Around Peronges most of the day

18.9.11
Rain through the night meant that I woke quite early. We were parked under a tree, so the constant 'drip-drip-drip' was enough to keep me alert! But, we worked on French time, so a leisurely breakfast and finally pulled out onto the road a little after 9am.
A short drive later we came across an interesting village - suitable for a wander and noticed a turnoff to the 'Cite Medievele de Peronges', so decided this could provide some entertainment. A complete city on the hill has been restored, and although some people obviously live above the shops and businesses it was not yet busy so we could wander at leisure. Goods and services were priced for tourism, but wandering was free so quite an interesting hour or so spent wandering the cobble stoned laneways.
Back to the van for morning tea, which included the patisserie products brought previously - 'un grand macaron framboise et un piece de gateau noir foret'.
There is not that far now to where we meet Rob and Terry tomorrow, so time to wander the villages as we please. I did forget that everything shuts at 12.30 on Saturdays, so we missed the supermarket but wandering a town found a suitable menu du jour in a hotel. Bill is getting tired of the ravioli that we have had 3 times now, so is keen for this alternative.
I am feeling more confident with my french conversation now, so share a few words with some people in the hotel who have a son living in Sydney (visiting them today for 3 days). In general the ordering of food is all OK, but I am not sure why 'Fromage blanc' turned out to be plain yoghurt! Luckily it came with a sugar container, which made it more pleasant.
After a huge lunch and a short wander through the town Bill felt ready for a quick nap before we made our way up the road a short distance to Louhans. This town had many people around, with a main street full of open shops so we decided to park the van alongside the canal at the wharf, where there were a number of boats moored. The adjacent campground was also filling up rapidly, so we thought this could be our stop for the night but the office was only open for collection of fees from 6pm – 8pm.
We wandered into the main part of the city, looking at the various shops (which were all suitably priced for the potential tourist trade). Bill did however manage to find a small bag that was suitable for only about 10 Euros.
As we left, what we assume was a wedding procession came past in cars – all decorated with a bow, tooting horns and waving out the windows. This was quite fun to watch, so we sat near an intersection to do some people watching. While there I received a message from Rob, and when I returned his call found that they were only about an hour’s drive away so we decided to pull up stumps to go and meet them at Longecourt.
It was so nice to see their single vessel, Armida tied up alongside the bank and in a spot where there was a suitable place for us to park alongside.