1st - 12th October 2017. After Beffes we walked by the River Allier, then crossed it on the aqueduct at Le Guetin. A visit to friends at Nevers, then on along the Canal Latéral à la Loire to find more friends at Beaulon. Finally on to Pierrefitte for our winter's wood.

We moored at Beffes, hoping to top up our water, and to have electricity overnight. However it is now October, and they have both been turned off for the winter!

These little red beetles seem very happy here.

It is a good walk down by the river Allier, from Le Guetin. The aqueduct behind us is a splendid structure.

Shannon was more interested in retrieving her stick!

The staircase lock at Le Guetin leads us up to the aqueduct. We need our longest rope at the bows for the bottom lock here.

As we cross the aqueduct, the river Allier is far below us. Shannon has had a trim, so she wears her lifejacket each morning to keep her warm.

A most impressive aqueduct.

We went down to Nevers to visit friends, who had been in Roanne with us last winter. It was a really good day, with a game of quilles too.

We were sad to say au revoir.

Is this a Praying Mantis? He came to visit us, but had little to say!

We have had several wild moorings on the canal Latéral à la Loire.

That evening we were treated to a lovely sunset.

It is nice to see a few more boats about. Two boats going up in a lock is OK, so long as we are all careful.

Another wild mooring underneath an oak tree. The only disadvantage of this was that the acorns fell on the roof of the boat throughout the night, which was a little noisy!

Moving on to Beaulon, we found six boats already there! However our friends invited us alongside, and we had a lovely evening with them the next night.

After that it was on to Pierrefitte for our winter's fuel. We could choose our wood this time, and it was then cut, and delivered to The Puzzler within 24 hours. Now all we have to do is lift it on to the boat!

1st - 7th September. A detour to Nevers, then back on the Canal Latéral à la Loire to the aqueduct at Guétin.

Travelling on, we took a detour down the Nevers branch of the canal. Nevers is dominated by the splendid Cathedral Saint-cyr-et-Sainte-Julitte de Nevers. The houses along the river front are very attractive, with some timber framed ones.

This cathedral was accidentally bombed in 1944 by the RAF, but is still being restored to its former glory. Dogs are not allowed, but Shannon is happy to recline in the rucksack.

The Place de la Republic was created in front of the Ducal Palace in 1607, by order of the Duc Charles de Gonzague, for public use. It is a pleasant park, lined with trees.

Side streets in Nevers are lined with cobbles.

We are now returning along the Nevers branch, with two locks to rise us up to the Canal Latéral à la Loire.

Ten kilometres further on we cross le Guétin aqueduct over l'Allier, a tributary of the Loire. This structure has seventeen arches, yet it hardly has a mention in any of our waterway books of France.

There is a double lock, taking us down off the aqueduct. We are just leaving the second chamber, having dropped 9.23 metres in all. The top gates are high up, behind The Puzzler.

The cruiser here (red arrowed) is just entering the first chamber of the double lock, which is actually built as part of the aqueduct. It is a real engineering feat!

On Saturday we found a clear line of sight for the satellite dish. We have watched very little television since the spring for various reasons. The extreme heat during the summer meant that we were under trees, and our dish does not work if we are too far east. We were moored just before Plagny, but were wakened at 6 am by hammering on the bank, near to The Puzzler. Shannon nearly fell over, she was barking so hard! All went quiet until 6.45 am, when they came back to knock on the boat, and ask us to move on please. Their fishing competition was due to start soon, and we were moored right in the middle of it. We got up, and moved!

Having had an early start on Sunday, there was time for a wash day later on. Spreading clothes on the roof is the quickest way to dry them, but perhaps not in this case! Shannon was so comfortable that it seemed mean to move her.

Long sections of the Canal Latéral à la Loire are lined with trees so, as we will have been on this canal for 200 kilometres, we have seen a lot of trees!

It is not all trees though, and this field of ripe sunflowers will soon be harvested for cooking oil.