The Petit Rhone

April 21 - morning

Today the cruise up the rivers start. First leg: the Little Rhone (Le Petit Rhone).

	We start early (6:30am) to be at the St Gilles lock at opening time. Without wait we enter our second lock of the season.
	A big lock just to raise about 1 foot (30 centimeters). But the lock also guards the canal from the potential high waters of the Petit Rhone. The stories from December 2003 made it pretty clear that even a quiet river can create big devastation.
	A look behind - quiet waters and a quiet sky. A perfect day for cruising.
	Quiet today; but furios in early December 2003. The brown patch shows where the dam of the Petit Rhone broke and where millions of tons of water spilled into the countryside. The whole area between Fourques (where the breached occurred) and St. Gilles was up to 2 meters (7 feet) under water. The numbers were staggering: Flow levels of the Rhone are measured in cubic meter per second. Low waters in summer carry usually less than 1000m3/second; at 4000m3/sec the river is closed for navigation; 10 year flood levels were around 8000m3/sec and in the first week of December 2003 the Rhone carried 13'000m3/sec at Beaucaire.
	In some places we see badly eroded banks; all from the floods last year.
	Soon we leave the little Rhone - the last bend before we enter the Rhone. In the background the skyline of Arles (see also our 2003 log) .