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A telephone call to a lock keeper confirmed that the work on a particular lock was completed and we were able to start cruising and take our leave of St. Mammes. We took advantage of the fuel station opposite the port to fill with diesel and to buy a bottle of propane gas. A French couple on Tsunami followed us, expert boaters as they had worked on commercial barges for a number of years. Retired, they missed the life on water and so bought a leisure boat to have at least three months a year on canals / rivers. That day we moored at Nemours and had the delight of shopping in a big market the next morning set up in the car park near the pontoon.

We had arranged with lock keepers to set off at around 10.00 and we kept to our word joining up with a Belgian on his boat. We were in the lock first but quickly established our positions for climbing locks to make it easy for both of us. We started with some lovely lock keepers but unfortunately that changed. It has to be said that it is a rare occurrence to have 'grumpy' people working the locks but this day was an exception. Diane specifically asked one lock keeper to help with ropes and there was a reluctant agreement. As things panned out over the afternoon it became evident that he was not very communicative. After the obligatory lunch break we sat in a lock waiting for action for over 30 minutes. We decided to make a phone call and were assured that we would be helped. Five minutes later our non-communicative lock keeper arrived having accompanied a commercial barge through locks. We are well aware that commercial barges have priority but as we did not know that he was on the move we had put ourselves in position, as had the Belgium boater, to move on. The bargee was not impressed and we were clearly told at the next lock that we had to wait for him to go through first, not that we have problems with that but there is a need for folks to communicate. A bit of a frustrating day which finished off well with a jovial, sunny lock keeper who met us the next morning in Cepoy to set us off on our journey to Montargis. It was a beautiful cruise along the canal into the town of Montargis; old buildings and water legitimately running through some streets. Very picturesque.

We continued our journey through Rogny where there is a view of seven ancient locks as you begin to climb through six newer locks. We knew that the locks were deep and had thought about the best way of managing our climb. As the locks were automatic we expected to be on our own to deal with them. We had our rope / pole system in position but as it turned out we were escorted by a lock keeper. Uncanny really because there has been a lot of expense to make locks automatic but there are lock keepers to press the buttons. However, it has to be said that they are very helpful in many ways, for instance making phone calls to ensure that there was space for us to moor in the 'Port de Plaisance' at Briare.

The harbourmaster was ready at Briare to greet us to help us moor up. On leaving Briare we had the delightful journey across the bridge 'pont canal' designed by 'Eiffel', which took six years to build in the 1800's, really impressive. At that point we did not realise that we would be seeing it again! We moved on negotiating the two staircase lock which moved us through 9.23 metres, quite a climb. We then moved along another 'pont canal' taking us over the River Allier which was running fast which suggested that the Loire would be similar. The suspicion was confirmed as we continued through locks to Decize with a delightful couple from Denmark on a boat called 'Penelope'. At the lock gates there were notices indicating that the pound at Decize was closed due to high water levels which meant that access to Canal de Nivernais was not possible. After five days sitting at Decize and the water level remaining high we decided to review our plans. However our time at Decize did provide an opportunity for our friends Alain and Suzanne to join us for lunch. It was good to catch up with their news and to meet old acquaintances from our winter stay 2005 / 06.

We moved over a weekend retracing our steps in the direction of Briare. We also had the luxury of going down the locks at Rogny and a telephone call to a base at Chattilon Culigny ensured that we had a place reserved for us to moor up. The name of the boat became 'Ipling' but that did not matter, we were sure of a place to rest overnight. Weekends often mean leisure activity on the water and this particular weekend was no exception. There was a spell when there were lots of canoes and naturally we slowed down to pass them not wishing to cause any difficulty. It was amusing to look back and see that they were using our bow waves as a challenge. It felt as if they wanted to enter into a race.

Our revised travelling plan eventually took us onto the River Yonne visiting new places and experiencing a change in style and organisation of locks. Some had sloping sides in the locks, others straight. The map did indicate where there were sloping sides which helped a little with the planning of the management of locking but the floating pontoons in those locks were no where near long enough for our 17 metre Idling By! It created a bit of a challenge at times, especially when sharing a lock with a big commercial barge but we survived and the scenery en route made it worthwhile. We boated through some lovely towns and villages like Pont sur Yonne. The name of the town became evident as we approached an old bridge with two arches still intact and lots of greenery over the end of the ancient bridge. Sens also was a delightful discovery. We moored opposite a beautiful church, just in front of a bridge and of an evening they were illuminated adding to their beauty. We had a relaxing couple of nights at Sens before setting off to Joigny. That day we decided to have an early start. Best laid plans!! We arrived at our first lock of the day and there was no action. We were half an hour too early. Still, we eventually went through the lock sharing it with two hire boats and then we were ready to move onto the Canal de Bourgogne. After several days on River it felt very different. Locks not so big but some of them still deep and if not managed properly can be a bit vicious. Still, there is some great scenery and some of the locks are adourned with colourful floral decorations, especially the first one on the canal. The young lock keeper was keen to practice his English and spent some time talking with Paul. At the moment we have travelled through six locks only another 183 to do to take us through to Dijon. Lots of fun and activity ahead.