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Published: January 21st 2011
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Completing the Canals
We left Chatillon on the afternoon of the 19th after Mike had serviced the engine. We'd decided to push on and get through the canals and to Chalon Sur Saone as quickly as possible to make sure we got to Lyon in time to meet Fred and Becks.
In the next 5 days we completed 55 locks and crossed the aqueduct over the Loire, arriving on a grey Friday at Montceau Les Mines. We'd relaxed in the sun, bundled up in the rain and eaten on the move so we could cover as much distance as we could. By the end of those 5 days he weather had turned from glorious sunshine to drizzle, but Montceau wasn't a bad place. It was bustling with crowds as the strikes were still going on and we were surrounded by protesters and police as we came under the towns lifting bridges.
We'd met a lovely English couple, Chris and Phil, in Digoin on the Loire a couple days before and saw their little red and white yacht, Amy, as we pulled into Montceau. That evening they stopped to chat as they passed us sitting in a pub Skyping home. Dad
thought Phil looked like Tom Jones and started singing 'it's not unusual'. Phil said he hadn't been mistaken for Tom Jones before, just Kenny Rogers. I think he quite liked being told he looked like Tom Jones. A bit later they came back and joined us for a drink.
We got on straight away and sat outside the pub til midnight drinking and swapping stories of our adventures so far. They too were taking their boat to the Med and were doing the same route as us from here on so we knew we'd keep running into each other. They had arrived a few hours before us and had actually been filmed by Tv cameras recording the protests as they came under the bridges – Chris' mum had called to say she'd seen them on a news staion – Chris steering the boat while Phil waved at the crowds. Fantastic!
We ended up staying an extra night in Montceau as the weather went from bad to worse. I'd already slipped in alock and hurt my back a little bit and had endured a miserable day getting soaked to the skin earlier in the week so decided to wait it out.
It was worth it and the following day we headed off in dry weather. We spent a full day on the canal du centre, speeding through its automatic locks and encountering our first floating bollards, completing a record 28 locks before arriving at St Leger Sur Dhune at half 6. We plugged in to the electricity, tried to find the Capitainerie (shut on Sundays) then had some wine while I started preparing dinner. We heard another boat pulling up about an hour later. We were surprised to see Chris and Phil bobbing along – they'd said they were planning on stopping before here. We helped them get moored up (the water was very shallow for their yacht – parts of the canal are really not friendly to a keel!) then invited them over for dinner. I cooked pasta and we drank rather a lot of wine whilst we spent the evening chatting again.
We really liked them. Phil used to be an executive for Whitbread and now ran his own company with Chris, who used to run her own pub. That explained why they had a similar affinity to us for drinking! They had gotten married the same year as
us and, like us, seemed to be very happy go lucky people with a zest foir life. Were pleased that we'd be meeting up with them as we hopped along to the Med as they were genuinely warm people who we enjoyed spending time with.
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