Nivernais - Clamecy to Auxerre

Apr 11

What a poor start - just as we lined up for the Clamecy Ecluse with another boat the Police Municipale turned up and requested €6 from us as a mooring fee (but he only charged for one night).  Our first mooring fee since casting off.

It looks like the hire bases have opened as there are a few hire boats on the water - an overheating Locoboat blocked us in one of the ecluses - we found we had to clear the weed filters of weed and mud every few hours (might need to strip the engine water cooler this winter).

We managed to catch the market at Chatel Censoir - an impressive church on the bluff once we had struggled up to it.

Chatel Censoir

Soon after that were the cliffs at Merry sur Yonne - a rock climbers dream.

Some quite low bridges en route (2.9m) but Angie was in cautious mode so all was well. Though she lost her name (and a fender) at Mailly La Ville after she caught the end of the pontoon - the strong current in the River Yonne of course!

We saw our first ducklings of the year on 17 Apr.

And the swans were looking tres magnifique

Attractive bridges everywhere

Predilbert

The Nivernais is very attractive especially with all the trees coming out in full leaf and the sunrises were almost worth getting out of bed for!

Villages were fairly sparse in places so every bar we encountered had to be checked out - I hope Kes was asking for water and not 'une pression s'il vous plait'

Finally into Auxerre just before Easter - lots of tourists :) so after two days stocking up with food, drink and collecting some mail (plus some sightseeing) it is off for a short stretch heading north on the River Yonne proper.

Auxerre

Auxerre

Nivernais - Decize to Clamecy

Left Decize on 30 Mar but managed to ground three times getting out of the Vieille Loire - no buoyed channel this early in the season and lots of sandbanks - the final time we had to pump tanks to get off (the next step was to throw Angie and Kes overboard)!  Then into our first Canal du Nivernais lock which was guarded by the land Navy.

Entrance to Nivernais

It was all very quiet and the Eclusiers fairly friendly. At Cercy la Tour we found an interesting 'project' cottage within a few minutes walk of a long stretch of free quayside moorings - but we gritted our teeth and moved on as both children are getting married this year and finances will be dodgy.

Cercy La Tour

Not sure going onto Summer Time was a good idea as we seem to be waking much too early!

Anizey Ecluse at daybreak

This early in the season it is very quiet - a boat every few days with the disadvantage that some of the biefs (pounds) are very shallow/weedy with no channel carved from heavy use.  Also a lot of the village shops haven't opened for the 'season'.  So back to home made bread (delegated to Peter as usual) and curries when the vegetables run out.

Chatillon en Bazois

Chatillon came just in time for Peter's 65th birthday (and Mother's Day) so Angela found the most expensive restaurant in town (must be a female talent) and we broke our all time record for the size of the bill - it was the two bottles of Bougogne that did the damage.  The cake had to wait till Sunday.

Then it was on towards Baye and the top of the canal and our first exposure to 'how to fill three ecluses at once'.

After Baye it was through the three tunnels - where it got a bit 'African Queen-ish' in places. Peter lost some face when he (accidentally) tried to shift some displaced masonry with the barge

Fetch a chainsaw

After a hard day doing the Sardy flight (following another boat with an eclusier working at snail pace) life settled back to a more relaxed routine - we also encountered our first lift bridges with Peter working hard (supervised by Kes).

The weather was glorious so we took a weekend off at Villiers sur Yonne - and cleaned inside and out.  Peter planted up the vegetable garden using seedlings he had sown in March and Angie managed to deepen the tan.
Kes has taken to rolling in muck so he gets thrown into the canal each time - in this weather he might consider it a pleasure rather than a punishment!

Now in Clamecy a nice little town - still no mooring charges after three weeks on the move - excellent!  Met up with Pauline and Ian (an Australian couple with a local holiday cottage) whom we had met in Chatillon en Bazois.

Clamecy