Grey clouds and sunny spells later. Mike went to get some bread from the Proxi in the village, they’d only got a couple of baguettes left which sounded like it was yesterday’s bread, 90c, expensive too. A French couple on a Locaboat, which had moored overnight back by the café, came into the layby to refill their water tank. Not easy with a press-button tap (unless you know how and they didn’t – they wasted more than they put in the tank). We said au’voir to the guy off RQ, wishing him a safe journey up to Roanne. A small Luxemotor flying a Swiss flag, went uphill as we set off at ten, following The Big Boat to the lock. We half expected the hireboat to come roaring after us and overtake before we arrived at lock 4 Theil, which was ready as a boat had just come up, but they came down to the lock on their bikes instead (and followed us down to Diou). The resident keeper, a middle aged man, said bonjour then spent the rest of the time on his phone. D had stepped off to wind the gates for him. We dropped down 2.5m and D got back on down the ladder.
Followed The Big Boat 2 kms to the next. I made a cuppa en route to lock 5 Putay. A young lad aged about eighteen was on duty. It looked like the lock house was unoccupied. The kid was very polite and asked for my rope – I said it was OK I could do it myself, thanks. Mike shoved our stern end over to the other side of the lock and stepped off to wind the far side gate shut. We descended another 2.5m and set off on the 6.5 kms pound. We hadn’t gone far when we passed an uphill péniche, empty (but ballasted and listing quite badly to starboard). It looked like a commercial but the man on it didn’t look like a battelier more like a wealthy holidaymaker. The boat didn’t slow down as it passed us and we did a long dip down on its passing bow wave then up again as it passed us. Black smoke poured from the long suffering labouring engine. Convinced now that it wasn’t a working boat. Strange that the keepers didn’t tell us it was coming, probably because it wasn’t a commercial. The pound seemed overfull with tree branches under water. The sun came out as we tied up on the empty quay at Diou.
The Locaboaters had locked their bikes on the quay and gone for lunch in the village. It was 11.20 a.m. Packed up and I started to scrub the starboard gunnel with a deck brush when a couple who were camping in a dark green Mercedes van came to chat. Mike in the mean time had put the dish up and tuned in French TV; then he left to walk the 5 kms back to Pierrefitte to recover the car. M and D returned from their walk around the village and joined in the conversation with the Brits. They went off to get some lunch and I finished my scrubbing. It took Mike an hour and ten minutes to walk back to the quay at Pierrefitte and six minutes back in the car. He said all the boats were still on the quay plus another British replica Dutch Barge. The latter went past us, heading downhill, around 2.30 p.m.
