Final cruise day and Auxerre 03.05

It was really the perfect ending to my dream holiday. I can't describe how blissfully happy I felt as I ambled along the banks of the Yonne and Nivernais canal. Such peaceful, beautiful scenery, with perfect reflections in the slow- moving water.What a pretty village Bélombre was and how fantastic were those reflections.

i wish I had gone on a little more to Vaux, but I reboarded the Luciole at this gorgeous lock. 

Just around the corner the lovely village of Vaux came into sight. Typical scenes of picturesque cottages draped in wisteria. 

almost the entire morning, we floated down the Nivernais canal with the Yonne just beside us..It was a magical experience.A

And as if the day hadn't been brilliant enough already, we had probably the best lunch of the cruise, and incredible wine.

The end of our trip was in sight, Auxerre, one of the largest towns in the region, with 40,000 people.

It was a strange feeling to be in such a busy, bustling city and to have to worry about traffic when we toured. 

Believe it or not, this bench in the foreground was made from thousands of recycled pens! 

Auxerre is gorgeous and extremely colourful. I didn't quite understand the significance of the couple in the foreground!

 This statue is also rather bizarre and the man depicted there not someone of great importance apparently. However, it was an amusing statue and was surrounded by some magnificent old timber buildings.

The Cathedral of Auxerre is, like so many others here in Europe, a masterpiece of building genius. .  How did those people create such massive, long-lasting structures?

Time for a final gin and tonic on the deck, enjoying the ever- changing light and clouds. So wonderful.

The sun was setting as our main course of beef Wellington with Bearnaise sauce arrived.

I was fortunate enough to sit next to the captain, Jim, who was very happy to be able to speak French all evening with me and a very nice American lady, Carol. He finds it challenging to speak English with so much noise..I was blissfully happy. 

After dinner, we all took a flower from the table and went up on the bridge to throw it into the river, making a wish. It is said that if the flower reaches Paris, your wish will come true!  Whatever happens, the view from the bridge was absolutely breathtaking.

A touching moment as Jim, the captain, thanked crew and passengers alike for a great week.  Right to left, Jim, Alex( half NZ/ French), Sarah ( English), Ebba(English) Nik, our phenomenal chef from Scotland and Caliñ ( half Irish/French). A brilliant team, along with driver and your guide Vincent.