So When Does the Season Start?
We arrive again in Digoin on the Friday evening.
The River Loire from the Pont Canal at Digoin
Having checked everything at lunchtime we decide it would not hurt to take on some more diesel, and the book says they sell at the Maison du Bateau at Digoin. We head through the port to the Maison and Canalous hire boat quay. One guy is pressure hosing boats and cannot hear a word. A younger colleague on the key says they do sell diesel but “only in the season”. So when is the season we ask? He heads back to the office but returns saying OK we can sell some to you now – how much do you want? It’s 1€59 a litre he says. 2 or 3 we say. 2 or 3 cans? No, 200 or 200 litres! He fills us up and we take 207 litres (well nearer 208 but he kindly says he’ll round it down). And when we go into pay the cashier says it is only 1€54. Well that saved 10€, and we note that the price is quite close to many roadside prices in this areas.
We remain intrigued about “when the season starts” – any time from 15 March to 15 May it appears.
Of De la Barre and Paradis
We walk the dogs along the Loire and then take a walk around the town again, to locate bakers, etc. The one baker we found open last August is now permanently closed, but luckily we find two more, and a small shop to buy some essentials. We pass a “Rue de la Barre” and think of Jean Guy and Marie-Paule, but alas do not have the camera with us to take a shot. We think about it again when tomorrow we pass a tiny hamlet called “le paradis”. But of course it is not the true “le Paradis”.
Lady’s Smock and Cowslips from a beautiful countryside
Automatic Locks and Who Controls Them
So Friday morning we set off along the Canal du Centre. We think of Digoin as an industrial town. Glyn says it always reminds him (in a good way) of the small Welsh mining valley towns. As we pull out of the town however we begin to realise how large it is, and how the industry stretches along the canal side.
We reach our first lock. We knew these were automatic but the last lock-keeper had indicated that he would advise the next that we would be here at 0930. Not a lock-keeper nor a VNF man in sight. We pull the cord for entry (after this it is all done by sensors), get a green light and go into the lock. But reaching the quay and the bollards to get a rope on, from our very low boat, let alone reaching the cord to close the gates and start the fill, is impossible, just as getting up on the quay is almost so. After 15 minutes we find a way for Linda to scramble on to the quay, and off we go. The initial surge of the in-rush of water is quite strong. You really do need tow ropes on, and auxiliary support form engine to control the whoosh against the boat.
At the second lock we land Linda before we get there and have devised a way to hand ropes to each other, so that she can operate the lock from the quay. But this time there is a VNF man, though he is only there to take our name and number, watch us, and talk endlessly on his mobile phone.
We are now mastering this, though thank God but at the next two locks a VNF man actually helps us even though we have first landed. But they start the locks filling long before we feel are ready. We are coping OK, but it would be good to know whether we are in control or they are.
One Swallow does not Make a Summer
We pass by Paray-le-Monial which would have been our lunch time stop. It looks pretty but this time we give it a miss. As the locks are automatic we can keep going through the lunch hour and we decide to do this, without lock-keepers. After a short break for lunch we do two more locks and at the next a van arrives with two people who warn us that big boat is coming towards. We ask what size and then a sweet Kentish voice says “shall we speak English”? We recognise that voice. It’s the young lady from the hotel boat the Hirondelle who managed last year to get Gaynes (from Denver) dumped into the canal at Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre as we manoeuvred to make space for them to berth – but she did give us a bottle of wine each, long since drunk. They are off to Decize to pick up passengers on Sunday, and then get to Rogny above Briare where they will be based for the summer. Alas the Canal du Centre with all its closures is too unreliable for a holiday business. That’s worrying for the long term future of the canal.
Ah! But the season starts at Easter (well for some). So now we know.
The last VNF man accompanying us is very good though, and always makes it clear whether he will be at the next lock and take control or not. This includes the passage through Digoine where on the horizon is the Chateau de Digoine. It cost 6€ million, our VNF friend tells us. Linda says she prefers our boat. So would I, he says.
The Chateau de Digoine
We pass interesting industrial archaeology. This area was in its heyday famous not just for coal, iron and engineering but also for ceramics. We see a fascinating kiln tower as we get towards Palinges, and can only guess that it might have been a kiln.
A kiln tower or what?
Genelard and the Ligne de Demarcation
We had originally thought today to moor for the night at Palinges, but we are making good progress so push on another 4 kms and two locks to Genelard. We are pleased we did this. Palinges looked nice, but the moorings and facilities at Genelard are very good.
Right next to the basin is the Musée de la Ligne de Demarcation. A really interesting museum. This basin was right at the dividing line between Occupied and Vichy France between 1940 and 1943. Some fascinating stories of how the various French dealt with this. We knew of course that Alsace-Lorraine was declared formally part of Germany, and that from other sources that the Nazis toyed with an independent Brittany. We didn’t realize however that large slices of Champagne-Ardenne and Burgundy were also zoned for re-settlement by a German farming population. It explains a little why the Burgundy and the Morvan were so active in the Resistance. And of course their closeness to the Ligne de Demarcation aided their ability to maintain the resistance in the early years.
The Ligne de Demarcation at Genelard
Fournier et Mouillon at Genelard made heavy machinery for local industry 100 years ago.
The Bendy Canal
Saturday morning, and we are now heading for Montceau-les-Mines, an industrial town as indicated by its name. This will be a short day and we hope to be there by just after lunch time, without a break before that. The guide books told us this canal is very bendy as the constructor preferred bends to straight lines. No Roman He! And the canal is indeed very bendy, which slows us down. It is not the bends as such, but the narrow bridges on the bends which have to be taken very slowly so that all 18 metres pass through without scraping the sides. But we actually make good progress, and this morning the VNF man with us is being very helpful indeed, so we don’t have to land Linda at several locks, but at 12 noon of course it is his lunchtime which he richly deserves. He is working all the holiday weekend, and doesn’t get extra time or extra days in lieu. And he is very good.
The curving canal as you exit Genelard
Montceau-les-Mines (The Best town We Never Visited)
As we approach Montceau-les-Mines we are both impressed and excited. It is clearly very industrial but looks like some really interesting industrial architecture. And the lift bridges as we enter the town and port are also very impressive.
The Old Industries Welcome You as You Approach Montceau-les-Mines
The canal book had said that Montceau had mooring for up to 15 metres on pontoons and above that on the quay. As we see the quay, high and sloping, we realise that is no option for us, and in any case there are no spaces. There may be an option along the ends of the pontoons, and surprisingly there is an English narrow boat moored at one. We’ll try the next one.
Lift Bridges at Montceau
Products of Local Engineering
Alas this doesn’t work. We can moor, but we ourselves can only just manage to get off on to very narrow and bouncy pontoons. The dogs, with mooring ropes also in their way, will never manage it. The Capitainerie doesn’t open until 2pm. We just settle for 30 minutes, watch the remains of what looks like an excellent morning market being taken down, and agree this is a nice town to visit if we can find a mooring.
It is not to be. There are no other moorings. The lady is the office is very sympathetic, but the only option is go on to Blanzy. So alas on this visit we never actually get see Montceau-les-Mines, and are quite sad about that.
Blanzy (First and Second Impressions)
We were told we could go on without booking the next two locks from Montceau to Blanzy. We land Linda with some difficulty for the first lock, only to find it right next to the main VNF sub-divisional office at Montceau. Alas as soon as we are in the lock the VNF office automatically triggers closing the back gates and the fill, even before we have any ropes on. It gives us a scare, but we cope. The lady also wants to know our itinerary for the next three days. We don’t really know until we see what we find. She assures we can moor at Blanzy, so we agree we will moor there until Tuesday, and take first lock afterwards at Neuf Heures Quart.
Blanzy seems a little disappointing. There is a good quay, though we have to stay out half a metre because of depth. It seems quite urban and even rundown, and nowhere to walk the dogs. We are bit down, but moor up, take up rest and have some tea and coffee. Maybe it’s just that we are tired. We need to stay still for a few days, but is this the best spot for that?
A little later some Germans pass by to take on water, and we at least know that we have free electricity and water for the weekend. We visit the seemingly small town but with a long high street, and establish where we might be able to better walk the dogs, as well as some reasonable shops. Blanzy is famous for its Museum of Mining, but we establish that this is not just around the corner. We’ll cycle there tomorrow.
We take the dogs for a longer walk, and find a nice route back through grass lanes and quiet streets. We decide on a take-away pizza for supper, and that is very good, as are the excellent tarts we found at the boulangerie. We wash it down with a fizzy Vouvray. We’ll see how tomorrow goes. Blanzy is not too bad after all.
The High Street at Blanzy – Plain at First but It grows on You
Saturday morning and we are up moderately early to take the girls out, but nor before we are surrounded by the local fishing fraternity. We indulge in the washing while we have free power and water, and hang it all out on the whirly gig at the front of the boat, while we have some sunshine and little (very cool) breeze. Half way through morning we hear a bang, and Topsy starts haring around and barking. We go to see what’s happened and can’t see anything. Then we realise – we also can’t see our washing. None of it, nor the washing whirligig. Who would have taken that? As we investigate further we can one of the retaining ropes just floating in the water. We fish it out and with comes the whirly gig and all the washing. We try to imagine how that can have happened, but of course it will all have to be washed again. However it may appear anything that’s been in the canal needs double washing, we know that.
The Museum of Mines
After that excitement we spend the afternoon visiting the local Museum of Mines. How will it compare to the Pwll Mawr (Big Pit at Abertillery). It is more interest than expectation that makes us go. And we forget the camera. But in fact the museum is very well done. You cannot down the shaft but as well as the pit gear they have maintained several underground galleries accessed through levels. And as we go deeper underground we see how they have set this out so that you see the mine as it would have been in the 1880s, 1920s, 1950s, and 1980s. The guide is a former miner who worked here from 1948-85. He speaks clearly and is very well-informed, and really fascinating to chat to afterwards. At some point there were over 20,000 miners in this area, but only 300 when the mine closed in 1992. The history parallels that of the UK. But a fascinating chart of annual production could be an economic history of Europe, with sudden declines in the 1920s, 1944-46, mid 1960s, and then again in the 1980s. Industrial history is not everyone’s cup of tea, but this is well worth visiting.
Anglers need Boaters
Sunday is a quiet day. After all it’s Easter. Some essential shopping in the morning, a good bit of exercise on the bikes, and in the afternoon we do a bit of spring cleaning. The fishermen are out again, even though it’s really cold today. We offer and they accept a cup of coffee each. We talk about the fishing here. It’s best when the wind is in the south-west, not the north like today. And boats going through are really good for the fish, as they oxygenate the water. These fishermen really do appreciate the boaters. Indeed they are worried that when the canal closes again at the end of May it may destroy their summer fishing. It’s mainly carp here, but they’ve caught some enormous ones, and they show us a picture of a 50 kg which they have caught.
The Halte at Blanzy – Good for Fishers and Boaters
It’s great for us just having a lazy day. But some people don’t appreciate this, so off we are dragged for several walks which we have now found around the town.
Stop that! I need a walk
But by then end of the day we are ship shape and Bristol fashion, and ready for the three-day push to Chalons and the Saone.
Le Sommet sous la Pluie
We have seven locks to the summit at Montchanin, and then eight locks down to our next stop at St-Julien-sur-Dheune. We’ve been saying that the canals need rain and now we get our reward. Today it decides to rain definitively. The barometer goes down to nearly 900. Linda is getting very wet at the front of the boat, but luckily we have a very good and very efficient eclusier who does much of the work for us, and we are at the summit by 1130. He works rather than talks. Although he smiles and is very friendly, Oui, Non, and “Pas Toujours” are the only words we get. We pass through some lovely wooded hillsides but in the rain their beauty is a little masked.
Linda enjoying the Rain
But this Eclusier has been excellent indeed.
At the summit we see two moored boats at the docks there but they are the only boats we are to see today. We moor up at a VNF halte fro lunch and take the dogs for a walk around the lake which so much needs water, and what it is getting today is not nearly enough.
We descend to St. Julien, walk the dogs and the light the fire. A cosy night tonight as at first the winds begins to whip up, stirring us gently, before dying away.
The Beautiful Hamlet at St Julien
China Bird at St Leger
Today (Wednesday) we will descend – though actually we are going North as well as a downhill – to Chagny, and start to pick up wine country. The beginnings of vines on the hills appear here and there. The valley opens out as the Dheune descends to the Saone. The weather is not as bad as yesterday, but black clouds hang over the valley top.
The Lower Dheune widens out under blackening skies.
We stop for a little lunch after lock Med 18 (if we keep going this way we could get to the Med) which is a delightful little picnic area with excellent mooring, and then carry on through St-Leger-sur-Dheune. We had thought of stopping here, but today our destination is Chagny 13 kms further on. As we pass through St Leger we see the China Bird moored alongside the bank. This is an English style Widebeam just like ours and we have never another on like us in France, other than the China Bird, also in the rain at Gannay last year. We never got to know Martin’s partner’s name. We slow down and give a couple of hoots. They are obviously around but not on board. But just as we are 50-100 metres past we see them coming from shopping – too late alas to stop. At the next lock we ask the keeper if they are cruising today, but he says not until tomorrow. Maybe we’ll see them before we reach Chalons.
The remaining journey to Chagny is a primarily lock-free and we can do some house work as we go along. We arrive in good time, with again good moorings where the dogs can run free. We cycle off to the supermarket 10 minutes away just to get some essentials, and a “Sans Abri” – it’s like “Big Issue” in England the young lady in almost perfect English. Plus ca change,.........
A Morning Locking with in Good German Company
Our final day on the Centre – today we will descend from Chagny to Chalons-sur-Saone, and then the Saone northwards to the Burgundy Canal. As we are preparing to leave a Locaboat with a German family take the cut before us, but we guess – correctly – that the lock-keepers will want to travel together. They are first in at the first lock, but the lock-keeper says that because of the distribution of bollards (especially floating bollards at the 5 metre locks) it would be best if we were in front, so we change over before the second lock.
There are eleven locks before Chalons, though we will stop just outside the town at Fragnes. They are going down on to the river (just one extra lock). At the third lock the rear gate closes, but then ... nothing. No water goes out, and no descent. After 15 minutes we agree we must press the red button and alert VNF. After another 15 minutes we are on our way, if not on timetable. After that everything goes amazingly smoothly. The family come from near Stuttgart, though some of them now work in Munich. It is very easy travelling together. We eschew French and speak about two-thirds in English and one-third in German.
At the ninth lock the family Schlienz come forward to us as we are both mooring up with egg-cupfuls of something German to warm us. It is really friendly gesture, even if the sun is yet nowhere near the yard-arm! We drink our Schnapps – Proust! – and it is really warming on what is still a grey and dank day.
Senior Moments or Just Not Concentrating
This has been so good that we exchange names and contacts and a small present from Highgrove. Unfortunately while Glyn is talking to Ulrich (Schlienz) on the lock side, making our goodbyes, when the water starts to go down quickly and soon it is too far for him to jump. If he leans on the boat it goes out, and if he jumps his knee will almost certainly through him back against the lock wall. What fool could leave his vehicle without the driver at the wheel! Three points on any licence. Ulrich manages to jump down and can take control if necessary, but luckily Glyn is able to get on to the roof of the boot and get down at the front from there. Back in control. But Thank God this lock was only 2 metres.
But if that is not enough as we leave the lock Glyn decides it is time to re-erect the red duster, which technically is a legal requirement for British registered boats travelling gin other countries. It was taken down for the locks to give more space at the rear of ours. However it takes a minute or so and is another stupid distraction, during which he almost takes the boat into the muddy bank. He pulls out just in time, but by now Linda is definitely not amused.
All beautiful at Fragnes
But we do then moor up and this is a beautiful spot. Bob and Rosemarie on the Angelbaak greet us, and provide all the information we need on the spot. They recommend the quay restaurant in such good terms that we have to try it. As we do the owner walks by, and we suggest he owes Bob a discount on his next meal. “Mais je suis pauvre, j’ai des enfants” is his plaintiff cry. How does however buy them an aperitif on the house later.
Church along the Canal at Fragnes
Shady thinks about going to Church
It is a great restaurant, as are all the facilities at Fragnes, and the manager of the port, Celine, is also absolutely wonderful, advising on everything we need and even making calls to fix things for us.
Friday the 13th??
One of these is that the handlebars on Linda’s folding bike have become slack. A retaining spring has broken, and she advises on a bike shop about 2kms away. So on Friday morning we set off there on our way to Chalons. Unfortunately the owner doesn’t have parts like this, and we end up stuck. We also agree the bike is too dangerous to ride (all for 5 mil but critical spring) so we push them onwards to review the local supermarket we will need to use tomorrow, and the 12 metre lock which will take us down to the River Saone.
We walk back pushing the bikes. We decide to give the centre of Chalons a miss. After all we have seen it many times with Chris and Val Last as a stopover point to Avignon. Though – gosh – that was 30 years ago.
We start the walk back, and a lorry swishes past (it’s nearly 12 noon in France which is never a time to be on the roads there) taking Linda’s cap off. We decide we can take a short cut along the canal bank which has been left though not a chemin d’halage (tow path). It all starts well, but slowly the path becomes almost impassable as hump the bikes over tree stumps, wild bramble, etc. Well it is Friday the 13th. We are hot, tired and had enough by the time we get back to the boat.
After a feed and a sleep however we feel a little better. Rosemarie comes over and offers to take Linda to the shops, though that is the one thing we have sussed, we say, and later Bob comes over with some excellent information of the Canal de Bourgogne (Burgundy) which we will be on next week. The next morning he also furnishes us with pinpoint weather forecasts for the weekend. We may get a little wet, but it won’t be too windy. So bye-bye Canal du Centre, mixed feelings but well worth seeing, and now the Saone and the canal to Dijon.
