We woke early to a foggy morning in the port.

But even this type of weather sometimes has its benefits, as shown by the foggy pearls on the spider webs on the rear deck.

As I was appreciating the fog, I saw Effie leaving port around 0815h. I thought Phil and Kathy were slightly crazy leaving in this weather, but I know they were keen to make an early start to try getting to Dijon tonight. I later heard from them that once they got onto the river, the fog was even thicker and they couldn't see any shoreline, causing them to become completely disoriented. They then had to drop anchor mid-stream to avoid running aground (again), completely negating the benefit of their early start. After they left port, I went back to bed again to wait for the fog to clear a little.

When I rose again and was preparing breakfast, I saw and heard some movement outside, and on looking through the lounge window I saw two swallows perched on the side railing.

The swallow activity increased and soon there were five on the railing.

But this was nothing compared to the boat on Pontoon B that had 14 swallows on their railing. They were a delight to watch.

My "oohs and aahs" about the swallows soon caught Rita's attention and she too was soon up and about taking photos as well. Her headgear illustrates that this morning was not exactly warm.

in the late morning, we drove the car to a local mechanic that Phil had found, who was going to do the repair work that had been identified in the Control Technique examination that had been performed in Moissac. Having done a study for the Australian Capital Territory government 20 years ago about the economic and safety benefits of annual vehicle inspections (which showed no measurable benefits to society), I am always suspicious that the main beneficiaries of such tests are the local vehicle repair industry. The 1000 euros we have to pay for the current repairs tend to confirm my suspicions.

After we dropped off the car, we went next door to the Casino supermarket to pick up a few items. As we were shopping, I couldn't help but notice the internationalisation of the fresh food industry, with seven different countries represented on seven adjacent price labels (New Zealand, Costa Rica, Mali, Brazil, France, Argentina and Spain). Talk about food-miles!!

Having attended to all the mundane tasks this morning, it was now time for us to prepare to leave port for our trip north on the Saone for a couple of weeks. So, around 1300h we left the port and turned right to head up the Saone. It was good to be back on the river again and to see Auxonne from a very different perspective. The church spire was very visible for quite a long way as we headed up the river.

We then headed on to our final destination for the day at Pontailler. When we arrived, we spotted a gap between two boats on the stone steps, and so we aimed for there, hoping to squeeze in (which we did). As we got closer, we realised that the smaller boat was Baise, the ex-hire boat that we had moored next to in Deluz several weeks ago, while the larger boat was a hotel barge with the name of Grand Victoria.

Once we were back on the river, we made acquaintance again with the cormorants, who love to sit on top of the red marker poles (they don't sit on the green marker poles because their tops are pointy!). As we passed one just north of Auxonne, I got a good sequence of his escape as he flew north to the next marker pole.

As we were leaving the checkout, I saw something at the front of the store that I had not seen before -  an Amazon parcel pickup facility. I realised this could be useful for us in the future, given that we are often in a location where we have no fixed address for Amazon deliveries. Rita also reminded me that in France (and perhaps elsewhere in Europe) there is a parcel pickup service that operates through small stores that have formed a network of parcel pickup centres for many distributors - she in fact has picked up book purchases from several such centres in Dijon and elsewhere.

We went for a walk around the town in the late afternoon, checking out the marina to the north of the bridge, and then wandering through town where we found a patisserie and bought a special treat for after dinner tonight. As we delivered the "treat" to the barge, we saw probably the most boats on the river at the same time that we had seen for a while - three moored at the quai and four boats in motion.

The cruise north was peaceful bliss, with no one else in sight, until we reached the first lock, Ecluse 19 at Poncey-les-Athee, where boats arrived from all directions, in front of and behind us. We went through a short section of canal and then back onto the river before passing the twin-spire church at Lamarche. This design is fairly unusual for a small town church, but I was unable to get a good picture because the trees between the church and the river are now too large, So I borrowed the photo below from the Guide Fluviale.

As we continued our walk behind the riverfront houses, we peered into their yards and in one we saw this "tiny house" construction. We wondered whether France had the same building regulations as many states in Australia, where any "vehicle" with wheels is classified as a caravan and doesn't need a building permit!

We then continued our walk to the south of our mooring, along the river and then behind a row of houses that fronted directly onto the river. At the start of this walk we spotted an interesting house, which Rita said looked very much like a Swedish house design. The view through the front gates was interesting, with many images competing for attention.

As we continued along the river, I saw the classic scene of "a man and his dog", just having a lazy afternoon in a boat doing a bit of fishing.

As the day drew to a close, we returned to the boat, and as I was enjoying a cool beer on the back deck, someone appeared on the rear deck of Grand Victoria. We got talking, and it turned out he was English and was the chef on that boat, preparing dinner for the six guests on board (at around 1000 USD per person per day!). He explained that the barge was owned by a young USA couple who also worked on board, along with one other staff member. When he saw the Australian flag on Kanumbra, he asked whether I was "interested in cricket". I naturally said Yes, and then we had an interstingly talk about the recent Ashes Tests. By the end of the conversation, he had admitted to a grudging admiration of Steve Smith!

That evening we had our own dinner on the rear deck (courtesy of Grand Chef Rita), followed by a delicious dessert (courtesy of the Pontailler patisserie).