The River Loire
The River Loire is never far away from us. We love this wide, fast flowing river, with lots of islands (which change if there is a flood) and plenty of rapids. Salmon breed here! The Canal we are now on, Canal Lateral a la Loire, was built to allow barge traffic an easier run, but we are never far from the beautiful Loire. We have enjoyed hopping on our bikes to visit the Loire townships and the River itself.
La Charite sur Loire was a highlight. A priory was established there in 1107 and the name of the town acknowledges the generosity to the poor. Many of the original buildings are still in use. The view of the Loire from the town ramparts is outstanding.
An overnight stop in Guetin was very pleasant at an exceptionally good town guay. There was a wide stretch of grass next to the quay, with tables and chairs plus trees for shade. It was so good that we moved the BBQ and other implements to one of the tables and cooked/ate dinner as the sun set (around 9pm) and the level quickly dropped in the bottle of a fine white wine from Sancerre (which we passed a day before).
Tomorrow, we tackle our highest lock yet. It has a monster 10metre rise and we will be sharing it with a larger barge- there will be almost no room to spare.
Here are pictures from Charite plus the local Nuclear Reactor referred to earlier.
Best Regards, Penny and Dave
Les Chouettes: Hi Dave and Penelope La Charité sur Loire is a town on the way to St Jacques de Compostelle ! We went there last year and we take night in chambre d'hôtes "l'antre du pêcheur" very close to Loire river, very nice place. (05/15/11)