Alsace Wine Tour 2023 – Port de Melay to Beaulon

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Port Melay to Beaulon

Our second morning here at the aire at the Port of Melay is overcast and pleasantly cool; we breakfast overlooking the boats in Halte Nautique. The guy from the boat opposite appears, he is thin and gaunt and wiry with a shock of long grey hair, just how I imagine a ‘boatman’.

Yesterday he was repairing a very old grey Simca vintage car, he gets in and takes the Simca for a spin. We tidy up, service Hymer and drive another 60km along the Canal Latéral de la Loire to the village of Beaulon. We take the D122 through Artaix and call first at Pegon Christophe, the boulangerie in the village of Cambilly.

Stocked up with bread we take the D989, through Le Donjon, an interesting looking village and D15 to Saligny and Diou. We arrive at Aire de Pique-Nique on D298 near Beaulon at lunch time, followed by two other motorhomes behind us.

The Halte Nautique looks a super place with 12 level gravel pitches overlooking the canal, most of the spaces are already taken, three free as it happens… one for us and each of the two motorhomes that followed us here. We set up under a large plane tree with picnic table behind us , pull out the sun canopy and get the chairs and tables out. It is 28°C with no wind and feels very hot. After lunch we sit out under the trees, writing, reading and Alan sketches and then adds some watercolour.

The afternoon passes timelessly, for Gill at any rate as she tries to form three of her short pieces of writing (the girl, the wolf and the cloak) into one coherent short story suitable for a writing competition. Late afternoon a bottle of red Languedoc wine appears with olives, baguette and salmon rillette. Perfect to fill the gap between late afternoon and early evening when Gill prepares beefburgers in a bun with thinly sliced beef-steak tomatoes, they are delicious.

As the evening cools we walk along the canal, by the lock and to the next bridge. Another coypu slides silently along the canal hugging the bank, almost invisible except for the ripples left behind in his wake. This is an excellent motorhome stop, another night here will be great.

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