L'Avenir - cruising Europe's inland waterways

Barbie weather at last! We are a little surprised to be on the River Doubs (canal du Rhone au Rhine - I have to look that up every time). After leaving the Canal du Centre we cruised up the Saone to St Jean du Losne, the fabled centre of navigation in France. I'm not sure what I expected here - there are certainly plenty of boats but the town seemed less lively than I had anticipated. We stopped in Blanquarts marina for a couple of days and enquired about leaving the boat for the winter. No chance apparently - you have to book a year in advance. H20, the other big boatyard, is next door. We enquired there and they may have a place but they also directed us to their new marina at Auxonne further up the Saonne. So off we set for a look see. The cruise up the river was pleasant and quiet. There seemed to be quite a few boats coming the other way. At the lock into Auxonne we discovered why. The keeper told us that a lock further up had been so badly damaged it was closed - effectiv...

I love canals. Want to stop?  Just pull in to the bank and hammer in a couple of pegs. But - I love rivers more. We descended the deep lock onto the Soanne and when the guillotine gates slowly slid open everything the world became bigger, wider and more relaxing. Exiting the canal cut we immediately met an approaching large peniche (commercial barge) and rather than going into panic mode (my default position) and yelling 'get into the side!' 'look out!' we just swung nonchalantly to the right with regal wave and drifted past. Lock from Canal du Centre onto the River Saone   A great evening of musical and theatrical entertainment in the narrow, cobbled streets of Chalon sur Saone compensated somewhat for the rather expensive night in the port. Pity about the drenching thunderstorm. Thunderstorms seem to be a daily feature recently. Usually ocuuring about 3 in the afternoon. Anyone would think we were in the tropics. Chalon sur Saone We are heading north alo...

The locks along the Canal du Centre are automated - supposedly. The way it's supposed to work is that you slowly approach the lock, a radar beam detects you, the lock either fills or empties depending on which way you're going, the gates swing open, the traffic lights turn from red to green and in you go. Then, once you've secured your lines, you pull on a blue rod which activates the lock for you. (Apologies to those who  read the blog last year and know this already). There are many opportunities for things to go awry and they do but eventually one, or two, or three men will turn up in their little white vans and sort things out. Unless it's lunch time. Arriving at the first lock out of Digoin we discovered it was turned off. Eventually, little white van man arrived and told us that due to the water shortage we would have to wait until such times as another boat appeared in order to share the lock. Apparently days and days of rain had made no difference to the level ...

A year ago on this day we were in Sedan and being treated to a tornado. This year we've had 2 days of  impressive and rather less frightening, thunder storms and about 100mm (4") of rain. (Hopefully replenishing the canal) We had decided to stay in Digoin as it is the largest town around and as such would have some sort of celebration. A firework display was due to be set off from the canal aqueduct on the evening of the 13th however the rain threatened to turn everything into damp squibs so it was called off. Weather permitting it will take place tonight. At the time of writing there are increasing blue patches in the sky so fingers crossed. Bastille Day ceremony, Digoin This morning we jumped on our bikes, having been stirred into action by the sounds of a brass band and pedalled off in search of the source. We eventually discovered it in the Place de la Republique (where else?)  and just in time to catch the end of the Bastille Day ceremony. It was all over fair...

Aqueduct over the river Loire at Digoin Storks nesting on roof of eglise at Digoin - you'll need to click on pic to see! Aqueduct over the Loire Aqueduct from above Have nothing much to tell but we have an internet connection here in Digoin and I can't let it go cpmpletely to waste. The pictures are taken in Digoin on the River Loire. We have been told  that the water levels are very low from here on and that we need to share locks. There's even rumour that the canal may be closed by the middle of August. We'd better get a move on.

We've arrived in Decize - the end (for us) of the beautiful canal du Nivernais and the beginning of the jauntily named canal lateral a la Loire. What can I tell you about Decize? Well, it has 2 huge supermarkets which have conveniently provided a mooring right outside them. It also has a Lidl one mooring further along. And then, 1 further stop and you're right outside an enormous Bricolage (DIY - in Oz, a Bunnings). I'm slightly ashamed to admit that yesterday we cruised to each emporium and spent 3 hours and lots of euros shopping. So, now we have cupboards full of food and wine plus a new vacuum cleaner capable of cleaning up the crumby, crumbly mess that baguettes make. As you've probably guessed, when we walked into town today, there weren't too many businesses surviving the out of town hypermaket competition.There's a thriving market on a Friday morning though but I'm not sure of the etiquette in getting served. It's bad enough in a supermaket que...

The past week has been just about perfect. After spending a recovery day at Baye on the summit of the Nivernais we set off on the descent. First downhill lock at Baye Locking downhill is so much more relaxing. No hauling on ropes or turbulence. Just in you go and gently float down in the watery lift. The only thing to watch out for is that you don't become so relaxed that you fail to notice that your rope has become jammed in the stonework - then things might go badly very quickly. A rare occurence, perhaps, but it happened to us once last year which is why we always have a knife on hand to cut the rope in an emergency. The canal is still very shallow in places, so I've taken my chair (and parasol) up to the bow which, being away from the engine, is a peaceful spot from which to view the countryside. Very beautiful countryside it is too. Rolling farmland of cornfields, hay bales and grazing herds of the white Charolais cattle, the occasional quiet village and, every so...

A first - and possibly last - attempt at posting via my kindle. That should probably have the trademark symbol after it but that option's not available on the miniscule keyboard. It's painfullly slow and a bit like typing an essay on your mobile phone. But it's free to use and in the absence of any other internet connection I can't complain. I cannot, of course, upload any pictures which some people might think is the only bit of the blog worth looking at but there you go. I can always add some later. The previous post was uploaded courtesy of the local nobility. We are moored right outside the chateau at Chatillon en Bazois alongside their lovely gardens. Unfortunately, they've turned the wifi off today. Perhaps they've gone away for the weekend. The weather is spectacular and we are having a great time. My French isn't getting much of a workout though as nearly all the people we meet on boats are Aussies, Kiwis or Brits.

The pace of life on the canals is slow. Recently, cruising the last 7 km and 3 locks into Clamecy on the Canal du Nivernais took us 3½ hours – an impressive, even by our standards, 2km per hour.  Snail’s pace, you might say, except that Burgundy snails probably move faster to avoid the dinner plate. We had set off at 10.30 hoping to reach our destination before lunchtime but on arrival at the first lock the gates were closed against us and there was no sign of the keeper. As the river crosses the canal immediately before the lock gates you need to wait well back in order to avoid the cross currents so we backed up 100m into an open stop lock outside the lock keeper’s pretty house and waited. And waited. There are surely worse spots to spend a summer morning. After an hour or so 2 boats entered the lock coming the other way. Still, no keeper. 20 minutes later a 3 rd boat arrived accompanied by the keeper on his bicycle. It seems he is responsible for the next lock as well. By th...