L'Avenir - cruising Europe's inland waterways

We've arrived in Decize - the end (for us) of the beautiful canal du Nivernais and the beginning of the jauntily named canal lateral a la Loire. What can I tell you about Decize? Well, it has 2 huge supermarkets which have conveniently provided a mooring right outside them. It also has a Lidl one mooring further along. And then, 1 further stop and you're right outside an enormous Bricolage (DIY - in Oz, a Bunnings). I'm slightly ashamed to admit that yesterday we cruised to each emporium and spent 3 hours and lots of euros shopping. So, now we have cupboards full of food and wine plus a new vacuum cleaner capable of cleaning up the crumby, crumbly mess that baguettes make. As you've probably guessed, when we walked into town today, there weren't too many businesses surviving the out of town hypermaket competition.There's a thriving market on a Friday morning though but I'm not sure of the etiquette in getting served. It's bad enough in a supermaket que...

The past week has been just about perfect. After spending a recovery day at Baye on the summit of the Nivernais we set off on the descent. First downhill lock at Baye Locking downhill is so much more relaxing. No hauling on ropes or turbulence. Just in you go and gently float down in the watery lift. The only thing to watch out for is that you don't become so relaxed that you fail to notice that your rope has become jammed in the stonework - then things might go badly very quickly. A rare occurence, perhaps, but it happened to us once last year which is why we always have a knife on hand to cut the rope in an emergency. The canal is still very shallow in places, so I've taken my chair (and parasol) up to the bow which, being away from the engine, is a peaceful spot from which to view the countryside. Very beautiful countryside it is too. Rolling farmland of cornfields, hay bales and grazing herds of the white Charolais cattle, the occasional quiet village and, every so...

The pace of life on the canals is slow. Recently, cruising the last 7 km and 3 locks into Clamecy on the Canal du Nivernais took us 3½ hours – an impressive, even by our standards, 2km per hour.  Snail’s pace, you might say, except that Burgundy snails probably move faster to avoid the dinner plate. We had set off at 10.30 hoping to reach our destination before lunchtime but on arrival at the first lock the gates were closed against us and there was no sign of the keeper. As the river crosses the canal immediately before the lock gates you need to wait well back in order to avoid the cross currents so we backed up 100m into an open stop lock outside the lock keeper’s pretty house and waited. And waited. There are surely worse spots to spend a summer morning. After an hour or so 2 boats entered the lock coming the other way. Still, no keeper. 20 minutes later a 3 rd boat arrived accompanied by the keeper on his bicycle. It seems he is responsible for the next lock as well. By th...

Chevroches on the Canal du Nivernais Chevroches is a pretty village of stone houses, dry stone walls, stone wells, stone seats, stone steps..... yes there was once a stone quarry here. The stones were transported along the canal and where we are moored used to be the port. There are no shops unfortunately, not even a boulangerie but the countryside is beautiful. This is as far along the Nivernais that we can go with confidence as it has become pretty shallow and whilst we are keen to give this lovely canal a go in the future we don't have enough time left this year to factor in getting stuck or worse, doing any damage.The canal is much used by hire boats which have a much shallower draft than us and, as I have previously mentioned, often go at speed (they understandably want to see as much as possible in their week's expensive holiday). At the risk of sounding like a boring boatie speed is not good in shallow water; it causes wash which damages fragile banks and it cau...

Just came back from this market in tiny Chatel Censoir (who buys a mattress at the village market I wonder) to find our boat adrift and across the canal. We had been moored here on pins for 2 nights waiting for the rain to let up. Fortunately the local lock keeper  had spotted what was happening and  raced down in his car and was hauling her back in as we arrived leaving some unfortunate in the lock. Some dimwit cruising at car speed had caused our pins to pull out. I suppose we shoud really have been more cautious and one of us should have stayed with the boat. Anyway, thank you lock keeper and a request to anyone thinking of hiring a canal boat. Can you please slow down when you're passing moored boats. Mailly-le-Chateau

From the moment you leave Auxerre you realise things are going to be a little different. Approaching the first arched bridge we glided to a panicked halt (a contradiction I know but it just means the panic lasts lomger) when we realised that lowering the nav frame wouldn't be sufficient to get through. We would also have to pull down the canvas canopy - and don't forget the flag pole! So, a few minutes dizzying around mid river and entertaining the locals. Immediately through the bridge we entered the first lock of the Nivernais. Nice locks, keepered, worked manually and you need to get off and help. There is no commercial traffic on the Nivernais which is perhaps one reason why it has become a hugely popular tourist waterway. The other reason is that it is very pretty. So, lots of hire boats which, with all their rubber fenders, resemble dodgem cars (thanks Libby) and are occasionally driven in a similar fashion. Sharing the locks has been an interesting experience (I even met...