The Summer cruise      Part 3

Canal du Loing,Canal de Briare ,Canal Lateral a Loire & Canal Roanne a Digoin.

On Tuesday 12th August we locked up onto the Canal du Loing after being held up for several hours to let commercial barges through the lock.(Commercials have precedence at the locks over pleasure boats)              We stopped a a bank mooring after the lock and found a Supermarket for some supplies. Next morning it was pouring rain so we waited until after lunchtime to move.We travelled to Nemours and tied up at a rather neglected mooring with several long term occupants in various stages of disrepair. We also discovered that it was to here that the commercials of the previous day had been travelling to take on loads of grain from a large facility on the approach to the town. After this we met no other cargo carrying barges only a few hotel barges. The following day we travelled on to Souppes–sur-Loing and spent the next two days on a very nice mooring.

On 16th August we travelled to  Montargis where The Canal du Loing joins the Canal de Briare.We tied in the Commercial port which was noticeably devoid of commercial traffic apart from a few converted to houseboats. This was actually a very good mooring place with the town being just a few paces away. From Montargis we travelled to Montbouy. In Montbouy you can see the remains of an old lock that was replaced in 1892. The next day we travelled to Rogney-les-Sept-Ecluses.Here you can see the seven locks that once carried the canal.These locks were smaller than the present locks and were replaced by the current locks at the end of the 18th century.

Work on what is now the Canal de Briare began as long ago as 1604. Work was interrupted by various events .The bed of the canal has been frequently modifies during its 360 years of existence but many of the original structures can still be seen.

On 19th August we carried on to Ouzourer-sur-Trezee where we stayed for two days and then we carried on to Briare. While some sections of our journey had been rather quiet with little traffic Briare was alive with tourists and with hire boats coming and going.

We left Briare on Friday 22 August and joined the Canal Lateral a Loire  at the Briare Aqueduct.

The Briare Aqueduct carries the Canal latéral à la Loire over the River Loire on its journey to the River Seine in France. It replaced a river-level crossing from the canal to meet the Briare Canal that was hazardous in times of flood. Between 1896 and 2003 it was the longest navigable aqueduct in the World. The aqueduct is 662 metres long. The aqueduct was designed by the engineers Léonce-Abel Mazoyer and Charles Sigault. The masonry abutments and piers were completed between 1890 and 1896 by Gustave Eiffel and the steel channel was completed by Daydé & Pillé of Creil. It allowed the development of transport to the Freycinet gauge between the Loire and Seine, and is a registered historic monument in France.

Our next stop was Belleville-sur-Loire where we stopped for two days.We then travelled on to Menetreol-sous-Sancerre ,Cours-les-Barres ,Chevenon, Fleury –sur-Loire and Decize. This completed the loop and from there we retraced our route via Gannay ,Beaulon, Pirfette to Digoin and then on to the Roane a Digoin canal.We stopped at Melay and Brennion and returned to our home port Roanne on 10th September.

On the Canal Roanne-a Digoin the lock at Bourg-le- Comte is one of the deepest of the whole Freycinet system in France  at 7.2 metres.

The Summer cruise covered seven waterways.

Canal Roanne aDigoin

Canal duNivernais

River Yonne

River Seine

Canal du Loing

Canal de Briare

Canal Lateral aloire

 A total of 775 km travelled with 226 locks.

(Click on any of the waterways above to find out more)

The Summer cruise  Part 2
Rivers Yonne & Seine

We passed through Auxonne on Monday 4th August .We didnt stop as we had visited by train a few days earlier.The transition from the smaller locks of the Nivernais to the larger locks of the Yonne was a welcome development but only until we met the locks with sloping sides. These were built to resist floods but were a nightmare if you didnt get onto the floating pontoons. Because we were slower the fancy cruisers usually nipped in ahead taking the pontoons leaving us to scamper around trying to keep off the sloping lock sides. Because of the recent heavy rain the river was running very fast and the current across the lock as we exited was quite substantial. The locks on the Yonne are 96 metres long by 10.5  metres wide . On the Seine the dimensions are 180 Meters long by 11.4 metres wide. This was a big increase from the 38.5 metres long by 5.2 metres wide of the Nivernais.
Another interesting feature on the rivers are the beaches created along their banks. Sometimes we forget how far we are from the sea in this part of France and how the locals improvise.

Because it was holiday time we met very little commercial traffic on the Yonne but substantially more on the Seine. A lot of the smaller barges were tied up for holidays while the monsters continued to ply. A lot of the smaller barges have become uneconomic and are being converted to houseboats.

After Auxonne we stopped at Gurgy ,Joigney ,Villeneuve sur Yonne,Sens and finally Montreau Faut Yonne at the junction with the Seine.There was no place to stop on the Seine until we came to  St Mammes  but as that was chock a block with commercial barges and every shape of a houseboat imaginable we carried on to the Canal Du Long.`

The Summer Cruise 2014    Part 1

We left Roanne on a miserable and wet Monday the 7th July. The weather remained mixed as we travelled the

Roanne Digoin Canal towards Digoin. We had been treated to a freak Hail storm before we left Roanne with hailstones as big as eggs. Quite a bit of damage was done to boat canopies and indeed some cars were also damaged.

After that to the present we have mixed fortunes with the weather. A few blistering hot days followed by thunderstorms. A band of unsettled weather has covered central Europe for quite some time.

After we reached the Canal Lateral a Loire we made our way to Decize stopping at Pierrefitte-Sur-Loire ,Beaulon and Gannay before crossing the Loire at Decize and on to the Nivernais canal. We were treated to a fine fireworks display at Beaulon for Bastille day (14th July).At Decize we locked down onto the Loire and from there entered the Canal  du Nivernais. We stopped at St Leger des Vignes  for a couple of nights stocking up at the large supermarket for the journey. Then it was on to Cercy –Le –Tour, Fleury ,Chatillion-en-Bazois and from there to the summit level at Baye. This journey was rather challenging with low water levels . It sometimes reminded us of the Grand Canal back in Ireland . However what was in store following  Baye put it all in the shade. In the course of four kilometres we went through three tunnells and sixteen locks. We arrived in Sardy absolutely exhausted.

 Following this on Saturday 26th July we travelled to Chitry -les-Mines and stopped for the weekend at the excellent port run by Englishman Ted Johnson. We even treated ourslves to a meal in the excellent canalside restaraunt.

  Following this we travelled on to Villers sur Yonne and then on to Clamecy. By now the canal was looking more like the one depicted in the tourist literature and the going got a lot easier. Clamecy is a lovely town with lots of interesting old buildings. On Friday 1st Augus we arrived in Chatel-Censoir.We decided to stop for a few nights here and took the train to Auxerre for the day. We were told the port could be crowded so we decided on the train to visit. Again a very beautiful city with loads of fine buildings and a lot of history. The journey back was a bit of a farce. The train had been cancelled and a bus laid on .However when the bus arrive he was besieged by a crowd from another train that had been cancelled . After about an hour with a lot of discussions and phone calls they were taken on board and we were treated to the grand tour back to our barge dropping people off all over the place . (But then this is France !!!!)

 After this we stopped at Mailly-la-Ville,Champs-sur –Yonne and finally left the Nivernais on Monday 4th August passing on to the river Yonne. While the first part of the journey was a bit difficult we had moments that were memorable .One of the most memorable was when we were treated to an impromptu concert by a music student who was working as a lock keeper for the summer.

The Nivernais canal was constructed between 1784 and 1843. It was built mainly to transport timber to Paris from the Morvan region. Coal and stone was also transported. It was always a difficult canal suffering from water shortages. After the second World War traffic declined and practically ceased in the 1970s.However the canal re-focused on tourism and had seen its popularity increse.It is now rated to be the second busiest waterway after the Canal du Midi.

Spring & early Summer 

We spent the Spring & Early Summer between Ireland and France.  In Ireland we stayed in my brothers house which is in fact the house I was born in.  An interesting aspect of the location is that in front of the house is a fort which was a dwelling place more than four thousand  years ago . It is awsome to realise that people lived on the site so long ago and still do today.

The House in which I was born

People lived here 4000 years ago

While in Ireland we also managed to get in a bit of cruising with friends. Early on we cruised with Andy & Claire on Ye Iron Lung a former  trading vessel on the Grand Canal. We spent this time on the upper river Shannon and met friends we had not seen for some time

At the helm of Ye Iron Lung

We used to own this !!!!

Later on we cruised with our friends Brendan and Ann on their cruiser on Lough Derg. The weather was glorious and prepared us for our return to France.

Very different from Delfini

Before we returned we dropped in to the annual barge rally at Shannon Harbour. Along with the previously converted barges this year there was a collection of recently rescued hulls which will in time be converted for cruising by a new generation of barge  owners. It was indeed great to see such enthusiasm among the young owners.

Next week  we leave the Port of Roanne to cruise the Nivernais canal on to the River Yonne then to Canal du Long ,Canal de Briare,Canal Lateral a Loire and then by the Canal Roanne a Digoin to Roanne for the Winter.

ROANNE LIFE
        We went back to Ireland in December and got to see all our friends and family over Christmas. We then returned to Roanne early Feb and settled back in to port life.We now know most of the people who winter here and Thursday evening at the Authentique is quite a lively affair.The weather generally has been quite good since we came back and in fact last week we had temperatures close to the 20s.
Our friends Alan and Mary were due to visit us over the St Patricks weekend but sadly Alan,s mother died and they had to cancel.
 For the Ireland France rugby match we went to an Irish pub (with Irish pub prices) here in Roanne . It was three Irish and an Australian against a pubfull of French. The banter was great but they took their defeat well and we all shook hands and agreed the best team won in the end
For St Patricks day we invited a few friend for drinks in the evening .Later in the evening someone suggested we should have dinner.With that everyone suggested they had something to offer the table. Katinka from Eendracht suggested as her barge was the biggest we should all go there.We had a most amazing dinner and some great laughs.Certainly a great St Patricks day.

We are now beginning to venture outside Roanne and visit the surrounding area.There are many fine sites and interesting villages . A sample of some of them below