Homeward Bound to Briare (28 April - 11 May )
Thursday 28th April
At 12.30 we slip away from Decize. As you enter the Canal Laterale it says 2 days South to Digoin and 1 day North to Nevers. We are heading North but will not visit Nevers this time. It is three locks (there, and another three back) off the main canal. The port to the town is not an easy walk for dogs (Shady already knows this and Topsy does not want to find out). But Nevers is fantastic to visit. We will have many opportunities which we will certainly take over the next few years.
Our destination this afternoon is Fleury-sur-Loire, just two locks and 12 kilometres, so an easy afternoon, but Fleury has electricity and water, a boulangerie, epicerie and a bar, which we don’t have on the canal at Decize. We take the cruise very slowly at 1000 revs (probably just 3 mph / 5kms) and enjoy the now broader canal, which makes very easy steering. The scenery though is limited as trees (quite beautiful trees) on both sides of the canal hide the wider view.
At the first lock we arrive and there is no-one in sight. The lock is open so we go in and close the gates behind us to assist the eclusier when he comes. 10 or 15 minutes go by and we chat, mainly about the various people who might read this log, but of course we only say nice things – what else is there to say. We discuss Jan Lester’s note about Steve’s mayor making, which we guess will be on 10 May. We won’t make it but wish him very well. If anyone deserved to be Malmesbury’s first citizen then it is Steve.
A quite large Dutch barge appears behind us. We can both get in the lock together so we try to re-open the gates but they are locked against us. The eclusier appears, opens the gates and signals to them to come into the lock. They hesitate and the eclusier grumbles with a smile “oh I can see they are in a hurry today”. Finally they come in. “Well you closed the gates against us” they complain to the eclusier. Oops, our fault. We apologise and there is good humour all round until their Jack Russell hops off their boat to confront Topsy on ours. “This is British territory now”, she asserts gruffly “and anyway little French dogs don’t bark, they only yap”. We dash her downstairs before there is a diplomatic incident.
The couple on the Corbigny (this barge behind us) are friendly and helpful and we share the next lock together. We ask if they are going to Fleury or if they would like to pass us as we leave the lock. Oh, yes please, they would love to pass, and that’s very nice of us (though “gentils” sounds so much better than nice). In fact they have to get their boat to Briare by Saturday. Wow, they will have to go some. They will need to try to clear Guetin before the locks close at 7pm. They were actually in a hurry.
We exit the lock and slowly heave to starboard, and the Corbigny flies by. Hope they make it. They look professional enough. Two boats are entering the lock as we leave it, one French and one German. Suddenly the cameras turn and the funny little English boat seems to be in the picture again.
We get to Fleury by 3pm. It is a beautiful little spot. The well appointed snack bar / cafe at the “halte nautique” is not open for the season yet, but the electricity is free so we plug in. We stroll up to the village which is compact but quite pretty with a very impressive mairie. There are signs to the “auberge” but no sign of it. We explore various directions and then a little boy asks us if we have seen his cat. We apologetically say No. He and his little sister want to stroke Shady and Topsy. They stroke Shady but little sis is a little nervous of Topsy as indeed Topsy is of her. A lady appears who probably isn’t mum. We ask if there is a boulangerie in the village. Ah Yes she says, next to the post office. But it’s closed this week.
We go back to the boat, walk the dogs around some fields and just breathe in this delightful spot. We do some essential chores, and resolve some outstanding issues. We even check the diesel. We’ve used about 150 litres so including the heating we’ve had on we’ve used about 1.5 litres per hour. We are fine certainly at least until we reach Briare.
And then finally we enjoy another gentle evening stroll in beautiful weather and surroundings.
Friday 29th April
Today we will hope to do rather more travelling than yesterday. We plan to get to la Vieille Tour next to the village of Chevenon for lunch, and then to cross the Allier and the Guetin locks before our evening stop. 3 locks and 13 kms to Vieille Tour, and then no locks (except the staircase at the end ) but 18 kms to Guetin.
We leave the lock at Fleury at 9am. It is a gentle and peaceful run up to Vieille Tour. You could almost go to sleep, until suddenly a rather extremely large hotel boat comes out of nowhere around a bend. We have only seen one other boat today. But adjusting speed and direction is simple and we pass with jolly hellos.
There is nothing but the moorings at Vieille Tour, though they are good moorings, especially for the dogs. The bridge ahead says there all sorts of shops in Chevenon just 200 metres along the road. This is a “Champion” sign! 200 metres is more like 800. Signs for the boulanger are in all directions, but luckily we take the right one. Sadly when we get there once again it is closed and up for sale. Is France losing all its village shops now, just as England has? There is bar next door so we ask if there is another boulanger in the village. No, he says, but I can sell you baguettes. We take a large baguette which seems (and was) really fresh. As we walk back we pass a travelling fruit and veg trader who has stopped his van outside an elderly lady’s house while she buys her week’s supplies. We buy some strawberries which we will enjoy later.
The 18 kms to Guetin is interesting but not ecstatic, although of course we do not take the turn off to Nevers. There is some arable, some pastoral and quite a bit of industrial countryside to pass. We have done this stretch before and note we have no clear memories of it.
But at the end you reach the Guetin aqueduct and locks with a fantastic view over the river Allier as she breaks into the Loire, and then a two lock staircase of quite impressive proportions. We are going downhill as we did last time we were here. We then remember these are the largest locks we have done, though going downstream is always less “impressionante” than when you face them uphill. Our ropes are long enough to use in the locks (thanks to Spencer and Victoria) which must not be the case for many others, but the eclusier has to release them when we reach the bottom of the first lock, as they are far too high for us to have any clear idea of what’s up there now. He also has a specially prepared hook of his own to reach Linda’s front rope in the second lock, while at the rear Glyn relies on engine control. In total these two locks drop us 9.23 metres. And then in to wide open beauty of the moorings below the locks.
We have also now left the Nievre (and indeed Burgundy), which we have been in ever since Clamecy. We have certainly fallen in love with it and will return. But the Allier river which forms the border between Nievre and the Allier department itself, also here forms the border with the Cher. From now, almost to Briare (or at least Chatillon-sur-Loire), we will be in the Cher. Le cher Cher! We have known past of this department now for nearly four decades, and it always feels so beautiful.
We walk the dogs and find some different water courses to follow, have supper, have a last evening stroll and then to bed. We can’t get the TV. We assume everything went well for Cinderella Kate and her prince charming. Meanwhile an enormous industrial barge, the Le Madelon, goes past us. There are not so many working barges like this now. It must have only just made the locks at Guetin before 7pm. The likelihood now is that we will catch it up at the next lock and then have to follow behind it.
Saturday 30th April
Today are destination is Marseilles les Aubigny, famed in the book “Keeping Afloat” by John Liley, which anyone interested in canals or France, let alone both, should read. It is where the former Canal du Berry (now twinned with the Cotswolds canals, both working hard on restoration) came into the Laterale. Our main reason for heading to Aubigny is to sus out boatyards (chantiers fluvials) as well as look for the route of the Berry.
Aubigny is 14 kms and just one lock, at Laubray. Laubray is 5kms and we have nominated to be there by 9am so we set off at 8.15. It is an easy stretch, but as we approach the lock we see the industrial barge ahead. It has priority over us but it seems to be still moored. We approach slowly and then move alongside. The lady on board sees and hears us. They are not proposing to pass the lock until 9.30 so we can go ahead if we want. We do, and the lockkeeper is well ready for us and we are out and off again by 9.15.
Guetin to Aubigny - But Not Everything Floats
We make Marseilles les Aubigny by 10.30. We pass Cours-les-Barres at just before 10am. We would have loved to stay the weekend here. It is very beautiful spot with all the facilities you need, and the last time we past a lady came 4 kms in her own car to pick us up to go to her wonderful restaurant in the countryside (and brought us back). There are two delightful barges moored up there. But we must move on.
Marseilles-les-Aubigny looks much less nice at first sight. As you enter you pass one boat yard stuffed with old and almost rusting heavy barges. The front is well moored up with quite big beasts whether larger Dutch barges or high lightweight French cruisers. It is not easy to find a mooring, but we turn about and manage to squeeze in somewhere, but still having to be a metre or so from the quay. The expanse of water is wide open. Delightful from one perspective but with little shade or mixture of scenery.
Here we want to see if either of the chantiers (both of which have dry docks) can look at our bow thruster sometime in the summer. We moor by just after 10.30. Glyn dashes off to see one of the chantiers. Linda to find the Boulanger. Linda has luck. Glyn doesn’t. This chantier looks very empty with very large boats in various states of disrepair. The dry dock looks permanently occupied by a boat which has been there since the ark. He’ll try again on Monday but is not optimistic they’ll be interested in a small job like looking at his bow thruster.
We take the dogs for a walk to look at the second boat yard but it is now after 12 and they are closed. But this looks more promising. We’ll also call here on Monday but only want to investigate. At this stage we just need to know our options. We carry on into the countryside and give the dogs a good run before back for lunch.
We have learned to take it quietly between 1 and 4pm as it getting very hot here then, well into the 80s in old speak (over 27 in Celsius). At 4.30pm we disturb the dogs again from their sunny slumber and set off in search of the Canal du Berry.
We pass the mairie and some flats and then go on down past tennis courts and sports facilities to the other side of town. The road is named after a “Commandant” who died aged 20 in 1944. A neighbouring road is named after someone of the same family name who also died in 1944 though aged 73. Did this family pay a high price for us?
We see a dip and find two streams joining together. There are the remains of a defunct quay? Is this just the river or was it part of the canal. We walk back up to the road and find a roundabout with a reconstruction of a “pont levis” in the middle and a note about this being the route of the old canal. The memorial has been erected by the “Amis des Pont Levis”. We are pleased with their memorial but have had to raise too many “pont levis” to think we would want to be their friends.
A Proud Example of the Pont Levis
We meet a young couple and talk about the canal du Berry. They point where it went. For a while the path is clear, they say, but then there are only traces. We walk as the dogs can now run free. We pass an old mill seemingly now divided into apartments and seven cottages in a row. The path goes neatly on in a straight line. Is this the old canal? Its straightness makes sense, but the rest doesn’t. We pass an old couple with their dog in the garden. Our dogs all say hello, and so do we. We walk on. The pathway (wide enough to be a canal, just about) is now encroached upon by various properties with some very definitively crying out “privé – acces interdit”. Finally the path ends at the fence of a private property. We stroll back. Did we find the Berry or not?
After supper we decide to stroll down to the local bar with the dogs. However as we went off for our walk at 4.30pm three boat loads of Aussies hove into town and they are now perched on the bank with pizzas and wine. They ask how we have got here, and we do the same. They are doing the reverse of our journey, having started at Briare and aiming for Laroche Migennes. They are doing it in 17 days. Can it be done they ask, with so many locks? We assure them it can, with the excellent French lockkeepers. What was it like crossing the river, they ask? We talk about going over the Allier till we realise they mean the Loire at Decize. Although they are on hire boats they are clearly very experienced cruisers and have taken boats over many parts of Europe. Some have Cornish and some have Welsh connections.
Bloody Aussies! We talk so long we only now have time to give the dogs their well deserved late night walk, and no time for the bar.
Sunday 1st May
A national holiday in France. They respect international Labour Day here. And even the locks are closed today. So we are in situ at les Aubigny. Late morning walk for the dogs before breakfast. Some chores to do, and alas you cannot escape modernity, even some internet banking. Linda is busy reading. Her Kindle has been fantastic this journey so we must not decry modern technology. She has downloaded seven new books and read six, including the one for her last book club which she did not make. And she has rightly but gently been chided for not sending in her comments.
After the afternoon nap we go in search again for the Canal du Berry. We take a different route across town, and get to the mill and seven cottages even more quickly, with space for the dogs to run though we pass the cemetery which is very definitely “interdit aux animaux”. Taking the path we took yesterday we see a rougher and wilder path which goes off to the right. We take it and come down to a river or navigation. We are not sure which? Perhaps this was the canal?
We walk back and pass the old couple we saw yesterday. We explain we are looking for the Canal du Berry. They become alive and animated. You are on it now; it is right under your feet. And the husband talks about the special boats which went up and down. Yes he remembers it very well. It was here until the 60s. But gone forever now. He clearly wants to talk more, and we wish we had more time to stay and listen. Sadly, reclaiming this canal would be highly problematic now. A bygone age. 50 years ago is almost history now, but to us it is still the present time.
After supper we decide we’ll take the dogs for an early walk and then get that visit into the local bar. Blast, it’s closed tonight. Bloody Aussies. Of course they’ve gone off to Cours-les-Barres. (We curse them but of course we love them just as much as we love the French!) Hope they get to Migennes OK and then definitely back to Sydney! We linger at the lock. From here you can see the Loire itself less than 100 metres away. She is beautiful, but the canal alongside also adds to the beauty of the scene.
This was once a vibrant trading crossroads. Now it relies on the leisure trade. Not picturesque in total because of the remnants of that industrial past. But that is part of its attraction. We are glad we found some time to stop at Marseilles-les-Aubigny.
Monday 2nd May (Not a national holiday in France)
We plan only a short run today as first we will investigate the two chantiers and their dry docks. We have planned to leave at 10.30 and be at Beffes just 5 kms and 3 locks away for lunch, and then get to Herry a further 3 locks but 15 kms in the afternoon.
The dogs have a good walk. Glyn tries to see if one of the chantiers is open then but at 8.15 here France sleeps like an innocent child. We pass the lock as we meet from boulanger and dog walk, and as one of the canal staff is dragging clutter away from the lock gates. We adjust our departure time to 10am as we will pass this chantier on the way down and can maybe stop there then.
Once again we are slightly lodged on a shelf. We are going to have to find a solution for this. Too many French moorings have a slope on which we will catch and we can’t avoid them all. An interesting Dutch boat moored two up has a system of tyres and timber to keep it in the stream. That is too complicated for us.
We decide to gently dislodge the boat to prepare for later. She comes afloat quite easily and gently, but before we blink the bow, which was facing downstream, has spun around of her own accord 20 minutes ahead of plan. We line up on the other side and decide that fate has made the choice that we will not see the other the boat yard which in any event did not look very promising.
A fine looking gentleman, with newspaper under arm, offers to take a rope that we can wait in the stream without using the engines, and this works well. Of course, he is English! He is waiting to take his barge now at Cours-en-Barre into the dry dock which we have just missed for its annual / biennial inspection and check. It’s OK (the boat yard) he says, though it is always very interesting to deal with Raymondo who is the owner. He doesn’t say but it implies that the Equerre boat yard downstream may be better for us. He enquires our draught as the Equerre has limited draft, but at 2 foot (600mm) he says the Equerre would easily take us. “But is it worth for a bow thruster?” he asks. “It’s a lot to get her out of the water for what after all is a luxury.” This clearly is a man of the water, an ex-commodore or admiral no doubt. “Real boaters don’t need bow thrusters” is a refrain from so many of the old hands.
We pass the two locks quickly and easily. The eclusier is from Beffes, the next lock and where we plan to stay for lunch. We explain that we will pop into the chantier for 15 minutes. But in fact the yard is all closed up and there is no-one to see. Well, at least we’ve seen the site, we have telephone numbers, and maybe we find can somewhere nearer home.
The Beffes lock is ready and waiting for us. The eclusier, wife and little daughter are all waiting to see us and wave. The daughter loves the dogs. The eclusier tells us where the moorings are, and another “au revoir”.
Beffes is a beautiful village with parks and tennis courts and so much to offer. But for every “le paradis” there has to be “l’enfer”. Here once again it is the mooring. The moorings are hard to identify, hidden in long grass and nettles, with a steep shelf that we can’t get near, etc., etc. Topsy slips off the boat and has a good run around as we fight grass, bollards, banks and nettles. We win. But it takes such time and effort that we settle for just a quiet lunch and drink before setting off again 12.15.
The run to Herry is easy. The countryside keeps changing from pastoral to arable to industrial, often with the view on opposite sides of the boat so incredibly different it is hard to credit. We find our Beffes lockkeeper is with us for two further locks. The Aussies on Sunday and the “admiral” this morning both said there might be an eclusier strike today. We didn’t believe them, and thought even that the Aussies with their glorious sense of humour were spreading rumours. Now we worry that we might be strike-breaking. But no, this was just an Aussie joke.
We pass meadows bedecked with buttercups which are sometimes hard to tell apart from late rape where only some of the flower is showing. Essentially here we are by-passing La Charité-sue-Loire just a little further over on the banks of the Loire itself. We pass a very major grain silo and see the Le Madelon, whose car has been taken off the deck. She is obviously a grain carrier, and restocking here. Herry is all we thought it might be. There could be more signage of where the best moorings really are, but we do find them quite quickly having now become expert at inspecting the water’s edge. We also passed a boat coming out of the lock as we entered. A second boat today! (Was there a strike or was it just the Aussie bush telegraph?) Any way we moor, take the girls and go and investigate the town. It is quite delightful and spacious. It has most things though Monday is closing day, but the Boulanger will be open tomorrow. A small general stores is open but asking for fresh milk is a bit far fetched. (If there is one reason why we might we might not be able to live in the French countryside permanently, and possibly the only one, it is not being able to get fresh milk. And fresh skimmed milk, well, where do you think you are?)
This really is a delightful spot. The sun is streaming but we are moored in the shade. Shady stays on board but Topsy camps under the tree opposite. She plays with a local Jack Russell, and then is complimented and admired by various passers-by. She is being so well behaved. Is that our Topsy or has she run off? So we take them for a reasonable walk and inspect the local grain silo on the way.
As we come back we might have been at Piccadilly circus! A hotel boat, the L’Hirondelle, moors behind us. Then a hire boat with four Americans, followed by a Dutch boat. The Dutch carry on but the Yanks moor up and head to the village for groceries. Sadly we know they will not find all that they want. And indeed in an hour or so they move on down the canal.
Next the sound of thunder. The weather forecast on the Internet for Briare says thunder storms. We put up a little more of the rear deck cover, and fasten down some of the windows. It hovers but it never comes. We (very naughtily) try the TV. It appears the Osama bin Laden has been killed in Pakistan. Various French intellectuals and commentators discuss whether this will make any difference. Glyn stupidly checks the Cardiff score on the Internet and finds they are losing.
But otherwise we have a perfect evening.
Tuesday 3rd May
A beautiful morning. Everything is right with the world here, if not in Morocco or at the City Stadium. A nice long walk with the dogs for over an hour. We meet three real French dogs, and ours are just a little afraid of them. Not all French dogs are little and yap. Some are serious dogs indeed.
We set off at 8.30 to get to the first lock by 9.00am. We’ll be ahead of L’Hirondelle. But as we get to the lock we see we have caught up with our American friends, and we share the next three locks with them to Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre, which is our destination today, just 13 kms and 3 locks.
There is a strong breeze this morning, north north-easterly and usually straight in our faces. It is actually quite cold on the rear deck. The sun is not really up yet. Of course by the meridian time it is only 08.00!
We get to Ménétréol by 11.30 (09.30 by the meridian). Both we and our American friends are mooring here so help each other moor and both of us need to take on water. Not quite completed by 12.30 when L’Hirondelle heaves into sight. A delightful young lady asks if we speak English. We say “un petit peu”, so she asks in French just like ours if we and the Americans would mind moving along so that the Hirondelle’s 35 metres can get alongside. We are just finishing taking on water so we do that quickly and move along. Unfortunately (Please always remember this is always possible on canals, however shallow they are) one of the American friends slips as he is hauling forward and ends up in the canal. He is OK, but alas his Blackberry is killed!
Moored at Menetreole-sous-Sancerre
Finally we are all happy (well not quite but almost). We tease the staff from the Hirondelle that their insurance will have to cover the Blackberry. They are uncertain, so we say well it would under English or American law (after all they asked him to make the manoeuvre) but we don’t know about French. Everyone relaxes. The sun is now out. The day is glorious. And the girl from the Hirondelle gives both us and the Americans a bottle of wine.
Isn’t it odd? We now book a joint table with the Americans for an evening meal. We know they are from Colorado and Florida and that the two guys are old college mates from 30 years ago. They know we come from England and have just brought the boat here. But we haven’t actually exchanged names. No doubt we will this evening.
It’s nearly 1.15pm. Two French boats come in, moor up, spread out and eat their lunch (they are clearly late and in a hurry) and by 2.00pm they are gone.
After our simpler lunch we walk the dogs while the Americans go off in search of wineries. Back to the boat, siesta, check emails and find out the inevitable. Congratulations Norwich.
We meet up at 7.30pm with Gaynes and Sue, Chris and Rosa (names at last). We have a very congenial evening discussing the world and families. Why do doctors and lawyers qualify much earlier in the UK than the US? Can kids really make decisions about life careers at 14 and 16? How many kids go to college not knowing why they are studying and what they want to do with their qualifications? And what about those who don’t go to college? Oh and aren’t the local wines really good? And the restaurant is quite good and very reasonable? Gaynes runs his own business in Colorado (just north of Denver) and Sue is a nursery / primary teacher. Chris and Rosa are both dentists in Florida, and they know about Saskatchewan farmers spending the winter in Florida.
It was a pleasant evening and we make our goodbyes. We will be off quite early in the morning (well not too early – we want to give the Hirondelle a head start) but they are staying on to visit St Thibault and play golf.
Wednesday 4th May
The Hirondelle sets off at 08.20 and we follow at 08.50. We only want to go to Léré (three locks and 18 kms) and should be able to do it in 3½ hours. But we don’t want to catch them up, as they will always have priority and also leave a fair bit of wash behind them. The first lock at Bannay is 9kms so will take an hour to get there. It’s a cool and windy but we make good progress. The wind gets a little stronger and the lines with our flags break, but no problem. At the second lock alas we have caught up with the Hirondelle. But it gets ahead of us while we wait the refill of the lock and we don’t see it again (until Briare!).
We arrive at Léré by lunch time. We remembered where the moorings are and these are very good. They have electricity but another boat is moored on the supply point and we stretch out our connection cable to reach it. The family on the other boat come back. A very pleasant Swiss family from near the Austrian border, and to our surprise their French is really non-existent. We chat in our limited German and they explain they are moving off soon. Then one of the family speaks very good English and they question us about our boat and the journey from England, and we ask them about Switzerland. A very friendly conversation. When they leave we move along to the electricity point only to find after all that it is not available until 15th May. That is no matter as we are well charged and Spencer’s solar panel is working wonders in this (very) warm weather.
As we approached Léré boards advertise the restaurant “Lion d’Or”. We are going to eat on board tonight, but last time here several years ago we ate at the Lion d’Or and it was very good. We see it had gained a Michelin recognition. At that time Glyn wanted to eat there merely to see “The Girl at the Lion d’Or”, but she turned out to be lively, bouncy and chatty, not sad, profound and enigmatic at all. But the meal was worth it.
After mooring, walking the dogs and lunching we walk into town. There is a boulanger but it doesn’t re-open until 3.30pm. We do some other odds and ends. We decide to just look for the Lion d’Or again. But, despite the advert boards, it is closed down and the building, looking very sad, is for sale. Have they moved to better premises? What happened? This seems sad, profound and enigmatic even if the “Girl” wasn’t.
We float around enjoying the village / town in the warm afternoon. They even have an Isuzu garage (useful to know if we need spare parts for the engine). Finally it 3.30pm and we get back to the baker. This is no baker. The cakes and tarts available seem absolutely fantastic. In fact the baker’s shop is called the “Lys d’Or”. It doesn’t quite make up for losing the “Lion d’Or” but we’ll take the “gilded lily” as a satisfying and small recompense.
We explain to the lady that choosing which cakes is very difficult. So she describes what each one is in detail. “C’est l’Enfer”, and we say so. Perhaps we shouldn’t have any. Get thee behind me Satan! But “cliché” is a French word, and there’s nothing we can’t resist except temptation.
We have a lovely evening meal on the boat and the tarts were absolutely delicious.
Thursday 5th May
The final stretch to Briare. 25 + 3 kms (3 back to the port) but just two locks. Linda gets the bread from the baker and naughtily buys two extra tarts for the evening meal. And once the girls have had a good walk before we move off at 0900.
As it was cool and windy yesterday we dress more warmly, especially Glyn who got very cold on the back of the boat, so now wears three layers. Of course today there is no breeze and it is beautifully warm. The trees along the canal have been thinned out and the sun is streaming down on us. That’s life. We can bear it!
We had forgotten how beautiful this stretch of water is, even up to Belleville. But after Belleville even more beautiful. Well, we have now finally entered the Loiret. The village of Beaulieu has developed some excellent moorings. Bonny-s-Loire looks beautiful up to our right. We pass the turn off at L’Etang to the old canal which crosses the Loire at Chatillon. This is really beautiful. We suddenly realise we have been cruising an hour and it feels like 5 minutes. The flag irises are so pretty, and even the wild lupins add a beautiful dash.
We pass through Chatillon (sur Loire this time) and see the old basin. And then a beautiful stretch through St Firmin with the old chateau before we cross way above the Loire on Eiffel’s rightly famous aqueduct. And then we are home in Briare.
The Entrance to Eiffel's Pont Canal
It is 12.30. We moor up in the Port du Commerce as we will not make the Old Port locks before 1300. Finding a space is not easy, especially as initially Glyn misreads the French and thinks what is forbidden to others (non-boaters) is forbidden to us. The girls get a timely walk.
As we return another boat is trying to find a lunchtime mooring. We help them with their ropes, and explain we will be off in 20 minutes. The accent is Slav and we ask if they are from Slovakia or Czech (not nasal enough for Polish). But in fact they are Russian – one family from Moscow and the other from “Siberia”. We have an interesting discussion. Thank God we are speaking very slowly as one of the things they muse about is that they understand all other Europeans when they speak English, but find it very hard to understand the British (a complaint Glyn has heard before in his professional life). A lesson for all of us. Others may speak good English but if it is not their mother tongue then catching English spoken very quickly is not easy.
So, lunch over, we motor the final 2 kms up the Canal Laterale and about-turn into the Cognardiere lock and the Canal de Briare. Just three locks and 3 kms down and we are back to the Loire, descending the level from the Pont Canal to the River itself – about 10 metres (two of the locks are 4.3m each). These are mechanised and it is an easy – and, we note happily, a very beautiful – run down. We stop at the Capitainerie and Patrice Ferry, second-in-command, is there to greet us.
Our text message of yesterday did not get through to him and he wasn’t quite expecting us. But that’s no problem. The mooring he indicated a few weeks earlier is not yet ready but we can moor a few places along. We descend the last lock but the water draught where we have to moor does not allow us to get close enough to the quay. They are still developing this new part of the port, and clearly a little more dredging will be required. So we turn back up the lock to a very convenient mooring at the end of the Rue de Talbot, smack in the centre of everything we need, including water and electricity on tap (ugh!).
We spend the rest of the day just settling in.
Friday 6th May
The main task today is that Glyn has to get the train back to Laroche-Migennes in order to collect the car, and also to talk to Simon about a few things for September. Linda has to look after the dogs and do a few things around town so we set her bicycle up for use.
The train journey will take five hours with changes at Montargis and Moret les Veneux. It is quite quick to Montargis but then slow changes and stopping trains. At the station buying his ticket a voice in English says “Ah. You speak French. Can you ask them how you get from Gare de Bercy to Gare du Nord in Paris? Is there a direct connection?”
“I recognise that voice!” In fact it is Gaynes from Colorado. They have ended their cruise at Chatillon and are now taking the train back to Paris for a few days before the return to Colorado and Florida. But already being expert on connections between Bercy, Gare de Lyons, and Gare du Nord Glyn is able to discuss this with them on the train. In the end the best route is always the one you can find easiest! But chatting about the ends of our boat trips quickly uses up the time to Montargis.
At Migennes the car is fine. Simon Evans, rushed as ever, nevertheless finds time to discuss and agree solving strategies for our few little issues to be addressed later in the year. The drive back to Briare, through beautiful countryside, takes 90 minutes!
Linda has meanwhile worked like a Trojan, beginning to clean up the boat. A quite evening.
Saturday 7th to Wednesday 11th May
Saturday: A quiet day shopping including at the Gien market. The blooms are out, as also is the pollen and hay fever. About a quarter of the world is sneezing. But it is a beautiful day.
Sunday: Washing and cleaning today. Many things are going on in Briare, including three countryside hikes of different lengths. All seem to go past the boat, and we see half the world. It is VE Day in France and a national holiday. But the town is also marking the end of WW2 just as we mark Armistice. A brass band suddenly strikes up the Last Post, followed by the Marseillaise and then the Reveille. Our backs stiffen in memory of those who gave all.
A quiet afternoon taking the washing to the launderette for drying. We finally master the system.
Monday: This is what canalling holidays are all about. We don’t do very much. Lots of walks. Must do this more often.
Tuesday: We have guests tonight, so the boat gets a final spring clean. Philippe and Marcelle, Nicole and Guy, Patrick, Annie and Nicole, Cecile and Michelle arrive for aperitifs at 6.30pm, and then we go off for a meal. A really delightful evening with so many already established friends in our new base.
Wednesday: The end. Today is packing bags. Making sure we take back to England what we need, etc. It’s been a great trip, and we are looking forward to being back in July. But equally looking forward to seeing all our family and friends in England, and checking that Lauren and Jake are both OK, as well not-yet-young Alfie (though finalising this at 10:06 on Monday 30th May Alfie is now actually 51 minutes old).
Friends Aboard at Briare
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