13th - 19th October 2017. Having loaded our wood on to The Puzzler, we continue along the Canal Latéral à la Loire, and then the Canal de Digoin à Roanne.

At least half of our logs are now covered on the roof of The Puzzler, and Shannon is trying to uncover them again. We had to offset them to the port side, so that she could still walk up and down the boat.

After an extremely misty morning, the sun has suddenly broken through, so I needed the bridge as a sunshade! Some more wood is here in the cratch, while the rest is safely inside the boat. If it were all on the roof, we would be very top-heavy, and rather unsafe!

These trees have suffered from being hosts to the large balls of mistletoe, and are now dying because of this.

On reaching the start of the Digoin to Roanne canal, we feel as though we are nearly home, although we still have over 50 kilometres to go.

Here are some thirsty young charolais cattle.

Shannon and I are walking between the locks at Chambilly. The trees are just starting to turn yellow, as autumn approaches.

On to Artaix, where there are as many camper vans as boats! Shannon loves the leaves.

Our canal travels parallel to the river Loire, and the Loire valley is quite wide here, with small villages along the top of the surrounding hills.

Every time we pass  near to Iguerande, we see this sign directing us to the donkey farm.

It is possible to take one of their donkeys out for a walk, as this family are doing.

Autumn is coming, and the canal above the lock at Briennon is full of leaves!

Our last lock of 2017, as we enter the Port of Roanne. We have been through 672 locks this year and travelled 1756 kilometres (1098 miles).

We have the same place in the port as we had last year, though we must vacate it for the next couple of weeks, while we are away in England. This is the first time that we have seen the fleet of day boats in residence here.

22nd - 25th October. Up the Canal de Roanne à Digoin, from Digoin to Roanne!

This is a mixture of smoke and fog as we eventually set off at 11 am up the Canal de Roanne à Digoin. We had planned to go earlier!

Later on the weather cleared, so that we could look across the valley of the river Loire. Our canal runs parallel to the river, all the way to Roanne.

It is quite tight, sharing in these deep locks. Monsieur VNF can be seen up above the bottom gates, as he winds them shut. These locks are completely manual, but we can help with gates, once we are up in the lock.

We stopped at Bourg-le-Comte, and climbed up the track to the village. The Puzzler can be seen,  to the right of the white cottages.

This is another old church in Bourg-le-Comte.

The most interesting item in the church was this list of all priests of the parish since 1598. The only gap is from the time of the French Revolution. If this list is up to date, then Father Renard has been priest here for 50 years!

We moved on to Artaix for lunch, and stayed overnight, as it was so nice there. There was even a table tennis table, which was a bonus.

We walked to the village of Artaix, and met these big donkeys on the way. Shannon was not impressed!

The church at Artaix overlooks the canal.

Inside the church there are many interesting carvings.

The bridges on this stretch of the canal are all made using these unusually shaped stones, and look really attractive.

The leaves are all changing colour, and look wonderful.

However, as this canal is fed from the River Loire at Roanne, all of these pretty leaves find their way on to the water above each lock. The lockkeeper does not think that they are lovely at all! Our propellor is not too keen on them either.

Even as late as this in the year, the towpaths are kept in good repair.

Shannon is very fluffy, and is in need of a trim.

We are on a wild mooring, near to the prison, and have brought some of the best pots inside, as heavy rain is forecast for tonight. Tomorrow, we will be back in Roanne!