We were away from Tournon at 0950h, but vowed to return here in the future to explore further. But for now, we had to head further north towards the large port at Condrieu.

Our first lock for the day was at Gervans Ecluse (PK86), where we waited for the gas barge Provence to catch us and enter the lock first. Luckily it was only medium size (150m), so there was still space for us at the back.

As we tootled along, we noticed a very low barge approaching. As it got closer, we saw it was a fully-laden gravel barge named Condor.

The water level was nearly up to the gunwhales, and it certainly made a deep bow wave as it passed,

The bow wave is even more dramatically captured in this short video. By the time it reached us, the wave was about one metre high/deep, and it was interesting to see how Kanumbra handled it with ease. One can see how Piper barges are quite able to cross the English Channel.

Since we were approaching Lyon, it was not surprising to see lots of industry along the river banks. We have seen many commercial barges in the past couple of weeks; now we get to see where they get their loads. This barge was getting a load of gravel, with the guy in shorts checking that all the spaces had been filled.

A little later we went past the CNR loading docks (Compagnie Nationale du Rhône - the company that runs the locks and many other things on the Rhone) at PK56, and saw this stack of wood waiting for dispatch.

While the total woodpile was impressive, I was also interested in the close-up details, and was surprised to see the wide variety of log diameters that had been harvested.

As well as lots of heavy industry in the region, this area is also famous for another industry - the wines of the Cote de Rhone. The masses of vineyards along the hills bordering the Rhone are impressive, to say the least.

As we approached our mooring at Condrieu (PK41), a typical usage of the adjacent hillsides was evident, with classy houses at the top pf the hill (possibly the vineyard owners), then vineyards in the middle section of the hill, then older housing and businesses hugging the bottom of the hill along the river.

The moorings at Condrieu are substantial, but were nearly full. We got a spot on the end of the pontoon nearest the Capitainerie, with a view looking straight out to the river. We should be sheltered from barges going north, but I’m not sure about the ones going south!

After checking in at the Capitainerie, we went for a short walk around town. And it was short, because there is not much in town. We found a required Pharmacie and Boulangerie, and finally found a pub, but is was literally the "pub with no beer” as the girl in charge had a broken leg and couldn’t move around to get behind the bar. So we gave up and returned to the barge.

When we got back, we struck up a conversation with the people on the little boat moored next to us. An English couple (actually he was a Scot), they had lived on their boat on the Isle of Wight but had decided to now come explore France, while they were still able. The lady had recently had a stroke while on holiday, but would not hear of herself being ”disabled”. She insisted she was just differently-abled, and had adapted many things so that she could continue their life on a boat. Very inspiring.

That evening as we sat having a drink on deck at sunset, we heard a strange noise, and soon realised that hundreds of fish were jumping in the Rhone (but I don’t think the cotton was high). This short video does not do it justice, because the jumping went on for quite a long time.

In summary, Port Condieu was a good mooring but a boring town.