Crew overslept but still managed to galvanise herself into action for a 9.45 a.m. departure (still single figures!). No arrangement had been made with an eclusier so Skip had to call the VNF. The rest of the locks were fine, until we arrived at the turn off for Nevers which we did around 12.40......so a twenty minute wait until the lock would open. Even though the two locks are automatic, they still close for lunch!
We locked through at one o’clock and arrived in the port at 1.45 p.m. we were greeted by a very nice young Capitaine and guided to a stern to berth. We had some lunch and the usual siesta. When Crew rose from her bed, there was no Skip around and no note to be seen! He arrived shortly with the news that some antipodean friends of our New Zealand friends, Peter and Gwen had arrived in port. He had invited them over for aperitifs at 7.30 and then dinner in the restaurant on the other side of the basin as the town is quite a walk for alternative restaurants.
Nevers is an interesting town with some beautiful buildings and with a tradition of tin-glazed earthenware known as faience. In fact the whole area is into ceramics of some kind.
We had met Stuart and Debbie for lunch two years ago in the south.....at a very good Belgian restaurant, along with Peter and Gwen. This time they had hired a boat and were with their friends, John and Sue. We enjoyed drinks, nibbles and a catch up for almost an hour and then went for dinner. We had dined in the restaurant five years ago and both ordered the speciality - friture (which, in essence is whitebait) but we found it very dry with too much batter, so we planned to avoid at all costs! Sue got talking to a Dutch couple who told her the mussels were delicious, so that’s what we all ordered and were very happy with the choice! We had seen two adult coypu swimming around and as we sat waiting for our food, they reached the bank and came onto dry land. Sue was thrilled to observe these creatures and indeed take lots of pictures of them eating grass. They are native to South America really, so not quite sure how they migrated to France but many are to be seen swimming around.
We had a lovely evening and went back to the boats around eleven o’clock. After having a quick look around their hire boat, we made our way to Aphrodite for a digestif and bed.
22 km. 5 locks. 4 hours
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