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We had spent the last three days under the shadow of a walnut tree, its fruit still hanging within the branches; once the fruits mature they shed their fruit in time for Christmas.

I opened a couple of windfalls and found inside the green conker like skin, flesh containing a yellow die which stains and within this the immature kernel, they weren’t edible so no point in picking them, maybe a small adventure for later in the year in Gruiisan.

We were glad to depart Plagny, and at 0800hrs we timed our run for the first lock of the day which was about 5 kilometres away. It was an unusually damp morning, the sun was shining through the trees casting its dappling onto the water, and a mist hung over the canal. As Fandango’s bow pushed her way through; there was a cold nip in the air, the trees are starting to shed their leaves casting them into the already murky water and onto our decks, is this a warning of an early onset of autumn.

As we progress south, the landscape is changing ever so subtly, from heavy wooded areas along the banks to green pastures, Charolais graze in the fields  , we noted that many are bullocks not many cows, a stark contrast to what we see in the UK, there is a great demand for Charolais beef, the pride of France.

By late afternoon and several lock overcome, the sun had broken through, dried the dew from the decks and the cold edge to the wind had subsided giving way to a warm and still late afternoon. Maybe autumn is still some time away.

By mid afternoon we arrived to an unusually empty quay at Decize, by now we had grown accustomed to the plethora of Peniche’s and large barges arriving before us and heaving to squeeze into a corner away from harm, but today we had the pick, we decided to go for the far end of the quay where the water was deep enough to accommodate our bilge keels without the thump as they meet mud. Just as we tied up we were joined by a motor boat, its sole occupant was Dave from Essex, and yes I made the usual pun, Oh an Essex Boy Eh! Dave was a very pleasant man, of mature age in his 70’s, he had some problems with a gearbox on his twin engine boat and was looking to lift out at Decize and take the offending machinery back to the UK for repair. Dave was a mind of information about the local area and as is our custom we drained him of as much as he was willing to give updating even more information on our Navicarte’s.

Later we were joined by a locaboat, East Germans looking to fill up with water and visit the nearby Intermarche Supermarket, satisfied they left to continue journey to get the most out of their rental boat.

Late afternoon a large French hotel barge emerged from round a bend further up the river, they protested aggressively as these people do when they don’t get the prime spot on the quay, they had to settle for being tied up off the bank and seriously restricted the width of the canal for other vessels. But such is their mindset. It was actually very satisfying to see them struggle for a change.

The following morning we left at 0815hrs avoiding the Morgenster; a large barge which had followed us from Cours Les Barres, following them along the canal and through locks would have been mind blowing. British but very uncommunicative, we were glad to have avoided them.

Today we were to clock the miles or should I say Kilometres,  40 odd kilometres to be precise. Today was another cold start, as before there was a nip in the air, those now familiar signs reappearing.    

Chris saw some beavers, yes real ones not young girl guides, swimming in a dank and murky pond behind one of the lock houses, she watched them through the binoculars as we waited in the lock.

As the day progressed the sun burned through the chill and by the time we were approaching Diou, it had turned into a warm afternoon.

As we approached the wooden quay at Diou, we saw a familiar sight, Maria, is an immaculate ex hotel barge and its owners are an American couple from New Mexico.

We had met Don and Patti during our stay in Rogny, they were friendly, good company and another mind of information. Being an unusual site on the canals, Fandango is easily recognised, they were waiting to take our lines and point out where the deepest water was on the quay.

It was good to see Don and Patti again and we had a good chat and later retired for dinner. Don had warned that they had booked the lock for 9am the following morning, a ploy I think to tell us not to set off before them, we were quite happy to succeed to their ‘Request’ so set our alarm for later than normal.

Maria left at 0820hrs so we left at 0900hrs. Plenty of time and distance between us not to obstruct us down the line.

Several locks later, and a stop for lunch, took us to the Digoin lock, our last lock on the Canal de Lateral, as we approached the tight bend leading to the lock, Don and Patti were moored against the bank waiting to enter the ‘Le Canal de Roanne a Digoin’  heading for their winter storage at Roanne, they are due to leave for the warm winter climate of New Mexico later.

They waved to us as we passed and we exchanged best wishes and promised to keep in touch.

Our final lock on the Canal de Lateral led us to yet another aqueduct, approximately 100 meters long it once again spanned the River Loire, it was a fine site as we crossed, photographed by some sightseers, Bonjour!! as we passed .

We continued on and shortly afterwards the Halte de Plaisance at Digion appeared. As it came into view we could see that there were pontoons available and with some relief we took one up and tied up.  

We are aware that we have not posted any photographs for this post or the last  it is a matter of getting the camera and computer in the same place at the same time, we promise to get our act together and post photos of these posts later.

Love to all.