Off to Nancy

It was a lovely autumn day as we left St Symphorien on the 13^th October and after waiting for the eclusier to set ecluse #75 for us we entered the Saone at about 10.30am. We were on our way to Nancy where we will spend the winter.

We followed the original river course in a northerly direction and every now and then we entered a deviation to get past a shallow section or where there were rapids in the river. The banks were generally rich farming country and the quality of the stately historical homes bore this out.

After passing the city of Grey we entered the Derivation de Savoyeux which had a tunnel that we had to pass through. Large in section and only 643 metres long, we considered this tunnel “a piece of cake”. Being veterans of the Pouilly Tunnel allowed us to scoff this one off.

But wait. Don't be too hasty there was more in store. Another tunnel loomed on the Derivation de Saint-Albin. This one was slightly longer – 681metres but was approached by a 2 kilometre winding cutting – very difficult to negotiate and only one way at a time.

By this time the Saone was becoming – in parts – quite a small river. There were times when it was quite narrow and twisty and times when we felt that we could talk with the neighbours.

We reached Corre at the confluence of the Saone and the Canal des Voges and after entering the canal stopped at a pleasant mooring to tour the town. Next day after leaving we were stopped by a cute swing bridge operated by a one manpower machine.

Our next port of call was Fontenoy-le-Chateau, a village that for centuries had been a centre for lace making and embroidery. Today an attractive but sleepy spot that appeared to be full of retirees from around the world. It nestled into the valley and the canal wound very tightly between the hills.

We cycled from here to the village of Bains les Bains. Famous for its hot mineral springs, the population of the area have travelled here since Roman times to “take the waters”. All we wanted was some groceries and access to an ATM to get some folding money.

We were approaching the summit of the Canal des Vosges and would soon descend to the town of Epinal where we will spend a few days.The summit pound is some 300 metres above the Saone and we were stopped three ecluses before the summit by a manual one, that had no man to work it. We spent a cold and frosty night in this lovely setting. It will be Epinal tomorrow.

We will tell you of Epinal next time,

- so keep in touch.

Shortening the "to do" list

We arrived back at St Symphorien sur Saone around 1.00pm Sunday 28^th August.

Some things had changed and some things were still the same. Boats had come and gone throughout the season and now the regulars were were coming home to roost. Over the next few weeks we saw the comings and goings of many vessels and people we have met as we had wandered the canals. Most of them were heading at this time for their winter moorings, to be closed up and “winterised” against the forces of nature in the French winter.

The canals in the southern areas of France are primarily tourist canals and they close during the winter months. Commercial barges can still use them by arrangement with the authorities – the VNF, who may supply a lock keeper to accompany the barge on it's journey. It is interesting these days that even with the popularity of the canals the VNF's primary source of income from them is the supply of water to industry, as cooling or manufacture, to farmers as irrigation and to the numerous electric power stations we have seen. Even older canals no longer navigable, are used as water courses.

We had a list of things to do with Matilda that seemed to grow every time we checked. The main things were some work on the engine, replace the canvas covers around the stern verandah, rebuild the chimney for the wood fire, set up the insulation on the coach house roof and paint the cabin deck.

We also did some touristy things as well and one day with friends Alan and Ann, we drove in their car to Nuits-St Georges to visit the Cassisium, a cassis distillery. Cassis (or black currants) have been grown and distilled in this area for at least a thousand years. This factory takes as much of the crop they can get and makes a beautiful range of liquers with them. Everyone knows Crème de Cassis.

We visited at the same time as a bus load of Dutch hospitality students and were plied with all manner of samples at the end of our tour. Hard to take!

The mists and dew in the mornings reminded us that the seasons were moving on and we set ourselves a deadline of departure for Nancy before the 14^th of October. Our major projects were complete but we did not finish our painting. The deck looks a bit like a spotted animal where we have patched blemishes in preparation for a good final coat. It will have to now wait till the spring.

Thursday 13^th October, departure planned for 10.30. We notified the lock keeper the day before of our plans as we were entering the Saone river and they like to know. At 11.20 he finally left his cottage and set the lock for us – French!

Never mind – Nancy, here we come. More next time and till then,

We'll keep in touch

Besancon and back.

As we mentioned last time we left Ali and John at Dole. They left for Paris on Saturday 8^th October. We departed on Sunday and headed to Besancon. After departing at about 0930 we travelled upstream sometimes on the Doubs river and sometimes on the canals built to bypass shallow and rocky sections. These sections often were just parts of the river cleared to a depth with nothing more than a simple wall dividing the channel from the variables of the river.

We decided at lunch time that we would settle for the night and we found a lovely mooring at Ranchot where the local Marie has set aside a specific area for vessels our size. Thoughtful people!

Next morning, off early and we arrived at Besancon early in the afternoon.

Surrounded by high hills and a loop of the Doubs river there has been a town here since before Roman times. They called it Vesontio and since then it has been invaded by many forces from the Barbarians in the 1^st century to the Germans in the 20^th.. They included the Spanish, Austrians and the Prussians. To offer the town protection, King Louis XIV built a massive citadel on the hill behind the city and this, with four other forts on the other surrounding hills, (costing him a massive fortune) all stand today. The citadel was used infamously by the Nazis as a prison during the second world war.

We climbed the hill and spent an interesting morning touring the well preserved buildings.

Part of the citadel is occupied by a zoo which was set up late in the 19^th century Attractive in a way but small and cramped by modern standards. The great apes have the best situation. They roam free in the large area that would have been the moat protecting the entrance.

After a stay of two nights we headed back to St Symphorien as we had plans to do some work on Matilda that would not wait.

On our leisurely trip back down the Doubs river, we looked at things and country that we had passed on the way up. One spot was a “nature” mooring at the start of a deviation at le Maroc where we stayed a full day and found the stop most relaxing. There was a partially deserted factory which had used the canal for transport of product and we did little more than ride to the local village and get shooed away by the occupants of the factory.

We spent a night at Ranchot again utilising that thoughtfully provided mooring and had dinner at the local Auberge. Lovely surroundings and ambience and Peter was served the toughest piece of steak that he had ever experienced. Three medalions of eye fillet that even the sharpest knife available could not cut. We are spoilt in Australia with the quality of our meat!

And so back to St Symphorien and those jobs on Matilda.

We will be off to Nancy for Christmas in a month or so.

Until then, we will keep in touch.

The way to Dole

We had a strange mooring at Chalon sur Saone, we were told that we should be welcome at the pleasure boat harbour but when we looked, there was no room for us. We found a derelict commercial wharf not far from the centre of town, which was at least 15 metres high. To get to this height we had to moor alongside a recessed stairway in the face of the wharf and climb up to find something to tie to. We had to haul our bikes up to the top with ropes. Ali and John did most of the bike hauling – they are young and fit you see, and it was easy for them.
We stayed in Chalon sur Saone for a few days, then headed north on the Saone river for St Jean de Losne. We spent a few days on “the steps” there and showed Ali and John around the area we had called home for almost 6 months before we started on our dream. We then continued north and entered the Rhone au Rhin canal. Ah! the observant amongst you say, "you are back home at St Symphorien” and you are right! But we don't stop because we are on our way to show Ali and John the sites of Dole.

The observant amongst you will also note that the photographer must have been off on another assignment again.

Next morning we were up early – as were the ballonists, and we went off to investigate the town.

Ali and John left us at Dole.We put them on a TGV high speed train for Paris. They were off to Ethiopia in Africa to continue their volunteer work.

Marg and I continued up the Rhone au Rhin canal departing Dole the next day, Sunday 21^st August. We wanted to get to Besancon and next time, we will show you this wonderful old city.

Au revoir till then, Keep in touch.

The Canal they could now close.

The canals of France were constructed to provide inexpensive, simple and reliable transport for materials and commodities throughout the country. The extensive use of the canal system is graphically illustrated in the history of the mining area known as Montceau-les-Mines. Coal was mined there in the 18^th and 19^th century and the canals were the transport system used to take it to where it was wanted. In the system's heyday there was a company here that owned over 600 barges. That is a lot of transport! Given that a barge would spend 1/3 of its time with a load (about 250 tonnes), 1/3 stationary and 1/3 returning empty, this company would have had 50,000 tonnes of freight on the move at any time. This is impressive even by modern standards. The city is now a modern centre and parts of this history have now been modernised but the canal still has features that remain from these times. Three wonderfully different bridges span the canal within 100 metres. There is a lifting bridge, a swing bridge and a hydraulic lift pedestrian bridge. All classics of the era in which they were installed.

Unfortunately the person in charge of the camera was so enthralled by the mechanics of these two bridges or their dramatic colour schemes - or the good looking French lady on the towpath or something - that the hydraulic elevation bridge was completely missed. It can just be seen lowered further up the canal in the middle picture.

The harbour has been mostly reclaimed these days (for a car park) and there were only about eight large vessels there and the harbour was full. We “rafted up” with an old Freycinet freighter that was owned by an American who used it as his French hangout. It was painted yellow and looked like a forlorn party barge. He was somewhere else.

The town was fairly modern and nondescript and although historically important, we did not spend too much time there. One thing we found that was important was a big supermarket complex with a fuel service station that backed onto the canal. We tied Matilda to the fence on the edge of the canal and while Ali and Marg purchased essentials, John and Peter ferried about 500 litres of diesel into Matilda's tanks.

We continued on down the Centre and a few kilometres from it's end were met at one lock by a Dutch lady who had just taken a picture of Matilda and wanted to talk to us. John of course was our spokesman and they chatted away in her native tongue for some time. We gave her a card and she emailed us a copy of the picture that she had taken.

We were now approaching the end of the canal and would soon be in the Saone River. The canal joins the river just upstream from Chalon sur Saone, a bustling city full of history.

Then through the last lock – Ecluse 34Bis with a 10.75 metre drop into the Saone river.

In this picture we are still going down. When the doors opened only the four metres above the water raised to allow us out to the river.

The wall behind us shows just how high the entry gates are.

And out on to the Saone.

More later so keep in touch.

Entering the Centre

After leaving Dave and Louise at Lere we continued up the Canal lateral a la Loire. This canal travels through a variety of country types, generally open farming country but sometimes winding through forest. The trees closing in and making the passage quite small. The authorities continue to clear the banks but sometimes areas seem to be missed.

The Sancerre area is wine country and the hills were regularly covered with vines. The old stone and steel girder railway viaduct here carries a main line high over the vines.

After passing the village of le Guetin we find the second of the great Pont Canals (aqueducts) that make this canal famous. This one crosses the Aller River where it joins the Loire. A point of difference to the Briare Pont is that the downstream side is almost at river level and to get on to the Pont the engineers built a “staircase” of three locks to raise the canal above the river. Modernisation has removed one lock and the second is now a seven metre lift. We found to our dismay that it can get quite wet on board as the lock fills.

The third of these Ponts is at the entry to Digoin at the end of the lateral a la Loire canal. We were joined in Digoin by Ali and John who were to stay with us for about three weeks on their way to Ethiopia. They arrived on a railway bus after a few days in Paris. We met them and walked with them to Matilda which we had moored on the canal, slightly out of town. We have found that the more modern facilities for tourist boats on the canals don't cater well for vessels of Matilda's size.

We entered the Canal du Centre at Digoin and on our first morning out with Ali and John, the first lock we entered failed to close and we had to ring the VNF. Marg rang and advised that we were in "number 26 ecluse en panne” (in pain). The call was answered by a mechanic quickly and we logged the problem as another experience.

Incidently, none of the eclusiers (lock keepers) were aware of the possibility of the canal being closed. We continued on.

We stopped for lunch and cycled two kilometres over the hill to view this magnificent chateau. It is today the centre of the local farming community and we saw the preparations for what appeared to be a livestock display outside the grounds at the main gate.

The next big town is Montceau-les-Mines, we will take up the story when we arrive there.

Till then, keep in touch.

Catching Up.........

Well,here we are again. It is early October and we haven't had an opportunity to add to our site for quite a while. A lot has happened since we left the Bourgogne Canal, and we will try to bring you up to date in easy bite sized chunks. We touched base when we were at Montereau with the fire works display for Bastille Day but we will go back to Migennes and continue from there.

The rivers

Leaving the Bourgogne Canal at Migennes we entered the Yonne River and the difference between canal and river cruising rapidly became obvious. Matilda showed that she had a good turn of speed on open water and the big motor, still loafing at 1300 RPM would get her up to a good 16-18 km/h (8 or 9 knots) – The same in a canal would be lucky to get 10 km/h. This shows the dramatic difference in the hydraulic forces acting on the boat in the confines of a canal as opposed to open water. The canals have retrictions on speed and we can only do 8 km/h as a maximum.

Other differences were the size of the other vessels using the river with us and the size and types of locks when we changed levels. There are large sand quarries along the banks of the rivers supplying various grades of sand and gravel for all uses. These are moved in barges that would have been three or four times Matilda’s length, sometimes secured together fore and aft to make even longer vessels – “Canal train” style. The locks are correspondingly larger too with Matilda looking very small alongside these vessels. Some of these locks had sloping sides and we had to fend Matilda off the walls while going down for fear of being caught up as the water receded. We handled the changed environment well to the point that one fully laden commercial barge’s captain offered us first entry to the locks.He accepted that we would efficiently clear the lock in front of him giving him space to manoeuvre out. We took it as a compliment.  

The Yonne River flows into the Seine at Montereau. The Yonne is actually the bigger river and people say that the river from here on should be called the Yonne. David and Janet met us here, they caught a train from Paris and we met them at the station and walked to Matilda. Next day we were off and into the Seine for about 13 kilometres. Then into the Canal du Loing at St Mammes. 

While we were in Montereau we heard from another couple on their boat that one of the canals we were planning to use on our trip was to be closed. Because of low rainfall in the area the supply lakes for the Canal du Centre were very low and the VNF – controlling body for the French inland waterways – were going to shut it about August 14^th. We had this story confirmed so were quite worried. We were about half way around our trip and the Canal du Centre would take us back to the Saone River then back to our home port. If we did not make it through we could get caught and be stuck till it rained and filled the lakes or we would have to re-trace our steps and go back down the Bourgogne Canal – the way we came. We decided to press on with all haste to get through the Centre before the 14^th. As luck would have it, there has been a lot of rain since then and the VNF confirmed a week or so later that the Canal du Centre would not close.

We, of course have rushed through some beautiful country and missed out on some great scenery. Marg and I will come this way again and do the scenery and history of this area justice.

In the meantime Dave and Louise joined us at Montargis and we entered the Canal de Briare with six of us on Matilda. Montargis, known as the Venice of France has a number of canals criss-crossing the town which, in early days supplied water to the mills and other industries that made the town famous.

The Canal du Briare travels through some beautiful country. We have seen fields of grain and other crops already on our trip but the rolling hills of pasture, corn and other crops interspersed with heavy forest and small villages were very attractive and in our rush we did not do the trip justice.

David and Janet left us at Chatillon – Coligny catching a taxi to the local station then train to Paris. We continued on with Dave and Louise on board and soon arrived in Briare where the canal used to terminate at the Loire River giving a quick route for produce from the Loire Valley to Paris

The Canal lateral a la Loire opened in 1838 and follows the course of the Loire river from Briare to Digoin, a distance of about 196 kilometres. The canal has three amazing engineering features – three water bridges built in the years shortly after its opening. The largest is at Briare where this aqueduct takes the canal 15 metres up, over the Loire River for a distance of over 660 metres. Some 20 kilometres up the canal we stopped at a mooring near a village called Sury-pres-Lere where Dave and Louise left us, taxi to the railway station then back to Paris by train.

We continue on, down the Lateral a la Loire but more of that later.

Till then

Keep in touch.

The 14th of July.

Yesterday was the 14^th of July. And that is better known as Robert’s birthday. We are moored at Montereau where the Yonne river meets the Seine and the French decided to join in our celebrations and mount a wonderful fireworks display. Similar to Australia Day on Perth Waters, the mortars, squibs, rockets and other firepower were loaded into two barges and embedded in sand. The barges were tied up less than 75 metres from our mooring.

As the evening twilight stretches to after 10.00pm the show did not get going until 11.00 but there was no pre or post show entertainment, and the locals kept themselves amused. They were allowed to buy their own fireworks and so there were rockets, roman candles. penny bungers (and much bigger) going off all over the place till early morning.

We took our place in our deck chairs and watched a 30 minute display that was as good as I have seen outside Perth (Australia Day) and Sydney (New Year’s Eve). Not bad for a small town of 17,000 people. We were really too close to the display to get good shots - my excuse and I am sticking to it.

Happy birthday, Rob.

Of course by a coincidence - the French celebrated Bastille Day as well.   

Keep in touch.