Paray Le Monial

We have arrived safely In Paray Le Monial. It is a very pretty town, and it was nice to show Jan and Ian around.  Having bid them goodbye we decided to stay here for a while and see if  Laurels leg gets better, and do some bits and pieces on the barge.

We hired a car for 10 days as this makes it easier to get around and visit some of the bigger shops. We have become fans of Vide Greniers (car boot sales) so headed off for our first trip into the French countryside to visit one that was advertised.  Nothing very exciting although I bought a road atlas for 3 Euros - we use the Tom Tom to get us around but it makes trip planning easier with the book. On the way we went through the very pretty town of La Clayett with a Chateau on the lake right in the centre.

On the Monday we went to the emergency department at the hospital and Laurel had an X Ray on her kneee and lots of other tests. They found nothing major, and gave her some tablets and a leg brace.  We have to go back in a week to see how its progressing. The French health system is amazing, very efficient and medicine must be very heavily subsidised (I thing prescriptions must be free for the French)  as it is very cheap even for us.


We did a trip into Lyon - the traffic was terrible - we are becoming country folk and not used to the big cities! - and visted Ikea and a big hardware chain - we now have new carpet on the foredeck and a new BBQ, as well as lots of other bits and pieces. We are looking very ship shape!

Our friends Brad and Nancy had headed off up the Canal Lateral and were only 70kms away and invited us over for the night and a short cruise on their lovely barge, Libelule.  It was great to catch up and experience cruising on a different barge.  Libelule is much wider than us, and only fits in the locks with about 6 inches on either side - Brad is quite the master at getting in without hitting the sides! - Very impressive.

The Canal Du Centre

The start of the Canal Du Centre is an Aqueduct over the Loire. Last time it was very foggy and we couldn't even see the river. This time it was crystal clear, so we sent Ian off with the camera to take some shots of us on the aquduct

And then on to Digoin where we moored for the night in exactly the same spot!

We have now arrived in Pary Le Monial and moored up in the port where we have Electricty and water (for a fee this time!). The weather is a bit drizzly so will try to make the most of our last day with Jan and Ian.

Canal Roanne a Digoin

Underway at last we headed from Roanne up the canal to Digoin - at the start of the canal du Centre, and then on to Paray Le Monial where Jan and Ian will head off for Venice - and a cruise on a big boat (I hope their water pump is OK!)

This was retracing our route from last year and it was  nice to see some familiar place and to know where the good moorings are.  We decided to make 2 stops in the canal even though the second day would be quite long.

Our first stop was at Iguerande (where we stopped on the way down)

On the way North we had to stop for lunch as the locks close for an hour at lunch time.  We stopped at Chambilly, where there was an old car show and a Vide Grenier (car boot sale) just alongside the canal. The car radio in the wheelhouse was not working, so I managed to find a "new" one for 2 Euro.  This is now installed and works fine - so we will be bopping along the canals in future!

We then decided to head most of the way up the canal to a small mooring at La Croix Rouge where it was nice to catch up with Dave and Swedish Jane on Narwal and a lovely Dutch couple - any excuse for a few beers and Rose's!

And then on to the Canal A La Loire for about a Km and then the Canal Du Centre

Getting underway

The first couple of weeks of June have seen us getting the boat ship shape and ready to go cruising.


Our main problem has been the generator water pump, which started leaking at the end of last season.  It is really difficult to work on as the generator is right up against the rear bulkhead and of course the water pump is on the back.

Jan and Ian arrived safely, and with Ian being a brilliant mechanic he soon got the job to fix it.  With some help from Foster, Ian got the pump off and we ordered a service kit for it. The parts arrived on Thursday night and Ian started tinkering putting it together and ended up refitting it that evening - so at long last we are ready to go cruising.  Here is Ian with the main tools of his trade the IK AP1 (all purpose tool!) - a hammer and a block of wood!

The other good news was that I had ordered a new VHF marine radio on Ebay from the USA and this arrived - it took 3 weeks by US first class airmail. It is now installed and looks very smart - haven't yet been able to try it as there is no one to talk to - will have to find someone in the port and get them to turn their radio on!

Mark and Mary a lovely Canadian couple have been looking after us and taken on a number of shopping trips.  We all went off to a small village that celebrates all people with birthdays ending in the last digit of the current year - so in 2010 if you were born in 2000, or 1990, 1980 and so on you get to dress up and go in the parade. Jim from Festina Tarde was in the parde so a bunch of us went up to spectate - and being French of course the poured out free glasses of wine as they went by!

Laurels knee is still quite bad (we think tendonitis) so she can't walk very far, so for a large part she has been stuck aboard the boat. She had her birthday and couldn't decide what do do, but Mark came to the rescue and took us to a fantastic bar with live music (a Brazilian guitarist / singer with a small band), and together with Foster and Sally we had a great night.

Our friends Brad and Nancy arrived and it was great to catch up with them - they are only here for a few weeks and have headed off for a short cruise. Hopefully we will pass them somewhere on the canal, and meet up again.

Other than that it has mainly been pottering. Restocking the boat, buying plants to fill our flower boxes and going for walks.   Not to mention the odd glass of Rose and bowls of prawns!

So hopefully we will be able to enjoy a cruise with Jan and Ian and plan to head off for Paray le Monial (one of our favourite towns from last year) before they head off for Venice on the next part of their holiday (even if it has been a working one with us so far!).