Paris and the Loire Valley: 09/17/24

We all got up bright and early to a cloudy, windy, chilly day. After breakfast, we got moving just before 9am, so we could get to the first lock just after it opened at 9. Back through two locks and we were back on the Nivernais Canal. We went through several locks today by ourselves, and then the German group of three couples from a few days ago caught up with us and went through a lock with us. This group isn't the friendliest people around. As we continued on, we were behind another boat, and happily for us, entered a couple locks with them that were only big enough for the two boats. Our aim was to reach the town of Bailly for lunch. The locks close between 12 and 1, so we were fortunate to enter the last lock before Bailly at 11:45. And in this lock, the lockmaster let David open one of the doors! The plan is to have lunch at Bailly and then visit the Bailly Lapierre wine caves when they open at 2.

Leaving the Vermenton Marina

Scenery along the way

David operating a lock (this and next picture)

Pretty scenery by a lock (and next picture)

Very soon after going through the last lock, we came to the Caves of Bailly Lapierre where they give tours of the winery and tastings. They're closed till 2, and we arrived shortly after noon, so we googled the nearest restaurant, which was about a 20 minute walk. Unfortunately, I looked at the map wrong and we walked for 5 minutes the wrong way. We eventually found the restaurant, La Celia. It was a charming place that used to be a night club. The owner showed us the former night club area. Then we all had burgers, and I have to say, it was the very best burger I've ever had! We had hoped to get a taxi back but the owner explained that a taxi would cost about 50 euros cause they have to come from a town 20 miles away, but he said he'd try to get us a ride. We were at a large table shared with a gentleman and we started chatting. He explained his great, great, great grandfather was American and was instrumental in designing Central Park! When our meal was over, the restaurant owner very kindly drove us to the Lapierre Caves.

A public toilet near the canal

Our boat docked in Bailly

The former nightclub at our restaurant

Upstairs from the nightclub

Inside the restaurant

The very best burger

Gontran, our friend from the restaurant

To enter the Bailly Lapierre caves you literally walk through a cave. It was so cool (temperature) inside! Then we each tasted 3 wines (we shared each, so actually we tasted 9 wines!) and we bought quite a few bottles of local wine. While there we started chatting with a couple from San Francisco who are in France for a French immersion class.

Walking in the cave to the tasting area

Entrance to the tasting room

Cave decor

Couple from San Francisco

We left the caves and back on the boat, headed toward Auxerre, where we plan to spend two nights. At some point this afternoon, we ran into the Czech couple we'd shared locks with a day or so ago. They were back behind us again this afternoon. At one of the locks, the lockmaster let Adele and I open them.

Cruising past a nice house!

The Yonne River runs right next to the Nivernais Canal here

This is the Czech couple behind us in a lock

Sue opening a lock

Adele opening a lock

We arrived in Auxerre just after 5. There was very limited space to dock boats in general and all the spaces were taken. We unsucessfully tried to squeeze into a spot, and finally decided to go back through the last lock we came in and try to dock just outside of town. Luckily, we went back through that last lock at 6:15 (they close for the night at 7) and docked just beyond the lock. It's a quiet spot, which is good, but there's no electric to plug into. This means that the electric outlets don't work. But we have lights, refrigerator, and everything else we need. Also, there is a 12 volt outlet (the old cigarette lighter kind) and we have an inverter that plugs into that and can hold two American plugs and one USB. So, we're managing just fine. We also noticed that the Czech couple are also docked here. In the morning, when the lock reopens at 9, we plan to go back into the center of Auxerre and hopefully snag a better spot for tomorrow, as we plan to spend two nights here.

After we got docked and settled in, we walked into the town and looked for a restaurant. We finally found a small bistro where we sat outside and had our dinner. On the way home, we stopped for a chocolate bar and to take pictures of the full moon.