Canal du Nivernais, travel-report 2003: seventh day

We had a thunderstorm this night. It rained continuously during the night and also this morning. We navigate onto the lock to be moored as close to Coulanges-sur-Yonne as possible. I cycle to the village through the rain. I buy an extra bread because tomorrow is a holiday tomorrow, the first of May. The third bread though falls out of the basket on my bicycle and rolls into a gutter full of streaming rainwater.

After breakfast Robert washes the dishes for the last time with Pepijn and leaves with my torn raincoat which has been repaired with leucoplast. We don't accompany him to the station because of the bad whether but ten minutes after Robert has gone Pepijn finds some of his medicine. Pepijn is cycling after Robert to bring it. And so Robert is seen off by Pepijn still.

We are lucky to find the whether dry at one o'clock, the point of time we agreed upon with the lockkeeper to go on. As he is late we fill the lock-chamber by ourselves. It's still dry when the lockkeeper arrives but it didn't take long it's raining again. When the distances between the different lock increase , I flee inside the boat. We have an inside and outside steering position but I prefer the outside normally. The wheather is very instable . Sunny moments are alternating with heavy showers. It follows some curious contrasts: cole-seed fields in the sunshine with dark clouds at the background.

We pass by Châtel-Censoir, a city which looks fabulously because it is built against a steep hill. We are accompanied by the railway. Robert traveled by it earlier this day. We miss him. The children don't help us with the locks and they are laying in bed reading books or playing with a game-boy. So Marga had to work hard at the locks. Besides that there is a strong wind blowing which makes navigating into the locks difficult..

I believe the lockkeepers don't have contact with each other. Although they are telephoning instantly during the locking the next lock isn't prepared for us as we arrive.

We navigate on to Les Rochers de Saussois. These are fifty meters high rocks of limestone situated directly at the canal. When Pepijn and Maarten see the rocks, all their passivity has disappeared at once. They climb upwards as fast as they can. I rapidly climb after them because Marga doesn't trust them acting safe always. From the rocks we have a magnificent view at the canal and the village at the opposite side: Merry-sure-Yonne. The boat are miniscule from above. We wave at my mother in the depth. As the sky is getting dark again we do down again quickly.

After dinner we navigate to the stage at the opposite side of the canal. I surveyed it before by foot. Locally there isn't much depth but we can moor at the far ends of the stage. It's a beautiful place to be moored: we have a wonderful view at the limestone rocks and are situated at some distance from the road. At this side a football field is situated and a kind of beach where my mother wants to swim the next morning.