Author: rjfmac

Yesterday we reached the eastern terminus of  the Canal du Centre in Digoin. The Canal du Centre links the Saône river valley to the west with the Loire valley. It officially ends at the Loire River where an impressive canal bridge crosses the Loire.

Today we begin a little side trip down the Canal de Roanne à Digoin towards Roanne. Hopefully it will cool off  – temperatures have been in the 90’s the past few days. We met a nice couple from Florida who have been barging in France for 8 years a few days back and have been locking with them since Montceau-Les-Mines. They invited us to dinner on their boat (they actually cook!) and gave us all kinds of useful info about barging and the Great Loop (which they have done three times).

After four weeks on a canal boat in Burgundy we can definitely say… we like wine. We really, really, really like wine. We’ve done about 500 Km and 230 locks.

In the process we managed to lose overboard:

• 2 umbrellas
• 1 stake (for securing the boat to the canal bank at night)
• 1 cushion
• 1 sailing glove
• and 1 plastic chair

The water is a hungry monster that must be fed! So far no human sacrifice has been required but…. well…let’s just say we have people visiting us for a reason.

Life on the boat…. is nice. The day starts with a cup of coffee and (usually) a stroll to the local boulangerie for the day’s baguette and something tasty for breakfast. Sometimes we will also get something for lunch if it looks good. Depending on what we’ve told the lock keeper we are usually underway by 9:00. We motor along at 6-8 Km/Hr (a good jogging pace), hitting a lock every 2 Km or so (if varies a lot) enjoying the scenery, which is always interesting.

We usually stop for a picnic lunch at a pretty spot (no choice if the locks are manual). This is when we have our first wine of the day. It’s all downhill from there. In the afternoon we motor for another 3 hours or so. On average we do about 15-20 Km and 5-15 locks a day.  Sometime we moor at a town dock (if it’s pretty) or just out of town at a nice spot.  We walk into town to check things out. Each town, no matter how small, has a stunning church and a memorial to the local people who died in World War I.

Almost every town also has a tobac and a boulangerie. The little epiceries (grocery stores) are dying out, unfortunately, because of the supermarchés. Sometimes there is a cafe (or two) and a pharmacie (I think the French are hypochondriacs)

Dinner is either something simple (cheese, pate, bread, salad) on the boat or a walk to a local brasserie or cafe.

We left the lovely Saône river this morning, heading west on the Canal du Centre. Our first lock was one of the deepest we will encounter – more than 30 feet. It was exciting (Roberta says it was not exciting, it was creepy. We were in a big, dark hole that reminded her of an alien spaceship).

But the Canal du Centre is quite lovely – we just have to get used to canal travel again (after a week on the river). The locks are deep but when we came out of them  we were on a ridge – we were above a train a one point.

It is pretty … until the thunderstorm hit! Hail, wind, rain! Oh well. And did we mention the troll who reached onto our boat and pulled one of our plastic chairs into the river?  We raise our glasses to a chair that served us well. It joins an umbrella and a cushion as offerings to the water gods.

We rushed to Chalon-Sur-Saône so we could have a full day in the “city” for sightseeing. Turns out that Chalon is actually quite a big city. Wiki says 45,000 but it feels much bigger. Definitely the biggest town we have seen since Dijon. To put this in perspective we usually stop in a river/canal town and walk in hoping there will be at least a boulangerie and, if we are lucky, a restaurant. Often there is just one and it is closed. Sometimes there are two and one is open. We often have no choice. Not complaining, we have had some wonderful meals from little brasseries in small towns.

This is not Chalon, however. There are dozens of restaurants. And we hit town on a marché day so a double win! Fresh produce and a choice of restaurants! Also the home of the father of photography  – and no, not Daguerre – the guy that taught Daguerre – Nicéphore Niépce. They have a whole (wonderful) museum devoted to him and photography. And shopping. Roberta wanted me to mention that. Shopping. Clothes. Cute French clothes. Enough said.

And they have an absolutely gorgeous 15th century church. I’m collecting them – they seem to have an unlimited supply.

And in the “big city”  port de plaisance (aka marina) things can get cosy ….

We were warned. They were out there. The French built castles to keep them at bay. Still, a few hardy Englishmen managed to breach the nearly impregnable fortress we call Burgundy and we met up with one. Turns out the English aren’t nearly as bad as all the stories would have you believe.

Some (or at least one) will help with the dishes and helming the boat. We got one of the good ones but, unfortunately, he has left us. And we are sad…

Waiting for trains…

The English Marauder Leaves

But life and the river move on…. After dropping Richard at the train station we spent the morning in the local lavarie (laundromat) and then headed south on the Saône, leaving the “Petite Saône” and entering the “La Saône a grand”, where the river is not much bigger but you join commercial traffic and the locks get bigger. Much bigger. Huge. We entered the lock at Seurre alone and the lock could easily have fit another 20 boats our size (12 meters).

Seurre Lock – Fore

Seurre Lock – Aft

We plan to spend another day or two on the Saône then head west on the Canal du Centre in Chalon-sur-Saône (“a French canal running from Digoin, where it joins the Canal latéral à la Loire, to the River Saône in Chalon-sur-Saône.  It was opened in 1792 …” Wikipedia).

Spent last night (June 8) in Gray, our farthest north port on the Saône River. Gray has a beautiful 16 century Basilica which we toured.

They also have very helpful tourist office. We headed south this  morning and were attacked repeatedly by roving bands of Swans. Swan gangs. Each gang required we pay “protection” in the form of stale bread before letting us pass. This is not the France I used to know.

We are currently moored under the watchful eye of this areas capo de capo of Swans. It will be an uncomfortable night…

Spent our second night (and Martini Night!) on the Saône at a lovely “Nature mooring” (i.e. tied up to the bank) after a record 40 Km day. We only averaged about 16 Km/day on the Canal de Burgogne because of all the locks. Locks on the river are much less frequent, we went through only three all yesterday.

Speaking of locks we had a bit of excitement at the first lock the morning. We were waiting to ascend the lock while two boats were descending. I hopped off the boat and walked over to help/watch when I heard some yelling. The lead boat had tied off his bow line (NEVER fix a line in a lock) and, as the water level dropped the bow of the boat begin to lift out of the water. I yelled at the gentleman to cut the rope, I yelled knife in French and English but he was too confused to hear. As the water dropped and the bow lifted higher he pulled the alarm but the level continued to drop. Finally I got his wife’s attention and got her to run to their galley and get a knife. When he cut the rope, the front of the boat fell 4-5 feet to the water with a crash. No one was hurt but the lock had to be reset by a lock keeper (there was no lock keeper present – these are self-operated locks) so we had to wait a bit.

So we were read for a nice quite picnic lunch in Mantoche…

with swans!

After 17 days, 242 kilometers, 193 locks and a 3.3 kilometer long tunnel we have completed the Canal de Burgogne.  The canal connects the Seine watershed with the Saone river. We went up (and down) 300 meters (nearly 1000 feet).

We stopped briefly in St Jean-de-Losne (where the canal meets the Saone) for some much needed groceries (and another plant for the boat).

We are currently tied up at Mailly-le-Port on the Saone with one other boat (we helped them tie up in the rain). The Saone is a big river and we entered it in a stiff 20-30 km/hr wind which made the last couple of locks very exciting (good job at the helm Richard!).

The river portion of the trip is  different than the canals. You cannot tie up anywhere – it has to be at an official anchorage (no staking off anywhere you fell like) but there are a lot fewer locks so you can go much farther in a day.  The river is much wider than the canal so it is possible to overtake especially slow boats. This is our first day on the Saone so we will have more to day later.

Sad to see Jackie, David and Emory leave but Richard is with us! Jackie and David had a little trouble getting to the train station because there was a fair going on at the marina ….. with rides!!! And Emory wasn’t about to pass a merry-go-round without riding it. Three times.

And Richard Wylie showed up so we didn’t have time to get sad.

Had our first real lock hiccup in Plombieres-les-Dijon after lunch…. no lock keeper. Finally called the posted number…”Parley-vous angles?”…”Non”… okay… explained that we were waiting at lock 50 and “il n’y a pas d’ecluisier..”. Waited for about an hour and they finally showed. After 171 locks this was our first real wait. And it was a Sunday, as a couple of elderly women watching at the lock explained to me.