Canal des Voges
/May, 29th 2009 (Sally).
Well here we are 300km north of St Jean de Losne, at the town of Epinal in the area of Lorraine. Our departure from the dry dock at St Jean was not quite as quick as the proverbial champagne cork, but as speedy as one can be at 8kph in a fifty tonne boat. The interest in the workings of a dry dock had paled significantly after four days of inactivity, firstly in waiting for the workmen to return to work and then for one other boat to be finished so as soon as we were out on Tuesday morning it was non-stop north. The Saône travels from the Voges 400kms to meet the Rhône at Lyon and it was the upper reaches that we were on. It is often called the prettiest river in France and we can see why. With a gentle, meandering course it drops very slowly — only 59 metres in the whole of its navigable reach — and is a fisherman's paradise with many people either sitting in boats or in quiet little spots on the banks. A favourite dish of the region is Pochouse, a river fish stew. I tried it at one riverside restaurant, very tasty but lots of bones. The larger towns of Auxonne and Gray were soon left behind and we found ourselves calling at much smaller villages. Ray sur Saône, just a small deviation from the main river was a picture book mooring. Manicured lawns to the water, freshly painted houses, flower boxes all in bloom and all crowned by a well maintained castle. We walked the village, climbed to the castle to enjoy the spectacular view then dined at Chez Yvette, the local restaurant. The meal was très ordinaire. Oh well, you can't expect perfection all the time. For the first time ever we could not find a boulangerie, shock, horror, a situation we thought was unheard of in France but as we proceeded further into the sparsly populated area it was more and more common.
We had one more stop before we reached Port le Saône where we had arranged to meet our good friends Margaret and Peter James who were travelling by car from Germany. They were with us last year after the Somme and had a week of cruising on a very industrial canal so it was a delight to introduce them to the unspoilt scenery of this area. Because of their car we had to do a few hop-steps of catching the car up with the boat but fortunately the tow path was all sealed and Tony did a few miles by bike while we either waited for him or took control of Sable and met him further up. At Corre, a tiny town where the river Saône finally becomes unnavigable and where we transferred to the Canal des Vosges he found of all things in such a small village, a bike shop. 10 or 15 kms a day on the old rattler must have been enough to persuade him it was time to upgrade so now we have a third bike which handles much easier than the old one.
The Canal de Vosges is an interesting waterway, built between 1874 and 1882 after France had lost possession of Alsace Lorraine as they did not want to go through enemy territory. It gave good access to the industrial regions of Toul and Nancy and in its prime carried three million tonnes of freight. One is still able to see the evidence of industry, villages with names like La Manufacture and Forges les Bains but sadly the industry is all gone and all that remains are large derelict buildings and old water mills leaving the waterways for the benefit of the few pleasure craft owners, like ourselves. The villages are slowly dying with shops mentioned in our guide books no longer there and many empty houses. The most obvious was Fontenoy le Chateau. In 1840 there was an embroidery industry there that employed five hundred people. They supplied the Royal houses of Europe and the East but that is long gone and the town is reduced to one small grocer, rows of empty shops and an embroidery museum which unfortunately was closed. So sad as it all sits among the most beautiful stretches of waterways. One cruises in solitude through pristine forests of firs, birches and oaks with only the sound of birdsong and the very occasional passing boat.
Our first night with our friends we moored on a jetty belonging to a riverside resturant and after promising to return for Sunday lunch took off to explore nearby Vesoul, reported to be a town of historic interest. The town was franticly busy, people everywhere and it was only after great difficultly we found a car park and discovered the big attraction was the annual Vide Grenier. The whole block was taken up with private stalls selling their junk, old clothes, old shoes videos, books etc. We returned to the river for a delicious lunch then proceeded upriver to another small village to find it also full of people. Crowds everywhere and as we walked into town it was obvious we were in the middle of another Vide Grenier. Once again stalls full of junk, but this was country junk, old horse harness and tools mainly, and it was certainly attracting the crowds. One would wonder where they all came from as the village itself consisted of only twenty houses.
The climb from the Saône valley to the plateau above is steep, 34 locks in 50kms, all more than 3m deep, a good workout for the upper body, then a 11km stretch across the top before a ladder of 14 locks that takes one down to the Moselle and our pleasant mooring here in Epinal. We had driven here the day before to farewell Margaret and Peter and at the same time made a reservation at the port for Sable so when we were met by an officious looking lady off one of the boats who told us to moor to the far bank, Tony decided to ignore her and take the prime position opening onto the park. All settled in, power attached and the Capitain arrives, off the same boat, "I sent my wife" he says. Woops, slight mistake. Hurried apologies and all is forgiven and we are allowed to stay.
Monday, we made an epic journey back to Roanne and Lyon to finalise our certificates of residency. Left here at 5.00am by train to Nancy, another train to Lyon, change to Roanne then after collecting mail and our certificates a fourth train back to Lyon. Tuesday was a medical which pronounced us healthy enough to stay in France, for a fee that surely fixed all France's problems from the GFC, then another long train trip back to Epinal. About a 1,200 km round trip. Hopefully the effort was all worthwhile, no need for visas in future and we now have a seniors card which gives us a 50% discount on train travel. Lyon, as in our previous visit was a delight. No signs of financial crisis there, shops all full of wonderful fashion and plenty of well laden shoppers. Must be infectious as we came home loaded with several large shopping bags and the man of the boat was heard to mumble, "Get me out of this town before I spend more." Can you believe it?
Epinal, (pop 40,000) is a lovely city and has been a pleasant rest stop for almost a week, though not without its drama. One morning Tony noticed a strong smell of gas emanating from the front hatch and quickly discovered that the (British) gas regulator had literally fallen apart. A very likeable young gas-fitter turned up and soon located in town a regulator, which to all looks and purposes seemed identical to the old one. However he failed to notice that the pressure capacity of the new was less than half that of the old. Consequently, when we test-lit the stove the extreme pressure burst both the tap and the burner, as well as a joint underneath. While the lad dashed back to the bow to stem the flow, Tony was blowing out flames like a 64 year-old puffing out the candles on his birthday cake! Successfully, thank God. After a day's toil the young tradesman has replaced the regulator, fitted a new hob and fixed all the joints, sometimes working in the most excruciating confinement. Typically, there is 1mm difference between the size of copper tubing used in UK and Europe. As there are no manufactured components to marry the two he had to stretch and weld several joints. We expected a bill into four figures, but no, it was their fault so the brand new hob and more than eight hours labour were complimentary. Nice guy! We're thankful we still have a boat! Today we're heading to Charmes. Doesn't that sound pretty?