Joigny

We had a lot to do today so I was up bright and early at 6.30 (and the sun was really bright) and went walking with the camera at 7.00.  What a lovely, picturesque town.  Get ready for lots of pics.

I was amazed at the really ancient houses, apparently dating from the 15th century.  There are so many narrow streets with such quaint buildings... let's just say I had a hard time limiting my pics to about 20!

The church of St Jean.  Originally a chapel belonging to the neighbouring chateau, dating from 13th century but rebuilt in the 16th.

Not a large church, but some really different features.

The organ

The vaulted ceiling is seriously impressive

The tomb of St Ailis, dates from the 13th century

The chateau, oringinaly dating from the 11th century, was burned down in a fire that devastated the town in the 16th century. It was rebuilt but never finished.

The original gate giving access to the chateau

The bailiff's house

Detail from the bailiff's house

A really narrow cobbled street

The vineyards that stretch up into the hills around Joigny

Before 9.00 I was back at the boat and we started our chores, the first one being to replenish the fuel tanks which have taken a hammering with all the upstream river cruising we have done in the last 2 months.  Ian brought out the trailer and 2 x 20 litre jerrycans and we did 4 runs to the fuel station at the nearby Intermarche supermarket to fill our tanks. 

Then he did 3 runs for Lynn and Shaun plus one more for bottle of gas.  By that time it was 12.00 noon and they invited us out for lunch at a restaurant, Le Canotier.  Really good grub!  We ate far too much!

After lunch Ian and I went off in search of a new laptop.  The one we have on board, a Lenovo Yoga 510, is fantastic and the one we have at home is giving serious problems.  It is 9 years old and has reached the end of its use-by-date!  But unfortunately, the laptop section in the Intermarche (impressive as it was) did not have what we are looking for.  So we bought 2 x 3 litre boxes of wine instead.

Then Ian spent the rest of the afternoon chasing a diesel leak problem in Shaun’s engine room. He found it but it was not an easy fix.  Suffice to say the air turned a lurid shade of blue many times.

I spent the afternoon doing some forward route planning.  From tomorrow we will be on new waterways and we have just 4 weeks to get to our new “home” port at Roanne  where we have paid for an annual mooring.  I can’t believe it, the time has flown by so fast!