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At 9am, we departed Rogny with a heavy heart, passing under the bridge which is centred in the village the automatic lock appears within 150 meters, the historic flight of seven ecluses rise beyond, flanked by green grassed areas and white stone facia, gates long gone, they are a defunct monument to the determination and fortitude of those who built them.

The modern flight of locks are spread more widely over the approaching 8 kilometres, six ascending locks and five descending, most are staffed by eclusieres who leapfrog each other to cover each of the locks as we progressed through them, timing their arrival to present a boat hook for our lines, a smooth affair and a stark contrast to our experiences last Friday.

During the day 17 locks were challenged and conquered.

Our intended destination was the reputedly beautiful Briare, with its aqueduct spanning the Loire River, it was designed and built by Eiffel of the tower fame, and it is a place from which many boaters have been reluctant to leave.

We arrived just in time for a rain storm to a full house, concerned by the sloping sides of the river basin in which we planned to stop we declined and continued on. By the time we transited the aquaduct it was raining harder so maybe the magic that had bewitched others did not work its spell on us.

Continuing onward we decided to try for a lock side Halte Nautique at Beaulieu Sur Loire, a camp site for caravans it was fully equipped with all the services, and showers which were free. Fandango was reluctant to lie alongside as her port side keel dug into the mud but we were satisfied that no damage would be caused.

We were helped with our lines by a German family who had hired Sancerre, a Nichols hire boat we had seen previously, a very nice family.

We departed at 9am. Our destination was to be a small Halte Nautique at Mentreoul Sancerre.

There were 5 locks to be negotiated; all were staffed by boat hook wielding eclusierre’s. The  Fluvial identified that some locks offer goods such as wine or home grown vegetables, one such lock was the one at Houards, which offered a range of Sancerre wines at reasonable prices, I sercummed to the temptation and bought 6 bottles of wine at a cost of 41 euro’s.

Lunch was consumed after we tied up to a mooring point outside a grain silo. 

We arrived in Mentreol Sancerre mid afternoon, there was a holiday barge already tied up, its skipper was a very amenable Dutchman who spoke good English and its Chef, a rather portly man from Preston, some football club banter was exchanged.

The village was small and the mooring abutted onto the main road, but was quiet and conveniently placed for the local Tabac bar/ restaurant whose name I am annoyed for forgetting to record, Electricity and water was available at a cost of 3 and 2 euro’s respectively, payable at the Tabac, which we learned later also offered Wi-Fi access which we were grateful to utilise.

Mentreol Sancerre abuts the famed wine producing village/area of Sancerre. Wine is not produced in this village although it is stored within the village.

We decided to extend our stay and to make a visit to Sancerre the following day. (Wednesday) We enjoyed a drink in the Tabac and chatted to the bar staff and owner who spoke good English.

The following morning we set off for the walk to Sancerre.  Sancerre is at the top of a winding road which zig zag’s up the mountain which overlooks Montreal Sancerre, a healthy 4 kilometre walk through vineyards’ flagging row after row of grapevines.

A hard walk up hill, there is a welcome respite offered by the Joseph Mellot winery, they offer wine tasting and of course sales of wine. We were directed to the wine tasting room where a group of French people were already quaffing samples of wine. We joined in tasting some varieties of Sancerre wine and later chose three bottles for collection on our way back.

We arrived in Sancerre just as the shops closed, so our search for local cheese had to wait, we ate in an open air restaurant, goats cheese salad with locally smoked ham, dressing and a glass of white wine, Chris had similar with still water.

We sat in strong sun and enjoyed the company of our fellow diners. After lunch we concluded our visit and made our way back to the winery arriving there much faster than we had done getting there, we collected our wine and made our way back to Mentreal Sancerre and enjoyed a beer and coffee in the Tabac.

The following morning we left at 0930 hrs following a request from the Dutch Captain of the hotel barge to allow him to make the first lock time in front of us, which we agreed to.

Our destination was Marsailles Les Aubigny a barge town, however on our arrival there was no space, fishermen occupied the only remaining space and when asked to move noisily refused, so we continued to Cours Les Barres a quiet Halte Nautique.   

By the time we arrived there was little space left as there were two large barges hogging the cream of the pitches, however we managed to moor at the end of the halt too far away for water or electricity.

In front of us was a Norfolk Broads barge called ‘Barley’ its owners were an English couple who were ex-yachties who had opted for the comfort of the canals and a boat more suited to the purpose. Shortly after our arrival a British narrow boat arrived, a very pretty boat, its owners from the West Midlands had her transported by road/ship to the canals some 10 years ago, their owners had cruised the canals during the whole of the past 10 years and spoke of electricity being shared with thirsty Dutch vessels at Christmas when the power failed leaving them without, for the whole of the Christmas and New /year period. They offered to share their power cable with us, but I think it was more about avoiding the threat of our use of the inboard generator. We accepted in the knowledge that we would be saving on fuel.

The evening was very warm and humid and we had been warned of heavy rain storms. Gradually during the evening the storm clouds gathered and distant thunder came closer, by early morning the rain had started to fall forcing me to abandon my cockpit bed for the aft cabin.

The following morning was greeted by an overcast sky and damp ground, rain was not far away, threatening to fall as we pulled our bank pins and set (sail) off for Nevers.

Nevers is the regional capital of Nevernais and is known for its pointed church spires and historic buildings. The home of nougatine a delicious sponge cake pastry stuffed with praline flavoured cream and iced with chocolate, we declined the purchase due to the number of calories it presented.

We opted for the quieter moorings offered in Plagny, as we were unsure if our draft would allow us to get through the two locks which allowed entry to Nevers Halte Nautique. More centrally placed for the city according to Derek Bowskill whose reference we respect, it is not the most welcoming place to moor, he recommends Plagny as a better option.

We passed the Nichols boat hire marina and made for the banks beyond, once again the keels were our guide to the banks of the canal as Fandango gently edged her way in and tied up using a boarding plank to span the distance to the bank.