End of Season Reflections

San Luis Obispo, CA

I have been home two weeks now and the past season in France is fading into pleasant memories.  Here are the stats:

Engine Hours:               142
Kilometres Travelled:   434
Number of Locks:         366

I enjoyed the solo season more than I thought I would.  There were times when I missed having Terry to share special moments but as I was covering ground we had done before there were no new sights. I met many new people, both Boaters and French and my language skills improved I think.  I was not lonely and, of course, I had a secret weapon for meeting people.  Here she is looking sad about leaving.

Having excellent visitors broke up the solo time and was a lot of fun.  The locks were not an obstacle but they were all relatively low, about 2.5m, and manned.  I can imagine more difficulties in some of the deeper, automated locks on other canals.

There is talk of closing the Canal de Bourgogne due to the high labor needs and the low amounts of traffic.  This would be a great loss for boating as it remains my favorite of all the canals we have cruised with great scenery, lovely villages and many interesting towns and restaurants.  I am glad I got to get to know it even better.

We have discussed going later in the season next year, say mid August to the end of October to avoid the heat.  We will see.  In the mean time Armida is nicely tucked up in her cover at the corner of the yard by a streetlight.  We hope she rests well until we see her again.

Running down the clock in Dijon

I apologize my blog writing has lagged because in have been busy and had little internet access.

I now have two days in a perfect shady location in the port in Dijon before a short stint down to Saint Jean de Losne and 10 days for a few more projects and pack up and winter prep.  So I will try to get up to date. This is a long post so I have broken it up into sections.

DENNIS.  August 5th-10th.

On August 9th we got to Montbard in time for a clean and spruce up before Dennis arrived from Sweden the next day. His connection in Paris took longer than expected so we walked around the town and had a nice meal out. Lilou welcomed him to the boat.

The next morning we braved the clown bikes and French roads to ride in a perfect weather to the Abbaye de Fontenay.   it was as serene and beautiful in its simplicity as I remembered from 2011 and I enjoyed it as  much as then.   It is so easy to imagine the monks living their simple self sufficient life in this beautiful, secluded valley, starting in 1130.  Dennis was suitably impressed but it meant that he saw the best first. If you are ever in this part of France make sure you put it on your list.

After lunch he was introduced to the slow but involving process of locking uphill and the slow and gentle progress through the countryside as we cruised up to Veneray Les Laumes and the foot of the lock staircase.

So after that short introduction intensive training began and we did 20 locks uphill before lunch and another 10 after to get to Marigney le Cahouet, and then another 27 the next day to Pouilly-en-Auxois. In one lock the doors closed on 5 half grown ducklings who scurried past Armida to the back of the lock.  I wasn’t worried about them being crushed as the fenders keep the boat off the walls. They did complain loudly as we water filled and swirled.  Mother duck finally heeded their call as the lock filled and they scurried past Armida to the front of the lock where they proceeded out as the gates  opened.  They wont do that again.

By now Dennis was a seasoned deck hand tossing the ropes on bollards with skill, mainly, and beginning to understand the boating life.  Like so many people we have had on board he said: “Now I know why you do this”.

OK, so time for the tunnel.  We went a little faster this time so didn’t get all the way through Dark Side of the Moon but did get some neat visual effect just after entering the tunnel at the point where the breeze stopped ruffling the surface and the still water beyond reflected the roof curve.  It looked like we were about to sail off into an empty tunnel.

Then it was downhill with only one lock keeper so Dennis got to get off and help with the lock gates, even running between the locks and at one point getting on the boat behind us in the lock.  They were Wally and Wendy whom I knew.   So we were soon in Vandeness probably one of the most scenic moorings on the canals.

 

just like the last time I went through the tunnel the town threw a fireworks display to celebrate.  Any excuse for fireworks in France.  Actually it was astounding to see how many people turned out in this tiny village for their Fete day celebrations.  There was a band and dancing and the next day more.  It was a fitting ending for Dennis’s visit as we had a nice meal out and then a good view of the fireworks on the back deck along with Wally and Wendy and Tom and Lisa.  Lilou retired to the bedroom for that event.   This is how they block access to special events in France.

Dennis left the next day at lunch time but not before we had a long hike up to one of the lakes they created to supply the canal with water.  The canal itself was a major project in the early 1800s but they also had to build reservoirs and pipes and channels to keep it filled with water. Dennis was a really good guest and I enjoyed his company -  I suspect he may come again, probably not alone.

BACK DOWN THE HILL. August 11th - 20th.

A Day of rest left me contemplating the rest of the trip. I was going down the lovely Ouche valley that I got to know well on the way up but I still had unfinished projects on Armida.  My Vignette (canal pass) expires on August 25th and is expensive to renew for short periods so I decided  not to dawdle, not rush and aim for Saint Jean de Losne by the 24th leaving about two  weeks before the flight home.  The weather was now lovely with mild days and cool nights.  So it was down the hill to Pont d’Ouche where they have a washing machine.   Tom and Lisa invited me along for a car ride to a quirky and charming local restaurant in a neat, non touristy village and the local port put on another concert - not as good as the rock and roll. A short lovely day took  me to La Bussiers were i resisted the urge to have lunch at the abbey.

 

I did set off early the next day so as to have lunch at the little restaurant by lock 34, forgetting it was Sunday, actually never really knowing. That meant lunch was a buffet and took 2 1/2 hours so with no nap I carried on to Fleury, arriving around 5.

Most of the Hotel boats appear to be using Fleury as their base now as it avoids the weed going in to Dijon so I caught up with Wine and Water again.

The next day was ambitions as I set off at 9am for Velars where there is a supermarket and a train up to the gold statue of Notre Dame d’Etang that towers over the valley from the top of the hill.  That literally translates to “Our Lady of the Pond” but is a statue of the Virgin Mary and child.  Why she is at the top of the hill and not by the pond is another story.  Anyway it looked like a good hike so I aimed to hike up and back and continue on.  It was warm so Lilou stayed guarding the boat.  It was a good hike but poorly marked. Thank goodness for Google maps.  Seems like they don’t was too many people hiking up to find that the shiny statue and stone dome is sitting on top of a cracked and collapsing church that they look to be rebuilding.  Never mind, there were some great views from the launching areas they have cleared for the parasailers that hover around in the afternoon.  Back down the hill and into Dijon in time for Lilou’s dinner at 5pm.

Dijon, Aug 21st.

This afternoon I have been sitting on the back deck in the shade of the trees with a balmy wind blowing, writing this blog and watching the locals, walk, bike, skate sit, read, fish and feed the birds. Not too bad.  Still made some time to walk around this fascinating town. One more day here and its two days down the canal to start putting Armida to bed for the winter.

Laying Low and being Laid Low in Tonnere

We had another heat wave in France in early August.  By Australian and California standards it wasn’t that bad with max temperatures in the mid 30s C(high 90s F) but the long days meant the hottest part was from about 4pm to 7pm.  Just enough time for a steel boat to heat up.  On top of that I came down with a stomach bug that lasted 5 days and kept me close to the boat.  Learning from Terry’s heat reduction strategy I closed everything up about 11am  and hunkered down inside.  Armida has reasonable insulation for a cruiser but not the windows.  Later in the day the salon warmed but the rear bedroom stayed below 30C  for most of the day and that is where I spent a lot of time reading.  Cooking on the stove was not a good idea so it was fortunate I was not eating a lot. 

We stayed in Saint Florentin for a couple of days but moved on to Tonnere for a little more shade and to get away from the carnival that was setting up next to the port.  I found out afterwards that there was also a rally of boaters in support of the Burgundy canal that is under threat of closure; sorry I missed that.  After five days my stomach cleared up, the weather cooled down and life on the water got back to normal.

But then...

I was feeling better and quite pleased with myself for getting all the way across the canal and starting back without incident. So of course that was when I forgot to remove the ladder after a difficult stop for lunch with no real mooring, and of course it got broken in the next lock.  It was a very unique design but I hope I can use the remaining side as a template. It’s now a higher climb on and off for the rest of the trip.

The next day I was grouped with two other boats in the locks with Armida at the front and not enough bollards in the lock.  I had it nicely under control until in the third lock, Armida’s middle bollards suddenly popped off and the boat surged forward. Uh Oh.  You always have this fear that the boat will come loose and slam into something and here we were.  But instead she drifted slowly towards the lock gate leaving me time to start the engine, move her back and get a rope on another bollard.  One more thing for the repair list.  Now that is only two things that have gone wrong.

I cruised slowly up to Montbard to meet my next guest, Dennis from Sweden

Special Times

Saint Florentin

Last week was a very special week.  Not only was the weather mostly perfect (maybe a little hot at the end) the scenery and the towns and Chateaux as wonderful as I remember them, but Caroline and Phil were here to appreciate them too.  If you read the blog for August 2012 you will see how we also  had a special time with  Audrey and Richard Hope in Paris. They had semi-adopted us into their family when we lived in London from 1978-80.  It was their fond remembrances and hilarious stories about the canals of France that stayed with us and started us on this adventure.  Sadly Audrey has passed on and Richard is lost to Alzheimer's but their spirits were with us as their daughter Carline and husband Phil joined Lilou and me on Armida in Pouilly-en-Auxois. They both brought the enthusiasm and great humor I remembered from the Hope family.  I had told them that we could start down lower and cruise slowly past the Chateau towns or higher up with more locks.  They responded “more locks please”.  So that’s what we did.

Consequently we breezed through the 26 locks down to Marigny-le-Cahouet  early enough to visit the mystical walled house that feels like it is still in the 15th Century.

The next day, with my expert crew and ace locking team, we completed 20 locks before lunch.  And we didn’t start until 9:30! Given that 4 locks an hour is normal, 8 locks an hour was amazing!  Another 10 locks after lunch to complete the locks staircase to Veneray-les-Laumes by 3pm and we aced it.

 

The next few days were more leisurely and took in the highlights of this rich in history canal including the serene and gorgeous Abbaye-de-Fontenay and the quirky and slightly weird Chateau de Tanlay as well as the bucolic scenery and charming villages.They were great guests and did so much I felt like the honoured guest.  They even braved the “clown bikes”.

The week was over all too quickly and they were off.  We all agreed it had a poignancy to it as well as a lot of fun.  I have a feeling they may come again..

We left them at Tonnere and then pottered down in the heat to Saint Florentin where we will turn around to head back up and over.  I finally got Lilou a haircut – it is supposed to be in the mid 30s this week and next and she doesn’t like the heat.  We’ll spend a day or two more here in the updated port and then take a couple of slow days back to Tonnere where there is shade in the late afternoon.  I may do some more painting before Dennis arrives from Sweden on the 10th.  At least the paint won’t take long to dry.

Saint Florentin is a very interesting little town on a hill over the Armancon river and the canal.  It is not on the tourist roadmap and has not been overly “prettied” up like many other places in France.  Nonetheless it has some charming aspects and a very local feel. Here are some photos and some others.

The carnival is setting up right next door. Time to leave.