Update from the canal

We have moored in a small town of Beffes .. and sitting on the top of the boat we have managed to get connected!

A quick update. We picked up the car on Friday morning in Paris and set off on our journey to Decize. Mitch did a great job of driving amongst the Parisian drivers ... I'm sure glad it wasn't me. The volkswagon Pollo was fully loaded with stuff but was able to manage the 130 km/hr posted limit on the toll roads outside of Paris. The roads we drove going south were through some very beautiful countryside. Much like we could find in rural Canada ...except for the 200 year old stone farm buildings. We stopped at a rest station and the girls were introduced to the infamous hole in the floor toilets. Alex was going to give it a roll until it started spraying water from the wall unexpectedly. Thank goodness there was a disabled wc they could use.

We arrived at the boat in the early afternoon, which gave Mitch time to drive back to Nevers to return the car and then take the train back to Decize. This was a huge pain and we should have just taken the train. With the cost of gas (1.50€ =$2.40) it would have been a better plan. Next time!

Our boat was definitely one of the older ones there but with the sliding roof we didn't care. Who doesn't like driving with the top down? We overnighted at the base and got going this morning around 9;30. Our trip to Nevers took about 6 hrs and we went through 8 locks - 3 which were automatic and the other 5 which were manned by a lock keeper. In these cases I got off the boat and assisted the keeper with the opening and closing of the locks. The girls were put to work holding the boat in place inside the lock using ropes around bollards on the shore. We are definitely in the country as no one speaks English. I had some very interesting conversations with the keepers in my very basic French. Everyone has had their turn steering the boat, though the girls soon found that waving to people driving by was lots more fun.

At Never we moored along a side canal and rode the bikes to a pistine (pool). An old lock area had been filled in and there were 3 lap pools, a wave pool and two waterslides. Everyone had a blast and it was a great way to rinse off the sweat from the day. Once the morning clouds burn off it sure gets hot!