So, when we set off from Digoin we left the roof on and just slowed to a crawl as we passed under each bridge. And actually from now on the bridge height was said to be generally a few inches higher and so we decided to keep the roof on (and approach with care) from then on.
Finally we made it to Decize and cycled into the city for a glass of wine and a look around. This is the point at which the Nivernais Canal starts but it is interesting that you have to navigate a short stretch of the Loire river itself to get to it. So when the Loire is in flood the Nivernais is inaccessible from the south.
We were moored on free moorings with no facilities on the outskirts of the town but it was very quiet and we mostly had it to ourselves.
Our newly-acquired friends Heidi and Marco were heading back in our direction from Nevers so we waited for them to arrive at Decize, and then had two suppers on each others’ barges: very hospitable and excellent company.
We felt sorry to be setting off in different directions but that is often the case in the barging world. ‘Ships that pass in the night … ‘
We had a long day and ended up at Chevenon where our mooring guide indicated two separate moorings with a number of rings on each. Alex spent a happy hour or so with his metal detector and managed to unearth no less than 5 more rings hidden in the grass. He painted them and all the others with white paint so they would obvious to other boaters.
We left this lovely mooring quite early for us, at 9.15, and had been cruising for some time, Alex soon noticed a cyclist at the side of the canal who was watching us approach. Alex said to Louise, jokingly, ‘Well, we stopped him in his tracks!’ As we got level with him he actually gave us a round of applause and then a vigorous thumbs-up. RICCALL has had many an appreciative gesture, but never had such an accolade before. What a treat!
Thus, we arrived at Nevers, and moored on the long pontoon behind the permanently moored barges. We cycled round to the industrial area opposite and asked at the first place where we might get our air con dealt with. A helpful lady directed us further down the road and we entered a very smart kitchen/bathroom refurbishment showroom with some trepidation: a little bit non-plussed but, nothing ventured, nothing gained! The lovely helpful lady Emilie, rang their own local air con engineers and even arranged for them to come and refill our air con unit the next day. This time we got an estimate (€100) before they came! And yes it was a lot, but this is France! And they turned up!
So now we had air con again. Yippee! We also caught the train back to Paray le Monial to fetch the car as it was an easy train ride and now that the car is sort of ‘with us’ as we go, we feel we can’t leave it for too long in each place.
There is the usual necessity to repaint various parts of the barge, which are beginning to look a bit neglected: in this instance, the sides, back and front of the whole of the wheel house.
At a lovely mooring Cours les Barres, we made a start and did the upper half of the wheel house,
and later moored up on a silo quay at La Chapelle-Montlinard. The official moorings there, although offering water and electricity, were on a rough sloping edge which is very uncomfortable for RICCALL so we accepted the presence of the rather precarious overhanging paraphernalia on the silo quay as an alternative!
Having received a good tip from our friends Paul and Diane, we cycled to the town on the other side of the Loire valley, some 3 kms – La Charite-sur-Loire – had a good look round (despite a truly dreadful tourist map) and an excellent lunch at the Auberge Le Poule Noir. When we got back to the silo quay, the silo fans had started running, to dry the grain, making the most dreadful noise. We set off again immediately for the next mooring which was peaceful and quiet.
We stopped at Ménétréole-sous-Sancerre and had a look round the rather tired and dilapidated village alongside the moorings. The hotel/restaurant looked OK but we had supper organised already so stayed aboard.
On our little walk round the town we had seen a parked taxi and took a note of its telephone number. Next morning we rang the taxi number advertised in the port but they said they needed several days’ notice, so we then tried the local taxi firm and they came within half an hour to take us up the steep hill into Sancerre.
We had a good look round the very historic town of Sancerre and a very nice lunch at one of the many restaurants, then got a taxi back to the moorings. (Sancerre has arranged a walking tour of the town with a red-painted line on the ground to follow. At each stop of interest a little plaque gave just enough information to the casual viewer. An excellent arrangement – not too much info, just enough.)
That evening the barge ZEEMEEUW arrived and we invited Dieter and PJ for drinks and a good evening of chat.
Next day we set off and soon moored up at a silo quay opposite the entrance to the Embranchement de Saint Thiebault. We didn’t intend to venture down into this side canal: height, depth and turning possibility all being potential issues!! But the silo quay enabled us to get the bikes off and pick up groceries from Colruyt.
We moved on to the next mooring at Beaulieu-sur-Loire and as we were starting to moor up, with help from PAVOT with the mooring rings, the heavens opened. We got the ropes on adequately and had lunch! The rain ended eventually and we decided to move the boat to a slightly better position. No sooner had we released the ropes than the rain started again in earnest. We said, ‘Sod it, we’ll have to wait till it eases again’, but as luck would have it, RICCALL kept drifting closer and closer to PAVOT until eventually we just HAD to go out in the continuing downpour and moor her up properly. Another soaking, Wet! Or what?!
Another quite early start for our next short hop to Chatillon only a few kilometres away. This is the point at which in former times, and before the construction of the Pont Canal (aqueduct over the Loire to Briare), the boats would lock onto the river and be lowered bit by bit by anchorage down to the next lock on the other side to continue their journey to Briare. In the reverse direction, of course, they had to be hauled upriver by winches or horses against the current. Two spits of land had been created in the river to assist with these operations. The whole lock area had been completely flooded in 1856 when the river rose by some 6 metres. Several other high points were marked in the stonework.
So, Briare beckoned across the mighty Loire – now looking pretty harmless.
We checked the way was clear of course, but no sooner had we entered the trough of the aqueduct into Briare than we saw a trip boat start to enter from the town end! By this time we were at least 50 metres in and no chance of reversing out so we just had to go on and he had to reverse.
At this point it became blindingly obvious what the telephone number and three time slots we’d been given by a previous lockkeeper had been for. We had misunderstood their importance. These were the times when you did NOT attempt to cross, as trip boats have priority! And the phone number of course was to arrange passage.
The capitaine studiously ignored us as we passed his boat but the lady in charge of the boat full of 4-year olds gave us a hearty wave.
We had tried to get an overnight mooring in Briare commercial port but the Capitaine told us nothing was available until June 19th well over a week away! The Port de Plaisance is out of bounds to us, being only 1.2m deep so on we went to moor at Ouzouer-sur-Trezee (!!!). Try saying that after a good gin and tonic! Another lovely long mooring with only one small firmly-closed-up-boat on it. Free mooring for 2 days and free electricity and water. How do these sad and tired little towns do it? The town, like many others, was dilapidated with virtually every former shop, restaurant or bar closed up and forlorn. There was one little extant cafe/bar however, which was open and quite busy for 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Thank goodness!
So, having negotiated the pont-canal de Briare and the next 6 locks, here we were at what must be the canal’s loveliest mooring – on the summit level adjacent to the Etang de Gazonne – supplier with other reservoirs of water to the Briare canal. It was quiet, beautiful (if a little shallower than it should be) but lovely nonetheless.
