French River Day 1
Monday
We picked up our hire boat at Grez Nouvelle, just above Anjers on the river Mayenne. We got there at 3pm, the boat was ready and we were able to unload our stuff from the car straight in to the boat. Together with other happy hirers we drove our cars in line ahead formation out of town and up to a farmyard where we locked them up and left them. Return to the boats was by the minibus which had led us up to the farm. Paperwork was completed in the office, we were shown all the boat technical bits and then set off up stream through our first lock accompanied by a member of staff. He stayed with us for about 45 minutes giving us instructions and general information about the boat, the waterway and the area. Above Grez Nouvelle lock we turned left into the Oudon and passed through the town of Le Lion-d'Angers at 16:40 and reached our first unaccompanied lock, la Himbaudière at 17:40. This was a very quiet and calm evening and we eventually stopped for the night, apparently in the middle of nowhere at 18:45. The peaceful mooring was at Louvaines. It was a nice evening.
We hired from http://www.franceafloat.com and here is the brochure description of the boat:
Eau Claire 930 (Sleeps
6 comfort
3)
9.3m x 3.6m 1 double cabin plus single berth; shower and toilet; galley; saloon with steering position, convertible dinette and convertible single berth; fwd well and seating.
Here is a map of the waterways: images/Carte rivieres2.gif
