Another town on a hill

There has always been a settlement in the top of the hill at Langres. The Gauls had a village here over two thousand years ago. The Romans called the town Andematunnum and it became the meeting point of twelve of their major roads. When they left it became Lingones and now Langres. Again, during the middle ages the town became important due to the power of the bishops and the church. Their area of influence included Champagne, the Duchy of Burgundy and Franche-Comte.

That is enough of the history lesson, it means that the town has some very grand buildings, some remarkable fortifications and in all, a good place to visit and take in the sights.

The whole town is ringed with a wall at the top of the hill. It gives great views of the surrounding countryside.

This is the Romans Eastern Gate. The arches have subsequently been filled in as the structure became part of the town’s walls in later times. The classic roman detail still remains adorning the arches.

The hill had a commanding view over a large area of surrounding countryside – the reason for its importance as a fortified town.

The view to the east

The view to the south. The tram type car is actually a rack railway that for over 100 years climbed the hill from the railway station down by the canal. The system was steam powered until the 1960’s when this electric car was introduced. It closed shortly after.

The view to the west. The lake and three others in the valleys surrounding the town – all man made, provide water for homes in the area as well as supplying the canal.

The view to the north must have more to offer!

This gate at the town’s northern entrance is only one of six major entrances through the walls to the town.

Others still show their structure and machinery designed to close gates, draw bridges and generally secure the town if under attack.  

Langres has a famous son whose statue stands proudly in the centre of town. Denis Diderot, was born in Langres in 1713 and was prominent as a philosopher, art critic and writer but is best known as the co-founder of the first encyclopaedia.

There was an art exhibition in the town with exhibits everywhere and amongst the displays we found this chap – named Pierre – with his sculpture that somehow looks strangely familiar!

We had to move on as we have to get to Paris. We are meeting friends soon and can’t be late. There will be more to tell so, we will keep in touch.     

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.