Le Bec d'Allier and Apremont

Hello again,

We haven't gone very far since leaving Nevers as the weather has been dreadful. It's been 12'C and very wet, quite a shock to the system after the glorious sunshine of the past few weeks.

Yesterday (Wednesday) we arrived at Le Guétin just before noon and had to wait an hour while the eclusier had his lunch before we could cross the Pont du Canal (aqueduct) which is controlled by traffic lights

and descend the double staircase locks, which we shared with a hire boat. It's 2 locks each 5m deep one straight after the other......it's a long way down!

After mooring up and having our lunch we walked back for a better look. The eclusier must have the patience of a saint, as these 2 huge hire boats didn't have a clue what to do and it took him well over 10 minutes to get them roped up and safe. The crews were much more interested in taking selfies and videos than in passing him their ropes.

We unpacked the new bikes and went exploring. This is the now disused unusual round lock (Ecluse des Lorrains) which used to link the canal to the River Loire and is at the end of a disused branch of the canal

A couple of kilometers further on we came to the very picturesque village of Apremont.

It's famous for it's floral gardens and although the wisteria has now finished blooming there were plenty of other trees in full flower, like this chestnut tree

I thought someone was having a laugh with this sign hanging outside their shop

until we turned the corner of the building and met the said ninjas "guarding" the public toilets 😀 

Today we rode to Bec d'Allier which is a small village famous for it's views of the confluence of the rivers Loire and Allier.  This is what it's supposed to look like

but with all the rain we've had recently both rivers are in flood so the view was a bit different!

We'll carry on cruising again tomorrow and I hope to see you again soon.

Bye for now 😀