Back to Vermenton

We left our mooring and travelled up past Vermenton where we had boarded the boat, just to look up river a little further.  It was interesting to see how quickly the scenery changed – from our narrow little canal with trees dripping over the sides, to open farmland, the quintessential flat countryside dotted with haybales. Houses look new and characterless.  It was then that I realised why we were recommended to go south rather than north.  It was charm personified compared to this open, wide countryside.

Shadows and reflections

We ended up at Vincelles, about 5 locks north, which is a nice little town with two boulangeries and a tabac where we had a beer and where we thought we would return to that evening.  However, it was shut, and they recommended another place alongside the river.  Turned out to be only inches away from where we were moored – at the time, we had thought that too, was closed. 

The meal we had there was really lovely and quite different from anything else I've eaten so far: galettes… which are a buckwheat flour, open pancakes, crispy on the edges which are turned up to form a plate which holds the filling.  Jenny had snails with sauce and mushrooms with cream and soft cheese.  I had a ‘farm' galette with slices of potato, goat cheese and ham.  Nick had cheese and ham with a sauce Chablienne or chabliesse, can’t remember which.  I'm definitely going to make these when I get home!

I decided  to slay the Chablis ghost, having had such a shocking glass of it just two nights before, and this time, it was perfect.  At this little restaurant they specialised in the local cider, served in cappuccino-sized stoneware cups.  We sat outside under wide umbrellas and next to two couples, South African and English.  We’d seen them several times at different locks, so it was very companionable to sit and chat.  People always ask where you are going where you are from etc, so I was pleasantly surprised by the woman next to me who knew what Prader-Willi syndrome was.  It’s always nice to cut through all that explanation and then sympathetic looks etc, to someone who simply expresses empathy.

At our mooring were a group of skinny children who spent the entire afternoon and most of the evening jumping off the edge of the mooring into the river Yonne.  The energy they must have expended would have powered our boat for a day, I think.  One child, with ribs sticking out and shoulder blades to cut bread with, was shivering and cold, but was not giving up.  Nick told them he would throw a 50c piece for them to dive for, and made them all get into the river.  He threw the coin, and the smartest of them leapt like a trout before it had even touched the water.  Clever kids.

The weather has been beautiful these past few days, but the clouds are gathering and there could be a storm before the night is through.  And thus it was, that I woke to drips falling on my head from the window which I'd left open above my bed and now a steady line of drops were falling onto the duvet.  

It is our last few hours on the boat; we are leaving by 9 in the morning to catch the first lock and be back at Vermenton by lunchtime.  The rain has stopped this morning, but it is the grey drizzle of our first day repeated.   We really have been lucky (why do we always think good weather equates good luck?) with the last three hot days which we have spent alternatively walking alongside the canal in the morning, and crowding into the shade from the rather small sun-umbrella atop.  

Jenny is doing the calculations for our expenses as we make our way ‘home’.  Four nights and days’ meals came to E606 which is E151 each for four days.  From the meals that we ate, the two least interesting were the ‘gourmet’ meal and the one we had at the Chateau which apparently had a good write up.  Again, and I know I’m stating the obvious, the freshly prepared meals win over the pre-prepared (but pretty) meals every time.  (Do I really talk about food all the time?  Don't answer that.)

We seem to be the only boat on the river this morning.  Five locks to go through and Jenny and Nick are taking care of that.  I’m being idle – although I have done my bit and know how to throw a rope and steady the boat – and sitting indoors.

It didn't take long to get back to Vermenton; we scrubbed down the boat, paid our dues, and had lunch in the village.  The drive to Auxerre didn't take too long, but the train we had to catch meant we didn't get a chance to look around this old town.  We caught the train with a minute to spare and fled Paris at high speed to the UK where Paddy met us at Ashford International railway station.

And here begins the chapter of our UK visit...