Monday 4th June 2018 Cours-les-Barres to Herry 23.3kms 6 locks

A swimming rat.

13.5ºC Very hot with hazy cloud first thing then blue skies. Light rain late evening. The boats in front and one behind left before we did at 9.30am. One hireboat remaining on the quay. A pénichette went past heading uphill. Mike took a photo of a rat swimming unusually slowly. The hireboat from Cours caught us up as we arrived at Marseilles-les-Aubigny and we went down lock 25 Aubigny with it and also 25 Aubois (both mechanically operated, press buttons) – the chatty lock keeper cycling between the two. Mike asked if it was the same VNF

Boats moored at Marseilles-les-Aubginy

bike that was in use when we first came through in 1994, he replied that he had no idea as he’d only been doing the job for five years! An empty péniche called Anarka from Dunkerque aproached heading uphill, the hireboat slowed right down and Mike shouted Allez Allez! – you can’t do that when passing boats you’ll lose steerage! The two men and a woman on the peniche were all smiling and waving as they went past. (First commercial since the Saône). The hirebase below Aubois was

Empty commercial Anarka below Aubois lock

now just moorings, several DBs and cruisers and a DB on the dry dock. 2.8kms to the next and the hireboat found the “go” button and was soon in the far distance. Past the concrete works – still working. When we arrived at 27 Beffes the hireboat was on his way down in the lock and then two more came up. There were two VNF men working the lock, one got in a van and drove off leaving one to work us through. The hireboat we’d locked with was moored by the restaurant below the lock. 4.7kms to the next. I made a cuppa. A hireboat

Boats moored at Beffes

appeared behind us as we arrived at lock 28 Argenvières which had one gate open, so we went in and I made lunch as it was 12.20pm, still lunchtime. The hireboat stopped above the lock and the crew went in the bar/restaurant. When the VNF man in a van arrived at 1.00pm  Mike closed the gate behind us and the keeper emptied the lock, no sign of the hire crew. The keeper also did the next one 29 Rousseaux which was only 2.5kms further on. Another man in a van arrived. We set off on the 7.4kms pound, passing the slowest hireboat ever, which was

Boats moored at La Chapelle Montlinard

trundling along at about 2kph and far too close to the bank. As we passed the silos at La Chapelle Montlinard a small British replica DB went past heading uphill with a hireboat behind it. The moorings by the dry dock were filled with hireboats and ex-hireboats, plus two DBs and a cruiser outside the dry dock (which looked disused - we used that dock once in the dim and distant past). Mike took a photo of Chateau Gaillard in La Chapelle. Two uphill boats went past, a cruiser and a hireboat and we could see

Chateau Gaillard at Chapelle Montlinard

another hireboat in the distance behind us. Lock 30 Herry was ready for us with one gate open, so we went in and a new keeper worked the lock for us, Mike opened a bottom end gate for him as there was a Dutch cruiser waiting below. As we left we could see the hireboat was waiting above lock 30. We moored to bollards on the quay at Herry behind a very smart hotel boat called Colibri, click here for their website. Shortly after three hireboats came down the lock and went past. It was really hot. Put the electric fan on and dozed off. As the sun sank we shut the side doors and we could see

Moored at Herry

mayflies skimming past and the fish feasting on the ones that got too low.