Clamecy

We arrived in Clamecy this morning and are parked up in a beautiful shady spot in port by the old town. The weather has been much better over the last couple of days although I got caught in a sudden thunder storm on my bike yesterday.

I have been digging up thyme, oregano and mint from beside the canal as the only fresh herb plant I’ve able been able to buy is basil. The vagaries of the French electrical supplies continue to fascinate us, we got help from the local mayor to get hooked up yesterday. The Italians in the hire-boat beside us checked the power was on by hooting their horn! (It wasn’t).

We continue to see huge fish in the canal swimming quite close to the surface, but we have yet to see anything being caught by a fishing rod. I cooked a wonderful meal with potatoes, garlic, courgettes and some goats cheese that had got incredibly strong and smelly. We continue to find food when we need it and a few plums and apples by the tow paths are starting to ripen.

The bridges on this part of our journey have been so low that we have been traveling without the canopy up and have had to duck a few times. I am about to go and check out a kitchen shop while Simon goes to the WIFI place. Then maybe a wander in the gardens.We are staying here to-night and will meet Gillian here tomorrow before heading on towards Auxerre.

The plan is head on towards the Canal de Bourgogne and to end up in Dijon so we can leave Jenny and Hilde at the train station and be there to meet Dave.

We met a friendly French man, Phillipe, in Villiers who offered to ring around some of the ports for us so we have a provisional booking for somewhere for Lady Mary to stay next winter. Bram looks like a good option unless something better comes along.

Simon has continued to paint and use sealant and there are less drips with every storm. He has the canvas weather shield up again around the aft deck after numerous varnish and paint coats so we are starting to look quite smart again.