France and Switzerland 2014 - Day 9

Friday, August 8, 2014

Today is our last day of cruising. We spent the morning and early afternoon making our way to

Dijon. Susan and Rick walked for several locks. Kyle did his usual run. Werner and I admired the countryside. It was bittersweet knowing that our journey was coming to an end. I found it difficult to stay in the moment but was still able to take-in the beauty that surrounded us.

We arrived at our final mooring spot outside of Dijon at around 2:00pm. 

Jim drove Rick and I into the old city and gave us a great, quick tour.

 I love the timbered buildings mixed in with the stone ones. Jim shared

the history of Burgundy and then took us into a museum to see the tombs of two of the kings. He also showed us how during the revolution, the citizens chiseled the religious markings off the facade of the churches.

The city is very touristy and after wandering into a couple of churches and a mustard store, we headed back. One thing he pointed out were some markings where the original Roman town had be on the site of Dijon now.

There are other barges parked where we are. The one next two us is a bit bigger, perhaps 20 passengers. They came out to enjoy the evening on their deck. We were much relieved that we weren’t them! They were in formalwear for dinner and had to listen to a pretty crappy singer who barred the exit so they were stuck. We were kind of stuck too, since they were right next door.

Of course we had to have a last game of Petanque. This photo is of

Cedric and Jim. We also took a group picture in front of the barge.

So sorry Abi and Finley weren't there to join in the picture. They were down preparing our last dinner. And what a dinner it was! We started with a poached egg in wine, followed by beef tenderloin and veggies, and then a citron tart.

Following dinner we had drinks with our crew, Cedric, Jim, Abi, and Finley. What fun it was to relax, learn more about each person, and laugh with them.