From the Loire through Sun and Rain to Le Creusot (19 -29 April)

Friday 19 April we finally leave Digoin with a full tank of diesel and have three locks and 12 kms to Paray-le-Monial. We should be there in three hours but now we have automatic locks and no lock keeper. You might think this would be quicker but we are going upstream (and uphill) and we will have to get ashore before the locks as we are too low within them to get to the quayside.

Luckily the local lock keeper helps us through the first lock.  We say “au revoir” but he says “tout de suite” after just explaining there are no more lock-keepers. We are uncertain at the next lock whether he will be there so we get Linda ashore before we go in, but just as we are in the lock he arrives. I said “tout de suite” he says, and he also sees us through the next two locks.

We arrive at Paray-le-Monial on a lovely evening; we ought to go and look around the town famous for its ancient monastery but are more relaxed alongside a beautifully large park which was once part of the monastery grounds. As Paul and Sue told us at Digoin Claude is moored there in his beautiful Tjalk the Windbuil but he is occupied with various phone calls though waves a cheery hello. The girls have a great walk and run in the park.

A British sail boat the Mistral arrives and we advise them to miss the first set of electric points as they do not work.  Steve and Mary moor up in front of us and we get ropes tied and cables plugged in.  This is a very nice spot. The book says it has an 11 euro charge but no sign of anyone to pay. We advise Steve and Mary that we will be off at 9am in the morning, and as their ropes and cables are intertwined with ours on the bollard we will have to disturb before we go.  No problem, they. They will be off shortly after us.

Sunset at Paray-le-Monial

Saturday morning and at 8am and we are just back with the dogs and getting breakfast when a bang on the roof sets Topsy waking up the whole neighbourhood. It is a local official and there is indeed a charge, and gone up from last year. After us he also rattles Steve and Mary into life.

Steve says he’ll get off with us and we can share locks; he is only 12 metres long so there is plenty of room. He’ll go first as he is higher and he doesn’t want us backing into him. As if!

We cover the next 7 locks and 21 kms in under four hours, even with a major hold up. Steve and Mary take our ropes at every lock. Steve has been working in Paris and has got a new job in Nice. Primarily he just wants to get to the Med, so his target is to just get the Saone in two days, and then down the Saone and Rhone.

Thank God for a Pilot

Quarter of an hour from the first lock and suddenly there are frantic signals from Mary at the back of the boat and signs that engines have been thrown fully astern.  There is trouble under the bridge, shouts Mary as get nearer, can you go astern; a telephone wire (as it turns out but could have been any power line) has snapped from the bridge overhead and presents a complete obstacle to cruising.

We both moor up; Steve’s a pilot Mary explains – he watches out for everything.  We are lucky he saw it. She also explains she is a complete novice just coming along with Steve for the  fun and experience, while for him it is a great help having at least some crew.

We telephone VNF to advise of the problem while Steve launches his tender from the back of the boat and rows to where the cable is. It is Saturday morning after all and the VNF office did not know when someone could get to us. He inspects the cable and then gets to the other bank.  Then he says it is only telephone cable and it is insulated. “I’ll try to pull it out.” This is not as easy as it sounds, it is quite a length, but after 10 minutes or so he has got it to the bank and out of the water. 

As he is rowing back a VNF man arrives and we explain what has happened and the current situation.  VNF arrived in 20 minutes and Steve is very impressed with this, though had he not got the cable out himself no doubt we would have to wait for someone else with more gear.  You can go on, shouts the VNF man from the other bank, and I’ll sort this out now.

And so we do, with no stop for lunch and before 1pm we are at Genelard where we plan to stop a few days; as we chat at locks we explain that we intend to repaint our roof to reflect not absorb the heat; good luck says Steve, you’ve got until Thursday and then the weather will change; his meteo seems the same as ours. Spring is only here for one week, but hopefully we can use it.

Safe and Sound at Genelard

We wave them on as we moor at Genelard while they aim to make the summit before the end of the day (it’s only 30 kms and 16 locks further, and though they have speeded us up, they’ll go even faster without us).  Just watch for the Mistral on the Rhone.

It’s been grey and dull most of the morning but now the day is getting very cheerful.  There is only one other boat at Genelard – the Carpe Diem - which we have seen before, but it looks like there is no-one on it.

We walk the dogs, look around the town and start planning our roof re-painting: Sunday to clear and clean; Monday to sand; Tuesday undercoat; Wednesday first coat; Thursday top coat and anti-slip; if the weather holds we should just do it in time.

A Canalous boat arrives in the evening.  There are no spare points (to plug in for electricity) but we explain we have a “splitter” which doesn’t translate into French (Ha! a Multi-prise, he cheers up when we produce it) so that they get power too.  They are on a working holiday taking the boat down to Beziers!  Did we hear right? A long way to take a hire boat. And they are certainly off first lock in the morning, as we begin our chores.

So Sunday morning, bright and sunny, is clearing off the roof.  We take the splitter out.  It does seem there is someone the Carpe Diem but we haven’t seen them yet.  They have a motor bike and must have been out yesterday.

Cultural and Linguistic Differences

Late morning a camper van arrives.  He looks at the electrical points, pulls out the Carpe Diem cable and then puts his own splitter in, reconnecting both.  Luckily it wasn’t us he disconnected but we think it’s pretty bad to disconnect anyone, even for a few minutes, without checking first. Something could be on in the boat where even a temporary suspension of power can disrupt it.

A few hours later we are cleaning out the gutters on the roof and hear some sharp voices.  The guy from the Carpe Diem has arrived and is pretty annoyed that he was disconnected.  He bends down to check his connection when the man from the camper van grabs him and looks as if he is going to hit him; his arm is grabbed and pushed away.  “What’s the problem” we shout as we jump down and go over.  An incomprehensible argument is going on in French and English, but without need for us both guys begin to cool down.  “What’s he angry about” says the Frenchman. “Nobody threatens to hit me” says the American.  But OK, although both are very angry they are now looking for a solution!

 

Doug, from the Carpe Diem, says there are plenty of points for camper vans on the other side of the canal, this side is for boats. But the camper van does not want to go there.  Still quite angry Doug produces another connector, and allows the camper van to take over his electrical point.  “He should have asked before disconnecting me”, he says, and we cannot argue with that.  And we explain to our French colleague that if we can all calm down we can find a solution, which Doug does.

Monday morning and the camper van turns on engines and is gone at 6am in the dark.  This is a sad story. He probably feels aggrieved, but if only he’d talked first the whole thing could have been avoided.

For us today is “sanding” day.  The weather is fine and getting warmer. We explore the town and walk the dogs, and that takes the whole day.

Painting at Genelard

Monday is “undercoat” day.  But now it is getting very warm.  By midday it is 25ºC but on top of a metal roof it is scorching.  We take a French lunch. At 2.30pm we go to check the roof.  Fascinating (but proving we were right about changing colour) what has been painted over is just warm, but where it is still green it is almost untouchable. We postpone finishing the undercoat until 4pm.  We need a little more paint and some thinner, and discover a really excellent hardware store (fit for a very big town) right on the middle of the village.

Tuesday is first coat and now the weather is getting very hot.  25+ again, but with the change of colour the roof is cooler.  For the last few days there have only been us and Doug and Susan on the Carpe Diem so we can just progress with our work slowly.  A few camper vans, and the VNF personnel drive back and forth to their depot, but they are always cheery and are not fussed about Topsy sitting alongside the quay.  A dog in a neighbouring house, which is locked up in a pen all the time, makes a lot more noise than her.

Wednesday is the second coat mixed in with non-slip additive.  Mixing it in is slow but it works.  It is now getting very hot in the middle of the day irrespective of the roof.  We have to leave finishing to the evening.  Even though we can see where we will need to improve the finish, and do some touching-up it is not bad job overall, and we are quite pleased.

Roof painted – from green to ivory

Now quite a few boats arrive.  Two families of Belgians, one in a barge and one in a cruiser.  But the cruiser seems to be having serious engine problems.  And then the Ariana with a couple of Kiwis, who moor alongside us. And both the Belgians and the Ariana have dogs, as do several camper vans.  So Wednesday night is dog heaven or dog hell, depending upon your point of view.

So all done (well almost) on Thursday morning we are on our travels again. The Belgians go first together, then the Carpe Diem, then us on our own.  The CD and the Morverc’h are too long to fit into a lock together. 

We go through some lovely country side – this is the real Charolais (Charolles is only a few miles away) - but the weather is definitely changing. 

Even in Charolais country the cows are lying down

Trouble at Montceau

We get to the edge of Montceau-les-Mines and have decided we will try to moor for the night at “Bon Amarrage” at St Vallier.  As we arrive there both Belgian boats are the quay, but moored out at diagonals.  The cruiser tells us his engine again.  The lady says it’s “kaput” and shows resignation.  The Belgian barge in front warns us that it is very shallow on this quay. 

We were warned.  We can’t get in, and when we try to get off our midships is caught in mud.  With poles and engine and bow thruster and Belgian assistance we finally get away.  We moor across the way a couple of hundred metres upstream where this is shuttering.  It’s OK for lunch but we decide we will gone to Blanzy for the night, telephoning ahead to VNF for passage through the lift bridges and locks in Montceau.

Meanwhile the Belgian cruiser has managed to get going but we look behind and see our Belgians friends in the barge having the same trouble getting off the quay as we had.  We think about going back to help, though not knowing what we could do.  But just then she gets her stern off following the bow into midstream.

Another few hundred yards and we see the Belgian cruiser moored up at some very nice moorings.  We curse our French.  The very helpful lock-keeper had said there were good moorings at St Vallier “devant la Tour”.  We can hear that clearly now but we he spoke we heard “en avant de”.  “In front of” and “before”.  Big difference in English.  But we are committed now, and though the moorings are good they are very close to a busy road, so not so easy for the dogs.

Bridges to left your spirits

So we pass the bridges and port Montceau and arrive at Blanzy.

The Port at Montceau – But only Pontoons too short for us

We arrive at Blanzy.  Two boats already in.  Will there be room for us?  It’s tight.  Hah-ha.  It’s the Renaissance from last year (the Two Terries) and ahead of them the Carpe Diem.  We can just squeeze in behind the Renaissance.

We moor up and plug in and Terry comes for a cup of tea.  The weather is getting worse and they are staying put until Tuesday.  There is power and water here.  We take the dogs up the Macon Road and along the “Allee Cavalliere” and through the park and a farm.  They have a good walk but it’s really beginning to rain steadily now.  So we hunker down for the night, except for a last thing walk with the girls.

Rain, rain, rain

We had planned to cycle back to Montceau for the Saturday morning market, but Terry had warned it would be rained off.  It had rained all night, and was still raining, sometimes pouring, through the morning.  Other than walks with the dogs, with their coats on against the driving rain, we don’t go.  The rain was just shocking. Affreux.  We kept the fire going well, read and watched videos.  You just did not want to go out in this.

We had told the lock-keeper we would move on Sunday.  The Two Terries were dubious.  The weather won’t change until Tuesday.  But Sunday we get up and ready to go.  Doug and Susan on the Carpe Diem were going too and we agreed they would go first, as we would have to put Linda ashore at each lock which would slow us down.

We were both held up and a lock keeper had to come to operate the lock.  After that it was fine until although at the fifth of seven locks for that day a lock keeper again  turned up to make sure the lock worked OK.  There were some beautiful views while we waited.

A Better day Today – the Cows are Standing Up

And Even the Wild Trees are Trying to Blossom

We arrived at the seventh lock at about 1220 (on the Centre you can carry on through lunch time as long as you operate the locks yourself) but Doug and Susan were still in the lock with gates open.  When we got to them they explained that the gates would not close so that the lock could fill.  They had telephoned VNF at 1155 but weren’t expecting anyone before 1300.  By now it was approaching that time

.

Doug and Susan (Carpe Diem) Stuck in a Lock while Topsy Looks On

Finally at the Summit

And indeed the very reliable lock keeper turns up and gets the lock working again.  We are moored up by 1330, and have reached the summit at Montchanin.

We want to look at Montchanin which we haven’t seen before.  It’s a nice enough town, but really a satellite of Le Creusot, and not as exciting as we had hoped, but perfectly serviceable. 

The Centre of Montchanin – Roads Lead to Chalons and Le Creusot

But this is the summit and the lakes that feed water to the canal.  They provide great walks for the dogs, though on Sunday there is, as the French say, “du monde”, the world and her family.

The Belgian barge arrives and we are three for the night.  Topsy is relaxed with these three boats now but still prefers to guard the bank.

Moored at Montchanin with Guard in Attendance

Early morning walks with the dogs.  The lakes are quiet and beautiful now, though when they say “sentier inondé” they mean it, as Glyn discovered all too late, returning with very wet feet.  But the water fowl are enjoying their peace.

A Single Coot on the Lake – though the mate is not too far away

Of Mallards there are a few more

So we take it all in, and prepare for the descent to the Saone.  

Who was to know that a week later this whole section of the canal for 15 kms would be emptied of water as a bank burst under the force of the flood water, and all the water seeped out leaving boats stranded?  See “Storms and Floods” in next posting.

Eastward to Strasbourg – First the Home Run (7-19 April 2013)

We arrived back at the boat on Sunday 7 April after good drive from Caen and two good forest walks for Topsy and Shady.  Just after we arrived at the boat Charlie arrives for the Moondance moored next door, but on his own, just to de-winterising and jobs. It seems that Drogheda is having the same weather as Malmesbury and Marianne is staying at home there worrying about the garden.

Our boat seems fine except a tiny drip from the principal domestic pump.  We need the heating and luckily it’s independent of the water system, so at least we can use that.  Otherwise we dare only turn on water when essential, until we get the pump seen to. 

We pop in to see Patrick, the new Capitaine at Briare; everything is fine though he thought we were bit a stern heavy (we say that’s the way the boat is) so he had checked the bilges for us but found no water. That’s a relief.  We discuss our plans and explain we are heading to Strasbourg this year and won’t be back for the winter.  “What about winter 2014” he asks.  Not sure, we say.  OK do you want me to reserve your mooring for 2015?  We hadn’t thought about that but exchange glances and both say “Yes, OK, yes please”.  So that’s how you plan a few years!!

On Monday we get the chimney up, as we’ll need the fire today!  It’s pretty nippy here.  We then pop around to Alain at Charme Nautique to ask if he will look at the pump. “You are “pressé” he asks (well yes we say) so he’ll come round this afternoon. 

We spend the rest of morning “provisioning”, and then light the wood burner at lunch time. Alain arrives about 3pm. It’s the pump itself leaking and he can’t repair it (though someone else might). Luckily we have a spare so he puts that in.

Briare Commercial Port on a Grey April Day

All in all takes two hours but we have an appointment at 6pm to meet Lyliane Maillard from the Gien Twinning Association and Claud Fontaine from the Gien Walkers Club to discuss an exchange / joint activity between Gien and Malmesbury walkers. We have very quick showers (now the water is on) and change. The boat is nice and warm for the girls as we leave them to guard the boat for the evening.

We have an excellent meeting with Lyliane and Claud. He will meet Malmesbury walkers in May and we are hopeful there might be a joint activity next year.  We have dinner with Lyliane and Maurice (and Gilles and Martine join us too). Excellent wild boar you couldn’t get in England. It is a very lovely evening, with lots of fascinating information exchanged, though Mrs Thatcher whose death has just been announced clouds the table a little.

On Tuesday there are a few more little jobs to check the boat out. The bow thrusters have 12.9 volts so that’s good but we still put them on charger for a bit. It is surprising how long the little jobs take.

In the afternoon we ring Annie (Delbecq) just to say hello but she insists we come over for coffee and cakes. We are on our way to Philippe and Marcelle’s, who besides offering us dinner that evening, have also insisted on re-stocking us with logs (cut to size) for the wood burner. We have no shame but, as Philippe said on the phone, it’s very cold and wet at the moment and we need the burner. Annie insists we pop in to say hello to the Twinning Committee on our way to Coullons; and then we have a relaxed evening with Philippe and Marcelle. An excellent tasty meal – how much time these must take to prepare. The girls (dogs) come with us and are relaxed in the garden and house, though the smell of the new kitten enlivens them.  Philippe and Marcelle are so easy with them.  We collect our wood. We are so lucky with such good friends in France.

So Wednesday arrives and we are getting ready to go. Glyn takes the car to Migennes, a half way stop to Auxonne which is our destination this trip.  Migennes is an hour and a half by car and 4 hours return by train.   Only Mark is there of the guys based at Migennes. Simon and Roger are at Sens, and so Mark is pressed, but they have a brief exchange of news on mutual friends.

The four hour rail trip back is not so bad. We walk the dogs when Glyn is back and pop into Mike and Rosaleen on the Acquarelle (who had popped by earlier in that day to welcome us) and get offered coffee and some fascinating stories and info about their trip down the Danube to Serbia. Getting small boats even as large as theirs (up to 2 times ours) through Austria, Hungary and Serbia has many intriguing problems but they are more official than navigational.  It is fascinating and we take it all in. 

The Pont Canal is also Grey This Week

We have an evening meal with Charlie at the Pet’t St Trop which is always good; Charlie is such excellent company.  He seems to be OK on his own on the boat but also has Skype to keep him company, and his collecting advice from many friends in Briare on the various jobs he has to do.

So Thursday arrives and off we go, 9am at the Henri IV lock, and by 10am we are up on the Canal Lateral. Today destination Léré.  We take a few photos as we will not see Briare again (at least on the boat) until 2015.  Charlie sees us off and presents us with one of his own hand-made pens.  We will treasure that.

A Last look Back at the Town and Church in Briare

The timing is good and we get to the Mambray lock just by 1pm. We are moored up at 3pm.  There is only one other boat in but it is the Edwina Rose with Andy Chris with whom we travelled part of the Burgundy canal last year.  Again an invite (this time a glass of wine) and we exchange news of that trip last year, of their visit to the Paris rally, our mutual horror of the new management at Brienon on the Burgundy canal, and our respective plans for this year.  They are taking the Nivernais so we exchange info on our mutual experiences; we can advise them about the Nivernais, they us about the Saone.  But first we are off to the bakers for bread and some of the best tarts in France.  Back on board we light fire and have a quiet warm evening with the girls and Inspector Montalbano.

On Friday we are off at 9am to Herry. We pick up some Sancerre and Pouilly Fumé at the Houards lock. This is one of the best ways to buy local wines.  Sadly the egg man at Peseau lock is off duty today, so wine but no eggs! We get to Herry again about 3pm and this time we are on our own now but it is still cold and wet as it has been all morning.  

We light the fire, walk the girls and this time Topsy (with some hesitation) is willing to come for a reasonable walk.  She has developed noise phobias and has been quite agoraphobic all winter.  5kms is not much for a border collie but is much better than we’ve done for a while.  Then another quiet night by the fire and with the Inspector with a late night walk for the girls.

We are doing the Canal Lateral quite quickly as we know it so well, and our objective this trip is to spend time on the Canal du Centre. So we are off early on Saturday with a destination of Cours-les-Barres between Aubigny-les-Marseilles and Guetin. Can we pass Aubigny before midday and make C-l-B by one?  

All the lock keepers are very friendly and helpful and get us through Aubigny even though they have to keep going to 1215. Fantastic!  There are also lots of new work at Beffes (it looks a new “halte” is being planned). 

We moor up by 1pm; we’ve had some hard spats of rain including hail (the meteo promised the “grele” and we got it) but the afternoon the weather is brighter and again Topsy deigns to come with us all for another 4 kms walk.

Works too at the Church at Cours-les-Barres - a Plastic covered Tower

The girls have their freedom to wander along the mooring banks as they did at Herry, so all is well. Maybe Spring is arriving.

But the mooring is still inviting

For Sunday we had booked the first lock for 0900 so need to leave at 0830. We check the engine at 0810 and there seems to water in the bilge. We clear out all the storage down there and yes there is between about 5 and 10mm in different places. We mop, nappy-sap (nappies are essential tools on canal boats), kitchen towel and WD40 it all dry and take out about 5 litres. We can’t see where the water came from and will have to investigate further.

Meanwhile it’s 0910 and we are 40 minutes late for the lock-keeper. But when we arrive at 0940 he is quite relaxed – there is no problem. Then we move on to the Gates (double lock) of Guetin at about 1100 and into the Allier / Auvergne after which we have 20 kms without a lock.

We stop at Vieille Tour (a quiet spot for lunch and where the dogs can run) only to find that two other boats quickly join us. At least there are now some other boats on the canal. And the cowslips are fantastic, so we gather some to decorate the boat.

Cowslips from la Vieille Tour

We get to the next lock at 1445 and pass the three locks with ease to moor at Fleury by 4pm.  We have a quiet evening and another longish walk with the dogs, joined by a local who we’ve walked the dogs with before – he too has a border collie and a boat moored in the Bay of Morbihan.

On Monday we have a short trip to Decize for some necessary shopping, and then on to Gannay where there is a boat yard to discuss our water problem and also fix a rivet. Our lock-keeper for the first two locks is the one who lives at Fleury lock and grows great vegetables (not this time of year though). We say we thought he was retired, but he says no, later this year, he hopes. Both his knees are shot and he is going to have them replaced. Over the next two locks we discuss how bad the winter has been and how damaging for the gardens; but he hopes he can grow something this year. We say we won’t be back until 2015. Well, he says, hopefully I’ll still be in the cottage and garden so pop in then, even if I am retired. A really great guy.

Decize provides everything we want, except critically we forget the fresh milk we needed and so have to go back to the store. The girls get a good stroll and then onward to Gannay where arrive at about 1630. We pop straight to the boatyard, but Mark Vardy who runs it can’t help us until Wednesday because of prior work. That’s fine we say, we were planning a day’s stop.

So Tuesday provides a quiet day at last. We walk the dogs several times and they are really happy; the banks are covered with cowslips, soldiers & sailors, and wild violets; we meet up with Bill Fisher and his crew and discuss jobs on boats, getting some really useful advice. Bill and his crew turn out to come from Newbury and Devizes and he is VP of the Kennet & Avon Trust; oh what a small world; for us it is really good to have day without cruising.

Bill and his crew working hard at Gannay

But Topsy only wants a walk

Glyn finishes the day by avidly following the Cardiff-Charlton game (and parallel Championship games) to go to bed happy knowing, albeit that it was only a draw, that Cardiff are promoted to the Premier League.

On Wednesday Mark comes to fix the rivet we need and to look at where our bilge water may have come from. It’s not from the engine, nor does it seem from the hot water tank or calorifier. There is a bulwark to the rest of the boat so it has to be from the back. One possibility is rainwater ingress possibly from air vents; another is the anchor chain where the chain store had water in it back in Briare.  Nothing major to worry about, Mark assures us. Don’t worry too much about 5 litres, a tonne or two might destabilise you, but not a few litres.  But he advises that when we leave the boat we should always get the anchor chain on board and under cover to avoid the risk of ingress from that.

Mark also gives some tips on repainting the roof. What excellent help, and then he refuses any payment. It was only 10 minutes he says (plus the 20 inspecting and giving advice which he doesn’t mention). He really has been so helpful and friendly; we will try to use him again (but pay next time) and recommend him to anyone else who might be passing that way.

In the afternoon we cruise just a few hours onto Beaulon; a nice easy stop for an easy day; only one boat and two camper vans at a site usually packed. We pass through the Clos du May lock and Glyn has to tell the lock-keeper about the novel of a former lock-keeper here who was the last French soldier from World War I.

The Lock at Clos du May (as in La Vie en Rouge et Bleu)

Sunset at Beaulon – Still Cool but Spring is Coming

Thursday is going to be a long day as we will finish off the Canal Lateral and achieve our main objective this trip – to spend a lot of gentle time on the Canal du Centre. We stop at Diou after the morning to pick up a few things we need but alas the village shop has closed. The baker is open though, but when she puts the bread through the slicer she misses it and it all falls on the floor. “You won’t get to play for Wales like that” quips Glyn, “though these days maybe for France”. She smiles while there is one grimace and one big laugh from the other customers.

We pass Molinet where we moored in the mist last year, but now it is clear.

Molinet is Quiet – but Big Boats Are Just Down the Road

 Then, wonder of wonders, two boats ahead of us come out of the canal de Roanne into Digoin and we actually have to wait for a lock. Not very long though as the lock keeper has this one humming like a song bird; and then we find easy mooring just after the Digoin pont canal It says only 0.40 metres depth but the Lady Sue is moored there which must draw more than us. “It’s only a small ledge at 40cm” they say, “otherwise there’s plenty of depth”.

Finally at Digoin - their Pont Canal signals the end of the Canal Lateral as it recrosses the Loire

Paul and Sue brought their Piper barge the Lady Sue across the channel last November and then spent a painful winter crawling through northern France before finally ending iced up and stuck in  Langres for several weeks (Thank God we are only doing it in the summer). Glyn’s sister was also holed up in Langres for three weeks in January between weather and illness. A small world again.

Paul and Sue will head for Midi for this winter as they want sun not ice. We give some info about contacting Bruno Chanal who has moved from Briare to Castet-en-Dorthe; and then we check with the local chandler about getting diesel in the morning and finally buy some new lock gloves for Linda, before cheating with a takeaway kebab before the dogs’ final walk

On Friday we walk the Loire a few times. This may be last time we see the Loire by boat for a couple of year. A beautiful magnolia is in flower and a very knotted twisted willow is preparing to sprout; sheer beauty.

Magnolia and Willow at Digoin on the Loire

 After a bit of shopping including some boat work supplies we head off after lunch to pick up our diesel. Just as we’ve backed in against a difficult wind - to where we were told to moor, the pump attendant shouts “Ah! Not there, can you go over there?” – and then an even more difficult manoeuvre with boats tightly all around us. But we get there very gently. 

“Our diesel tank’s at the back” we say (as we had told him this morning). So another crazy, careful manoeuvre and finally we can fill up, except diesel gets sprayed over the stern and the water behind us before he gets the nozzle in. Oh well - and finally we head off for Paray-le-Monial.  Bye bye Canal Lateral; bye bye beautiful Loire. Now for a very slow and quiet few weeks crossing over to the Saone.

Canalling In France (2012) The Low Road Home – Where No Others Dare (5-24 September)

So 5^th September arrives.  All works done.  Boat absolutely Bristol fashion.  Yesterday Maurice and Cosette moored alongside also wanted to make almost the same journey as us, back to Chatillon-sur-Loire but they had to check whether the beautiful southern route over the Nivernais could take them.  Alas they draw 90cm and one pound (bief) on the Nivernais near Coulanges can only take 80cm.  They will have to go North via the Seine and the EDF Power Station.

We check for ourselves.  No, if you only draw 60cm they say you can get through.  It will be tight and slow but you can get through.  “We guarantee it” says the VNF lady.  “Really guarantee” we query? Well almost, she says.

So on Wednesday afternoon we set off – the quieter Low road, up the River Yonne to Auxerre, and then one more journey up the beloved Nivernais.  We only leave after lunch and moor up at Gurgy on the river, just north of Auxerre.  This is a beautiful little village and excellent mooring on the open river.

The next day will be a long one.  We will go straight through Auxerre and up the Nivernais to Vincelles, 22 kms and 13 locks in all.  It is lovely day and again we make good progress. The skyline in Auxerre is always wonderful, but on we go.

Auxerre Cathedral on the Skyline

Alas at the first lock into the Nivernais no-one is to be seen or heard.  We hoped to be through before midday but it takes 20 minutes to raise the lock-keeper and then he is only letting two boats downstream.  We will have to wait until 1pm, and then share with the trip boat from Auxerre.  An auspicious welcome.

The boat trip arrives right on time.  We are 18.3 metres and she is 20.  The lock is 38.5.  But you can both fit in, says the lock-keeper.  He is right, if you like being squeezed against lock gates and another boat.  We do it, but the rear gates won’t close.  It is not our lengths but a piece of timber jammed jamming on the gates.  30 minutes later we are able to get through.

The trip boat, with passengers taking lunch, was meant to get to Vaux.  We share 4 locks with it, great fun, and then she turns back.  We pass through Vaux, sad to lose them as we hoot our goodbyes, but pleased to have a bit more space.  The waterfront at Vaux looks beautiful.

The Waterfront at Vaux

We cruise on down.  Did we notice this area so much on our very first voyage in France, or were we more focussed on the boat.  This is wonderful scenery as we approach the hills at Bailly.

The Hillsides at Bailly

Beneath these hillsides are the most wondrous wine caverns.  Alas we have been here several times, but always near lunchtime when they are not open, as when we visited last week.  And now we do not have hours to spare.  Other boaters keep telling us what we have missed, though the cellars at St Bris up in the hills, where the wine comes from, are also interesting.

The Caves at Bailly

We moor up at Vincelles.  This is a nice village with good facilities, and Vincelottes on the opposite bank of the river adds to the glory.  Both well worth a visit by car, bike or boat.  And walking the dogs here is a pleasure

Morning Mist at Vincelottes

The next day our target is Chatel Censoir.  We want to get to and past where the breach in the canal is as soon as we can.  If we have to turn back, the better we know the sooner.  We miss out the beautiful turn up the Curé to Vermenton, which we visited last week, and head straight on.  We remind ourselves again how lovely this valley is.  Essentially the canal here is really a navigation, constantly intertwining with the upper reaches of the river Yonne.  The different pounds each had a flavour of their own, and the locks all have a charm of their own.  One even has a mermaid to greet us. (Morverc’h is the Breton for mermaid.)

The Mermaid Greets Us -  But is It to Land or Sea?

On the way the messages about getting through the pound at Crain-Coulanges get direr.  We pass an Australian who says he only draws 60cm but has been turned back.  Then a young lock-keeper assures us nothing can get through.  We telephone the VNF lady at Corbigny again.  Her name is Marie. No you can get through she says.  But wait, I’ll call Eric at Clamecy to be absolutely sure.  Eric comes on the phone.  How wide are they, he asks.  OK, at 60cm and 3m wide they can get through, he assures.  So we tell the young lock-keeper, who is still not sure.  Be it on our heads!

Should he have said that?  For next we see a lovely lady enjoying the sun and – believe it – knitting on the canal bank.  Is the Tricoteuse a good or bad sign in France!!??

The Tricoteuse – Hopefully not a Sign for Mme Guillotine

We pass through Merry and the beautiful rocks at Saussois.  Two coach loads of German tourists are enjoying the scene.

The Rocks for Climbers at Saussois

But others merely want to bathe their weary feet!

Dangling Toes Below the Rocks

We reach Chatel Censoir in good time and find a good mooring.  This little port is seething with boats, but alas many which cannot now go any further south.

In the morning walking dogs we meet Terry from the Renaissance – another English-style Widebeam, though he is 12 ft wide.  He saw us arrive yesterday and wonders if we too are planning to attempt the pound at Crain. Yes, we say, and we have double- and treble-checked it is OK.  We agree to go together.

At the first lock prior to the troublesome pound we meet the student teacher who was the eclusieuse last Sunday when we came to make a recce visit.  She is pleased to see us, or really to see the dogs again.  And excited that we are going to try to get through. Then she is joined by a more experienced eclusieuse who will see us through the Bezy-Crain pound.  She is cheerful, funny and hearty, and pleased to see some boats to make the journey.  She’ll watch us carefully, she says.  But go very slowly even if it takes an hour (to do 1.4kms!) and stay in the middle of the pound!

We enter the pound.  The water is really low.  It should be at the tops of the wooden fence but is well below the bottom.

With This Little Water, Will We Reach Coulanges?

Straight and Narrow, but Long Way to Go

If We Can Make That Bridge We’ve Done It!

It takes half an hour.  We touch nothing, though at one point it feels like rolling a stone uphill, and we get through.  The flowers at the lavoir in Coulanges are a welcome sight.

The Flowered Lavoir at Coulanges

From Coulanges the Renaissance takes the lead and we follow her back down on the river (Yonne) to head into Clamecy, one of the most beautiful towns in the Nievre.  Heading up the river to the lock was a delight, with the relief that we had passed Coulanges and did not have to go all the way back to the northern route via the Seine.

Following the Renaissance into Clamecy

In the harbour another wonderful surprise, we are moored alongside a group of folk singers and dancers who practise continuously on the top deck.  Others may get bored with this.  To us it is a delight.  The leader (cap backwards) is a Breton, but now based at Marseilles.

Dancing the Bourée On Board Ship

We spend two nights in Clamecy, just relaxing.  The second day is a book fair.  That afternoon / evening Jeremy, Corine and Agnes drive over from Chatillon-sur-Loire.  We look around the the book fair and the town. We had not been in the cathedral before – small but beautiful.  Returning one of the book fair stallholders has had her electric cable trapped under a car and she cannot pack up.  She gives a lesson in French expletives we do not alas need, but Corine certainly wishes we were not hearing.  But Glyn’s language would be as bad if it was happening to him.  Then we have an excellent meal and discover two local wines –Tannay (white) and Irancy (red) which were extremely good.  We say goodbye at 2300 and Agnes who is “Sam” now has over an hour’s drive back to the Loire.  But it was beautiful evening with them.

And next morning we are off to Corbigny.  The passage is an interesting mixture of primary industries – forestry and extraction – and beautiful countryside.  Judge for yourself which you prefer!

Hills as they used to be in the Welsh valleys

Cattle grazing in the meadows

Just look at those trees

We pass through Chitry where there is no mooring and moor the night at les Granges outside Corbigny.  It is a ghost town.  One old hulk of a tanker and nothing else at all.  It is a Locaboat base.  We can only assume that with the canal effectively closed above Clamecy they have closed early for the season.  Glyn cycles the 4kms into Corbigny which is a spritely little town, and gets all that is necessary.

Next day (12 September already) we head for the summit.  The gorge is again wonderful, though not as beautiful as in May last year.  We think it’s more the time of year than the second time around – but it is still beautiful. The trees are still wonderful, and then we reach the summit to go through the tunnels over to Baye.  The flags are out – but nothing Welsh, Cornish or Breton!

Trees adorn the gorge to the summit

The Flags are Out

And then we pass through the tunnels to the wide lake at Baye.

Emerging from the Tunnels

The Wide Expanse at Baye

We don’t like mooring at Baye – too open and exposed, and the mooring at Bazolles we used last year just below the summit is now definitely “private”.  We are getting stuck for somewhere to moor, and dusk is coming in on us.  We finally find somewhere we can moor up, even if a long way off the bank, just before the locks at Chavance, and it turns out to be an ideal spot to walk the dogs.   And tomorrow we are off early down to Chatillon-en-Bazois.  Now take this slowly.  The bend into the town is ferocious, and we don’t want to hit the bridge again.

We moor in the town just beside the chateau.  We are staying two nights as Kevin and Kelly are passing through on their way from the Midi back to the Channel (Manche).  We have an excellent evening but why is it we do not take pictures when friends are with us (neither here nor at Clamecy)?  Must do better next time.

The Chatillon at Chatillon (en Bazois)

And so on down to Decize.  After Chatillon the countryside is pleasant but less interesting.  We moor overnight at Panneçot, which is lovely spot and then on down to Cercy where we pass horse trekkers gently enjoying the canal just like us.  From Chatillon we have locked together with Tom and Jo – two Californians who try everything to escape America.  They have sailed the world, and now have to resort to little boats down the beautiful canals of France.

Lock keepers do keep lovely gardens

The peaceful marina at Panneçot

A horse is as a good as a boat

But they prefer their freedom

Cercy-la-Tour – one of the best kept locks

Guarded by the White Madonna

And so we go on down to the Loire at St Leger and Decize.  Now it’s cows on the towpath, but they are much worried than we.  At St Leger we moor outside the enormous Carrefour and do all the re-provisioning.  Glyn has to find a Labo for tomorrow but is the other side of town, so on the second day we decide to cross the Loire and moor on the Canal Lateral. We go out on to the river with Tom and Jo in front of us.  Is it that their boat is low powered, that they just like slow sailing, or are just sight-seeing?  

Any way they go very, very slowly.  As we turn broadside on to the flow of the river with the weir just downstream from us (OK – a hundred metres) Glyn is very keen to complete his turn and get his bow facing upstream, but Tom is just very relaxed in front of us.  After five minutes we are heading upstream, they are meandering along the banks into town.  We wave a long goodbye and head for the lock into the canal.  Here another long wait as we try to operate the automatic pull to close the gates.  But all in all it’s only half an hour.

Finally heading upstream on the Loire

Next day at 0815 Glyn heads off on his bike to find the Labo in Decize.  Blood tests in France are such fun.  But when he gets there it has moved.  A friendly neighbour explains the complicated route on bike (with shortcuts up one-way streets).  Not too far on bike – about 3kms or 2 miles.  With one more stop to check the route he finally gets there at 0915.  The new Labo is exactly opposite where we moored at St Leger.  And now 5 kms back and 10 more back and fro for the results this evening.  Ah! Well. It’s all good exercise even if rather urban and traffic congested.  But the people in the Labo are excellent and extremely helpful. 

Decize is a lovely town which is growing on us.  It is also the birthplace of Louis Antoine St Just –  not Glyn’s most favourite French revolutionary, who he feels led Robespierre astray.  But nobody wants a history lesson.

So now (18 September) we are on the home canal and back to Briare.  We won’t say too much.  We’ve done this several times before.  But we love Fleury and Cours-les-Barres, and the approach to Sancerre.  

Photo:  059 One again the approach to Sancerre.

And finally on our way “home” to Briare for the winter.  At Hautes Rives between Chatillon (sur Loire) and Briare, as if to complete the circle, we bump into Maurice and Cosette who had to come the northern route from Migennes as they had too much draught for that waterless pound at Crain.  And they are with Jacques Mougeot, also winterising his boat, who with Denise once stayed with once in England in the late 90s, and perhaps was part of re-stimulating our interest to canal in France.  We stop and have lunch with them.  What a fitting end to the year.

Back at Briare we winterise the boat, see lots of friends around Gien, Coullons, Briare etc., and finally we get together for a "going away" dinner with various boater friends who winter at Briare -Greg and Celia (on the Vrouwe Catharina) who did all the organising, Charlie and Marianne (Moondance), ourselves, Steve and Marie (Eos), Peter and Linda (Elsie May) and John and Judy (Vivienne) from Queensland whom we had not met before.  Also a colleague who worked for the BBC passing through by car to his boat in the Midi.  Then off to Mortagne-au-Perche, Ouistreham and England.  Autumn and Winter in England can be lovely too. Well, normally!  See you next year.