I left Lyon at 1.30 p.m. It was one of the first sunny days. T-Shirt weather. The Rhone part starts just south of Lyon. The current is much faster than the Saone where I averaged 11 k.m./hour now I am doing 15/16 k.m. per hour. I passed through two deep locks (6 mtr plus). But they are a breeze, floating bollards. I just tie my two lines to the bollard and retire to the cockpit. But the strong current becomes a bit too much in places for my mechanical auto pilot. So, I have to hand steer more often. The scenery has changed. Red tiled roofs and mauve colored exteriors, Cypress, Deodars, Scrub Oak on the hills, vineyards. My favorite country. I had just checked the internet for the time of the moon rise and when I looked outside she was just rising over the eastern hill ridge. I missed that part because I discovered that the sim card was in my laptop. Well I guess I’ll have a couple more moonrises before I retire from my first centennial.

I am back in Condrieu, I stopped here last year on my way up from the Med see:  https://cometosea.us/?p=3274

Two posts further are pictures I then took in Lyon. Interesting to compare those with today’s photos. Thank God that the Rhone then ran a lot slower, going up-hill. That same black pirate boat is sill in the marina. Plus a few others that languish here with deflated dinghies and deflated dreams. Some day, I am going to search the owners out and try compile a story of their reasons to abandon their dreams. You see these boats all up and down the rivers and in places like Neah Bay, San Diego, Auckland, etc.

It is now Friday morning. I took a nice hot shower. It will be a super day, supposed to get in the seventies but it was a cold night, down in the forties.