Day's Progress : 31kms 17 locks
Bill left us at about 9.30. It was now just Steve and I and we set off knowing that we would miss Bill quite a bit.
This was a really long, hard day and we worked more locks – we set our record for mileage and locks today.
We needed to make up some mileage today so that we would make it to Baye tomorrow. Everything would be closed on Bastille day (14th July), including the locks and it was quite important that we had mooring at a good marina for the 14th. This would also be our “day off”.
But we had to get through today with just the 2 of us, me handling all the things in the locks that Bill had done. Something that was quite novel on this leg were bridges that went over the canal that needed to be cranked up for the boat to get through then cranked down again – there were 3 of these! And the last one was a killer. There was definitely something wrong with the wince mechanism and in the end three elderly men were hanging of the bridge to try to help me get it down again.
I got to scamper up the ladders in the locks – bit nerve wracking but I soon got the hang of it. Steve would bring the boat slowly alongside the ladder and I would grab on with the rope over my shoulder and scamper up. I would then secure the boat, throw the rope back to Steve and then help the lock-keeper open and close the gates. There were 17 locks today and they were huge. I ached at the end of the day but felt good and knew I would be able to work off the glorious meals.
We had decided to have lunch in a town called Tannay. Steve was quite keen to go there – it has some fam
ous wines and he was hoping we could do a little wine tasting. We moored the boat on the side of the canal. We were going to use the bikes for the first time! Tannay was about 4kms from the canal and after a bit of a shaky start we discovered it was uphill all the way – I think we rode for about 500m in total – and pushed our bikes the rest of the way. Tannay sat on top of a really steep, high hill – well, I think it was a very high hill - and anyway we were huffing and puffing by the time we got into the village. We were definatley not in any shape to have ridden up there. We had a super lunch at a restaurant in a smallish hotel. Interestingly, the owner told us that we were the 3rd South African couple in as many days. I had lightly poached fish with roast vegetables for lunch – Steve also had fish – different kind. We both enjoyed the meal. I finished off with Fromage Blanche that was to become a firm favorite. It is very like yogurt only more cheesy and and creamy. It can be smooth or chunky and is often served with sugar on the side – nice with sugar but I prefer it plain. Steve had some cheese. We had a bottle of love white Tannay wine. The restaurant had some interesting ceramic figures and the owner seemed to be fond of swan/duck type ornaments. There were 3 ladies lunching together and they had 2 dogs with them – good as gold and they had their bowl of water from the owner.Stopped at a cave in Tannay and bought a few bottles of wine – we hung the plastic bags from our handlebars and set off for the boat. We hardly peddled at all and certainly not downhill. We reached the boat in double quick time – I am not entirely sure I would have enjoyed Tannay as much as if we had to ride uphill on the return journey
Spotted a lovely Doberman – very strong, big dog with red collar and harness. They clip the ears here – this isn’t the first one I have seen with pointy ears. It makes them look quite fierce and intimidating – I know this practice was banned years ago by the kennel clubs in Rhodesia and I am sure in the UK. But he was beaut no less and I would have liked to give him a cuddle.
The locks had veritable displays of garden ornaments –
I have seen Snow White and her entourage of dwarves and
various hangers on, squirrels, gnomes or various shapes and sizes, owls, frogs, hedgehogs and gnomes for Africa …. I mean France. There was also an almost life-size Shetland Pony at one of the locks. But cute and pretty and lots of flowers.
We cruised past plantations of oaks today and a number of sawmills. This area is apparently very good for growing oaks and hence the sawmills – this is where they make the barrels for the wine. There were large piles of enormous cut logs – they water these piles to stop them from drying out too quickly before they can work on them.
We moored for the night at a marina just outside of Chitry-les-Mines. It provided electricity and water and there was a restaurant. The restaurant was mostly under a tent and it looked like the kitchen was in an old caravan – but nice and there were locals at some of the tables. There were quite a number of boats and some of the boats that we traveled with in the latter part of the day just battened down and didn’t see them again till the next morning – I think they were turning around here and going back.
There was an impressive chateau in the surrounding area – somewhere. The only info we could get was that it was some kilometers up the road and quite frankly we were both tired and didn’t feel like unpacking the bikes. We were also told that there was a bakery about 2 kilometers away so Steve would get in a good walk the following morning.
Dinner at the makeshift restaurant was OK. Not much choice – I had the proverbial Salad Vert, Steve had a bit and we both had the inevitable steak and chips – a huge portion of chips. We smothered it with tomato sauce and tucked in.
We had an early night – tomorrow was going to be hectic – we had to make it to Baye to get a mooring for the night and Bastille day.
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