Cruising with the Carters: September 7th to 13th. Roanne to Decize

It is a week since we left our new "home" port in Roanne and I have been very remiss about posting on the blog. So, here it is, catch up time!

Sept 7

Roanne to Briennon

14 km 3 locks 3.3 hours

3 days after arriving on the boat (1 of which was spent settling in and winding down, and 2 were required for Ian to install the 2 new water tanks that were waiting for us in the port captain’s office. We can now carry 260 litres of fresh water), we set off from the port of Roanne at 9.20 on a cool but calm Saturday morning.

We had been warned that there was a substantial amount of weed in the higher reaches of the canal and sure enough our propeller managed to find it. We passed three weed eating vessels and mounds of drying weed deposited on the banks. They are doing a good job, but they haven’t won the battle yet.

We tied up in the marina at Briennon where the first night is free if you stay 2 nights, so we stayed 2 nights. Electricity is €4 per day and water is €3 per day.

Briennon is a lovely village with an impressive Romanesque church, and on Saturday evening there was a parade through the town, no idea what it was in aid of but each float bore a number on the front, 80, 70, 60 etc. and was manned by people all the same age(ish) in those age groups. They were having great fun carrying pitchers of beer and plastic cups which they were sharing with the on-lookers.

Weed catcher, version 1

Weed catcher version 2 (and 3)

Weed, chomped off bits in the locks

But, weed or no weed, it sure is beautiful

The lovely painted church in Briennon

Even the floor is a delight

The marina in Briennon

At the head of the parade, the 80's. Isn't it magnificent!

Part of the 80's, and no less magnificent.

Sept 9

Briennon to Bonnand

28 km 4 locks 5.45 hours (incl 1 hour for the lock keepers’ lunch stop)

We have decided to do longish days to Decize because we passed this way just 3 months ago, in the opposite direction. Once again, we enjoyed the Roanne-Digoin Canal, also known as The Tranquil Canal. It is narrow, winding, tree-lined, with glimpses of the wide and impressive Loire River across the valley.

In June we were delighted to notice the investment in the infra-structure with new quays and unfinished electricity and water points. We hoped they would be in action by now, but no, not yet. Maybe next year.

Sept 10

Bonnand to Pierrefitte

26km 5 locks 4.75 hours

Another lovely day. The Roanne-Digoin Canal ends at a T-junction. You can turn right for the Canal du Centre or left to the Canal Lateral a la Loire. We were intending to spend our autumn cruise on the Canal du Centre but it has been closed for the last month because of low water levels. So we didn’t have an option and turned left. No complaints, the canal Lateral is well worth many visits.

We have stopped at Pierrefitte-sur-Loire, a small village with an epicierie on the church square, which was closed when we stopped here in June because it was a public holiday, and closed today for their summer holidays.

Sept 11

Pierrefitte to Gannay/Vanneaux

33.5km 8 locks 6.25 hours, incl 1 hour lockie lunch hour

Yet another superb early autumn day. The leaves are beginning to turn and early mornings can be a little chilly but the days are warm, forecast to be much hotter in the next few days unfortunately and not a drop of rain insight.

We are shocked at how dry the pastures are. This is Charolais cattle country and we have passed mile after mile of dry, brown, munched-to-the-roots fields with cows crowded around feeders full of silage. They don’t look really satisfied with life, they want some lush green grass to chomp, like the happy cows back home on Faial :)

We have stopped at the delightful halte at Gannay, just above the Vanneaux lock. It is a municipal halte, which is free. Including water and electricity.

For some reason I cannot add captions to the photos. Nuisance!

Sept 12^th

Vanneaux to Decize

19.5 km 7 locks 5 hours including 45 mins waiting for lockies lunch hour to end

Today we travelled in company with the British registered barge (about 16m, I’m guessing) Donjeux.

We were together in Roanne and have been leap-frogging each other since we both left on the same day. At the turn off into Deceize we parted company, hopefully we will meet up again next year.

A shorter day today, less than 20km, but again we ran into the the lockie’s lunch break from 12.00 to 13.00. We waited out the lock closure in the port de plaisance at Decize, where we were horrified to see copious amounts of the dreaded weed, that looks like asparagus fern, but is a whole lot more dangerous. This is the one that wraps around propellers, gets into engine cooling systems and blocks up toilets! Nasty stuff.

Finally, after the lunch hour we got through the lock onto the Loire River to find even more of the lethal weed, but after we had gone through the lock into the Nivernais Canal it seems to have disappeared. We have stopped just upstream of the first lock at a quay conveniently situated right next to the commercial area where we have stocked up on wine (the wine we like, not knowing if we will find it again in the near future), fresh veg, and sundry other necessities (or not as the case may be) and I pushed a few coins into the laundry machines outside the nearby DIY store laundry machines (open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, but they don’t give change).

Sept 13

St Legere des Vignes to Decize

About 3 kms, 1 lock, 40 minutes.

We moved from the commercial area with it’s supermarkets (Carrefour, LeClerc and Lidl) and BricoMarche with laundry in the carpark (1x8kg machine-€4, 1x18kg machine - €8, and 1 dryer 15 mins for €2), to the town quay at Decize, close to the old town. It was market day and I bought a slice of “Boeuf Cuit”, rather large at nearly 400g but it will do for 2 lunches. Not as tasty as it looked, though.

The town is old and quaint. Julius Caeser mentioned it in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico. Narrow roads wind up down a small hill with the remnants of a castle at the top. The church of St Aré (11^th and 12^th centuries) has a crypt dating from the 7^th century,

Hot, hot, hot. 30C outside and 33C inside. Sunscreens are up and there is a light cooling breeze.