Spain, so we wanted somewhere we would be able to watch the match.

It was also Bastille Day, and our wedding anniversary 14th July, so a large town for festivities would also be good.

Bastille Day

A national holiday in France and its overseas départements and territories, marking the anniversary of the fall on July 14, 1789, of the Bastille, in Paris. Originally built as a medieval fortress, the Bastille eventually came to be used as a state prison. Political prisoners were often held there, as were citizens detained by the authorities for trial. Some prisoners were held on the direct order of the king, from which there was no appeal. Although by the late 18th century it was little used and was scheduled to be demolished, the Bastille had come to symbolize the harsh rule of the Bourbon monarchy. During the unrest of 1789, on July 14 a mob approached the Bastille to demand the arms and ammunition stored there, and, when the forces guarding the structure resisted, the attackers stormed the prison and released the seven prisoners held there. The taking of the Bastille signaled the beginning of the French Revolution, and it thus became a symbol of the end of the ancien régime.

The marina Valence-Eperrviere is through Valence on the outskirts and holds 420 boats, it is very pleasant and there is a good bus service into town (though not back as we found out to our detriment!)

As the previous day, we were whizzing past the marina and had to go past and turn back upstream to enable us to enter.

We use a couple of apps to help with our mooring choices, Captains Mate and Navily, they are frquently updated by other sailors using ports,anchorages and marinas and thus offer good everyday advice and warnings.

There was a warning for this marina about a sandbank at the entrance. The current was strong, and we were a little concerned about our maneuverability.

Another boat told us that a previous yacht had been stuck on the sandbank for three hours that morning!

We tried to go to the mooring we had been appointed, but guess what..... there was a sandbank here!

We manged to get off thanks to Mike's excellent skils and moored elsewhere easily making a note for otheres regarding the shifting sand.

The bus into town seemed to go a long way around through many housing disticts and then deposited us in the centre of quite a nice town.

It was a Roman port of importance, though not much of its' roman past remains now. There are many squares and boulevards and there is a good feel to the place. We found a typical Irish bar from where to watch the footie, but were early so wandered to another square for dinner.

Here there were large screens already set up and a much better vibe for the match than the Irish bar, so we found a table and claimed our space!

The square was packed with many nationalities, mostly supporting Spain, and as the match wasn't going our way , I snuck out at 10pm to watch the magnificent firework display.

England had lost by the time I returned from the fireworks, quelle domage!

The streets were packed and there appeared not to be any buses back, or taxis, and our short walking route was baracaded by the police as this was where the fireworks had been set off from, who knew!

A long walk back to the marina, but it was warm at least and we had a good nights sleep.

We had planned to leave the following morning, but the wind was strong, a Mistral from the north, and it was creating an unpleasant chop on the water. We decided to stay another day and enjoyed the marina environs, giving Ramukanji a good clean and catching up with some chores.

The following day we would continue south towards Avignon, our journey had suddenly sped up and we could feel the pull of the sea!