Briare, Beaulieu, Belleville, Léré, St Thibault, St Satur, Sancerre FR 25-29 May 2023 We had some lovely cruising days with Janet and Peter before they had to leave us. Then we visited the hilltop town of Sancerre. View of St Satur and Loire from Sancerre To leave our mooring at Briare, we had to turn around in the fairly narrow canal and return through the 2 locks we had come through when we arrived. This was acheived without incident. The lock keeper who helped us was the same one who had been with us coming down from the top of the Briare Canal into Ouzouer. From there we had to almost do a U-turn to go into the Canal lateral à la Loire and over the Pont-Canal. We made Janet and Peter comfortable in the small deck chairs up the front. And I steered us along the pont-canal which was only 6m wide, while Howard took photos. After that we went through the harbour at Chatillion-sur-Seine. It was a pleasant cruise, and I did manage to get few shots of flying herons. We caught up to a hotel barge though, so the last few kms were quite slow. In the end he moored at the same mooring as us. After a nice lunch on the back deck we went into town to have a look around, but everything seemed to be closed on Thursday afternoon. We knew that the hotel barge was also going to Léré and we expected it to leave at about 9am, so we decided to wait until it had well gone before we set out. Of course that gave Howard a chance to have a fish and us to sleep in. The hotel barge didn't leave until 10am so we left about 30 minutes later. We had a good view of the nuclear power station as we passed. Because of our late start we had to stop at Belleville as the lock-keepers take time for lunch from 12-1pm. There was a nice picnic table so it was pleasant stop. After lunch Janet decided to go up to the lock to take a video of us entering the lock. There were already 2 boats in the lock who were coming from the other direction and she got roped in to help the lock-keeper manually open the gates. She still go the video of us entering the lock. At Léré Janet was interested in trying out the electric bike so she and I went into town, me using my old bike. It was a nice little town. Saturday was our final cruising day with Janet and Peter. This time Peter helped out at the locks. Our plan was to moor at St Satur and for Howard to check out whether the moorings at St Thibault, on a side arm opposite, were any better. We found the mooring at St Satur to be quite overgrown but found a couple of bollards and moored up to put off Howard and his bike. On his return he confirmed that there was no room to turn around and there was no space big enough for us in the side arm. But he was able to identify a better spot on the St Satur quay and so that we had concrete opposite our door. Once we had settled in we put up the canopy for the first time this year. And had lunch under it on the back deck. As it was Janet and Peter's last night we went to have a restaurant meal at a restaurant in St Thibault overlooking the Loire. It was a lovely evening. St Thibault side arm Loire River The next morning was Whit Sunday and Janet and Peter had to catch a train from Tracy Sancerre station which is on the other side of the Loire River. We tried to order a taxi, but they didn't answer the phone or said not today. So in the end they had to walk the 2.5 kms. Luckily they didn't have a lot of bags. We went with them part of the way and then had a quick look at the brocante market along the side arm. Of course with my sore feet I didn't last long and we returned to the boat for a relatively quiet afternoon. On Monday we cycled up the hill to Sancerre an old town known for it's wines. We dropped into the tourist office for a map of the town, and after lunch in one of the many squares, cycled around following the red line which took us to the main sights. As well as all the old buildings there were a few other interesting bits - some old photos from a photographer in the town were on display, an old well, a dent in a wall, and the restaurant toilet door which was only about 4ft tall. Of course as Sancerre is on a hill, there are great views of the Loire Valley and St Satur (see above) and the vinyards. Whilst in Sancerre, Howard bought 6 bottles of Sancerre white wines, which he then had to carry about in his backpack. On our way home we chose the route over the St Satur viaduct. In spite of the steep ride up the hill which gave Howard a really good work out, we'd had a great day.
1 Comment
Trudi Potter
5/6/2023 11:29:31 pm
Love the heron photos. Your whole lifestyle looks fabulous. Enjoy the Summer
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