8/8/2013
To all the Englishmen out there, especially my husband: Nevers is pronounced "Nevair"!!! I am happy for you to continue correcting me when I say vater instead of water, by the way!
So of we went on the vater in our wessel towards Nevers. Our crew working very well with Rod co-captaining and flicking the ropes without miss and Gisela being our own paparazzi photographer.
Before the canal curves east to Nevers it once again flows over a bridge crossing the Loire, called " Pont Canal de Guétin".
Boats have to climb in a 2-stepped lock of 9.20m to the top of the bridge. Again there are lots of onlookers to watch the spectacle.
Taking on such a climb, we had to have a bite to eat first (last night's feast was already digested and forgotten again!).
Gisela and I watched the whole thing from the safety of above, while Austin and Rod managed locks and bridge without a hiccup!
After this there were just a couple of automatic locks into the Port de Nevers where the female harbourmaster pointed out a mooring place.
Once securely moored and settled, we took a stroll crossing the Loire bridge into town where Gisela and Rod purchased their train ticket for the next day.
We had a lovely last night with lots of laughs, staying up far too late and ending up snacking on Austin's crunchy chocolate breakfast cereal and sultanas. And -no, there was no pot smoking involved and strangely, neither Gisela nor I are pregnant!
9/8/2013
Got up on time and all took a taxi to the station. After our experience with trains in Montargis Austin and I delivered Rod and Gisela just to the train door and no further!!!
The train was on time and we got a phone call from Gisela an hour later to report, that their hire car was still safely standing at the Cosne station and they were on their way towards Charles de Gaulle airport to fly back to Oz.
Having had some problems with our phones, we visited yet another SFR office, where staff was helpful, but due to no English speaking person and my "Frenglish", we still don't know if the problem has been sorted out. So, if we are unlucky, Austin's phone could be cut off at some time. Watch this space.
Nothing left to do then a bit of sight seeing we strolled through the quaint town centre. The Ducal Palace which is so impressive from outside is now all modernised inside and functioning as a museum.
The cathedral is also a beautiful building but due to an RAF error was bombed quite severely in 1944 and all the windows and roof areas had to be replaced. We were not sure about the choice of the modern design of the churches stain glass windows in the part romanesque part gothic building.
Returning to the port we were asked to move the Freshwater for a barge who had to vacate their mooring for an arriving resident barge. The process required a 3 barge manoeuvre - moving us closer to the Wifi and washing machine. This was quite handy as I kept checking the progress of my washing in the port's washing machine which took 5 hours to complete a normal cycle. Maybe the machine sensed that our washing was "canal-dirty".
10/8/2013
This morning Austin finally talked me around to buy some more appropriate bicycles. We took the bus from the Gare (french for train station) to the commercial centre, and after a few heated discussions, bought a couple of light weight bikes. The cycle back was quite pleasant, even though I noticed that the "wobbles" have less to do with the bike than with my unskilled riding.
On our return we heard from our friends Eva and Mario from Munich, who reached us in good time for afternoon coffee.
They not only brought bags of groceries and gifts, but also drove with us to the 4km distant Supermarket to buy further supplies of water, juice and all the heavy things, to store for future use.
At night we ate at "Le Marine", a restaurant with lots of outdoor tables right opposite the quay, where signs of "Moules + Frîtes" and a constant flow of customers had attracted us. Later we read in our book that they are well known for serving the local Loire whitebait.