Cercy-la-Tour

We left Chatillon-en-Bazois last Monday 23rd June. We were going to leave earlier but John decided to remodel his face on Saturday night so we stayed a bit longer whilst he recovered. our moorings there were such that we had to use our gangplank to access the land, and we had not realised that it had become warped by all the hot weather recently. John stepped onto it, not quite centrally, and it rocked and tipped him into the canal. Unfortunately he fell onto the chrome railings around the back of the boat and a chrome hook went through his lip. He also gashed his chin badly. I didn't hear him fall but I did hear his call for help... He looked like Bride of Dracula with his white shirt rapidly turning red! I steri-stripped it and put on a dressing but it was replaced several times and eventually it stopped bleeding after a few hours. He flatly refused to go to the hospital... Still it is healing now but he can't eat much, its doing his diet the world of good!!

We passed through some really pretty locks where the cottage owners had made a real effort to make their little spot of France very pleasing to the eye.

Our lock keeper was travelling with us as did the locks and we were surprised to see her stop by the tow path wildly gesticulating up into the sky... After a few moments we saw what she was pointing at, some storks had made their nest at the top of a dead tree and were in residence, Mum, Dad and two babies! A very unusual sight!

We arrived at Cercy-la-Tour, where the pontoon provided us with free water and electricity for a 3 night stay and we were pleased to see old friends Jim and Katie there who helped us tie up.

 The town is dominated by an enormous Madonna, built at the top of the hill overlooking the town. It was quite a steep climb but we were amply rewarded by the panoramic views from the top.

As we all know from bitter experience the French men wee everywhere regardless of who can see them, so we were very amused to see these outdoor facilities which John just had to try....!!

 The church sat in a huge empty square, which also had a lovely water fountain, but there was little evidence of the people of the town.

Our friends Katie and Jim.

Aerial view of Cercy-la -Tour.

We left on the 29th June after our 3 nights and moved on to new pastures, but the long hot spell seems to have ended as we've had quite a few rain and thunder storms.