Tuesday 14 November 2023

Final Blog 2023

 

We got back to Conde sur Marne with the car heavily laden with batteries: in fact so much so, that every time we went over a speed hump the tow bar went aground!

The following incredibly hot day, Ray and Rachel of BANDRA (we met them in the old lock at H2O last winter) arrived in their camper van to help move the batteries into position in the bottom of the boat.


                                                                               RICCALL sweats it out at Conde

During our month or so at home in the UK Alex had managed to add a cracked bone in his left hand to his disintegrating right hip, so help was going to be essential. As it happened, BANDRA’s dry docking had been delayed by a week so Ray and Rachel took the opportunity to spend some days away in their camper van and also to help us. What stars!


                                                                     All set up for the transfer form car to back deck

                   Ray puts his back into it!

We spent a few days sorting everything out in RICCALL before setting off. On the evening before we left, MATILDA arrived with Bruce and a guest Julie. They came for drinks that evening and Julie agreed that sailing in the Med was very nice, but barging was almost better! A little later CASA NAUTICA arrived with whom MATILDA was cruising à deux.

We let them both go ahead of us the following morning as we knew we were going to stop for the day at the top of the flight. Near the top lock there was a malfunction of one of the locks so MATILDA and Co were held up as we arrived behind them. They said they would go through the lock and then stop for lunch before doing the final lock on the flight. We decided to have lunch where we were, but then Alex noticed a barge approaching the locks from upstream and realised we would have to go through the lock ahead of us as it was on a green light for us, and hanging fire would cause delay for the barge. So we stopped halfway through lunch and set off again, passing MATILDA et al who were happily eating their own lunch just above the lock.

Now here is the thing - Alex at this point had a senior moment and having not passed anything in the opposite direction for some months (yes, honestly, it had been months) got to the left of the canal instead of the right! (We all have these worries when driving between the UK and Europe and keep reminding ourselves which side we should be on.) By the time he realised his mistake, it was too late to steer across to the correct side so continued VERY VERY slowly hugging the left hand edge. The captain of APOLLO, the commercial coming the other way was incensed, shouting and yelling obscenities as he went past. There was never any danger but if Alex had thought of it sooner he could have deployed his blue board, but hey ho!

We stopped for lunch on the long quay before Sillery and lo and behold! who should come past but APOLLO. We stepped out onto the back deck to apologise for our recent mistake, but he entirely ignored us, refusing even to look in our direction.

A couple of nights later, we had decided to moor up at one of our favourite places, St Leonard’s, just south of Reims. We pulled into the set-back mooring but only one bollard was visible. We put the forward rope onto that and Alex held the boat in tickover while Louise changed into jeans and shoes to see if she could locate one of the other five bollards we knew were there somewhere, now hidden by a mass of undergrowth which had appeared over the years since our last visit.

It was just too impenetrable so we cast off and motored on. There are lots of bollards on this stretch into Reims all along the eastern edge of the canal but there were also many fishermen or large bushes meaning two suitably spaced bollards were hard to find. At last we saw two perfectly placed bollards and moored up. Unfortunately, what we hadn’t realised was that we were right beside what turned out to be a 24-hour glass recycling plant. So we spent that night listening to broken glass being tipped from on high onto the conveyor belt. Lovely!

We headed off into the chain of 3 locks into Reims. As we approached the middle lock, we could see the stern of the hotel barge NENUPHAR not quite entered into the lock. We watched and waited well back and after about 15 or 20 minutes, the gates finally shut on her and she started her descent. As we slowly approached the look, we suddenly saw one of the crew running back from the hotel barge towards us. He said the captain apologised for the delay but they had had a medical emergency of some sort in the lock and here was a bottle of premier cru wine to make up for our delay. Well! That’s a first, and how kind1

NENUPHAR moored up after the third lock and we carried on to the industrial quay to the north of Reims where we know of an excellent mooring with a Lidl just half a kilometre from the canal. An hour later NENUPHAR appeared and as they went past, offered us a bag of cheese and ham! Alex, who was on the back deck, accepted gratefully and the matelot threw it over. Alex just managed to catch it as it headed for the side of the boat and ultimately into the canal. Obviously they had dropped off their guests and these were some of the left-overs from lunch now excess to requirements. And thanks again! Some lovely mixed hams, Brie, and yeah, a large piece of goat’s cheese (which we froze and kept for our next visitors who might like it, not being fans ourselves).

We arrived at Berry au Bac on a Sunday. Looking at the AIS we could see that the place was packed with commercials but nevertheless we’d have to stop here as the next 3 and a half hour stretch has no moorings at all. As it turned out, there was space big enough for RICCALL between two of the big boys at the silo quay upstream of the last lock on the canal. We moored up with some trepidation as there are signs everywhere saying ‘ no mooring except commercial craft’. But the Dutch barge in front of us thought there would be no problem so we stayed put. Louise went for a recce below the lock on the Aisne Lateral and spotted APOLLO moored up for the weekend. Oh No!


The next morning, after a night of bleaching rain, wind and thunderstorms our few flowers were looking rather worse for wear, and the barge in front of us was being loaded with grain from the silo. The empty barges behind us would, no doubt, in due course also want to be filled from the silo, so we felt it was time for us to move on, so a 9.15 start was the order of the day, early for us.

We passed through the two locks onto the Lateral à l’Aisne and headed off for Bourg et Comin. APOLLO had already left its mooring heading west, but half-way along the canal who is coming back towards us? APOLLO! We slowed right down in order to keep to the best place to pass but again the captain refused to look in our direction. Well, in our book, that makes him into an idiot too. What a surly bastard!

     APPOLLO roars off into the wild blue yonder!

The pontoon mooring at Bourg et Comin was empty and the leccy was still switched on so that was a plus. Later that evening, we were joined by the only other plaisance we had seen in days and then, at about 10pm that night, a fully laden peniche crept by in the pitch dark heading up the Oise a l'Aisne. That was a surprise.

The next day we were again surprised to meet another barge coming towards us down the Oise à l’Aisne canal and we asked him if this was his normal route, and it was. Great! At least this commercial traffic keeps the weeds down and the canal open.

Finally we got to Tergnier and caught a train back to Chalons and a taxi back to our car at Condé.


                                                                           What a lovely church in Tergnier

We needed the car because we had Alex’s cousin Mary and husband Martin coming to stay and cruise for a few days. The end point of our cruise for them was to be Landrecies on the Sambre on a Sunday and we’d discovered there would be no trains running from Landrecies to get them to Beauvais for their flight home. So we had to get the car to Landrecies mid-week to ensure we could get them to St Quentin on the day to catch their train.

We spent a night in Origny finding a largely smell-free mooring upstream of the factory complex and opposite the silo quay, which was in constant use.




Our journey up the Sambre from Tergnier was uneventful and it was interesting to see the repairs which had finally been made to the derelict aqueducts near Vadencourt.  This work has enabled this valuable through route to be reopened and we all enjoyed a very pleasant cruise.



All our 'car retrieval planning' worked out like clockwork and we had an excellent few days with M & M and a lot to drink!  Especially when it was discovered to be their 29th wedding anniversary!



However, we learned on our way to Landrecies that the first lock after the town was to be closed on the Monday morning for a month! This put the pressure on, so after dropping M & M off at St Quentin for their train, we had to high-tail it back to the barge and move on through that lock on the Sunday.

Driving out of St Quentin, though, we were held up at a roundabout by a seemingly endless cavalcade of motor cycles. After waiting about 10 minutes, with no end in sight, we did a three point turn and heard off in a different direction. 20 kms out of town we were held up again by the same cavalcade as they crossed our road and disappeared into the countryside. This time there was no way out so we just had to sit there for another 10 minutes while they all roared past.

Finally we got back to RICCALL and immediately informed VNF that we were on our way. Once through that lock we moored up for the night at Hachett Lock. We were both bushed and went to bed at 8.30pm for 12 hours sleep!

We carried on down the Sambre with little incident, but the best place to pick up the car was from Maubeuge where we understood from our DBA mooring guide there were NO moorings. We agreed between ourselves that there MUST be something and sure enough, there was a 40m visitor pontoon. 


The water and electricity had been turned off for the winter, but more annoyingly, the ramps to the shore had also been removed, so later that afternoon, we moved across to a long wall with bollards at 30m intervals on the opposite side. Perfect! and it was less than one kilometre from the station. So, the car was once again retrieved and left at the station in Maubeuge to await collection later.

We spent the next few days negotiating the locks on the French side until we had to hand in our tele-command at the last lock before the border into Belgium. That night we stayed at the old border post just into Belgium and a short distance before the port of Erquellines.

We were surprised to find the locks in Belgium were all manually operated and accessed by telephone down to the Marchienne lock just before Charlerois. At this lock, which was accessed by VHF radio, we met an 80m x 10m commercial approaching us in reverse. What a way to be back in among the big boys! We quickly contacted him on the radio and agreed how we would pass each other.


                                                                  Back among the big boys and heavy industry

We then proceeded through the next three huge locks behind, or in one case, to our surprise (but we had been waiting for nigh on an hour) in front of the commercials. Finally we arrived at Seneffe, after a very long day for us, at about 6.00pm.  Another early night was called for!

Sunday 23 July 2023

The Summit of the Briare to the Marne

 


We had a late start from the summit at Gazonne as we didn’t want to be trailing the incredibly slow hotel barge MEANDERER.  The hotel barges do move exceedingly slowly - much more slowly than you could walk!


The most peaceful mooring ever at Etang de Gazonne

We moored up that afternoon in Rogny-les-Sept-Ecluses, on a good quay for which we were charged a fair bit!  However, the ancient flight of seven locks was quite something to see.  Originally built at 27m long, they were extended to 32m in 1830s and then finally replaced by 6 separate 38m locks at the end of the 19th century.  To start with, the whole site was deserted but by the time we got to the top a whole bus-load of tourists had arrived!  Fortunately, they were herded under a tree for a lecture by their tour guide during the time that we were there.

Les Sept Ecluses at Rogny

At Dammarie-sur-Loing we came across a barge called PAVOT and Martin and Sally came for apéros with us and a pleasant early evening.

We spent a couple of nights at Chatillon-Coligny on the 45o angled section of the quay which allowed us to paint the rear of the barge from the adjacent pontoon – a job which had needed doing for some time!  

on the angled mooring

We also made time to go into the town, although we had unfortunately missed the brilliant weekly market. This seems to be the issue of the day – wherever we arrive, the market was yesterday!


Although the weather was keeping us on our toes with high temperatures and our shade cloths in full use, one evening at Chatillon we had a storm and a half!    . . .


Boy did it rain!

. . .   and had to rush outside to save our big parasol from destruction!


Drowned rats!


At Montargis the whole port de plaisance was undergoing renovation and most of the barges had been relocated to the quay beside the Police Station on the downstream end of the town. We managed to moor there also, but were charged for two nights with, we think, a third night free. A quick look around this lovely town ‘The Little Venice of the Gatinais’. The town is based around two little rivers and their waters were originally used to provide defensive moats and water supplies to the town’s mills. Lots of flower-bedecked bridges are the result and the town is quite a sight to behold. Although we think we’d be given a ‘free’ night on our mooring we didn’t take advantage of it as for some reason we felt compelled to move on!

But, we had enough time to catch a train back to Nevers to fetch the car, which we then left in the station car park at Montargis.

We moored on a good quay at Episy and were surprised when a barge called WHISPER appeared from downstream and turned round in front of us. We knew the barge from years ago but hadn’t met the new owners, Sue and Allan from Australia. Sue came for coffee with us the following morning and later that day they moored on us at Moret sur Loing. Very kindly they suggested that we go in first to the mooring where they already had a 4-day booking, and they then moored on us. This seems to be the accepted method in Moret as the mooring is very popular, so rafting is allowed.

Moret is another lovely town – very historic, and we had a nosy around and a drink in one of the many bars in lovely warm sunshine. Perfect!

Then it was onto the Seine and we first moored up at Melun, where the daily mooring change is only €12 including electricity and water. We stayed for a couple of nights and met Lon and Pat from their barge C.A.L.I.B 3, shared apéros each evening and Alex even managed to get an appointment with an English speaking osteopath, who tried to get his dicky leg back into full operation. Wow! (Lastly, a trip to the scummiest Lidl we have ever been to completed a memorable visit.)

We were now heading for Paris, just at the time of the disturbances in the aftermath of the shooting of the young black driver in Paris by the police. Our route would skirt round the eastern side of Paris so we hoped all would be well.

At Evry Lock we met up with Paul and Diane of BEATRICE who we’ve known for years and dinner was served on first one barge and then the other on consecutive nights. Great company and lots of chat, especially as we haven’t seen them for ages, despite being in regular contact on Signal.


BEATRICE leaves after our get-together

However, on the first night, as they were leaving for their own barge after supper, the Chef de l’Ecluse appeared and suggested we would be best advised to move onto the commercial barge moored on the mole in front of the lock, as there was a possibility of disturbance on the quay from the demonstrators.

As we were pointing downstream, we approached said commercial before the other two British barges. The owner of the barge absolutely refused to allow us to moor on his boat, would NOT listen to Louise’s explanation of the reason, just shouted over everything she tried to say

His wife was more amenable but to no avail, so we had to moor on the mole on the other side. This was no problem in actual fact, but it did lead to a very uneasy feeling.

Subsequently, the éclusier must have seen what was happening and came round to speak to the barge owner. Somewhat mollified, he then allowed BEATRICE and the Piper barge, DEEP THOUGHT (whatever that means) to moor on him and they were welcomed with open arms.

Alex was incandescent with fury (almost unheard of for him). He even called the bargee a bastard as he moved off to moor on the other side!

Oh”, said the bargee later when Alex went round to remonstrate, “I didn’t realise the situation”. “That’s because you bloody well wouldn’t listen, you plonker.”

We left Evry lock and got to the upside of the Ecluse Pont de l’Anglais, still on the Seine, where there was a good quay at the downstream end of some permanently moored resident barges. We moored up and shortly after received a text from Paul on BEATRICE questioning the safety of our mooring, given that disturbances were still ongoing in Paris.

Louise felt concerned enough to remove all the unfastened-down items from the decks and lock them away – just in case. Meanwhile, Alex saw the owners of the nearest liveaboard and went to ask their opinion. They said it was fine to moor there, many boats do for one or two nights, and there’s never any trouble.

So, mollified, we settled down for the night but the seed of doubt had been sown so neither of us slept well but there was no incident of any kind either.

We set off in the morning following a Belgian cruiser who was racing down the Seine at 18kph, clearly in something of a hurry. We informed the écluse Pont à l’Anglais that we were on our way but when we arrived the gates were closing. We had to contact the lockkeeper urgently to reopen the lock gates he was busy closing as he had thought that the Belgian cruiser was the only entrant to the lock: he couldn’t see us on his CCTV for all the trees concealing our approach, despite our having advised him on the radio.

Off went the Belgian cruiser at top speed. We followed, doing around half his speed only to find him waiting at the next lock for it to open to let him in. And we followed, sedately! Needless to say we barely got any acknowledgement from him whatsoever but it really was a lovely case of the tortoise and the hare!

Finally we got onto the Marne and found a good mooring at Neuilly Ecluse next to the campervan site. Of course, the little port of Neuilly, just below the lock on the river, was absolutely packed, mostly with cruisers: not much room for the likes of RICCALL.

And then we got to lovely Lagny – a port we have stayed in quite often. The cost of mooring is nil but a €6 charge is made for taking water and electricity.: very reasonable and operated by the Tourist Office. We booked two days and went to the station ticket office to get tickets to Montargis to collect the car and move it on.

The woman in the station ticket office claimed she could only sell us a ticket to Paris Est and we would have to buy the onward tickets when we got to Paris! We couldn’t believe it and nor would the lady in the tourist office when we told her. Still, we managed to book said tickets on line and print them out. We are still flummoxed by this turn of events. Can it be true? Has it something to do with the Ile de Paris transport system being operated differently?

We gave ourselves plenty of time and had a nice lunch at Paris Bercy, the station from which we had to catch the train to Montargis. As it turned out, nobody inspected our tickets on the whole journey.

We had an easy car journey back to Lagny and booked another night to give us time to drop the car at a convenient railway station, with free parking, further up the Marne. But our second night in Lagny was not peaceful: a party seemed to be taking place over the river and it went on until after 2 am. Bad enough, but the third night was even worse, with drumming and yelling and shouting until after 4 am! Bloody Hell!  Why don’t these guys just go to bed!

When we got to Meaux we moored on the commercial quay beside the lock and hoped for a quiet night of recovery. This was not to be: some sort of rave started about 10pm and continued until 6am. Not only that, but it was red hot and we really wanted the portholes open but that was impossible and even with them closed we hardly got a wink of sleep.

We learned that our good friends Richard and Julia of ETTIE were moored at the next lock, Ecluse Meldeuses, another of our favourite moorings. 



So w
hen we got there we had a short rest in the afternoon and then we had drinks and a lovely dinner with them that evening. But we had had so little sleep the previous three nights that Alex made a complete hash of mooring when we arrived, much to Richard’s and Louise’s amazement (well, sleep deprivation is his excuse!).

The next day we went our separate ways but Alex was concerned to see that his ‘Smart Gauge’ battery monitor was showing that the batteries were very low! Wot, not again?! But yes. Over the next couple of days they were getting lower and lower overnight from being fully charged by the alternator during the day. This meant that our plan to do do touristy things at each stop had to be curtailed.

A definitive test on one of the batteries, chosen at random, showed it was down to 10% of of its supposed capacity. So they had had it! This meant that for the next several days, until we got to our mooring at Condé (electricity included) we would have to find moorings with leccy, or switch everything off, including the fridge/freezer, at night.

As it turned out we were really lucky. The pontoon at Chateau-Thierry was empty and we managed to make the leccy machine work, so stayed for three nights to include the dreaded 14th July, when the whole of France shuts down (including the locks). Another party night of course, though the fireworks were worth seeing.


Who on earth designed this carbuncle?

Well into champagne country now, we put in at Dormans, having driven the car up to the camp site/moorings two days before and pleaded with Bernard the manager to reserve a place for us on the fixed quay. And he did! (a bottle of crémant for him.)

Then it was Damery – the pontoon empty and with electricity available when we arrived! But at Mareuil-sur-Marne the only space for a barge like us was on the quay in front of a permanent péniche. We might have managed to put together enough cable to reach the bourne on the pontoon (130m) but instead, Alex talked to the owner of the péniche, Eddy, who agreed to let us piggy-back off his supply. How very kind! We gave him a couple of bottles of wine for his generosity when we left the next day.

And then finally, we were safe at our booked mooring in Condé if a little sooner than we had planned. Roxeanne has sold us two full months of mooring here as it would be more expensive to buy the one and a half months we really need, as the extra 15 days charge would be by the day which is more than twice the monthly charge. This gives us flexibility too of course.

So now it’s back to the UK for August and to buy batteries and possibly a new element for the dishwasher which has also failed!  Alex has possibly decided to switch to Lithium batteries this time, so that will be an extra load of reprogramming and worry to grapple with when we get back: added to which the engine still sounds like a bag of hammers some of the time and at others as sweet as a nut. God knows what is going on there!! Oh the joys of boating!

Alex hard at work (and in need of a haircut!!)

A few pics of things we have seen on this journey:


another day, another medieval precinct!


Just happened to spot this gem when we glanced over our shoulders


vines, vines everywhere!

Time for a chat


Aren't they just GHASTLY?!

Sunk through total neglect.  A sad sight.



Monday 19 June 2023

Digoin to Briare

 

So, when we set off from Digoin we left the roof on and just slowed to a crawl as we passed under each bridge. And actually from now on the bridge height was said to be generally a few inches higher and so we decided to keep the roof on (and approach with care) from then on.

Finally we made it to Decize and cycled into the city for a glass of wine and a look around. This is the point at which the Nivernais Canal starts but it is interesting that you have to navigate a short stretch of the Loire river itself to get to it. So when the Loire is in flood the Nivernais is inaccessible from the south.

We were moored on free moorings with no facilities on the outskirts of the town but it was very quiet and we mostly had it to ourselves.

Our newly-acquired friends Heidi and Marco were heading back in our direction from Nevers so we waited for them to arrive at Decize, and then had two suppers on each others’ barges: very hospitable and excellent company.

We felt sorry to be setting off in different directions but that is often the case in the barging world. ‘Ships that pass in the night … ‘

We had a long day and ended up at Chevenon where our mooring guide indicated two separate moorings with a number of rings on each. Alex spent a happy hour or so with his metal detector and managed to unearth no less than 5 more rings hidden in the grass. He painted them and all the others with white paint so they would obvious to other boaters.

We left this lovely mooring quite early for us, at 9.15, and had been cruising for some time, Alex soon noticed a cyclist at the side of the canal who was watching us approach. Alex said to Louise, jokingly, ‘Well, we stopped him in his tracks!’ As we got level with him he actually gave us a round of applause and then a vigorous thumbs-up. RICCALL has had many an appreciative gesture, but never had such an accolade before. What a treat! 

Thus, we arrived at Nevers, and moored on the long pontoon behind the permanently moored barges. We cycled round to the industrial area opposite and asked at the first place where we might get our air con dealt with. A helpful lady directed us further down the road and we entered a very smart kitchen/bathroom refurbishment showroom with some trepidation: a little bit non-plussed but, nothing ventured, nothing gained! The lovely helpful lady Emilie, rang their own local air con engineers and even arranged for them to come and refill our air con unit the next day. This time we got an estimate (€100) before they came! And yes it was a lot, but this is France! And they turned up!


  Nevers port and ANCRE NOIR - Built to collect WWII downed pilots from the English Channel 


Nevers  Cathedral


Nevers  Cathedral

Nevers Ducal Palace



Typical, rather confusing VNF signage:  bearing in mind the blue rod is on the LEFT!!

So now we had air con again. Yippee! We also caught the train back to Paray le Monial to fetch the car as it was an easy train ride and now that the car is sort of ‘with us’ as we go, we feel we can’t leave it for too long in each place.

There is the usual necessity to repaint various parts of the barge, which are beginning to look a bit neglected: in this instance, the sides, back and front of the whole of the wheel house.

At a lovely mooring Cours les Barres, we made a start and did the upper half of the wheel house,

Cours les Barres - such a lovely spot

and later moored up on a silo quay at La Chapelle-Montlinard. The official moorings there, although offering water and electricity, were on a rough sloping edge which is very uncomfortable for RICCALL so we accepted the presence of the rather precarious overhanging paraphernalia on the silo quay as an alternative!


Having received a good tip from our friends Paul and Diane, we cycled to the town on the other side of the Loire valley, some 3 kms – La Charite-sur-Loire – had a good look round (despite a truly dreadful tourist map) and an excellent lunch at the Auberge Le Poule Noir. When we got back to the silo quay, the silo fans had started running, to dry the grain, making the most dreadful noise. We set off again immediately for the next mooring which was peaceful and quiet.

We stopped at Ménétréole-sous-Sancerre and had a look round the rather tired and dilapidated village alongside the moorings. The hotel/restaurant looked OK but we had supper organised already so stayed aboard.


Death of the French stalwart - the boulangerie.  This notice says it all!


On our little walk round the town we had seen a parked taxi and took a note of its telephone number. Next morning we rang the taxi number advertised in the port but they said they needed several days’ notice, so we then tried the local taxi firm and they came within half an hour to take us up the steep hill into Sancerre.

We had a good look round the very historic town of Sancerre and a very nice lunch at one of the many restaurants, then got a taxi back to the moorings. (Sancerre has arranged a walking tour of the town with a red-painted line on the ground to follow. At each stop of interest a little plaque gave just enough information to the casual viewer. An excellent arrangement – not too much info, just enough.)


What a lovely idea - ceramic flowers attached to the house wall


That evening the barge ZEEMEEUW arrived and we invited Dieter and PJ for drinks and a good evening of chat.

Next day we set off and soon moored up at a silo quay opposite the entrance to the Embranchement de Saint Thiebault. We didn’t intend to venture down into this side canal: height, depth and turning possibility all being potential issues!! But the silo quay enabled us to get the bikes off and pick up groceries from Colruyt.

We moved on to the next mooring at Beaulieu-sur-Loire and as we were starting to moor up, with help from PAVOT with the mooring rings, the heavens opened. We got the ropes on adequately and had lunch! The rain ended eventually and we decided to move the boat to a slightly better position. No sooner had we released the ropes than the rain started again in earnest. We said, ‘Sod it, we’ll have to wait till it eases again’, but as luck would have it, RICCALL kept drifting closer and closer to PAVOT until eventually we just HAD to go out in the continuing downpour and moor her up properly. Another soaking, Wet! Or what?!

Another quite early start for our next short hop to Chatillon only a few kilometres away. This is the point at which in former times, and before the construction of the Pont Canal (aqueduct over the Loire to Briare), the boats would lock onto the river and be lowered bit by bit by anchorage down to the next lock on the other side to continue their journey to Briare. In the reverse direction, of course, they had to be hauled upriver by winches or horses against the current.  Two spits of land had been created in the river to assist with these operations.  The whole lock area had been completely flooded in 1856 when the river rose by some 6 metres. Several other high points were marked in the stonework.


We cycled over the bridge to the Briare side to look at the lock there and Alex decided to follow the line of the old canal to Briare about 6kms. By the time he got back to RICCALL he was absolutely exhausted and could feel the tug of the muscles for some days to follow.

So, Briare beckoned across the mighty Loire – now looking pretty harmless. 



We checked the way was clear of course, but no sooner had we entered the trough of the aqueduct into Briare than we saw a trip boat start to enter from the town end!   By this time we were at least 50 metres in and no chance of reversing out so we just had to go on and he had to reverse.

At this point it became blindingly obvious what the telephone number and three time slots we’d been given by a previous lockkeeper had been for. We had misunderstood their importance. These were the times when you did NOT attempt to cross, as trip boats have priority! And the phone number of course was to arrange passage.

The capitaine studiously ignored us as we passed his boat but the lady in charge of the boat full of 4-year olds gave us a hearty wave.

We had tried to get an overnight mooring in Briare commercial port but the Capitaine told us nothing was available until June 19th well over a week away! The Port de Plaisance is out of bounds to us, being only 1.2m deep so on we went to moor at Ouzouer-sur-Trezee (!!!). Try saying that after a good gin and tonic! Another lovely long mooring with only one small firmly-closed-up-boat on it. Free mooring for 2 days and free electricity and water. How do these sad and tired little towns do it? The town, like many others, was dilapidated with virtually every former shop, restaurant or bar closed up and forlorn. There was one little extant cafe/bar however, which was open and quite busy for 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Thank goodness!

So, having negotiated the pont-canal de Briare and the next 6 locks, here we were at what must be the canal’s loveliest mooring – on the summit level adjacent to the Etang de Gazonne – supplier with other reservoirs of water to the Briare canal. It was quiet, beautiful (if a little shallower than it should be) but lovely nonetheless.


Etang de Gazonne mooring - lovely!


How about the result of a lightning strike in the port electricity control box in Paray le Monial?!!!


Alex having fun (as usual)!



How small can you go?