Rollin’ On The River

Finally a break from the heat!  We found a great spot on the bank of the river in the trees Tuesday night.  Wednesday the daytime temps peaked in the high 20’s, mid 70’s in Fahrenheit land.  We celebrated with a bike ride to the village of Pesmes, about and hour away.  A big deal in it’s day (the first settlement was in the 11th century) the town straddles the Ognon River at a very strategic point and guarded the Gray-Dole Road. As is the case with all of these fortified towns, additions and subtractions were made over the years; the church was built in the mid 1100’s and the chateau was rebuilt in the 1600’s.  Standing at the river and looking up, however, you can see why this place endured.

Eglise Saint Hilaire

The bridge over the river from the ramparts.

Thursday morning it was off to Gray.  Looking back at our last trip on Odysseus, we realized we had been in Gray exactly 4 years ago.  That was the site of the burning building next to the canal.  Arriving just a little after noon, we visited the canal-side grocery store to stock up and took a stroll around town. Friday morning we shoved off about 10:30, hoping to find another backside mooring about 20 k up the river.  The temps were climbing again, although not to last weeks heights.  We’d find a nice spot, settle in for a couple of day, do some bike riding and then turn around a head slowly back to St. Jean with another stop in Gray for France’s Fete National, July 14.