October 19th, 2013

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Oct 19 Valence

Saturday, October 19th, 2013

I left Condrieu late, 11.45, after shower, internet and
filling my diesel tank. I discovered that I used just over 17 liters to cover
the 256 kms from where I last filled up, in Losne.  Finding a place to fuel up is not always easy
to do, particular on the uphill part of this journey. Because there are hardly
any on the water filling stations. Often you have to drag your jerry cans into
a town. Once I managed to carry my two 20 liter cans from a mooring spot just
100 feet from a large truck station that adjoined the canal. I had three large
locks yesterday and there was anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes waiting time to
get in and the whole process takes another half hour or so because these are
deep locks, around 50 foot drop. Here I have to wait till 9 a.m. for the office
to open and pay my moorage fee. This is the largest marina on the French
waterways, 450 berths and most are filled. I am at k.m. 112 and have another
130 k.m. to Avignon, which means that I would have to have everything going for
me to get there by sundown. I am doing about 15 km per hour but with the locks
and a strong headwind I’ll just miss it by a few hours.

The below picture shows a sign on the waiting dock for the
last lock at Bourg les Valance. Has anyone ever been able to tip someone with a
bag of garbage?  The three language sign
also has the German part screwed up. The French part translates to: It is
forbidden to leave your trash here.