River L'Yonne then La Seine to Paris.
On leaving Auxerre we were now travelling down the River Yonne
where the locks were alongside the weirs or barrages, no problem when the river is slow but more difficult if it has been raining heavily and the river is fast.
The river is wide and scenery is very different to the canal. We passed a camping ground where they had brought in sand to make a beach for the summer.
The river is widening now and we are accompanied by a lot of hire boats on the trip down to Joiny. We have been travelling with hire boats carrying Americans, Slovakians, Australians from Ballarat, English and Canadians and a small barge from Holland.
We arrived in Joiny where a great Scots couple Helena and David
helped us moor and after a bit of yakking invited us for a drink which we finished several hours later in between settling the boat in and helping John in his narrowboat moor alongside.
What a great time we had and what a small world. John has a daughter in Perth and visits her each summer, so we will catch up with him later. Helena and John had just been travelling with a young Perth couple who were in their parents boat and had left something behind so we are now on a mission to find Skye and Nathan when we get back home.
The day we were in Joiny it was end of the hire boat week and we were very happy recipients of all sorts of drinks, food and cleaning materials the hirers had not used. Seems like a good ploy to arrive in a hire boat port at the end of the trip changeover.
Along the way we had been told about a restaurant called 'Paris Nice' which had a fantastic chef , great staff and menu similar to Michelin standard but not the prices. We tried it out for lunch and it was truly fantastic. Kevin's entree was eggs poached in red wine and mine was snails in a type of quiche. Next was salmon for me and veal for Kevin. Sweets were a dream and the cheese divine all washed down with a 1/2 bottle of Pouilly fume then coffee and tea. All this for 75 euros, a not to be forgotten meal, even if we couldn't pronounce the meal we selected.
Once again at Joiny we went on a ride around the old town to visit the sights and managed to fit in another church, St Thibault. This one was the oldest in town around 15th century, it had a lovely smiling virgin statue carved in the 14th century, a 1530 sculpture over the door of St Thibault and great windows.
From Joiny we went into locks with sloping walls, most of them had a small pontoon to moor on but as usual in France it is easy to be lulled into a false sense of security and we found a few without a pontoon.
We leave the Yonne and join the Seine. We met up with Oliver who has travelled up the Canals lateral la Loire, Briar and Loing and we will both be in Paris at the same time.
When we arrived in St Mamme we found the local guys practicing for their summer carnivals where they joust on Boats.
St Mammes to Paris on La Seine
Now we are sharing the long locks on the Seine with cargo barges, most carrying sand and stones to Paris for concrete, on the way we are passing empty barges joined together into 3 long and 2 wide, returning for their loads.
Nearer to Paris we pass a lot of barges moored along the river used for housing. Some are barges are waiting for loads or still in original condition, others have had the top structure changed, it's like suburbia afloat.
There are many tents in groups along here where the homeless gather, they are also a common sight under the bridges in Paris proper.
This intriguing structure was a floating indoor swimming pool, spa and a full size gym all with windows overlooking the Seine. I guess the customers were from the apartments in the background.
Finally we go under some of the bridges of Paris get
our first sight of Notre Dame
then into the lock to the Port de Arsenal which is right below the Place de La Bastille.
It is the 26th June and great to be in Paris at last. Accommodation is BYO boat at 21.50 euros a day right beside the Place de Bastille, what a bargain. Now it's time to get the boat tidied and pick up Sandra, Graham, Tiffany and Chelsea who are arriving in two days time.
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