Back on our old pontoon – the final post of 2016

Dijon to St Jean de Losne, locks 55-76

We left our mooring quite early, worried that there might be a queue of boats for the first lock, but in fact we needn't have worried: we travelled alone all day. The first two student lock-keepers were charming, if not very punctual, as were most of the others during the day. One boy could hardly keep his eyes off his phone long enough to wind or push gates, but I suppose that's the way it is these days.

As mentioned earlier, this last stretch of the Burgundy Canal is not very interesting. Outside Dijon, we passed a former commercial harbour now inhabited by people living on their converted barges:

Everywhere it was clear that most of the harvest is in – corn is an exception. This farmer certainly had a lot of straw bales stacked:

There was very little traffic on the canal, though this hotel barge, offering barge and bike holidays, held us up for a little at one lock:

I think the hills in the background to this shot are the fabled Cote d'Or, where the grapes for some of the world's most expensive wines are grown:

Getting close to St Jean now. It has been a long, hot day. Not to be recommended.

We think the large warehouse-like building in this shot is probably the indoor storage where Saskia will spend the winter:

Here we are about to leave the final lock – with great relief. We made it about 30 minutes before closing time:

And here we are back on the Saone, first time for about 14 months:

So that's it, really. We've had a great trip, covering more than 1,900 kilometres according to our computerized navigation system – hard to believe actually – in a couple of months. How many lifting bridges and locks is impossible to say. Too many locks on this canal, that's for sure.

Holland we enjoyed as much as last year, though this part, the northeast and Friesland, was rather different. More rural, less urban, less high culture. All the same, the great Dutch virtues of taking pride in their towns and cities, and gardens and window boxes, of enjoying themselves, particularly in the water, of not over-protecting their children – that's everywhere and we greatly appreciated these qualities.

It was noticeable, moving into Belgium and stopping in Antwerp, that rather different values prevail. It was much scruffier and also seemed at times to be two different countries – Flanders and Wallonia.

Back in France was good for many reasons, not least communicating with the natives (although of course almost all Dutch people we encountered spoke beautiful English) and shopping. There were long stretches of travel down to Paris, and then on up the Seine to get to the start of this canal.

We pledged to be a Brexit and Trump-free zone, and have stuck to that, though of course many of the people we met wanted to discuss Brexit, at least, and some Trump too. Most seemed reasonably relaxed and amused by the Brexit vote, and confident that common sense will produce a sensible solution. As for Trump – the vote is getting  alarmingly close.

Finally, thanks to those who have stuck with us through this voyage. We sign off now for the season, not sure what 2017 may hold in store: we still hanker after the south, but not in July/August. Perhaps we could go earlier in the year. Who knows?