Thursday 19 October 2017

19 October 2017 Chagny to Digoine (Or, Mike's Feet, My Knees - Is This Old Age??!!)


Les Sept Ecluses taking us up to the summit of the Canal du Centre

We were in no rush to leave Chagny the next morning, following a good drug/wine induced sleep and with Mike’s foot already starting to go down – thank goodness, as it had looked like it was about to burst!
 
Oooooooowwwwwwwwwwccccccchhhhhhhh..................... :(
We’d told the lock-keeper the previous day we’d leave at 10am, and it was a couple of hours cruise to the first lock of the day, however, when the hotel boat passed us heading in the same direction at 9.30am, there was no point in heading off before 11am.  The hotel boats are large and deep and travel very, very slowly so being stuck behind one is not much fun.  When we did finally head off the day was warming up nicely and it was a cruise through some fantastic autumn scenery.
 
Lock keepers come in all shapes and sizes.....
"Excuse' moi madame, there ees a small fee for using zee lock......"
"Ah, zey have a veree good looking bird on thees boat...."
"Oui monsieur, zat is correct - une slice per bateau..."
Yet again we struggled a bit in the deep locks and when I again suggested to the lock keeper that I thought we were too low for the sensors, he agreed that this was possible.  We finally caught up the hotel boat and as she headed up the lock ahead of us, we pulled over, did a bit of painting and had some lunch, which gave the hotel boat time to get up the remaining locks and us a clear run up to St Leger.  We moored up and Mike went for a quick Ninebot to see if the restaurant was open tonight.  We’d had lunch at the Au P’tit Kir in April and it was excellent so we were keen to have dinner that evening.  Meanwhile, the English lady who lives in a house on the canal side came out for a chat, and I enjoyed her company and that of her gorgeous cats for almost an hour.  They used to have a boat but had to sell up due to ill-health, and now she and her husband are looking for a place in the UK to return to.
Beautiful patchwork of vines passing through Santenay
The pilot on Hirondelle has to duck to pass under the bridge!

Au P’tit Kir was indeed open that evening, so we headed along for dinner and again had a fantastic meal accompanied by very good, reasonably-priced wine.  The owner is English but has been living in France since 2005, so finds that she now thinks in French and has to think to go back to English sometimes – how I long for that!!  As we went to settle our bill, she very kindly gave us our aperitif and coffee on the house, as it was a returning visit for us.

A cool start on Saturday morning allowed us to enjoy our bacon butties and coffee before setting off for the day’s leisurely cruise with today’s target being St Julian sur Dheune.  Beautiful scenery and autumnal sunshine was accompanied by the awful deep locks, and as we were rescued yet again as the lock wouldn’t operate once we were in it, I explained again to the lock keeper that I thought we were too low.  So at the last lock of the day, he watched as we came in the lock under the sensor, as I stood on the roof with a brush in my hand, which I swept under the sensor as I passed.  As we rose up, being thrown around as usual, the lock keeper confirmed that the sensor didn’t pick up that we had passed, until I held the brush up, and that had worked apparently, but it was just a bit quick ie. the brush was a bit short.  So the practice worked but we’d need something a bit bigger that stayed under the sensor for longer.

Once moored up at St Julian sur Dheune we had a good few shots on the Ninebot and I went so fast at one point that it bleeped at me and slowed me down!
 
We then set the kermits (folding chairs) up on the corner of the basin and sat in the sun to listen to York City lose (again!) on the radio.  We couldn’t get a signal sitting on the boat, but found if we went round the corner we did and it was a lovely sunny spot.  There was another hotel boat moored, Finesse, and it turned out to be the crew’s night off, so we joined them later for drinks and it was quite a messy evening with us getting back to the boat at 2am!  They were a great crowd, from Wales, Preston, Glasgow originally and had been working on the boats for some years, and this was the final week of the season coming up before they would head off and do something else for the winter – or just relax and enjoy living off the amazing tips they make on the boat!

The next morning the surface of the canal was as foggy as our heads so there was no rush to get away.  We had only a short journey but quite a few locks including the Seven Ecluses flight up to Montchanin.  Half of the locks were deep ones……
 
The crew of Finesse start the clean-up for the next guests arriving as we sail off into the mist...
It worked!!!  The brolly was big enough to register us entering the lock and we operated it with no problem :)
At the second lock, a boat was already in, but the lock-keeper waved at us to come in as well.  This was good as it meant we were right at the back, but also that the other boat would trigger the sensor, so we wouldn’t need the brolly again!!
 
The mist soon cleared and it was so much easier going up with the cruiser in front.

Not quite sure how that got there!

We pulled in at Montchanin for the night and after doing some more painting, enjoyed the sun while reading on the front deck and making some travel plans for the winter months.  We were joined by another couple of boats and later in the afternoon the lock keeper came to ask if what time we’d be leaving tomorrow.  “Ten thirty”, Mike replied.  “Ten o’clock.” Nodded the lock-keeper in agreement.  “Ten THIRTY.” I replied.  “Ten o’clock.” He confirmed and left bidding us a good evening. 

The next morning we were just sitting down to our breakfast at 10.01 when the lock-keeper appeared.  “You are leaving at 10?”.  “We’ll be ready to leave in 20 minutes if that’s possible?” I replied.  He grunted, said, “OK”.  And went off.  Either he’s really efficient and works to a tight schedule which has no flexibility or he has OCD……..  Eitherway, he was polite, did what he needed to do but wasn’t in the mood to chat with us.  We didn’t care, we were elated because………WE WERE GOING DOWN!!!  Oh, the joy, the ease, the smooth, easy speed of descending the locks and we seemed to be done with deep ones!  It was a lovely day’s cruise and the lockie headed off at 11.50 leaving us to do the last couple ourselves.  In no time at all we had pulled onto the pontoon outside the large, new L’Eclerc at Montceau les Mines and did two trips to the petrol station for diesel, we were at the lowest we’d been for a while on fuel.  We then took our time doing the shopping as it’s a lovely supermarket, and really, a visit to a big supermarket is like a day out for us – so full of things to look at and not buy.
 
Autumn colours galore
We then headed along to the lock that would take us to the port at Montceau where we would spend the night, slightly nervous as to whether there would be space for us as when we’d arrived in April we had got the second to last space, just managing to squeeze onto the end of a pontoon.

We needn’t have worried.  It was like a ghost port, to the point that I thought it must have closed down.  There were four boats, two that looked lived on and were perhaps there for winter, and two that were a bit rickety and closed up but the rest was empty, including one whole pontoon finger that had signs on it saying it was closed as it was dangerous.  So we moored up, and Mike went up to the Capitainerie, still enjoying his newly restored ability to walk without pain, where the chap was on the phone and said come back later.  Well, at least it was open for business!  We duly returned and paid our 3euros 40 mooring fees (no electric or water included) and settled down for the night.

Another hot and sunny day followed as we left Montceau under its three bridges and headed for the port of Genelard, where we had first met NB Puzzler with Sally and Andy on board back in April.  It was an easy cruise with each of us single-handing down the locks when the other was busy doing something and not meeting any other boats – it was sooooo quiet!
The middle bridge, with the footbridge behind in the distance, next to Mike's left shoulder.
Waiting for the last bridge to open
An old tile factory on the way to Genelard
We stopped at Genelard for water, and then continued on to the next village of Palinges.  We’d stopped at Genelard the last time we were here, so decided that we should stop somewhere different, and as we approached Palinges, we saw Out of the Blue moored up, who we’d last seen at Saint Dizier on the Champagne Bourgogne.  We caught up with Yvonne and Roger on board and then as I settled down to get another coat of paint on the front locker, Mike went for a look at the village and came back with some cakes from the patisserie – yum!  We then relaxed with our books until the sun disappeared and the temperature dropped and we headed inside and put the fire on.

Another lovely day awaited us and as Out of the Blue cast off at 10am, we decided to give the boat a quick wash before our departure time of 10.30am heading towards Paray le Monial for the night.
 
The last lock into Paray le Monial, with the lovely park alongside
We moored up on the free moorings beyond the port as we didn’t need electricity or water and after doing some more painting, took the Ninebot out to play.  We are now adept at starting, stopping and going in a straight line, but we’ve not had much opportunity to practice our turning.  Mike has even got quite good at shuffling his feet into a better position once on the move, but I’ve yet to reach that level.  After that, with the realisation that my muffin-top was making an unwelcome return and I need to be ready for my bikini in a few weeks’ time, I decided to try a run.  Since January, each time I’ve run I’ve had some knee pain about 7 or 8 minutes into the run, even with supports on.  Having rested it for a few months, I thought it might be okay , but the problem was still there, so I hadn’t run for a few months.  I headed off and all was well, until 7 minutes in.  I continued for another minute, then stopped and walked a minute, ran a minute until I got back to the boat.  Even doing this though, during the minute run, the pain was kicking in after 45 seconds – most annoying, as I was enjoying the run!

Back at the boat I got my weight out and did some squats, lunges, leg lifts, arm lifts, some tummy exercises and finished off with the plank and 10 minutes of stretching.  When I started running back in 2014 I had been doing two kettlercise classes a week, so my legs were strong, and I think over the years of not doing the weights, my muscles have weakened and hence the knee pain now when I run.  So I’ve decided if I can build the muscle up around the knee again, it should be okay!  We shall see……..

After a quick shower, Yvonne and Roger popped round for a pre-dinner drink.  They are also heading to Roanne for winter but are not looking forward to being moored in the one place for five months, so are going as slowly as possible to eke out their time of freedom until the last minute.
 
Paray by night
So we left them at Paray the next day and having seen a couple of boats pass us, assumed that the locks were open and that the local lock-keeper was not taking part in the national strike day.  It was slightly overcast, but actually warmer than the previous few days, although not as sunny, and as we cruised along we were rained on by colourful leaves falling – very autumnal – I loved it.
 
Lots of leaves!
At Digoin we walked out to the pont du canal (aqueduct) over the River Loire – very impressive, and then headed into town for some messages.  Back at the port we paid our dues for one night and settled in for the evening.  The next day would take us onto new waterways, as we would make the turning off the Canal du Centre on to the Canal de Digoin au Roanne for our last few days cruising of the season.

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