The day started with some light morning rain, which gradually eased. Rita rang around various Citroen dealers in the vicinity of Auxonne to see who could make up a new VIN (Vehicle Identity Number) plate for the campervan, and eventually found that the Citroen garage in Dole would be able to do so today, before their man went on summer holidays next week (many businesses effectivity close for all of August to allow their staff to all go on summer holidays). Since we had arranged to meet Sarah and Albon for lunch at Mt Roland (near Dole), we decided to take both vehicles down, just in case they needed to keep the campervan for an extended period. So we set off in both vehicles, but along the way Rita received a call from GAN Insurance saying that we needed to get a full inspection of the van for insurance purposes next week, and that it would be best if we waited till then to get the new VIN plate. So we cancelled the Dole Citroen appointment and headed directly to Mt Roland for lunch.

The lunch with Sarah and Albon was great, apart from the usual swarm of wasps who wanted to share everything with us. I ordered fish and chips (I thought) but it ended up as fried baby trout and frites. In any case, it was delicious. After lunch, we went for a walk around the Mt Roland church garden wall. Along the way, I grabbed this photo of Sarah and Rita, which completely captured their long-running friendship from their days in various steel bands in Bern.

But Albon had to get back to Besain for the afternoon milking of the cows, so we said goodbye all too soon and headed towards the port at St Jean de Losne. We checked the mailboxes, but still no word from the Dijon Prefecture about my Carte des Sejours application. So we visited the various rubbish receptacles in the port and made deposits, before heading to the Capitainerie office to talk with Vasily. Here we learnt that H2O offers secure long term parking at SJDL, which is free to boaters who have an annual mooring booking (like us). So we learnt more about the details of the operation, and then went out to the facility near the train station, where they also have their undercover winter boat storage facility. We transferred items back and forth between the van and the Scenic and then left Vanumbra in the secure carpark. Just a pity we didn't know about this facility before the van was stolen from the carpark at Auxonne!

We then drove the Scenic back to L'Isle sur le Doubs along the scenic route, and enjoyed a quiet night at the LSLD moorings.