WITH JUSTO AND STELLA

Having Stella and Justo with us has been a real treat. They met us at St. Leger des Vignes, the port of Decize, where they came to in the early afternoon. They had had a very long ride from Valence, so we decided to relax on the boat and have some wine and a few chips and things. We had a fabulous afternoon talking and catching up, and in the evening I cooked a light dinner for all of us, had some more wine and then Justo and Stella had their lesson on setting up their beds so the wheelhouse could become their bedroom. They have now spent three nights with us,and have become masters at setting it up and dismantelingt it.

We were worried that they might not be comfortable there, but they slept well, so wewere ready for a new day the next morning. As usual, Bill went out to get fresh bread and croissants, had a good little breakfast. After getting ready, we decided to sail south on the Canal de Nivernais to the little town of Cercy la Tour, only about 16 Kms from here. It was a beautiful and sunny day, a true fall day, so Justo and Stella's first experience, on Biesbosch was a fine one. They spent most of the time at the bow, taking advantage of the fine weather, making sure they would not miss anything. Stella and I made a light lunch for all and continued to Cercy, where we arrived about 6:00 PM. The pontoons were set in front of a beautiful horse farm, and at a point where the canal meets the river Aaron. We were supposed to get electricity, but being Sunday, nobody from the City Hall came to connect it, so we had to run our electrics on the batteries. We took a walk up to the village, a very small one with little church, post office, bakery and a bar by the port that belonged to a man from South Africa.

After our little tour, we sat down with our wine, and Justo prepared a fabulous cock au vin for us. Next morning around 10:30 AM, we left Cercy to come back to St. Leger. At the last lock there is a Champion supermarket, right by the canal, so we tied up the boat and went to do some shopping. We needed to stock up especially in the wines, wich are being consumed in great quantities. We loaded our groceries from the quay to the boat, and back to St. Leger. We spent the rest of the afternoon organizing and cleaning up, and in the evening, we prepared a lovely meal of pork chops, creamed spinach, and a dish of potato and buttenut squash. It was superb! I cannot believe how fabulous Justo's cooking is. He is such a good sport about cooking in a small kitchen, about 1/5 the size of his own.

As we finished our meal, we could feel a storm coming. There was lightening and a lot of wind. We took my computer out and watched the video of my god daughter Sandy's wedding, which was like being there again. What a beautiful production that was! We so enjoyed it, and it was such a great ending to a wonderful evening! After midnight, Stella and I did the dishes and went to sleep, only to be awakened a few times by the wind banging the boat against the quay. It was quite strong. This morning, it is still windy, so we are not navigating today. We are taking the car to go to Bourges and Nevers so they can visit these cities.

We are loving our visit with our dear friends. They are not only great travelers, but real troopers as well. More later.