Chagny to St Jean de Losne.

Lovely decorated lock sides on the way to CHAGNEY.  Here we wait for Claire to arrive from England for a couple of days.

Met for a quick beer in               the village square with            Bruce and Janine (NZ)             who we have been bumping        into for the last few weeks.

A quick cycle ride back to the Village of Santenay to visit the Chateau but unfortunately the wrong time for a quick wine tour.                                                        Loved the sculptures in the gardens though…

Claire arrives in Chagney 

Now leaving the canals and joining the     River Saone, heading first for                 Chalon-sur-Saone, then St Jean de Losne.

A Huge 29m lock with drop gates….luckily it has floating bollards..

CHALON-sur-SAONE.  Lovely town which we first enjoyed back in 2012..Garden at entrance to the Port de Plaisance. Photography was invented by a native of Chalon-sur-Saone, Joseph Nicephore Niepce.  Hence photography is displayed in the flower gardens.

A lovely night out with Claire, cocktails then a meal..yum,yum.

Chalon has some lovely old wooden houses dating back to the 15-18th C.

Saying a double goodbye to Claire.. Next time we see her it will be in Sydney as she has returned to live in the city she loves.  

     Before we could leave Chalon-sur-Saone we had to wait for a floating Island to          pass us by. And eventually be towed away….but where???????

And we say goodbye to Bruce and Janine…before we finally set off on the home leg to St Jean de Losne.

Nevers to Chagny along the Canal a la Loire

Weather still nice and hot. Lucy decided that she couldn’t leave the Loire without a swim at one of the beach areas… unfortunately the water was not as flowing and as clear as she would have liked, but we both got wet.

Nevers unfortunate claim to fame is that the cathedral was accidently bombed by the RAF in WW2, but has been totally rebuilt although the stained glass windows are more modern now.

The Hotel du Ville, The large imposing Ducal Palace -- the former home of the Dukes of Nevers built in 15/16C and the old Theatre.

A little night time visit from a friendly Coypu who loved our crackers.

This one is about the size of a very large cat.

Next into Decize which is on the confluence of the The Loire River, The Canal Lateral a la Loire and the Canal du Nivernais.

Again a lovely mooring, still with Bill and Min, and met up again with new boatie friends Bruce and Janine from Sumner (Nr Christchurch). (who we bumped into all the way down to Chalon-Sur-Soane, with a bit of alcohol of course)

Max doing his daily exercise, !!!!      And cute lock-keepers huts/houses.

 

Over another aquaduct over The Loire and into Digoin……. And another liquid evening with Alan & Shelia, and Bill & Min.

Alan and his well tended garden which thrived despite all the heat. And a sad sad sight.

Off on our way and the french always close locks for lunch, so we had ours too..

The canals have been really quiet this year. We have heard from fellow boaters, lock keepers and the VNF that most of the boats out  and about this year have been NZ’s or Ozzies, with a few Brits. Very few Dutch and even less German but still some French braving their way though.

Coming into Montceau-les-Mines with all the beautiful lifting bridges,

and past a hotel, so aptly named……