Seascapes Travel Log
Michael Grew
Mon 28 Jun 2010 08:56
A nice bright morning and more importantly, warmer! To celebrate we had HOT showers. That should keep the boat smelling a bit sweeter. The Capitainaire seemed very surprised that we wanted separate showers. (Ah well he is French!) Left the mooring at 10:45hrs (in order to beat the huge hotel barge through the locks, that leaves at 11:00hrs). Having passed through the last of the three locks leading out of Briare, we turned right and made our way to, and across the huge aquaduct that spans the Loire valley. It seemed very strange chugging slowly across the flooded Loire river some hundreds of feet above it. We were fortunate that we were the only boat on the aqueduct so Maureen was able get off the boat and walk alongside and take some video footage of the event. We stopped for lunch at picnic stop at Beaulieu and ate in the cockpit in warm sunshine. We carried on to a halte at Bannay, for the night, that according to the book, had electricity, water supply and a good safe mooring. It was probably true sometime ago when the book was published (1999). We found it very shallow, no electricity and no water. We stopped anyway, but had to moor up about eight feet out from the bank and we were still touching the bottom. Good job we thought to bring the ladder as a boarding ramp. Today we covered 35 kilometres and passed through six locks.
22/06/2010 47:20:38N 02:51:86E.
Awoke to bright sunshine streaming through the cabin windows, lovely! So much so that we slipped the mooring and gently pottered down the canal, with engine on tick-over and ate breakfast on the move. Absolutely superb, just ghosting along between overhanging trees that were reflected in the mirror-like surface of the canal. The only other sign of life were the numerous herons that were acting like sentries on the banks. Six kilometres later we turned off the main canal into the Porte du Plaisance at Thiabult near Sancerre, and were immediately helped by an english skipper who took our lines and helped us tie up. From the mooring we could see the town and the Chateau du Sancerre on top of the hill, surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of hectares of vines. The Capitainaire drove us up to the top of the town in his own car and dropped us outside the tourist office. The view from the office over the Loire valley was absolutely stunning. Armed with information from the tourist office we followed the guided walk around the town stopping briefly in the main square for lunch (and a few glasses of the local wine) and to buy some nice goats cheese. One of the highlights of the walk was a climb up to the top of the tower, the highest building (199 steps) and have a complete 360 degree view of the countryside. The other notable visit was to the wine museum where with very modern digital projectors they showed how the wine was produced. The best bit of that visit was the wine tasting at the end and being allowed to keep the nice wine glasses as a souvenir afterwards. We were transported back to the boat by the wife of the Capitainaire . A really lovely day with beautiful sunshine.23/06/2010
Another warm bright day. We cycled over to the village of St. Satur climbed up the hill and got on the huge viaduct that overshadows the town, from which we had superb views of the surrounding countryside and fields of grape vines. Cycled to the local supermarket and bought some provisions. Then cycled along the side of the river Loire for a while then the path deviated and we found ourselves along side the canal at Menetreau, where Di and Blodwin in “Jay” were moored up. They were both drinking wine ( a bit early I thought) and were very talkative. Left them to it and cycled round the old village, then since it was so hot, to stop at the bar by the quay, for a cold beer. As we arrived back at the quay the two Canadian boats arrived, Wally and Lori in “Do Littles” and Dave in his boat (can’t remember it’s name now) , so we helped them moor up and then all of us went for a beer. As we left and went passed “Jay” there was a great kerfuffle as Di tripped over in the cockpit and smashed a full bottle of red wine all over the back of the boat. (he should have stuck to beer that doesn’t stain so much). Returned to our boat and had lunch. Found out that the French had decided to have a one day strike tomorrow, as a protest against the governments handling of the state pensions bill, which means all the locks will be shut. Terrific that means we will have to stay an extra day in the port. Still the weather is much improved now, so it could be worse.