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.

The End is Near

We are now in Migennes, the end of the Bourgogne Canal. Here it enters the Yonne River. The town seems to have little going for it. The harbour is between the working end of town and the railway yards and the high speed trains can be very noisy at two in the morning. The town seems to be as old as the canal and although a busy industrial hub with some lovely buildings, offers little to the tourist. We are leaving tomorrow.

We have spent the past weeks in a very pretty section of the canal. It passes through open countryside, through grain fields then heavily wooded sections with the trees hanging to the water – sometimes making our passage difficult. The country is scattered with grand estates and the associated chateaux. The beauty of this part of the canal attracts the hotel barges and we would have seen a half dozen or so in the past few days. They are usually big, sit deep in the water and make their presence felt when we are around them. The skippers of the small hire boats are intimidated by them (as they are by us to a degree) but for Matilda, they are really like big sisters. We get on with their crews and they appreciate that we can handle our craft around them.

The farmers here are harvesting their grains now. Wheat and barley fields are in profusion and now every town and village we come into has its grain receiving point to be hauled away by rail. The farmers work into the long twilights harvesting and delivering their crop. A little different to the broad acre handling systems we may be used to as the farmers here haul their grain with their tractors in about a 25 cubic metre trailer. It is still light at 10 pm.

In the past the canals played a big part in the moving of these crops. We have come through a number of “harbours” with substantial wharves and grand warehouse buildings unfortunately no longer used for that purpose. The building here has been divided into flats and even though it is 10 kilometres from the nearest town, it is well occupied.

Tomorrow we are out on to the waters of the Yonne River and we will probably make the Seine by the end of next week.

The open water comes tomorrow.

So, keep in touch.

Expanding on a good idea.

The next day was fine and warm, we decided to head in the other direction and go a little further down the Bourgogne Canal from Montbard. About 6 kilometres is the little village of Buffon. There is a nice little hotel here with a good restaurant – so we are told. Marg and I cycled past on the other side of the canal as we were off to see another famous site in the area. With the demise of the Fontenay Abbey, the area lost its local supply of iron.

George Leclerc – the Count of Buffon is a famous son of Montbard. He was a well educated naturalist and was requested by the King to develop a better system for making iron. He designed the forerunner of a modern blast furnace and his Grand Forge de Buffon produced pig iron that was rolled and forged into useable iron strips and bars. The mill produced iron from 1769 to 1866 when the plant became a cement factory. The present owners have done wonders with the  restoration which is still  on-going.

The foundry building was beautifully made – for a factory. A pair of sweeping stone stairs leads from the entrance to the blast furnace floor. Two massive sets of bellows driven by a large waterwheel forced air into a 7 metre high furnace. Pig iron was drawn from the bottom as it is in furnaces today. 

Modern Montbard has a factory that produces stainless steel products, one being very fine stainless steel mesh of the type that is used in the production of quality paper thus linking the past industries of the area with the present.

Enough of the history. We will be moving on this weekend. Tonnerre will be our next major stop.

So, keep in touch.    

Taking a break

Montbard is the largest town we have been in since leaving Dijon. It still is small but is a nice mixture of old buildings, winding alleys and nice little shops as well as its more modern side. It has a good feel and is alive. Some of the towns we have stopped at are virtually empty, being just groups of houses where people come home in the evening and go to bed. All the little shops are closed as the supermarkets in the larger towns attract all the business.– Same the world over.

We arrived on the 9^th of June and decided to take a break and spend some time here taking in some local history and sights. We also needed to do some shopping and even though we have not been terribly rushed about anything, we decided we could sit still for a week or so. Besides friends were coming to visit and as Montbard was a stop on the Paris to Dijon rail line it was the ideal spot to meet them. Unfortunately their trip developed a few logistic problems and they were not able to join us.

The Abbey of Fontenay is a well known local historic site. Started up by the Cistercian monks in 1118 on swampy ground about 4 km south of  Montbard, and developed through the 12^th to 14^th centuries. The church, started in 1139 was typical of the architecture of the Cistercians, simple, massive and very functional. We spent a number of hours admiring the site which has been beautifully restored by the family who have owned the grounds for over 100 years. The abbey lost its religious standing in 1790, was taken over by the government and sold. The buildings were used as a paper mill for nearly 100 years. This saved them from the fate of a lot of the old French castles and abbeys – becoming stone supply quarries for local buildings.

One interesting activity of the monks was to set up an iron foundry. With a local supply of iron ore they produced a spongy lump iron which they forged into usable iron using water wheel powered hammers and other machines. They used this iron for their spades, forks, ploughs and other farm implements. They also sold iron products as a source of income.

The original of this hammer mill, driven by a water wheel in a stream running outside the building was leading technology for its day and the abbey was well known at the time for its high degree of technical achievement. They even pioneered fish farming, breeding and selling trout.

Enough for one day, Marg and I made our way back to Matilda for a late lunch and a relaxing afternoon. Tomorrow there will be more to explore.

So keep in touch.

Going Down

We left the Pouilly pound on at 0900 on Friday 3^rd June and commenced our decent to the Yonne River. You will all remember from a previous lesson, that we have to descend 298 meters through 112 ecluses.

It is now Wednesday 8^th June and we are moored at Venarey les Laumes. We arrived yesterday forlunch and since starting our decent we have passed through 55 ecluses, descended 136 meters over a distance of 40 kilometres.

At times on this trip, the ecluses are no more than 200 meters apart and are one after the other as we rapidly descend down into the valley. Look closely at the above photo, click on it to enlarge it. You will see another boat in the second ecluse down. The stretch of the canal from Marigny-le-Cahouet to Pouillenay was the hardest we would want to travel. The ecluses are very close together and our eclusier had to travel ahead and fill and open the gates for us. The canal twists and turns as it winds around the side of the hills. It was extremely hard work. We went through 19 ecluses in about 6 kilometres. If you have Google Earth, check out this reference then travel north on the canal and you will see how much it turns and twists.

Marigny-le-Cahouet - 050611.kmz

We met an Australian couple in Pouilly, vets from South Australia (retired) who plan to spend summers on the canals here and we have found them good company. Their recognition of the qualities of Foxhounds as pets of course was a major factor. We will cross paths again further down the canal.

We leave Venarey tomorrow morning and head for Montbard where we will spend a week or so. We are expecting visitors. Penny and Craig, friends from Perth will be joining us for a few days. They are coming from Paris by train and we will walk the short distance to the station to meet them. We are looking forward to the arrival of our first guests since the Captain (guinea pig) left us at the end of March.

Montbard is also quite a large centre and we will be able to restock on things essential to modern life. We will report again soon.

So, keep in touch.