Monday morning at the usual 9 am we departed Fleury and entered a more “interesting” section of the Nivernais. The 15 K heading north from Fleury to just above Chatillon-en-Bazois is not straight (forward).
That “watch out” in Chatillon is for real. I’ve touched the wall twice on that corner.
The map legend tells you that, i.e. Fleury is Nivernais lock 21, it’s 1.9 meters deep and the bridge below it
has 3.5 meters of headroom. It’s 1.640 k between #22 Bernay and Fleury.
After some challenging driving, about 19k around all those bends, we stopped right above the double locks of Mont-et-Maré about 3 o’clock, early enough to wander about the village and check out a couple of lavoirs, not all of them restored. These were the washhouses of the villages and many of them across France have been rebuilt.
We think maybe a nice watercress salad could be made here.
We liked the sign for the old telephone booth at the local bar.
The view across the fields from above the village of Mont-et-Maré.
Our mooring above the double lock.
Looking back down the canal from our back deck.
Tuesday morning we left the mooring headed for our ultimate destination this year, the top of the Canal du Nivernais, the dike on the lake at Baye. After that, it would be back to Briare slowly.
It looks very lovely, Don. Is there much traffic on the waterways or are you mostly alone? I do so wish we could have made it to France this year, but at least the HH is now approved!! We will have a few weekends of faring fun, but we'll definitely be off and away early next year now! Love the photos and those peaceful reaches of canal! Keep posting!
ReplyDeleteThe traffic has been moderate; maybe a little more than the last time we were on this stretch of water. The vast majority has been hireboats. Very few private boats; I don't think we've seen a single Dutch flag. It's good to see the French out on their canals, though. Maybe they'll realize what a fantastic resource they have. Also, it makes us practice our French.
ReplyDeleteGood news about the new motor! Hope to see you here next year!