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| Moorings below Le Guetin |
Overcast start, then sunny and warm with a light breeze. Mike painted and sanded the treated rust spots on the front deck. We went up to the Mairie, not open on Tuesdays during the holidays until 10.30 a.m. Crossed the road and bought some bread then waited by the Mairie reading the notices – depot de post will be closed 10th September to 2nd October and they were going to dredge the Givry branch down to the Loire and cut back all the vegetation. A man (must be the Mayor) arrived just after 10.30 a.m. went in and locked the door again behind him. We waited. A Chinese youth arrived, looked at the list of opening times and went away again. A man arrived and also stood around waiting, Mike decided to take the bread down to the boat. A couple arrived and joined the queue.
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| River Allier, tributary of Loire, at Le Guetin |
Ten seconds later a very harassed looking young lady arrived with a pile of folders under one arm, unlocked the mailbox and extracted the post, then unlocked the door and we all followed her in and up the stairs. The man went straight into the Mayor’s office and the girl fluttered around for a few minutes before asking me what I wanted. I told her our friends had asked about staying for the winter. She said the Mayor had said no. I asked why, she said she didn’t know. I told her we’d stayed at other village moorings with permission of their Mayors and she just shrugged. OK. We get the picture. I went back down the hill and met Mike coming back up, he turned round and we went back on the boat. I told him the bad news. We got the boat ready, reeled the electric cable in and we set off at 11.00 a.m. just after a small Belgian cruiser went past, impeccably slowly, heading in the same direction as us.
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| Aqueduct carrying Lat a la Loire canal over R. Allier at Le Guetin |
About 3 kms to the lock. I made a cuppa then sat out in the sunshine. The canal ran through mixed agricultural land – fields of Charolais cows and stands of maize. Forty minutes later we arrived at lock 24, Laubray (1.50m) to see the cruiser just leaving the top. The keeper had a helper and another VNF van pulled up as he was emptying the lock. We went up and left the top at 11.55 a.m. wishing the keeper bon appetit. 5.6 kms to Le Guetin. Nothing else moving. Quite calm after yesterday’s frenzy of hireboat traffic, which was mainly LeBoats going from Decize to Chatillon-sur-Loire or vice-versa. Past the old arm leading to the river Allier via a round lock which was the route before they built the staircase two rise and aqueduct over the Allier at Le Guetin.
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| Bottom chamber of 2-rise staircase at Le Guetin. The sloping sides give a strange optical effect. Wet marks on the walls indicate what's flat and level! |
It was around 1.00 p.m. when we arrived at Le Guetin. Charley was moored at the very end of the moorings before the slipway. Not enough length of quay in front of Charley, we would have blocked the slipway, so we moored between the hireboats and the guy off the little Belgian cruiser came to see if he could help take a rope. We’re used to doing it ourselves, thanks, and chatted with him while we tied up. A full length converted péniche hotel boat, called LibeA, that we’d never seen before went up the lock. After lunch we set the TV up then Mike took photos of the mooring and went to take photos of the staircase lock and the river.
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