Thursday August 2, Gannay-sur-Loire

Evening on the canal.

It really has been all about coping with the heat today, after a much more comfortable day yesterday, we were up to 36 degrees today and everyone is talking about it. Heard on the news that the prolonged summer heat has cranked up a notch and the next few days are going to be pretty extreme. We need to have electricity at night to run the fan and also park in the shade of a tree. At least the air-con in the van is working well while we are driving,
We drove south east today through rural rolling countryside, lots of trees…and Charolais cattle! The pasture is burnt dry, the result of the months of hot dry conditions. Stopped in the shade beside the Nivernais Canal for lunch enjoying the cool breeze. Had seen a camp in Decize on the Loire that seemed to be a nice spot and drove there. But it was in a pretty busy town that didn’t have a lot of charm and the camp was pretty crowded, so moved on further down the Loire.
Found a really nice spot at a marina beside the Canal Lateral de la Loire, just a few metres from the canal, a big tree and free electricity…..perfect. We were sitting outside having a cold one when a couple wandered along for a chat, they had spotted the New Zealand sign on the back ….. and were on a canal boat and from Akaroa! Sue and David joined us for a drink and enjoyed hearing about their travels in the boat. They have been coming to France for a number of years and had stayed with friends on their canal boat. This year they bought the boat and are enjoying the lifestyle of cruising the canals and making lots of friends.
After dinner we wandered along the canal and joined Sue and David and an Australian couple, Jane and John who were also doing the same thing. It was a very enjoyable evening understanding more about the pitfalls of canal life. They had been planning to got to Decize and onto Nevers, but another boat had hit and broken a Lock gate and it had taken 2 weeks to get fixed. So they were stuck, but heard tonight that it was opening again tomorrow at 9am, so they were rethinking their plans. We tootled off home in the dark after a great night.

.....and many thanks for the comments, sorry sometimes I can't get back to answer them but do appreciate reading them.

Early morning light

Canal reflections

Perfect spot in the shade.

Wild parsley and reflections.

A fun night....thanks Sue.