We say goodbye to Kurt and Bonnie and set off on another misty morning. Today we will climb the Sardy staircase of 16 back to back locks, the last locks of the day, followed by three tunnels.
The spiderwebs are magnificent in the mist.
Rope girl primed and ready.
Should I go straight? Or maybe I should go straight? Let’s check out the map. Where’s GoggleMaps Boy?
One lock-keepers house / art studio had some odd sculptures…and a hungry cat (no photo) who came looking for food. I made Ken give up his can of tuna.
These two lock-keepers were with us for the whole day. I have to say, of all the canal trips we’ve taken, the lock-keepers on the Nivernais have been by far the most professional and helpful.
The one on the right spoke English.
For the 16 locks, to make things easier for the lock-keepers, I stayed on land to help with the ropes and then would ride my little bike to the next lock.
The lock-keeper told us that after the 16th lock we had to moor for about an hour because the LeBoat boss was coming up through the tunnels with a party of five small electric boats – and we had to give them the right of way. He kept shaking his head and was obviously not impressed that he was told to hold us back. So we sat for an hour and a bit, but that was okay. He was more upset than we were (we didn’t actually care).
And here’s the little boats. How cute! Most of the passengers spoke English so we exchanged a few pleasantries.
The usual dynamic. Terry says wise and profound things and Ken rolls his eyes.
The lock-keeper came to tell us we could head out. Ken had given the remains of his Grand Marnier to the two lock-keepers from yesterday and this morning, but these two said no to beer and/or pistachio chocolate drumsticks (ice cream hurts his teeth).
There is calcium buildup and stalagmites forming in the tunnels.
There were three vent shafts in the 750 m tunnel – I barely managed to catch a pic of one.
We come out of the tunnels to the Port of Baye, where we will moor for the night. And we see all the little boats moored and a party happened. I jokingly said we should crash the party (some foreshadowing there).
Ken did such a good job backing Calypso 29 into the mooring between two boats, with nary a bump or need for correction, that the Germans in the boat next door all clapped for him. Later one of them said he assumed we had a boat back home as Ken had parked so effortlessly. I said nope, just a canoe!
Ken took over the blogging here. So who should come over from the large gathering under the gazebo (the party we had joked about crashing) but the managing director of LeBoat, who invited us over to have a sip and a nosh. So we did! We got introduced to the LeBoat management staff – they were from all over Europe, England, Scotland and Canada. They asked us to say a few things about our experiences. When they heard we had done 6 trips with LeBoat over the years, the first in 2005, and of our walking so far, they got very enthusiastic! They were all videoing us and asked if they could use what we had said. We said sure and Ken volunteered that if they needed a highly paid spokesman that looked a bit like an old Muppet he would be happy to help. The lady who runs the Canadian ops was there as well, so we heard just how much we should do one of the Canadian canals, which ironically we are already planning. Lots of laughter and good feelings but eventually we had to go eat Scott’s beef bourgignon which he had spent the day preparing (the aroma of it in the oven had caused our poor hard working lock keeper to drool a bit back at the 16 locks) and we left them to their party.
Great connection with the LeBoat folks and I think we added some zest and a bit of real feedback to their meeting. The director said they couldn’t have planned and coordinated this meeting if they had tried – it was certainly serendipitous. We even suggested they bring over a tray of goodies to the Germans, who had rented from a competitor, which they did. From our point of view, we got some yummy hors d’oeuvres and maybe we’ll get ample toilet paper and some oven mitts the next time we cruise (that was the extent of our feedback 😁!)
Cheryl on the left is the managing director. Lisa on the left is the national marketing director based in Canada. How cool was this?
Bats. Lots of bats flying tonight.
VF Britannica Via Campaniensis Voie de Vezelay 2025 