We arrived at Moret-sur-Loing last Wednesday and moored just above the last lock which drops you down onto the rivers. There were two reasons why we decided to stop there, the first being that it was half the price of the river moorings as it had no facilities and the second and more important being that all the recent storms had brought flood waters down the river Loing and the current below the lock where the canal and river met was quite strong. The lovely Capitaine came to collect her mooring fees and recommended that we wait a couple of days for the levels and current to drop back down to normal and then when we found out that there was to be a free rock concert on in the next town we decided to extend our stay till after the weekend.
Moret-sur-Loing is a very pretty little town that grew up around the river which was used to power the mills that were used in the leather processing industry. The town was famous for producing very soft chamois type leathers used for making gloves.
Later on, it also became famous for making barley sugar and for 2 euros you can go in the museum on the island.
Notre-Dame de la Nativité is a very beautiful Catholic church dating back to the 15th century. It's been extensively cleaned and restored outside but the interior is very different.
Despite the glorious stained glass windows, the interior is quite basic
This is the right side wall of the choristry
and this is the left. In 1697 the 15th century bell tower was about to collapse so instead of rebuilding it to match the opposite side they just bricked it up and left it. The church has another interesting bit of history in that it was used as a gunpowder factory during the French Revolution and an explosion blew part of the roof off.
On Saturday and Sunday there was a free rock concert held on the quay-side at Saint Mammès, the riverside town at the confluence of the Loing and the Seine.
It's been a long time since we've been to a music (or beer) festival and this one was excellent.
In typical French style the catering wasn't done by a smelly burger van but by the local traiteur who mass produced meatballs and dauphinoise potatoes for 5 euros a portion. If you wanted something a little more down-market you could get a sausage baguette and frites, but even these were "artisanal" sausages. You've just got to love the French.....if it's food then standards must be maintained 😀
Apart from the concert there were the usual stalls selling jewellery, CD's etc.....
AND a traditional cut-throat barber! It could only happen in France 😍
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