7th - 10th June 2018. On to Montbard, then Andy retrieves the car from Roanne. A weekend of Quilles in Mussey.

Andy had planned to catch an early train tomorrow, to retrieve the car from Roanne. Fortunately he checked at lunchtime, to find that it had been cancelled. As it was the only train of the day this was not too good! However, there was a train this afternoon, so an hour after we arrived at Montbard, he was safely on the train to Roanne, returning at midnight with the car.

We were delighted to have been invited by Bernard and Blandine to stay for the weekend of their annual Quilles competition in Mussey. We took part last year, when on this canal with The Puzzler, but this year it took us three hours in the car to get here.

Don't forget me!

Quilles is a French outdoor game rather like ten-pin bowling, but with 9 big wooden skittles.

Andy at full stretch. The Marne au Rhin Canal  runs right behind the two cars, up above Andy.

If you knock down all nine quilles with three balls, then you have an extra shot at all nine again.

In the evening we went to play pétanque too. This has been our busiest day for a long time!

After playing pétanque, it was lovely to relax with Bernard and Blandine in their garden. Evelyne is here for the weekend too.

On Sunday morning Bernard was hard at work, preparing batter for waffles to be consumed later today.
The vegetable garden shows much care and attention too.

Before going to the Quilles alley, we went to pick strawberries, which were grown at a very good height, making them very easy to pick. We got some fresh asparagus too, which was very tasty!

We should all have hairpieces like Evelyne, then we too might win the Quilles, as she did!

Sunday lunch in the marquee.

Andy is working on his technique.

Sally was in the playoff for second place, with three others, but only managed to come fourth.

Encore une fois Denis était là pour L'Est Républican.
Nous avons eu un très bon weekend. Merci bien à Bernard et Blandine. Bisoux, bisoux!

16th March - 4th April 2018. More bridge, MAMMA MIA, followed by our departure from Roanne.

We have been playing bridge three or four times a week. Our bridge club looks out over this road, and the port can just be seen beyond the roundabout at the end of the road. New trees are being planted along by the widened road.

There is a major redevelopment going on here, with the creation of a new park in front of the monument. This monument commemorates the liberation of Roanne from the German occupation in August 1944. It has been interesting to watch progress every week, when we are here for bridge. Maybe we will return to Roanne one day and see it all finished!

We went to see Mamma Mia at Les Maronniers, in Le Coteau. It was an amateur performance, but was performed very professionally.

Eight of us went on this outing. We all really enjoyed the evening, which was a fitting finale to our time in Roanne.

This was the finale of Mamma Mia, with half of the songs in English and half in French. All the audience sang too, in whichever language they preferred! It was great!

It is 31st of March and, sadly, we are now leaving the mooring where we have happily spent the last three winters on The Puzzler in the Port of Roanne.

We are doing a circuit of the port, and Quaintrelle joins us. This circuit is great fun. Everyone sounds their horn as we pass by, and we reply with ours. Liane has to get the award for the loudest horn!

Into Roanne lock together.

A lot of our friends both from the port and from Roanne have come to the lock see us off. We really appreciated them doing this.

Iguerande is the first of the villages to be seen, as it dominates the skyline, away from the Roanne Digoin canal.

Two donkeys out for the day.

Artais church is always impressive. We stopped at the mooring soon after the village, where table tennis in the wind is always interesting!

The lockkeepers have realised that one gate is enough for two boats, so long as they are both narrowboats!

Making good time, we reached Beaulon by midafternoon on Monday. By the time that two hireboats had fitted in too, the mooring was full. If ever you stop in Beaulon, do not forget to visit the delicatessen in the village for your preserved sausages.

Tuesday found us at Decize, from whence our fellow narrowboaters, Aileen and Mike, left us the next morning. We have enjoyed travelling together, and plan to meet again in the future. They are continuing on along the Canal Latéral à la Loire, while we are turning right on to the Nivernais canal.

27th November - 10th December 2016. A quiet week, playing bridge, then an activity filled week with Debbie and Matt.

We spent the last week in November putting up our Christmas lights, and playing bridge several times.

Debbie and Matt came to stay in early December. Toad came too, of course, dressed in his new Christmas outfit.

 As Debbie and Matt had hired a car, we were able to go further afield, and we started with the abbey at Charlieu, a small medieval village, which lies to the north east of Roanne.

The old streets in Charlieu are fascinating.

On Tuesday we drove to Le Crozet, another medieval village to the north west of Roanne.

This house in Le Crozet specialises in many different windows!

We went for an 11 kilometre walk in the hills and forests near to Le Crozet, so could look back at the village, with its commanding view of its surroundings.

Wednesday was spent at Stitch and Bitch for Sally and Debbie, while Andy and Matt played many games of table tennis in the park by the port. Honours were even by the end of the week!
By Thursday we were off again to Saint-Haôn-le Châtel, which is a walled town, lying to the west of Roanne. From the town ramparts we could look across the valley, past the vineyards, to the nearby town of Saint-Haôn-le-Vieux.

There were more medieval streets to be found here, in Saint-Haôn-le Châtel.

We also visited the medieval garden.

We made our way on to this dam, which lies on the River Renaison. This reservoir lies due west of Roanne, and supplies all of town's water.

Looking back up at the dam, it looks even bigger!

Driving back to the Loire valley, we came to Saint-Maurice-sur-Loire, where the keep stands up above the town.

This keep is in good condition, despite the ruined walls alongside it.

The view from the top.

I lost count of the number of steps on the spiral staircase, which we climbed, all the way to the top. Shannon was not too keen, as she prefers to take steps two at a time. Do our legs look as wobbly as they feel, having climbed all the way down again?

Our last visit of the day took us further south to Château de la Roche.

This castle is built in a stunning position on an outcrop of rock in the middle of the river Loire.

The sunset over the port was at its best that evening.

It seemed to move further south around us as the evening progressed.

Our week finished with a visit to the Foire Froide, which took place along the road on the far side of the port.






We would like to thank you, our readers, for your continuing interest in our adventures and hope that you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

6th - 26th November. A quiet start to the winter in Roanne, and a week in England.

We went to England for a week on the 8th November, by train and air, taking one of the two flights a week from Lyons to Luton. With an evening flight there was not a lot to see on the way but here we are on the train, approaching Tarare, the biggest town before Lyons.

It was raining in Norfolk, but that did not deter this squirrrel, as he ran along the fence. He is just to the right of the gatepost. All is well here, after the flood in June.

On the River Yare there were a few cruisers on the move, near to the sugar beet factory.

Back in Roanne, most of the leaves are down. Shannon loves to walk here, alongside the canal. She had a lovely holiday with her friend, Escot, while we were in England.

In the port, it is time for the final leaf collection. At one point, there were five men with blowers, organising the leaves, ready for the leaf lorry to arrive.

Meanwhile it has been raining! On Tuesday the River Loire was rising, after a great deal of rain.

By Wednesday 23rd Nov the river was right around the HEP plant. We have never seen it as high before.

What power there is here, coming through the bridge!