The Champagne Canal

We settled into St Jean de Losne and those who know the moorings here will realise that we had moored on the steps outside the Café du National in an area that specifies mooring for boats up to fifteen metres long and for a maximum of three days. Everyone knows Matilda is 25 metres in length and we were there for about 21 nights. In France there are some rules that are just made to be broken!

The above picture of Matilda shows her new coach house cover replacing the old blue tarp of the past few years.

While we were moored here we saw some interesting sights. We were surprised by the strange array of floating things that people go on the water with.

Who would call this comfortable boating.

These two lads are canoeing through Europe to Turkey. Check out their exploits on:

www.canoeingthecontinent.com

This fellow moored his boat behind us.

Locals and those musically knowledgeable might say “That is Johnny Halliday the French rock star from the ‘60s". They would nearly be right, He is an impersonator and does quite well with his talent.

Mid August we departed and set out for Paris. We were taking a route we have not traveled before, we were taking the Canal de la Marne a la Saone (now known as The Champagne to Burgundy canal) north west to the Marne river and then into Paris. It connects the Saone River at Heuilley sur Saone to the Canal Lateral a la Marne at Vitry le Francois.

This canal is 224 km long with 114 ecluses as well as several swing and lift bridges. Construction was started in 1862  from Vitry le Francois and construction slowly progressed to Condes and Chaumont. The decision to extend was made about 1890 and it reached the Saone in 1907. It provides a third route from Paris to the Saone River and the Mediterranean but has never been a real commercial success. The southern section traverses some very attractive country but does not pass through any large towns. It is difficult to find supply points for food and fuel but we traveled its length (and the 4.8 km tunnel at its summit) without any problems.

Rolling farmland is very productive along the canal.

At one point we passed this large netted area ( about 1 km in length) – much like a chook run, and found it to be full of what we believed to be pheasants. There were hundreds of them.

This beautiful viaduct, built when the railway crossed the canal in 1886 has seven arches and is 295 metres long. The railway of course spelt the reduction of commercial traffic on the canal.

Commercials still use the canal though, and this one went past us on a narrow bend. It was fully loaded and we had to squeeze past.  At this point we struck the soft muddy bottom. The color of the water indicates the depth of the canal.

We were reaching the summit of the canal and with it the Balesmes tunnel. At 4820 metres long it takes about 2 hours to traverse at a crawl. We don’t like tunnels!

  

We were finally out and moored below the town of Langres. Below, because Langres is on the crest of a hill and the canal is about 100 metres below it. Matilda can just be seen amongst the trees.

We were going to stop here for a few days and explore the town so, stay in touch as there will be more to tell.

Gray. A welcoming town.

We departed Dole and headed down the Rhone au Rhin canal towards the Saone river. We had an appointment with Catherine for some more canvas work for Matilda. We have had insulation panels on the coach house roof covered with an old blue plastic cover. The insulation has proved its worth in stabilising the temperature in the coach house so we need to have it installed and covered correctly. New insulation and a canvas cover neatly cut and sewn to fit the roof. Our appointment with Catherine gave us a few days spare and we decided to go upstream and visit Gray.

We have passed Gray in a few occasions but never stopped. We were lucky to meet Claudine from the Office de Tourism – Val de Gray. She invited us to join a group of visitors and be taken on a tour of the town. Under the direction of a wonderfully knowledgeable English speaking guide, we were introduced to some of the town’s fascinating history.  We were shown some delightful buildings including the chapel and apothecary wing of an old hospital, a hide-away spiral staircase where a famous citizen hid and the town’s lovely opera house.

The chapel was an eight sided room at the centre of the four wings of the old hospital. Each wing had a door opening to it which were opened during services so the ill in bed could partake in the service.

The chapel ceiling was adorned with paintings and what looked like bullet holes.

The walls of the apothecary were  lined completely with  wonderful cabinetry and collections of pots, jars and equipment. All original.

Another building had this very wide spiral staircase. Used to bring donkeys loaded with bags of grain to an upper mill.

The attic rooms in the house at the end of this garden were the hideaway for Pierre Fourier who was famous for his advanced ideas. He was outspoken about general education and the relief of social hardship for the workers. He took refuge here in1636 from the persecution he was suffering.

When he wished to shut himself off from the outside world, he caused the “cylinder staircase” to be swivelled.

The Gray Theatre was originally built as an opera house. It is delightfully small and intimate. When being built, budget restrictions meant that the inside columns were cast iron rather than traditional timber and the wonderful ceiling is painted fabric on a timber frame.

Our tour finished with a degustation luncheon composed of local produce and wines which was put together by Claudine, her staff and her faithful band of volunteers. Our little group of 10, all English speakers were most impressed. We were amongst a group totalling around 60 people who were entertained in the same way. We have not come across this style of promotion by the  Office du Tourismes before in France.

But, we had an appointment with Catherine, so next day we are off to Saint Jean de Losne. There will be more to tell, so we will keep in touch.

Departing Dole

As we have mentioned on past pages, we have spent some time in Dole and have grown to appreciate the town very much. Like most French country towns it has had a chequered history. Dole began as a small settlement on a hill overlooking the Doubs river where in the 12^th century a fortress was built by the Emperor Frederic Barberousse. It was on a road built by the Romans about a day’s travel out of Besancon and became quite important during the rule of the Burgundians and the Hapsburgs as the capital of Franche-Compte. Even our favourite military engineer Sebastien Le Prestre de Vauban had some input into the fortifications of the town – he knocked most of them down as he concentrated the military at Besancon. The seat of government was moved Besancon too.

Today, with a population of about 25,000 it is big enough to be active yet still has a well-kept historic heart. The old waterway here fed the tanneries and mills at the base of the hill.

Louis Pasteur was born in Dole and lived in this house above the tannery where his father worked.

Peter was fascinated by this building in one of the older streets. It was built as a warehouse or shop on the ground floor and basement with a separate entrance to living quarters or offices via a spiral staircase on the right. The entrance from the street had a guardhouse over it that had a perfect view of who was at the front door.

The building was quite old but so well made that its condition was remarkably good.

The basement, with its beautiful vaulted ceiling, most likely a warehouse in its earlier life is now a very pleasant restaurant.

When you look closely at these old buildings, the standard of detail in most is extremely high but tends to go unnoticed.

On the other hand the works of a modern sculptor adding his touches to the local civic gardens needs no response.

The summer equinox has a special place in French culture. It is always an event celebrated in the afternoon and evening with music and song. On the evening of 21^st June we joined other Dole inhabitants in their festivities in the city.

During the events leading up to this evening, our favourite street café had a jazz quartet entertaining their customers with some excellent music. We were surprised by two things

Firstly this lively couple who had spent the afternoon informing the citizens of Dole of their forthcoming wedding, and

this shiny-haired young lad who could not sit still while the quartet were playing their music. His perception of their beat and rhythms kept his fingers, hands and feet moving in time. He has positive musical talent and we hope he is able to develop it.

We met his family and he, Octave, his elder brother, Constant, younger brother, Anatole, and mother Mathilde became regular visitors to us on Matilda. Octave was fascinated by the boat and us and had his mother bring him past at every opportunity.

When we finally left Dole, Octave and Constant came on board and travelled with us for a few kilometres through two locks to Choisey. Constant is learning English at school and had developed a little understanding. Mathilde followed us with her car and picked them up. They enjoyed the experience.

The boys were great, in fact a lovely family group. We found it very nice to be able to be accepted by them and appreciated their friendship. We will try to keep in touch.

Now we are off to St Jean de Losne, we have an appointment with the wonderful Catherine of Canvas Cover fame. Matilda needs a little more trim. Also another little problem has reared its ugly head, the main engine alternator is not working, so we will need to look at that too.

Obviously there will be more to tell so we will keep in touch.