One of the nice things about living on a barge is that you see the world from a different perspective. As I got up this morning and walked to the kitchen, I looked out the loungeroom window and noticed the mist gliding across the river with a gentle northerly breeze.

As we continued along, we saw another boat going the other way; this time, a VNF pusher barge, pushing along one of their work barges. I continue to be impressed by the ability of the skippers of these pusher barges to keep everything in line.

Soon after, we passed one of our favourite little moorings near the town of Heuilley. It is deceptively short, which probably results in many boats bypassing it in favour of something a bit bigger. But the large bollards in the grass behind the mooring are well-spaced for our barge and provide a very secure mooring, in a delighful location. But on this occasion we passed it by, since it was still early in the day and we had another destination in mind.

And so we continued north and by late afternoon, we had arrived at our favourite mooring at Mantoche, with its lawns and chateaus.

One thing that surprised us on this trip to Mantoche was that it was the first time we had seen the moorings empty this late in the afternoon. Normally, we aim to get there by lunchtime before it fills up.

One of the reasons that we came to Mantoche again was that last time we were here in July, we attempted to clean the deck covering of all the mould and grime from the two years in port. However, we had to leave early and had not finished the job before we folded the tarp and dumped in on the deck (where it had remained ever since). We were determined to finish it this time, taking advantage of the lawns at Mantoche where we could lay out the tarp for cleaning. With help from Sarah, we got to work, and washed and rinsed one side, before turning it over and doing the other side. We then tied one edge to the side railings of the boat and draped it over chairs on the lawn to dry one side, then flipped it over the boat to dry the other side (see below). After it was dry on both sides, we folded it carefully (ensuring that it would unfold correctly when we wanted to re-fit it later in the year) and stowed it away under the lifting section of the IKEA sofa.

After dinner that evening, we played several games of Tschou Sepp, a Swiss card game that Sarah had taught us several years ago onboard with Ian and Felicity Johnston. Lots of laughs!

In the late morning, we were joined by Sarah who had driven across from Besain to stay on the barge with us for a couple of days. After a quick lunch, we cast off and headed north to get a bit of cruising done. After we passed through Ecluse 18 at Heuilley and drifted past the blue bridge across the entrance to Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne, we noticed a barge heading towards us from the Canal. We continued on, but kept an eye on the barge as it emerged under the blue bridge. Using the binoculars, I identified it as Colibri, a small hotel barge that we has seen many times in Moissac. I quickly sent them a Facebook message to say hello, and got an immediate response.