Messing about in a boat 3 - Chambellay

After our visit to the Chateau de la Lorie in the morning we ambled back to Segré and had lunch in the Chat Gris, a créperie right next to the river.  A gallette, a crépe and a bowl of cider for less than 10 euros - can't be bad.  And our hosts, no longer in the full bloom of youth, were charm personified.

And from there we moseyed back down the river the way we came, turning left just after le Lion d'Angers to go up the Mayenne.   The Mayenne at this point is much wider than the Oudon - perhaps 5 times as wide, giving the impression of boating on a vast lake rather than a river.  We moored at Chambellay , just a little way along.

There was a pair of twenty-somethings sat on the pontoon dipping their toes in the water.  They clearly didn't realise the deadly danger they were in, with our boat pointing straight at them, until we shouted a warning that we weren't very experienced.  They helped us moor, and we split a bottle of fizzy Saumur with Marc and Marine as thanks.

Now I don't know what the weather has been like where you are, but here, we are in the middle of a drought.  I don't think it has rained since the middle of July, and it's not forecast, as far as I can tell, until late September.  Except of course for the weekend of our boat trip.  We woke the next morning to the sound of rain on the boat, and it was showery for much of the morning.  But we cast off  during a dry bit, and set off for Chenillé-Changé, just a little way farther up the river, on the basis that our guide map said it was possibly the prettiest village on the river.   They could well be right.