Charite to Sancerre, France

Charite was an unexpectedly lovely town.

Charite

Entrance

Note the old arches that were covered to form a new structure

Modern stained glass windows

While the walls may be restored the ceilings often tell a different story

The back of the cathedral

Ancient walls of Charite

Another view of Charite

We found these guys while taking a walk

More views while walking along a country road

White Asparagus

Fields of white asparagus grown under long sheets of plastic so as to not turn green

Picking asparagus is back breaking work.  Since the asparagus is grown under cover, the plastic is raised up, the asparagus picked and then the sheets are laid back down

The canals are beautiful

We are tied up below Sancerre looking up at the town

Sancerre is perched on a hill top surrounded by grapevines

Stay tuned as we continue with our exploration of Sancerre the town, food, and of course (best of all) the wine.

Nevers, Beffes and Herry, France

The bridge to Nevers with the Cathedral in the background

Ancient walls in Nevers

A Military Tower

Windows from the XIII Century

Needs no explanation

There was a giant carnival in Nevers that included rides with names from all around the world.  It was a very happy group that participated in all the carnival had to offer.

Dusk on the canal

We kept our eyes open for wild cherry trees

Tom became an expert cherry pitter

Yes, we are again enjoying Clafouti 

A map showing the location of Beffes on the Canal Lateral  la Loire

Wherever we travel we find interesting art decorating the roundabouts.  You can see Rabelo through this sculpture.

A charming street in Herry

It is very common to see moss growing on the roof tops

A new roof is being installed

We are cruising on a canal above a river

The mussels were delicious as was the Sancerre wine

France Photo Diary June 2015

Giving birth to a bail of hay.  I loved watching this machine going up and down the field producing these bails of hay.

We love the unusual experience of being on a canal crossing over a river.

Low bridge, the pilot house is lowered and Tom peeks out to see where he is going.

We saw this sign along the canal which sent us on an adventure.

There was a sign along the canal advertising fresh goat cheese.  We stopped for honey, goat cheese and champagne.  The challenge was in finding the farm house.  We drove down "country lanes" that hadn't been driven on in quite some time.

Captain Kevin showed us what remains of the old dairy barn where we went "shopping."  

 We visited the town of Montgnon.  There we found an archeological museum Porte du Croux.

Old mosaic tile floor

In the town of Montgnon

More of Montagnon

Magnificent stained glass windows in the cathedral

A dog at a carnival

This may be beyond his job description, but Kevin climbed a cherry tree and picked cherries for me

Clafouti thanks to Kevin's endeavors

In Nevers we had dinner outside across from our boat.

This Muskrat kept us company while we ate dinner outside in Nevers

Happy cows relaxing after lunch

The lock broke when it sprang a hydrolic leak

Art we saw along side the canal.

Face to face with a Charolais cow.  These are the famous white cows of Burgundy.  She is saying to us "how could you possibly want to eat me?"

The canal is covered with flowers dropping from the trees

More of our scenery

Beautiful horses frolicking in the green fields along the canal

It can be a tight fit when we come across traffic in the canal

I'm helping open one of the manual locks

Storks nest.