Monday-Wednesday 5-7 September (Getting Going Again)
Well here we back on the water again. (Oh! No, we hear you cry.) We managed to leave England finally on Monday the 5th after waiting ten days for a replacement chip in our ABS system. Well at least it allowed us to see a lot more of Alfie, and his first visits to Malmesbury Carnival and Corston Fete.
Alfie with Linda August
So Monday was picking up the car, packing and heading for Portsmouth. We always take the dogs for a walk on Portsdown Hill before we board the ferry. They need it, and Linda enjoys the memories of some of her childhood here. But it’s dark now by 8.30pm here. The view over the lights of Portsmouth is however tremendously impressive.
Tuesday: We escape the boat at Caen by 7.00am and drive our usual gentle route through the back roads of Normandy and the Centre, crossing Calvados, Orne, Eure-et-Loir and the full-length of the Loiret from north-west to south-east. We stop early at Falaise to walk the dogs over farmland, and mid-journey at Belleme to have a beautiful walk through the forest. We make Briare before 1pm.
The rest of Tuesday is spent organising some fuel and early start on Wednesday, as well as the usual plug-in and checks on engine, electricity, amenities, etc. That just leaves time to do some “provisioning” (we seem to love that word now!) and be all ready for tomorrow. We are five days late, so we need to move.
Walking the dogs after nightfall gives that ever lovely picture of Briare. The walk in Malmesbury has its beautiful attractions too, but it seems 5 degrees warmer here.
Wednesday: It was meant to be an early start but it’s not light until 7am. The dogs have a hurried half-hour walk before we finish some final chores. Linda goes to the bakers, and on the way finds a totally new greengrocer. It turns out he has only opened today, and at 8am she is his very first customer ever. His produce looks very good and well laid out. Pity we stocked up most things yesterday. But his potatoes are very good, and Linda gets a complimentary melon for being his first customer ever. We’ll certainly go back again on our return.
Today we are going to Rogny, northwards up the Canal de Briare, and then onwards to the Loing to join the Seine just upstream from Fontainebleau. History lesson. The Briare is France’s oldest canal begun around 1600 AD under Henri IV, to join the Loire and the Seine basins, so that goods from the Loire estuary could be taken to Paris. Henri IV was probably France’s best ever king, but known only in England for “Paris is worth a mass” and possibly the Edict of Nantes. Like Henry VII in England he came from foreign parts (just) and finally managed to unite the country after years of fratricide, setting the foundations for a glorious period under his grandchild (Louis XIV from Henri IV and Elizabeth I from Henry VII). Unlike Henry VII, however, Henri IV was a little less austere. His downfall was women (too many of them). Men should learn never to mix it with women, especially Medici women. Hope we got that right. Here endeth the lesson.
Today we do 23 kms, plus 16 locks – 6 up to Ouzouer-sur-Trezee where the canal follows the path of the Trezee river, and then another 4 to the summit at Gazonne, with gorgeous lakes all around which the support canal water system. Then finally down 6 locks at Rogny-les-Sept-Ecluses, to join the path of the river Loing as it drops towards the Seine. There were seven locks in a formidable staircase when the canal was first built (hence the name), but this allowed no passing places and thus was a major hold-up to traffic. The original flight was very impressive but the present arrangement also very enjoyable.
The Original "Sept Ecluses" at Rogny
We have never passed this way before. The scenery is varied and interesting, and not as flat as some of that further south. From the canal Ouzouer is very beautiful village, and we regret that we don’t have time to stop. Next time, sans doute.
A View of Ouzouer-sur-Trezee from the Canal
Rogny looks a very interesting town too, not just the former “sept ecluses”, but the moorings are deep and metallic (and they charge for them, and for water and electricity too though we need neither). We decide to give that a miss. Maybe next time. So we motor a further 3kms up to the very quiet but lovely village of Dammarie-sur-Loing. The scenery is in some ways reminiscent of parts of the Kennet and Avon canal, as we wander along the boundaries of the Loiret and Yonne departments, now in Burgundy, now back in the Centre.
We are moored by 4.30pm at a very beautiful spot where the dogs can run free, there is wonderful woodland nearby, the sun is shining, and at least here all is right with the world. Glyn falls into a deep sleep so Linda has to walk the dogs. But he wakes in time for his supper, and for a quiet stroll around the village.
Thursday 8th September (Chatillon-Coligny and the Path of the upper Loing)
Today is essentially making sure we progress towards Montargis and the Seine along the path of the river Loing but staying on the Canal de Briare. Here the Loing is descending quickly from its upper reaches. We pass twelve locks dropping a total of 45 metres (about 148 feet) with an average depth of 3.76m (12’4”) , with the shallowest 3.24m (10’ 8”) at Chatillon-Coligny and the deepest 5.12m (16’ 10”) at Montbouy. As we are descending getting our mooring ropes on at the tops of the locks is easy. Managing them so that we can get them off at the bottom of the lock takes just a little more care and attention - especially when a certain two-year old four-legged friend, who thinks she’s the perfect crew, tries to dance all over them.
It wasn’t a bad journey. We set off just before 9am and moored at 4pm, with an hour for lunch Chatillon-Coligny. This is very pleasant countryside, with wide avenues, a wide variety of different trees and forestation, and the occasional village, villa or gallo-roman remains.
The morning part of the journey was from Dammarie to Chatillon with six locks over just 6 kms so it took much time than to manage those. For this part we were joined by Claus and Gret on the Mille from Copenhagen, which helped while the time away, especially when we had to wait 20 minutes in one lock for an upcoming cruiser. Claus and Gret have been cruising France, Belgium, the Mosel, the Rhein, the Rhone and the Med for six years so they could tell us quite a bit about various waterways. They winter in Paris (and Copenhagen) and spend every summer on the waterways. Alas they are no fans of the Burgundy Canal which we said was our next major exploration. If you like trees and fields, they say, it’s great, but no towns and hardly any villages. Be prepared!
Claus and Gret stop off at Chatillon-Coligny where they hope to spend a couple a days. They advise on some of its better points. They clearly like it here, and it is beautifully set out where the canal passes through. They should have loved Briare but had two bikes stolen there so are not such fans. We only have an hour, including eating and walking the dogs, but it’s very useful advice for our return. And the lady at the halte nautique / tourist office is equally friendly and helpful.
The Bridge over the Canal at Chatillon-Coligny
From Chatillon we pass the locks at Lepinoy and Montbouy, where we had originally planned to finish the day, but it is too early. The locks up to Chatillon are mechanised and with team work with the Danes and very organised lockkeepers we have passed them very quickly. These next two locks are manual, but nevertheless the lockkeeper is ready and we move through sleekly. The final four locks are mechanised. But now we are alone, and the very friendly but deep-throated lockkeeper confides that we will be his only customers this afternoon. He is very efficient but still finds time to chat, to admire and play with the dogs, and tell how beautiful and quiet the moorings are here, against the hustle bustle of Montargis.
A lovely day. It several times it threatens to rain but never does. And during the afternoon it actually gets quite warm. All ready for Montargis and the Canal de Loing tomorrow.
Friday 9th September (Montargis and the Loing Navigation)
Today was to have been just a travelling day, but it turned out much more pleasant than we thought. The weather wasn’t particularly good but quite warm and no rain. Grey and “lourd” as the French would say. We set off from Conflans in a slightly coolish atmosphere, with a very friendly eclusieuse to see on us our way, who spoke good English and was very taken by the “best ‘bergers’ which French shepherds like most”, even after Topsy treated her van as though it was a stray sheep.
The journey then took us through Montargis which is very pleasant on the south side, though the works for the new railway bridge for the TGV are less endearing than the fast train service will be. The centre of the town along the canal is also very pretty. It reminded us a little of Reading, though the town itself is not so big, and more personal and attractive. It is by-the-way that Montargis is also twinned with Crowborough in Sussex which coincidentally is where we were married just 41 years and 4 days ago. It can’t really be that long.
Approaching Montargis by Canal
The north side of Montargis along Châlette-sur-Loing is again more industrial, interesting in some ways, but somewhere to pass through. This brings us to the end of the Canal de Briare and, turning off before the sadly disused Canal d’Orleans, we move on to the Canal de Loing.
Whereas the Briare followed the downhill stream of the upper Loing, the Loing canal itself is more a navigation along the river proper. It is quite wide but to us it was surprisingly pretty, with interesting houses all along the 3kms to Cepoy. Cepoy itself is a lovely little village with the tree-lined canal overflowing with fallen conkers (very hard conkers – if only we could get back to Seagry). We were told that the lock was open until 12.30pm but misinformed, so we nestled in the lock itself for lunch, walked the dogs along “conker avenue” and at 1.00pm were joined by a very jovial lockkeeper to see us on our way.
In the Lock at Cepoy
Conker Alley at Cepoy
We then had just 8 kms and three locks to Nargis, our destination for the day. We made it by 3pm. Again this part of the canal was very beautiful and peaceful, with locks bedecked with flowers and/or multi-coloured flags. Since Chatillon we have travelled on our own, and only passed two other boats coming the other way. It is September now, but very sad that this canal is so under-used. We remarked upon this to the engineer / foreman who acted as our “eclusier” through the two locks at Retourné and Nargis. He was saddened too. He added that the traffic had been very poor all year. People go to the Briare because they have heard of its prettiness and interest (which is certainly there) but this part has few pleasure and hire boats, he says. It is their loss and our gain, but such a pity that this not enjoyed by more people.
We moor up at Nargis, but have to use a sloping quay. In preparation for these we have provided ourselves since our last journey with weighted zigzag fenders to keep safely off the stone sloping walls. We put them to work, and are very chuffed that our home-made solution works extremely well. We then drill some fixing holes in the old gangplank to hold it firmly to the land side, so we do not lose it, while tied boat-side firmly to one of the holding points. This too works a treat (though there no speeding hire boats to test it out) with a firm gangplank which even the dogs use with supreme confidence.
This has turned out a much more enjoyable day than we expected. We walk the dogs and then visit the village. It has a small but very pleasant centre with a good epicerie and a seemingly excellent baker. But we’ll test that out tomorrow.
Saturday 10th September (Through Nemours to the Seine Approaches)
The baker was indeed very good, and today was the return of summer. Sun, sun, sun, and the temperature reached 31o. The journey today is from Nargis past Souppes-de-Loing and then through Nemours to Epizy where we will overnight before Moret and the Seine.
The day is wonderful but the scenery less so. The environs of Souppes-de-Loing are industrial and uninspiring. Similarly the approach to Nemours doesn’t leave much to write home about. We need a mooring for lunch and have to use a demolished warehouse site. It is adequate for our purposes and in fairness the view over the other side of the canal is a reasonable picture of trees, but that is the only spot of beauty in an otherwise dreary scenery.
After lunch we pass through the final lock at Nemours and turn left to descend to the Loing River proper. This is more inspiring, over 50 metres wide, and a real sense of major river. We could turn right into the town where maybe the riverfront also makes it nicer, and maybe we will another day. However the stretch of the Loing doesn’t last more than a kilometre where an awkward and badly signposted turn takes back on the navigation, leaving the Loing ahead which looks liking a mixture of a duck pond and a silted mill reach. In fairness we see glimpses of it later where it runs along the canal which are less depressing, but nevertheless certainly not poetic.
The canal here is very pleasant especially in the sunshine with the avenues of trees just beginning to change their colours. We finally moor just upstream of the lock at Epizy, a nice quiet spot with a relaxed and friendly lock-keeper even if that cannot be said of his chained-up Doberman. A beautifully sunny day. Nothing challenging, but at the end for some unknown reason we both feel very tired and have a good late afternoon nap before a lazy evening.
Well, that’s the Canals de Briare and de Loing at least on this occasion. Tomorrow the Seine.
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