On Weds 6th we cruised onto Lezinnes and then went for a little trip up to the very pretty old village of Noyers. Really lovely place with a wealth of old buildings and a small local market. Bought some excellent cheeses.
Then onward to Tanlay for a 2 night stop over. This short hop (7kms & 5 locks) took about 4 hours because we had to wait at various locks etc.
Then more culture – another chateau to visit. This was a little disappointing as I had remembered it as being more impressive and interesting than we found it this time. Saturday found us at Tonnerre where there is a nice little market on a Saturday morning. We went to pick the kiwi crew from St Florentin and enjoyed baguette and cheese from the market on our top deck. Delicious.
Moored near us in Tonnerre was a wide beam narrow boat with an interesting British couple on board. They have been living on board for 5 years and don’t appear to have thrown much away during that time. I commented to Adrian that the guy looked like an aging rocker, probably a musician. Sure enough the next time we saw him he was strumming a guitar! I asked who he’d played for ‘cos he was obviously a musician, but he wouldn’t tell us! I thought he was giving us a clue when he played some bars from a Kinks number, looked them up on the internet but he wasn’t either of the Davies brothers. Even tried plying him with drink (seems not to be a difficult thing to do with him!) but frustratingly he wouldn’t say. Adrian reckons he must have been a jobbing musician – a musical tart, as he put it….
Apart from drinking and strumming this guy spent a of of time walking up and down with his cat on a length of string. Takes all sorts!
So then last Sunday we finally caught up with the kiwis at St Florentin!!! They’ve been here just over a week but can’t get out onto the Yonne to go up to Paris as they planned because the river is still closed due to the water levels after the floods last week!. There is a small port at Migennes but it is definitely nicer and quieter here. So both boats are here for several days plus Michael who’s a Brit living in Sweden but running business in Thailand. Piedaleau has become the ‘party’ boat – the large upper deck is ideal for eating and drinking and generally having a jolly good time! And the BBQ has been well and truly christened – Martin and Adrian even enjoyed kippers for breakfast today!
We will be heading off to Migennes on Saturday so that we are ready to pop round the corner to ‘Evans the boat’ just on the Yonne. Apparently the river will finally be open tomorrow.
Piedaleau 