Hot and sticky night. Pouring with rain when we got up and much cooler. A British cruiser called Cosi went past at 9.35 a.m. We set off at ten following Charley. A VNF keeper in his thirties worked the shallow lock (1.41m N° 6 Brisebarre) while holding a brolly and mobile phone. Another cruiser arrived below the lock as we left it. A short pound to Nargis lock 5 (1.30m) another shallow one. The cruiser that had passed us earlier was moored below the lock (which was ready), the lady of the boat returned with bread as we went past them and into the empty lock. A blonde lady in her fifties worked the lock for us. Gave a hand with the top end gate. Made a note that a sign on the cabin said there was a bin and a tap there. 1.4 kms to the next.
When we arrived at lock 4 Retourne (deeper - 1.90m) Nick said there was a nice mooring below the lock next to the river. The keeper was a man in his fifties with a large moustache (rare to see Frenchmen with moustaches or beards). 3 kms to the last couple of locks. A very chatty helpful lady keeper at Montabon lock 3 worked the lock for us and said the next one was ready for us and we would get to Cepoy for lunch. Followed Charley 800m to the lock. The gates were still shut on Vallées lock 2. The keeper (total opposite of Madame at the previous lock, quiet man who worked the lock slowly) came out of the new cabin and opened the gates. Mike climbed off and closed a gate for him. Another one with a phone to his ear most of the time! Short run into Cepoy. We tied next to some houses.
It was a bit shallow, we were catching on the bottom, so Mike and Nick went to have a look at the port round the corner, shooing a flock of Canada geese in front of them (another rare sight in France). The two cruisers that had come up the locks behind us went past (British boat Cosi and Pax 1 with the two Canadians) had moored behind hotel boat Belle Francoise (last seen on the Rhone á Sète canal) with a mini-jeep on the roof. We moved on to the quay. Charley got in close to the wall but we were on the bottom. It was 1.00 p.m. as we started tying up, but it took us another hour in the pouring rain to put poles out and finish tying up plus run cables out for the electric. We were moored alongside a road opposite a small château which had signs to say it was an auberge de jeunesse (a youth hostel) but judging from the people we saw going in and out it had gone down in the world and was now a different kind of hostel. Had a late lunch then gave Mike a hand to put two planks from the roof to the bank so he could get the moped off. A man carrying several bags (typical tramp!) came out of the château and chatted with Mike as he got the bike ready. A group of kids on bikes had also come out of the château and gone up the road into the village earlier, making lots of noise as they did so. As insurance we put the covers on the solar system – the roof and road were on the same level. It was just after 4.00 p.m. when he went to get the car from Château-Landon. We’d got 3G again, which was nice. Mike managed to get to the car without getting wet. It was getting very late when Mike put the TV on to record a programme for 3.00 a.m. Not long after, around 1.00 a.m. the electricity went off again (it had gone off several times during the day, someone’s got an electrical fault) so Mike turned all the circuit breakers off, turned the power back on and just switched ours on (we were splitting with Charley).
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