July 18 - 20: Panneçot - Decize

 July 18, 2023 – Tuesday – Panneçot to Cercy-la-Tour 

Off to Cercy-la-Tour today – 13km and 5 locks. Got in by noon and found moorage easily, as the only boat at the dock left when they saw us coming out of the écluse. Spent the day walking through the ancient village that is built on a hillside, then hunkered down in the shade on the bank above our boats. Spent the afternoon, dinner, and finally sunset there, waiting for the boats to cool enough to go to sleep.

A château with a view of its farm land that passed by.

The village of Cercy-la-Tour as seen from the
statue of Notre Dame, Du Nivernais that is located at the top of the hill

When we arrived we paid for moorage and power, only to find that the power didn't work. The office tried to see if they could get it fixed but had no luck. Since we paid by credit card on their digital pay station they couldn't refund any of our payment. More often than not moorage on this trip has been free, getting upset about having to overpay didn't seem worth worrying about.

  

 

July 19, 2023 – Wednesday – Cercy-la-Tour to Decize 

Got up early to depart at 8:30am. Four km until the first lock and it was a beautiful day. Even got to enjoy my second cup of coffee while under way! Hard to do that when you have locks frequently and don’t like cool coffee J. Got the first lock at 9:30 and it wasn’t open. We ended up tying up as we didn’t see the éclusier either. She finally came out and we continued on. She was not the fastest worker. So many of our éclusiers have been amazing! Not many boats going through so maybe she’s just not in good practice ;-). 

 

One of the remaining portals to the old
walled city of Decize. Built in the 1400s

Got into Decize by noon! Lots and lots of open slips. Immediately jumped on getting laundry done at the one washing machine and dryer at the port. I used the dryer on two cycles for the sheets and towels, but still not totally dry. We now have laundry hanging all over the boat. Clean sheets!!!!! It’s been too long… 

 

Michael ran to the store and we got a bit of cleaning done on the boat. Ready to head over to happy hour on Old Harry with Ali and Charl. 

 

Took a shower before climbing into bed with our clean sheets and it felt amazing!! 

 

July 20, 2023 – Thursday – Decize 

No alarm this morning. Still up by 7am because it gets bright and that’s what my body clock is set to now. Layover day in Decize. Walked through old town, across the river(s) to get to the Le Clerc Sport store to fix the brake on one of our bikes and pick up new bike tube for the tank bike. Now we’re up to two bikes again. Yippee! Charl and Ali walked out with us then we split up to each take care of chores. We went Brico for bbq gaz and grocery shopping at the La Clerc, 

Back at the marina we topped off our fuel and replaced the empty Gaz (Butane Bottle), then filled up water. Our goal is to hit the street Market in the AM and head out of Decize no later than 13h00. Tonight we’re going to dinner with Charl and Ali at the restaurant in the hotel in marina. Made reservations last night to be sure we could get in.

 

Weather is really good. 80s today, not too humid. Shade makes a huge difference as does a slight breeze. Temps should be low 80s to mid-to-upper 70s this next week. Very happy with these temps given that many other parts of the world are breaking heat records for highs and duration. Last year Tom & Mary had three separate weeks here in France on the boat with temps 100 degrees. We are counting our blessings!! 

 

Dinner at the Port of Decize Hotel Restaurant was “lovely” as Charl would say. Food presentation was beautiful, Finished the night with a scotch on Old Harry. It was a bit sad knowing it was our last evening with them! They reiterated their invitation for us to come visit them in Akaroa, New Zealand. Suggesting we rent an RV and follow them around on a tour before spending a week at their home. We, of course, extended a visit to Seattle!