Monday 2 June

We turned onto the Yonne at Montereau at around lunchtime and decided to take the opportunity of a good mooring on the left for an early lunch. Aquarelle was moored and we chatted to Mike and Rosaleen, who printed us a copy of the Yonne mooring guide, as well as imparting some words of wisdom about the sloping sided locks on the Yonne.

The town across the bridge was shut down for lunch by 12:30 - even the fairly large supermarket - so we continued to eat into our stores, then set off in the drizzle.

The locks with sloping sides were, indeed, somewhat unusual. It meant that you could not really tie up fully since there was no way to fend off from the side. As the lock sloped away under the boat, as you came into the side the lock side would hit you under the water before you could see it. It was not really possible to hold a fender under the water to stop this. We found that the best way was to tie up at the bow, then hold the boat against that rope with a combination of engine and bow thruster. We later noticed that the commercial, very large barges did something similar. After the first couple of locks most of the others had a floating jetty on the right hand side going up. This made life much easier. You could just tie up securely and let go with your hands. We were in some such locks alongside very large barges and there was no problem.

For our first night on the Yonne we moored in the country in a canalised section. These sections have good sides and you can put out stakes, just like on the UK canals. We had a great view and ate dinner while listening to a cuckoo. Satellite reception was good, so The Archers came through loud and clear.

Tuesday 3 June

As we were preparing to leave a large barge appeared. He slowed down as he passed us, but still pulled out our mooring pins at one end. I re-fixed them and when the next one passed a few minutes later there was no problem.

This was a long day. We stopped briefly at Pont Sur Yonne for coffee and supplies, but then continued until Villeneuve-sur-Yonne. Along the way we mostly arrived at locks that were open. For a few locks towards the end we raced along behind a commercial barge and shared a lock with him, much like the tortoise and the hare.

At Villeneuve-sur-Yonne there were two other boats moored, both British. We chatted to the owners briefly. Moorings were very good, with even a rubber strip to stop you scraping along the side. Strangeley, we belatedly found an electricity point hidden in a concrete bollard, but there was no water. Dinner was on board, with another evening of good satellite reception.

Wednesday 4 June

We decided that we could slow down a little, so got up late and explored the town for a while in the morning, not leaving until 12:00.

For the first time we arrived at a lock where the lock keeper had stopped for lunch, so we tied up and did the same.

At Joigny we tied up at the end of the Locaboat pontoon and gladly paid the €3 for the night, including electricity and water. We could not pick up a good quality satellite signal, so combined a walk round the town with a search for a shop selling a satellite finder. We found several signs pointing to this shop, but not the shop itself. The town is in two parts, divided by the river, with the old part climbing up the hill. There are many old buildings dating from the middle ages.

Thursday 5 June

Another short day to Gurgy. The journey time was extended somewhat by a one hour delay at a lock due to electrical problems. As far as I could make out it was something to do with the control mechanism for the sluice gates. Lots of people gathered around with much muttering and sucking of teeth. The person in charge wielded his spanner and turned some levers, and the system eventually re-set itself.

The next lock was operated by a man who controlled that lock from the actual lock and the next one by video link. We had to go to the video camera and wave to confirm that we were safely tied up. A remote "attention" from the speakers announced that operations were about to start. he was quite scathing about the woman at the previous lock who was unable to fix the problem herself and had to call an electrician. He said that she was normally a computer operator and knew nothing about locks.

The small town of Gurgy is on a bend in the river. When we arrived at 16:30, an early stopping time for us, there were no boats there. We did a beautiful ferry glide into the prime mooring position, but the camper vans that were already there were not impressed. Alongside there was a small shop and marquee with someone offering weird art and foot massage. After a few moments all the hire boats from Auxerre suddenly started to arrive and there was a scramble for places. One boat with three German men on board, tried to moor with the current and spun the boat around. I explained in poor German to the one left on the bank that they should come in again against the stream and that it would be much easier. To my amazement they followed my advice and had a gently mooring.

The small town has few shops, including a supermarket and boulangerie, and we had a pleasant stroll around the village and up to the salmon ladder. The village restaurant was simple and very good. I even managed to get a vegetarian main course. At €58 for a four course meal for two with wine that was one of the more reasonable meals we found.

Friday 6 June

The weather was getting worse and we set off in a steady drizzle, which developed into steady rain. At the first lock we waited for some time for two hire boats to come out, then waited again for La Nouvelle Etoile, a hotel boat, to come in behind us. We let them leave and followed them upstream to Auxerre. This proved very useful, since they had pre-booked passage through the locks during lunch. So we just tucked in behind them and every lock was open when we arrived.

At Auxerre there was one space left on the bank at Aquarelle, the main town marina, so we took it, tied up, paid and had a late lunch. To celebrate an excellent satellite signal, after doing the shopping, we watched Jeaves and Wooster over a cup of tea, then did a foot tour of Auxerre. It's very easy to see the main sites, since the pavements have either a pointer embedded in them, or a yellow line.

After dinner on the boat we were able to look at the splendid view of all the floodlit churches opposite.