We finally got wise to the fact that everything from distances to speed limits is now going to be in KM so recalibrated our instruments. Very confusing at first but we soon got used to the idea of running at 10KpH rather than 5.5 Knots.
As expected there was absolutely no sign of fuel even when the Navicarte said it would be there. When we finally arrived in St Mammes – there it was exactly as Lawrence had said. We bought a full tank, filled our 3 10L spares and bought and filled an extra 22L spare. That should see us to Lyon! They also sell several varieties of gas including Camping Gaz.
The three locks are all easy. Straight, smooth concrete sides and none of them with a rise much greater than 3M. All of the lock keepers were helpful and polite on the VHF. We passed several good mooring places – particularly one at Samois-sur-Seine which was “Reserve au passeaurs” with nice small boat sized cleats.
We decided to go down the River Loing to Moret-sur-Loing for no better reason than that it sounds nice in the Navicarte. We weren’t disappointed. It has an excellent and very cheap set of pontoons for visitors for only €9 if you are under 12M and that includes electricity and water. The village is lovely. An unspoilt ancient town with medieval gateways, a beautiful mill and a fascinating church with flying buttresses and huge gargoyles. There is a fabulous and very old organ inside. On Sunday night we went to a concert there given by a harpist and a French soprano. The acoustics in the church were magical.
The town has pretty much everything you could want – Bakers, butchers, charcuterie, patisserie, veg, fish, chemists etc. There is even a smallish supermarket if you are so inclined.
It’s so nice that we’ve decided to stay 3 days and set off to Montereau at the junction of the Seine and the Yonne on Tuesday where we will meet Mike and Linda.
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