Clamecy to Sens

Week 6 – October 1st to 7th (Tony) 

If our departure from Clamecy was rather hurried it was only because we needed to get at least half a days cruising downstream if we were going to make Vermenton in time for Tuesdays training course and test for our ICC. We reached Chatel Censoir well before nightfall and managed a climb up to the ancient church and to wander through the village. The next day was relatively easy, passing through several exceptionally pretty locks, one in particular had barely changed since 1996 and although no longer the eclusier, I’m sure only the same lady could be responsible for maintaining the old drays full of beautiful begonias.

Vermenton has a large basin full of boats, most belonging to the hire company that operates out of there but there were also many privately owned barges already moored up for the winter. Our trainer, the harbourmaster, was nice English bloke now married to a French lady. He guided us through the course, brushed up our rope-work and after lunch took us out on Sable to undertake some manoeuvres, but dispensed with lock work considering the fact that we had just managed more than a hundred! On completion of the written exam we were adjudged competent to be in charge of our ship and awarded our certificates. The evening was sublime, so again we fired up the gas barbecue and dined on deck. Five minutes after we had packed everything away, right on dark it started to rain. It poured all night but the next day dawned fine and clear and as soon as the fog lifted we were on our way.

Auxerre brought back many fond memories — the narrow winding streets, especially the pedestrian arcades full of enticing shops and throngs of young students from the university. Three stunning cathedrals highlight the panorama from the river as one enters the city and they remain floodlit at night to provide a scenic vista that would be hard to better anywhere. Myra, Sally’s sister from Christchurch, arrived on the train at the end of an extensive tour of Central Asia, relieved to be back in civilisation. She is enjoying the calming lifestyle of barging, and better food.

Next morning we cast off and casually eased downstream, now in the River Yonne flowing at about 6 kmph. By mid-afternoon we reached the start of the Canal de Bourgogne and entered one massive 5.5 m lock to moor for the night in the boat harbour at Laroche-Migennes, a busy, modern town at the hub of a major railway axis. Trains of every kind roared along the tracks across the waterway from our mooring all night. Saturday morning we returned back through the lock to resume our journey down the Yonne, to Joigny, another picturesque town dominated by several churches and famous for its steep narrow streets with centuries old half-timbered houses. We arrived in time for the girls to get to the big weekly market where they bought more food and provisions than we’re likely to eat in a month. But everything is so fresh and delicious it is impossible to resist. The weather was so hot and the sky so cloudless, we erected the sun-shade over the deck to enjoy an al-fresco lunch, moored to the side of the main street in the centre of town. After lunch we crossed the road to a pub where we were given the best seats in the bar in front of a giant TV screen to watch the rugby. We left, depressed, sulking back to Sable where the cooks turned on a repast of mussels in white wine sauce followed by fresh, really fresh, raspberries and strawberries lashed with fresh cream. Now dark, it was time to pack away the awning and gluttons that we are, ventured into another pub (we couldn’t face going back to the same one) to watch more rugby. Thank God, we left at half-time convinced the All-Blacks had the measure of the French. An hour later, in our beds, the jubilant singing, whistling and drumming of departing patrons awakened us to the reality. We slipped out of town the following morning under a blanket of fog, as early as was deemed prudent …

So here we are, Sunday evening, after another day of sunshine and clear blue sky, in Sens a beautiful city steeped in ancient history. It was one of the first centres of Gaul and apparently Thomas a’Becket lost his shoes or underwear here (history is not my thing…).

We're Afloat

Week 4 – September 15th to September 22nd (Tony) 

It’s hard to believe we have been a week in our barge, cruising. And every day, the weather has been absolutely glorious. We slipped out of Roanne sharp on 9 o’clock Saturday. New friends came down to see us through the first lock, after that we were on our own. From Roanne to Digoin the canal is fairly ordinary, by comparison with others, and as we will repeat the run  up and down this section a few times we put in a couple of longish days in order to allow us more time to slow down and enjoy the countryside further on. This is Charolais country, gentle rolling hills and lots of trees, and green, green fields.

Roanne is at the very end of the major canal system in France. To go further south, it is necessary to enter the Saône and then the Rhone Rivers to the Camargue, then one can easily move via canal again into the Canal de Midi, which effectively links the Mediterranean to the Atlantic (at Bordeaux). We’re not bold enough yet to take on the Rhone — it’s a very big river but it is not beyond our boat’s capabilities, just ours for the moment.

Digoin is a junction point. The canal north goes up to meet the Saône at Chalon sur Saône which is another major junction for several canals, to Burgundy, Champagne, and the river itself. We have opted to head west along the Canal Lateral à la Loire to Décize then up the Canal du Nivernais. We did a section of about half this canal in 1996 with the Stentons, Overells and Woodhouses. We will reminisce those happy times as we pass through.

So, we are heading for a little town called Vermenton, about 158 kms up the Canal du Nivernais from Digoin where the British proprietor of a hire-boat company based there is going to put us through the necessary training and evaluation procedure for us to obtain our ICC (International Certificate of Competency), in other words boat licence. You are supposed to have it, although everyone says it is only required for insurance, and Bob said he was only asked twice in ten years (both times in Paris) to show any papers at all. However, we’ll feel ever so much more comfortable having done the course. I’m sure by the time we get to Vermenton we’ll be quite confident. We’ve done bloody well thus far, negotiating dozens of locks and narrow bridges with only a couple of very minor “touches”. And Sally has got the hang of the ropes, pretty well to perfection. A 47 tonne ship, 20 m long, in locks that are barely a metre wider than the barge is heavy work. And there’s more than 100 locks to go!

As soon as we have achieved our competency qualifications, we will continue on to Auxerre, the home of Chardonnay (they call it Chablis) where we expect Sally’s sister Myra will join us, having just completed a mammoth trip through China, Mongolia, Bhutan, the silk road, Pakistan and various other …stans that I can’t spell let alone identify on the globe. She’ll be ready for some restful cruising I’m sure.

After that, we hope to join back up with the Loire near Fontainbleau and return down the Canal Briare back to Décize and so on back to Roanne before the canal locks are closed for winter on 1stNovember.

Sally has enjoyed getting back into the kitchen and cooking up delicious meals. It is pleasing to be no longer spending hundreds of euros a day on hotels and meals. In fact the last three days we have spent a mere handful of coins buying essentials — croissants, cheese, paté etc. I’ll overlook the cost of topping the tanks with 600 litres of diesel, that’s an occasional occupational necessity! Actually, Sable is very economical to run. And everywhere there is water and electricity, sometimes free, but usually no more than €8 a night.