Locks, Locks and More Locks

After our day off in Clamecy, we were all excited to be back on the bikes again. A glance out the hotel window indicated that we were going to be blessed with perfect cycling conditions. There was not a cloud in the sky, only the myriad vapour trails that are a constant feature of the European skies.
After breakfast at the hotel, we checked out. It actually turned out to be a test of our honesty, as the hotel was ready to charge last night's meal to Randovelo, rather than to us. Although the thought of a free meal might have been tempting, we had to inform them that it should have been on our tab. With my wallet lightened by 44 Euro, we collected our bikes and made our way out of this little medieval town.
The early morning conditions were quite chilly, although the forecast was for the temperature to increase to somewhere around 28C. Our destination for today was the town of Corbigny, a mere 37 km away. Compared to our last day of riding, that should be quite a doddle. And it was. The route closely parallelled the canal for most of the day, although we were conscious that we were steadily climbing all the way. We soon lost count of the number of locks we passed through, but every one raised the water level by 2 to 3 metres. The more we see of this canal, the more we must admire the engineering skills that went into planning and building this amazing piece of infrastructure.
Apart from the locks, I was also surprised to see just how many boats were navigating the canal. When we rode this route in 2023, we were near the end of the season and there were only a very small number of boats still making their way through the locks, This year we must have seen dozens already. Each of these boats proudly displays that "no license is required". One can only imagine how many mishaps must occur when witless, would be, captains try to navigate the narrow locks, especially after a few wines.
After our experience of a couple of days ago, when all the cafes were closed, this time we came prepared. Before leaving Clamecy, a visit to the Boulangerie loaded us up with baguette sandwiches, cakes and drinks. We were not going to go hungry this time. In fact we had not gone more than 9 km when Mark M (aka Mk 3) noticed a very attractive restaurant in Villiers Sur Yonne. It is wise to never waste an opportunity for a coffee stop, as you never know when the next chance will arise. It turned out to be a real treat. The coffee was good and the friendly female owner made us feel very welcome, especially when we told her that we were just the first of three groups of Australian riders that would be coming this way.
About another 10 km further on we found a lovely little picnic area by the side of the canal. It was the perfect place to have our first picnic of the ride. It was also a good place to discuss "secret mens' business". The combination of incredible scenery and perfect weather would have been hard to match anywhere.
Our final stop for the day was at the little town of Chemot. Once again Mk 3 spied a likely looking cafe which proved to be quite a surprise. It was even more of a surprise when we found ourselves sitting next to an Australian couple who were cruising one of the rental boats on the Nivernais.
The final few kilometres to Corbigny took us away from the canal for the first time. We even had a substantial hill to climb, along with a rough, rocky trail. It was actually quite exciting to excercise a different set of bike skills, after the smooth flat riding we had been doing for the last three days. By two pm we had reached our hotel, and were delighted to find that our rooms were already ready for us. They even had a lift and air conditioning !
As a final note it is worth pointing out that Corbigny is actually a pilgrim town and is one of the stages of the Camino walk from Vézelay to Santiago. As I was walking the township I looked down and noticed the familiar Camino symbol at my feet.Read more