Auxerre - the river, canals, trains and an otter

Lillian :  Auxerre is on the river Yonne.         

Audrey :  The Cathedral and le pont Paul Bert (that's the bridge).

Lillian :  The Yonne is very peaceful with parks along the sides and lots of boats & barges.  

Audrey : We thought that perhaps we could stow-away on one of the boats - but we were discovered!

Lillian : In the shallows, there were so many little fish that in this photo they look like leaves.

Audrey : There were also lots of ducks and some big swans that you could ride on ...

Swan boat in need of repairs!

Lillian :  We went walking over the other side of the river - found a floor mill, the Moulin du Batardeau.

Audrey :  And I think we found where the pointillist artist Paul Signac was standing when he painted this in 1902.

   

Lillian :  Then while we were admiring that lovely view our Tour Manager spotted an otter!

 Audrey :  We didn't believe it at first but yes - it was an otter here is a close up

 

 Lillian :  A Common or River Otter (Lutra lutra) - swimming very fast across the river to a little island.

  

Lock almost full - the level of the canal

Audrey : All quite near where the Canal du Nivernais joins the Yonne.  There is a lock and they were busy.

Lock emptied - the river level

  

Lillian :  The Lock-Keeper's dog was over-seeing all the operations.

Audrey : The Lock-Keeper obviously has dollies and they live in a lovely doll-sized moulin of their own. 

Lillian :  Now this little building looks a bit like a windmill but it was probably a guardhouse.

Audrey : We had a little rest on the steps - our feet were tired and we'd been carrying a big cake box!

Lillian : Yes, our lovely day in Auxerre was nearly at an end - time to make our way back to the train station.

Audrey : That wasn't our train -

This was our train.

It was very fast - 

  
Audrey :  We were back in Avallon in a flash and those cakes were worth the carrying about.

Lillian :  A Flan Natur and a religieuse au chocolat.

Audrey :  That is a funny name - religieuse is French for a nun & a nun in a brown habit would probably be a Carmelite.

Lillian :  These yummy cakes are 2 choux pastries filled, put together & iced.  It doesn't really look like a nun - I think it looks more like a monk.