Le Guétin – Nevers – Fleury-sur-Loire – Decize
Plans and Schedules
While plans are something of an anathema to most of us cruising, subject to the variables of weather, infrastructure, and personal circumstances, we do have to have short-term aims and some idea of how to implement them. However, sometimes we end up in what one of our cruising friends terms “the tyranny of a schedule”. This means that instead of loitering whenever something interesting or opportune arises, we have to press on regardless. Not a preferred situation by any means, although sometimes it is necessary. At this time we were cruising in such a circumstance. With some guests arriving on the 19th of July, because of the need to be somewhere to meet them (that had a good train service) and the desire to provide them with an interesting cruise – a schedule had been created.
So, it was off to our first staging point the city of Nevers.
Nevers
Having checked out the pair of locks leading up to the pont canal, we took Catharina Elisabeth into the first one with some confidence. The éclusier dropped his hook and took Lisette’s line. Then the sequence began. We had not watched the lock fill on our reconnaissance the night before (we had seen it empty and lower boats), so we received a bit of a surprise.
Fortunately, Catharina has a professional and unflappable crew. Lisette merely notified me that the flow into the lock was “quite exciting”. Despite the spectacle, the filling of this and the next lock was quite gentle and we were soon crossing our second big pont canal. All went smoothly until we passed the first of the two locks that sit outside the marina at Nevers. The marina is situated at the far end of a short canal, which is covered by two automatic locks. These are operated by twisting a pole that hangs over the canal. The first operated as we expected but as we approached the second, the lights went out and nothing more happened. We then realised it was lunchtime and, in contrast to all the other automatic locks we had used this season, these two do not operate during lunchtime. The reason appears to be that the éclusiers do not wish to answer the phone if someone calls with a problem, so they just block the lock function until they are finished with their lunch. So, we tied up against a fence beside the road and waited until just after 1 pm, when the lights came back on, had another go at the hanging pole and made it through the last lock and into the port.
There was some confusion with our mooring at first as the captain of the marina mixed Catharina up with Mike and Karen’s Maria who was following a couple of hours behind us. It needed a bit of last-minute manoeuvring as he realised his mistake and suddenly directed us elsewhere. All was soon settled and Maria duly arrived a little later and took her place. Just a short way along the pontoon was C.A.R.I.B. III without Lon and Pat who had taken some time off to tour some of the famous Loire châteaux by car.
The next day began with me finally acceding to Lisette’s entreaties to get a haircut. I went from an outrageous bush to almost a #1. So severe was the cut that it lasted the rest of the season, which Lisette thinks may be my new approach to French haircuts.
Back to Catharina Elisabeth and Lisette’s rolling eyes and then off to be tourists.
First off to the Cathédrale Saint-Cyr-et-Sainte-Julitte de Nevers, easily visible across the bridge over the Loire.
A little unusual to have a church named after two saints but they were martyred in 304 AD, Julitte and her baby son, Cyricus, aged three – harsh times. The interior was opulent and educative with a series of posters describing many of the French saints scattered around the church,
some impressive statues of two of France’s favourites (yes the French are big on Saint George and his slaying of the dragon), and a 13th Century polychrome cross.
Next stop was the ‘Musée de la Faïence (Earthenware) et des Beaux-arts’. The first section we entered dealt with Never’s importance as a centre of glass enamelings. From the 16th century until recently, it was the main source of glass objects decorated by the addition and painting of finely tooled glass filaments. Rods of coloured glass are melted, worked with special tools then attached while molten or using fine wire to create the item. There was an extensive display of finely crafted models but most impressive were the many detailed three-dimensional scenes mounted in framed glass boxes. Apparently, these were very popular decorations with the French in the 18th and 19th centuries. Unfortunately, photos were hard to take because of reflections, but the pieces were certainly impressive in their execution:
Further on were displays of fine earthenware decorated in incredible detail.
There was reasonable provision of text in English and apart from the impressive craft on display, the museum was also quite informative.
Leaving the museum (as it was closing for the lunch period) we polished off a couple of generously-sized pizzas before cycling back to Catharina in time to receive Christine and Peter, English friends that we had met at the rally last season. Arriving by car (they live not too far from Nevers) they came aboard and we settled in for a delightful afternoon and evening, staying overnight with us, before returning home the following morning. We also noted, just astern of Maria, that the boat moored at the corner of the quay was Nigel Orr’s Waterman.
There didn’t seem to be anyone aboard to chat with but we sent a message to Nigel to let him know his old boat was still local.
Fleury-sur-Loire
Working within our schedule, we decided to press on the next day although Nevers was, undoubtedly, worth a longer stay. Maria left just before us and picked up the last big space at the mooring in Fleury-sur-Loire. Not a problem, we just breasted up against Maria when we passed through the lock. It was a nice mooring and had a small restaurant attached to the capitainerie. Mike and Karen stayed a day longer than us and reported that the food was quite good. Very quickly, the mooring filled up.
With great delight, one of the last boats to settle in was Lady Coby with our French-Aussie friends Guy and Chantal aboard. We were soon chatting and they told us that after leaving us at Dammarie-sur-Loing they had continued on a short way, before turning and deliberately following us hoping to catch up. Of course, we arranged to have drinks together on Catharina that night, along with Mike and Karen. Again, superb wine was provided. Indeed it was an extra special bottle they provided of a 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot blend from the Eagle Vale winery that they ran for many years when they lived in Margaret River in Western Australia. They had turned around to catch up with us specifically to share this bottle with us. Unbelievably generous because it was the last remaining bottle of this blend that they had brought back over with them to France when they returned from Australia. It was a remarkably memorable moment to taste and then drink this wine.
We had the option to stay in Fleury for Bastille Day but we thought it best to press on to Decize, a shortish cruise and a much larger town. We were hoping for a good fireworks display.
Decize
Lady Coby took off just before Catharina Elisabeth and so we shared the first lock which gave us a chance for some group photos with our boats. A charming young éclusière kindly took the photos.
Able to travel faster and as they were pressing on further than us that day, Guy and Chantelle cruised off and left us making our gentle way along the canal. Who knows when and where we will meet again, but the cruising life takes place in a small, but long village – so chances are good we will share their company and more wine in future.
We managed to find a spot on the canal outside of the marina at Decize, assisted by two helpful Frenchmen who drove our stakes into the ground for Lisette. They, like us, had chosen to stay in a wild spot, with great town access, but no bollards or services. It was comfortable and shady although it needed our passerelle to get us (and bikes) on and off.
In the afternoon we headed into Decize. It’s quite a small town and did not have any particular tourist attractions but there was an interesting foot/bike tour that we picked up from the tourist bureau. It started with the remnants of a fort overlooking the Loire.
Then up a steep hill to the church. The interior was well overdue for some renovation but the stations of the cross appeared to be fairly new as they were in good condition.
After the church, we descended into the centre of town that featured the ‘Tour de l’Horloge’ (Clock Tower) built on the site of a previous belfry and dedicated to Guy Coquille, a lawyer and the (posthumous) author of books summarising the French legal system at the time – and of course, born in Decize.
After attending a rather uninteresting display of artworks in an old convent we headed back to Catharina to get ready for dinner. Along the way we paused to check out the lock that connects the Canal Lateral à la Loire with the River Loire. Decize is where those who want to start cruising the Canal du Nivernais leave the Lateral à la Loire but the two canals are not directly connected instead, you have to make a short cruise down (or up if you are heading from the Nivernais to the Lateral) the Loire to the northern shore and pass another lock to join the Nivernais. The channel in the Loire is regularly updated to take account of changing conditions and in times of flooding (as had been the case a few weeks earlier) and the locks at either end of the port are closed to prevent boats from getting into trouble when navigating the fast-flowing river during floods. One must organise passage with the éclusiers.
One of our daughters had insisted we have a meal at her expense (anywhere on our travels) and friends of ours (Brett and Simone on Jalibe) had recommended a fairly new restaurant in Decize close to the marina. So off we cycled. La Baratie had only opened earlier this year by a young chef and his partner and it was promoted as having “traditional French home cooking using seasonal produce and inspired by world cuisine” with the chef specialising in fish and seafood – Lisette’s favourites. The weather was fine so we took the option of eating on the terrace next to the river with a delightful view of the bridge.
We elected to have the aquatic types of dishes and the meal was delicious and the service attentive. The value was excellent and explains why the bistro is apparently very busy at all times. The menu and food porn are in the gallery below.
After dinner, we cycled back to Catharina and were stopped as we passed a couple of moored boats owned by some Germans. They invited us to have drinks with them on the grass beside our boats.
The next day was Fête Nationale (Bastille Day) and mid-afternoon we headed back into town. Along the way we passed the strangest bicycle contraption we have ever seen. The chap was seated in a canoe and was towing a houseboat! Now, to all appearances, both vessels were genuine and looked as if he would be able to cruise along (very gentle) bodies of water.
The town, predictably was quite busy and all the restaurants were fully booked. We managed to get a burger at a takeaway joint and then sauntered over to sit near a stage where we understood there would be music and dancing. There was. The music was provided by a three-piece band, a drummer who occasionally drummed or wandered on and off the stage, a keyboardist who played and sang a bit and the main guy who played lots of instruments and did all the singing.
But, they were pretty good. The dancing was provided by the crowd and clearly, there was a group who must dance regularly as they would arrive, greet others and dance with various partners. There were other couples who also joined in. With Lisette’s knees and my two left feet, we simply enjoyed watching.
When this finished it was time for the light displays on boats on the Loire
and the fireworks which were just OK – we’ve seen better.
But it was a good evening and night and we cycled back in the dark, me following Lisette because my bike headlight wasn’t working. Off to bed to leave the next day for the next stop on our schedule – Gannay-sur-Loire.
