Another sunny morning to start this fairly rare day; full moon on Friday 13th. We were planning to leave Gray today, but before we did, I intended to take advantage of the nearby Brico to see if they had a couple of hose fittings that I have been looking for on our travels. As we go from mooring to mooring, we have encountered a wide range of fittings to connect our hose to the water supply on the borne. In Moissac (and most other places), for example, they use a standard 3/4inch female garden hose fitting. However, in Montbelliard and Gray, they use a 1 inch female hose fitting. In Marseillan, they use a male clip-in fitting, with a switch valve incorporated, so that one can connect the hose to the water supply then put the hose into the tank before gradually starting the water flow by turning the switch valve. In Besançon, they use a male clip-in fitting, without a switch valve, so that as soon as the hose is connected to the water supply the water starts running at full force. So what I have been looking for is a 1 inch female connector, and a male clip-in connector with switch valve. The Gray Brico is the first one I have found with either or both of those fittings! Having got the fittings, I filled the tank with free water.

At around 1230h, we left Gray and less than an hour later we had arrived at Mantoche after a short run down river. I had planned to arrive at this time, to give those who were moored there last night a chance to wake up and get away, and before those looking for a mooring for tonight arrived in mid to late afternoon. But everyone else must have been thinking the same thing, because the quai was full when we arrived. However, as we hovered in hope, one guy said he was about to leave, so we waited a while longer, and then (just) squeezed into his vacated spot. Phew!.

Another person who was there when we arrived was a local guy and his Haflinger horse. We have seen many of these horses on our travels in France, but never this close up. It was very docile, and Rita had a long chat with the guy about himself and his horse.

He was very friendly, and even invited Rita to take a ride on the horse. She was initially reluctant, but he soon convinced her and she was up and away (under his guidance). He was happy to take a can of beer in exchange for the ride.

After lunch, I went for a quick walk around the village just to get the lie of the land. I was particularly impressed with the roadside gardens that many residents had created at the front of their houses.

After I returned to the barge, Rita decided she had had enough of studying for the moment, and so we decided to go for a bike ride down the river. About 10 minutes into this ride, Rita found a local picnic spot on the river that was clearly used by many locals, and decided that a swim was in order. We then continued on, crossing the canel deviation at the Pont d'Apremont, and then turning left to go to the barrage, before continuing up the right bank of the Saone until we reached the town of Apremont, perched high on a hill on the left bank of the Saone. It was a very quaint town, with the church spire featuring the usual Burgundian tiles.

We wandered around Apremont on our bikes for a while, then headed back to Mantoche, where we stopped at the local epicerie/bar which had opened for the afternoon. There we met several people also on boats at the mooring, and learnt that tomorrow night there was going to be a "big" Karaoke Night behind the epicerie. We wondered how "big" it could be, given the size of the town, but noted it down as a potential way to spend a Saturday night if we were still in port.

We then continued riding to the north of the village until we came to a B&B Chateau (Chateau Saint Claude an der Saone), that looked rather interesting. Given the easy access to the boat that was available in Mantoche, we figured that this might be a possible place to bring Rita's mum next year (given that this year's trip had to be cancelled at the last moment), where she could stay in the B&B and then come on the boat with us for day trips. The Chateau looked a bit grand for our tastes (and budget) as we parked our bicycles between the Mercedes, BMWs and Audis, but it wouldn't hurt to enquire. So we went into the Reception area and were soon greeted by a lady, whose accent we recognised. It turned out that the Chateau was owned by a Swiss couple and this was their first year of operation as a B&B. They were still learning the ropes but enjoying their time so far. After Rita engaged her in a conversation about Switzerland and Australia, she took us on a personal guided tour of the property and gardens.We later learned, via Google, that the room rates were not too high at all, so it remains a possibility.

We rode around town a bit more, and finally returned to the mooring, as the sun was dippimg in the sky to the west. It created a good silhouette of the second chateau in town (Chateau de Mantoche) which was directly adjacent to our mooring site. Not bad having two chateaus within walking distance of a beautiful mooring!

As the sunset progressed even further, the chateau provided even more photographic opportunities.

Even after the sun set completely, we were not finished looking at the sky, but this time in the opposite direction as tonight was Full Moon. After many previous attempts, I have realised that smartphone technology (even the best) is not yet at the point where it can take good pictures of the moon (very hard to focus on an object that is an "infinite" distance away). So this time, I decided to ensure that another subject was in the frame with the moon, just using the moon as background. The first one of Kanumbra, lit up by the parkland lights, with the full moon rising through wispy clouds, was interesting.

However, while we were out trying to get full moon photos, we realised people from other boats were also doing the same, with technology ranging from smartphones, through to SLRs and professional cameras with large zoom lenses. So I decided to take a photo of people taking photos of the moon.

We got talking with the British and Irish couples, and got to know a fair bit about them and their dogs (the British couple, had their very friendly dog on board, while the Irish couple are a professional dog trainer and dog walker). After we had been talking for a few hours, we decided to call it a night and return to our respective boats. On the way back to Kanumbra, I took one last photo of the moon and its reflection in the Saone.