In 2008 Stephen and I embarked on a week long trip down the Soane River in France. After an overnight train trip from Florence we arrived at 6am in Dijon. From Dijon we made our way via coach to Gray where we were to connect with the boat hire depot. The early morning sunrise gave way to a sun filled day. At Gray we met our two travelling companions who were also our neighbours at home in Australia. To mark the boating adventure I decided that I wanted a haircut. Something European, cut by a French hairdresser. Using a borrowed phrase book I entered a shop and sought an appointment. With many gestures and the French equivalent of 'cut' I roamed the local streets until 11:00 when I re-entered the shop with only the word cut and the baffled stylist shook his head with much vigour that implied that he would not cut my hair as short as that depicted on the poster on his wall. Finally, he agreed and after an hour of cutting I suddenly remembered another word 'gray' at which point I think we connected. He probably thought that I was a grey haired old lady who was quite mad and indeed, I was grey, having lost so many locks of hair. He smiled almost knowingly. 
This is me driving the boat post haircut.
The crew then undertook serious training before entering our first lock of the journey. To mark the successful negotiation we celebrated with bubbles!
This is me driving the boat post haircut.The journey downstream was picturesque.When we moored for the night crisp white feathered swans surrounded our boat anxious for a morsel of something special. 
What a pleasant way to discover the countryside of France. Dinner, wine, good company, hmmmm. Too good to be true. Not yet, but soon. Second day was also casual motoring with breaks for lunch and munchies. Day 3; hmmm, yes it was too good to be true. The temperature dropped to 5 Celsius. Stephen and one of our friends shared a pair of gloves between them. One glove on each hand. Everyone had at least three layers of clothing under their jackets. One day was so cold that I noticed our neighbour using the onboard hairdryer to blow warm air up through his hoody. Visibility zero, fog, pea soup. Rain, lots. Must mention that the river rose and banks were flooded. As the river caught previously stranded trees and logs they were rescued from the high water mark and entered the flood waters to inject some interest into our journey. Couples took it in turns to drive, spot debris and slowly wind the boat through flotsom. This was living! On occasions the fog and floating trees made travel too dangerous so we pulled in to recover and warm up. 
Along the way we stopped at some wonderful old villages and when we did we trekked through each regardless of the weather. There were sites that we'd never seen before and evenings were spent chatting about our daily discoveries, or things we eaten or people we'd met.
What a pleasant way to discover the countryside of France. Dinner, wine, good company, hmmmm. Too good to be true. Not yet, but soon. Second day was also casual motoring with breaks for lunch and munchies. Day 3; hmmm, yes it was too good to be true. The temperature dropped to 5 Celsius. Stephen and one of our friends shared a pair of gloves between them. One glove on each hand. Everyone had at least three layers of clothing under their jackets. One day was so cold that I noticed our neighbour using the onboard hairdryer to blow warm air up through his hoody. Visibility zero, fog, pea soup. Rain, lots. Must mention that the river rose and banks were flooded. As the river caught previously stranded trees and logs they were rescued from the high water mark and entered the flood waters to inject some interest into our journey. Couples took it in turns to drive, spot debris and slowly wind the boat through flotsom. This was living! On occasions the fog and floating trees made travel too dangerous so we pulled in to recover and warm up. 
Along the way we stopped at some wonderful old villages and when we did we trekked through each regardless of the weather. There were sites that we'd never seen before and evenings were spent chatting about our daily discoveries, or things we eaten or people we'd met.
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