We made it to Auxerre! August 26-29th

One thing I love about boating is being inside on a rainy day, in particular being below and listening to the raindrops. One thing I dislike about boating is being outside "working" in the rain.  We left the bank of Cravant and had a six hour run ahead of us.  This, of course, includes the mandatory one hour stop for lunch!
We arrived in Auxerre around three and tied up to the left bank. Within seconds Clipper one had their umbrella up and were just getting ready to settle in when the wind picked up and their umbrella went flying into the Yonne. The current was moving and it sunk within seconds ...woops!  We all walked around the town and later had docktails on Clipper followed by a great dinner at Le Quai.

We were now the third boat in the lock so I finally got to talk to Ginny!

Sid was having a competition with the female lock keepers as to who could get their side of the gate open first...Doug is Sids  cheerleader!! 

Auxerre fire fighters were training on the bridge as we entered.

WOW - here we are arriving in Auxerre. 

Entrance to St Etienne Cathedral

The clock tower was built in the 15th century, first used as a prison and turned into a clock and belfry in 1483. Destroyed by fire in 1825 and rebuilt between 1891 and 1893. Still ticking today.

Inside St. Etienne

We were all pumped for our big night. The Cathedral advertised a "spectacle of light and sound", it started at 10 pm and went on for an hour and a half. By the pictures it looked like it was indeed going to be a spectacle. The brochure and I quote says " Amazing! The Great times of Auxerre" Boaters I learned early on have different hours than the rest of the world. So for a boater to stay up until 10 pm it must be something pretty spectacular! Some of us even stopped drinking in the afternoon so we would be able to make the 10 pm SPECTACULAR EVENT!

TO BE CONTINUED............