As the sign says, we are actually ‘below’ Sancerre. (It should say ‘way below.’) The good news is we are, once again, moored just a few seconds walk from a restaurant.
It is a 4-kilometre climb (Jeannie and I are on foot.) to Sancerre. A very steep climb. We think of Peugey and how much fun it would be to have her and drive the switchbacks.
Nevertheless, we are enjoying the walk. The views are spectacular. That body of water at the centre and near the top of the photo below is the Loire – where we started our climb.
When we were in Santenay (Chapter 145), we were in wine country. Then we watched as other forms of agriculture took over – mainly corn and sunflowers. Now, we are again surrounded by vineyards that seem to go on forever.
They’ve been here for awhile. This one dates back to the 1500s.
But that’s relatively recent. People were living in Météréol-sous-Sancerre, where we’re moored, in the 1200s.
Being that close to the vineyards was fascinating. I had read about ‘terroir,’ the secret to a good wine. It’s about the environment – how much sun, how much water – but more important, the earth. It can differ from one part of a vineyard to another – and can make for some very expensive wine. We saw chopped up stones spread amongst the plants – stopping erosion but mainly imparting a unique flavour to the grapes.
In the spite of the high temperatures and lack of rain this summer, the grapes looked like they were flourishing.
Finally, a break – a flat spot on the road to Sancerre. But we could see above us that we still had a way to go.
Perhaps the road sign didn’t want to discourage us. It said we had come 3-kilometres from Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre – but didn’t say how much farther we’d have to walk before reaching Sancerre.
But reach it we did. Needless to say, almost everything in Sancerre is about wine.
When in Rome – or in this case, Sancerre. Red for Jeannie, white for me.
We were just going to have wine – but after that long climb, we felt a bite to eat was in order. Salads for each of us.
And then we saw Tarte Tatin on the menu. Neither of us could say no to that.
Well nourished, it was time for a stroll through Sancerre.
If you build on steep slope, you need to make sure your house will fit on it.
As we walked back down to Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre, we looked off in the other direction. That large bridge is not a Pont Canal. Unfortunately. It supports a road for cars and trucks.
Why is the title of this chapter “Stranded in Sancerre?” Because we are. Due to the scorching hot temperatures France has been experiencing, the depth of water next to an upcoming lock has dropped to 0.7-metres. Aleau needs a minimum of 1.3-metres. We can go no farther. We are hoping for rain – a lot of rain. If the water level doesn’t rise, we can’t continue our voyage to Paris. In barging, one must always have a Plan B. And a Plan C. And a … Our hastily made Plan B is to return to Nevers and spend the winter there. We hope it’s not necessary. We had our hearts set on Christmas in Paris. For now, we’ll wait here and cross our fingers that, somehow, the water level up ahead rises. If not, we’ll make a U-turn and head back to Nevers. There are worse places in which to be stuck.