Our Adventures

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.

Busy “rest” day. Started with two trips (on foot) to the “Super U” supermarche for all kinds of stuff for the boat and us. On the way back from the second trip, stopped at a garden center, which, yes, sells wine. No umbrella though. Then a road trip of about 8 Km round trip (on crappy rental bikes) to get an umbrella for the boat that we can move around (the two on the boat are fixed) so there is some shade at the helm in the middle of the day.

Stopped at a regional specialties store on the way back for some Burgundian wine, jam and cassis. AND stopped at a little tobac in town for a ceramic butter dish (we spotted the night before).

Then a light lunch before… hopping back on the bikes for a 10 km round trip to an old Abby in Chailly-sur-Armacon, which looked interesting but turned out to be a high-end hotel and golf resort. Did I mention the bikes were crappy? Cool building though. But it was uphill both ways. And into the wind.

On the way back we stopped in the Super U for the third time today (same grim cashier who finally cracked a smile on seeing us yet again!) and then to the marina office to start doing some last minute laundry (on the slowest washing machine in existance – 2 hours per load).

We can hardly wait to get moving again. This “resting” is killing us!