August 30, Courchamp to Saint-Seine-sur-Vigeanne
Today we had a leisurely morning and didn’t start out until after 9. We were met at the second lock by a woman lock keeper and she and I had a “chat” about where we could stop and where there were castles and fortresses along the way. Today we will have a short day and hope to stop at a small village with a castle – it will be nice to actually see something of the attractions in the countryside!
The sun has come out and this part of the canal is quite lovely – of course it is just lovely to see the sun again. There are herons flying to and fro and fields of cattle, corn and harvested wheat. There are fields of sunflowers no longer seeking the warmth of the sun on their black faces but instead, their heads are bent towards the ground, as if in prayer.
We passed a huge screened enclosure full of birds of all sorts, pheasants, ducks and plants that looked like marijuana! We couldn’t tell if they were birds being raised for sale, hunting or perhaps the ducks were for pate!
There are bushes and bushes of blackberries growing alongside the canal – just out of reach to anyone walking on the path.
We tied up to a short quay, had some lunch and went for a walk. We were headed for a castle, Rosieres, about 5km away but when we walked through the village and reached the end of it and could only see country road ahead, we turned back. The village was charming with a huge chateau at the center. There was a restaurant that looks like it is no longer in business at all, there is a boulangerie but it is closed on Wednesdays the boucherie is only open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday mornings so we came back empty handed. We stopped across the road from the lock and had a beer and glass of wine at the frites restaurant where we shall probably go for dinner tonight.
We came back to the boat and in a few minutes of sun and warmth – I actually changed into Capri pants and a tank top and cleaned the wheelhouse windows. We played some cards – I am 5328 points ahead! We then wandered over to the frites restaurant – a charming place with three signs attached to strings adjacent to the neighbor’s property that state “do not urinate here” in French. Dave had the most expensive dinner – steak and fries, I had roasted potatoes, lasagna and salad, we shared a litre of wine and the bill came to less than 15E!