This canal started at the 10 .83 metre lock in our previous blog. This canal runs from the lock before Fragnes through to the Port of Digoin and is 112 kms and 61 locks in total. Our first port of call was
Fragnes………….2 nights
A great mooring of 400m with electricity and water, however a charge applied. Seeing this was our first charge for mooring in 5 weeks it was worth paying for. The town didn’t have much to see, but we were invited to help our self from the community garden. Not much ripe but did get 1 zucchini and some Rosemary. The tourist information office organised a minivan to get us to a local bus stop where a bus went to Charon-sur-Saone, all for 3 euro return, so the following day off we went.
Chalon-sur-saone. Day visit.
The town dated back to gallo-Roman days and was alive with a music and busking festival plus tourists from hotel barges. A great day seeing the historic sites and watching the activities in town. We couldn’t moor here at Chalon as the moorings are unsuitable & not allowed for barges larger than 15m (us), except moorings reserved for hotel barges. Photos below of the day.
Chalon is also known for the discovery of Photography and we visited the museum here that told the story.
Rully
Below some photos show the trip along the canal through Fontaines with some old ruins and a very pretty lock house. The scenery from the boat forever changing.
The afternoon was spent at Rully, where we push- biked to a 13 Century Chateau . The chateau had a history of 27 generations and had survived the French revolution as the woman of the house was much loved by the local people who insisted that the revolutionaries let the family keep the house. Nearly all the very wealthy French families had their properties and wealth taken during the revolution and were either executed or thrown in jail.
The afternoon was finished with wine tasting in Rully, both champagne and still wines with purchases of both.
Santernay …3 nights
Delightful stop with views over the vineyards. The town small but cute and we walked to the chateau in the afternoon for more wine tasting and purchases.
The Chateau wasn’t available for visits inside but the typical Bourgogne roof tiles were excellent and the wine also.
We had drinks with an Aussie couple, Ron and Robyn in the boat moored next to us. They told us of a nice bike ride to Nolay.
We hired an electric bike after trying out their electric bikes that morning and are now looking at purchasing ourselves the same bikes as theirs. This should allow us to increase the distances we can travel from the boat. The electric bike Debbie hired was a great help on the inclines that she normally struggles with.
Nolay a day trip and Biking through the vineyards
Photos tell the story, a delightful day. The trail to Nolay was 8 kms of gradual slope up with poor old John struggling to keep up Deb on his push bike ( this was unusual, as it is normally deb that struggles to keep up to John, well on the push bike !). There was scenery of the vineyards all the way. We returned by a country road through small villages, one of our best day yet. That evening we went down to the town as a music festival which was running for the week, however the event on this night was weird, not music just some boring mime artist so we returned to the boats for drinks with Ron and Robyn on the bank of the canal.
Our Third day in Santernay was a day of nothing much, finished the last blog and got extremely frustrated with numerous banking problems as we attempted to buy our electric bikes on line with Westpac yet again blocking the procedure for attempting to pay online and the internet phone call to them not working. Therefore no new bikes for now and as the hassles continued with the bank we have given up and will buy them next year. The bank seems to block every online transaction we attempt here in France. We are looking for an alternative bank for next year as Westpac make life to difficult if you are overseas.
Country side and lock changes
We continued going upstream in the locks with lots of >5m locks with floating bollards, but the control mechanism to the lock was always 5 m forward of the last bollard. We had to motor forward, attempt to pull the rope hard enough to activate the gate closures. Sometimes John would have to come out to help me as the greasy rope was hard to pull the long distances to activate. He had to occasionally climb the slimy ladder inside the lock to reach the rope to get enough tension to pull down and activate the gates. A few locks were violent when filling but we had been warned about locks 10 and 11 and used 2 ropes to secure Anja.
After our next stop we went downstream, the canals were very full and often the excess water drains over the back of the lock gates while the lock is emptying which slowed the emptying of the lock.
The canal had become narrower & windy with lots of narrow bridges and locks. The scenery has changed from vineyards to farm land with beef cattle all white, called Charolais cattle.
St Julien-sur-Dheune
An overnight stop which smelt of cow dung and the European wasps caused us to stay indoors. The town was small, unexciting and no facilities. The wasps have become a real nuisance especially with me being allergic to them causing me to find a hospital quickly if I get stung. We have just discovered locals making home made traps to catch the wasp out of plastic bottles with beer in the bottom, which the wasps are attracted to and then get trapped inside. That is probably why the wasps are hanging around Debbie so much as she is always out the back of the boat drinking beer!!! John not so much!!!
Montceau-les-Mines. 2 nights.
We stopped on the outskirts of town on a pontoon provided and right outside the front doors of a L,elerec shopping centre. A big shop was in order and all so close to the boat.
Originally, a mining town, but very little historical buildings. The Port was a good stay, the weather hot and steamy and we decided on an extra night than originally planned. A relaxed stroll, coffee in town and a walk through the parks and lakes. In the afternoon we played golf at a small course in town, 6 short holes and affordable, this was a bonus find and only 30 mins walk each way from the boat. As usual I play less than average, Johns game ok.
Genelard
A pleasant mooring, the town had min facilities but had a small musee on the Line of Demarquation that was used by the Germans in WW2 to divide France into occupied and unoccupied zones. The unoccupied zone left to the French to govern themselves but under German control. This occur in 1940 but ended in 1942 with the Germans taking control of all France. The lock here was used heavily for the transporting of stone to Paris. Two thirds of the stone in Paris was transport from Genelard and mostly by barge.
Today was our hottest day yet with France having a heatwave. 39 degrees at 9.30 pm and the fans barely making a difference to the top saloon but some minor relief downstairs in the boat.
We woke to rain the next morning and our first day of having to wear a rain jacket to do the locks. Fortunately, the rain was not heavy and the number of locks each KM had reduced.
Paray le Modial.
A town of churches, dozens of them with the town being very well kept with a sign of wealth showing in the town and shops. Much of France is very depressed but not in this town.
The town was hosting some sort of religious pilgrimage and there were priests, nuns and people everywhere. We walked around the park known for its conifers, and wandered the streets looking at the buildings and churches. Pope John Paul had visited this town in 1986.
Last Day in the Canal de Centre
The last of the canal this canal took us to a stop in Digion to assess
1/ where our best mooring stop will be when we collect our visits on the boat in early August. Also there are some restrictions this weekend of the 4thand 5th August with Fire works in the town.
2/ We needed an update on a broken lock between Digion and Decize, the next canal that we are travelling with our visitors. Hopefully the broken lock gate will be fixed in time, so far we have been told it could take 2-3 weeks to fix which will just be in time. But the French and their work ethics one never knows what could happen.
We travel over the Pont Canal at Digoin over the aquaduct 340 m long for our exit of the Canal du centre. As usual we are photographed something we have become use to, especially as Anja is a real classic bateaux.
This canal ends at Digoin and we will detour to Roanne for a week while we wait our visitors. A new blog.
