Epinal and to the Meuse, July 6-11

After the summit pound of the Canal des Vosges, it’s down to the Moselle River. 14 locks in 11 kilometers, which we managed with very little waiting, took us to the 3.3 k branch canal which follows the river to the town of Epinal.

According to my notes from 2008, the last time we were here it was very hot the first day and rained the next so we didn’t see too much of the town. About 82,000 people live in the city and surrounding towns but it doesn’t get many tourists. It’s medium size and beautiful green mountainous surroundings make it very pleasant and picturesque. 

On the hill above town are the ruins of a chateau built on the foundations of a castle that originated in the late 900’s. Fortified in the 13th century, it was modernized over the years but was dismantled after the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. In the early 1800’s, government officials obtained the site and in 1890 it was donated to the City and is now a huge park complete with walking paths and a zoo.

The Chateau from the river in town.

Up on the hill

Epinal is a center for print making and the Cité de l’Image is a museum, exhibition and gift shop displaying all kinds of prints and print-making equipment, both old and new. We had been looking for some art for the boat and found a couple things we liked. At the check out counter the young man noticed our accents and asked where we were from. We told him California. Word got around somehow because the next day a reporter from the local weekly showed up at the marina looking for the boaters from California. We got a nice write up, complete with picture, the next day in the Vosges Matin although they did make fun of our French (or lack thereof!); Cathy Jo’s was dans un français timide mais compréhensible but I qui contrairement á sa compagne ne pratique pas la langue de Moliére. (Translate it yourself!) A local family even introduced themselves that afternoon. They wanted to meet the Californians. The 2016 Media Tour continues!

Also in the marina is a bar and restaurant with a big screen tv. We were able to watch Les Bleus, the French football (soccer) team defeat Germany to advance to the finals of the European Cup. Horns were blaring on the roads around town for at least an hour afterward.

About 10 Saturday morning we set off for more downhill locks. This time there was quite a bit of other traffic so we did a lot of waiting. After 15 locks it was about 4:30. We found a old stone quay we could tie to and spent the night au sauvage.

Sunday was the same; lots of waiting and lots of locks; 10 locks in 19 k but we tied up at a civilized 1:30 pm. 

After our 9 am departure and some lock trouble, about 2 pm on Monday we exited the Canal des Vosges and entered the Moselle River and it’s big river locks. We only got to do 2 of them, however, because we would be entering the western branch of the Canal de la Marne au Rhin in order to get over the top to the Meuse River. Our next major destination was Toul but we had intended to stop short of town on Monday so we could arrive at the marina early on Tuesday. We’d be spending at least a couple of days and wanted to get a good spot. Unfortunately, some miscommunication with another boat and lots of waiting resulted in a “forced march” to Toul and we arrived in the marina just moments before the locks closed for the day. Luckily the Capitain of the Port was willing to shift a boat to make room for us. We’d be restocking the galley shelves (and the wine cellar) tomorrow.

Up and Up, July 3-5

The Canal des Vosges was first planned by the Romans to connect the Moselle and Saone Rivers but locks as we know them today hadn’t been invented yet so construction would wait until the 1870’s to begin. France had lost the Fanco-Prussian War and with it, a major portion of eastern France and a new north-south waterway was needed to avoid the expanded Prussia. Work started in 1874 and was completed in 1882. We saw one lock that still had “1878” chiseled in the stone. 

From south to north, our direction, it follows the Coney River to the top with 46 lock in about 50 kilometers. After a 10 kilometer summit pound, 47 locks follow the beginnings of the Moselle River for about 60 kilometers until the canal actually joins it the near the giant steel mill in Neuves Maison. Along the whole way it runs through heavily forested hillsides with the occasional farm. It’s very rural and occasionally we were so far out in the sticks we lost phone service! In the 21st century!

We spent both nights on the “up” section on canalside banks, one by ourselves just after the small village of Fontenoy le Chateau, which we visited in 2011, and the next in a basin below a lock with two other boats; another place we stayed in 2011. When we moored up the second afternoon we heard what we thought was a familiar sound. There, in the barnyard across the way was Benjamin Franklin’s choice for the national bird of the US.

That’s the entrance to Lock #18 across the basin.

At the beginning of the canal, right after Corre, the locks are pretty well spaced, with 1 or 2 k between them and there’s a major hireboat base in Fontenoy. There was alot of traffic. After Fontenoy the locks get closer together but at least there’s no hireboat traffic. They don’t want to face all the uphill locks. The final 10 kilometers has 16 locks but with so few other boats we were able to complete them without any waiting. We left Corre Sunday morning and were in the summit pound and tied up in the Village of Chaumousey by about 2 pm on Tuesday.

The canal is elevated in this area and splits the town in two. They solved the problem by putting roads and footpaths under the canal. It only took us a couple of minutes to reach the boulangerie on the other side of the canal in the center of town.

Up the Saone (Again)

Last year after our lockfest on the Canal du Bourgogne we spent 3 weeks dawdling on the River Saone. It was hot, hot hot! and we needed shade and swimming. This year it wasn’t so hot so there wasn’t any swimming, just moving up the river.

During our 3 days in Saint Jean we managed to hook up with friends we hadn’t expected to see again so soon. We also did our part to support the boat chandleries and the fuel dock. Saint Jean de Losne is one of the few places in France with a good supply of boat stuff so we made the most of our time there. We also had a visit from the newly established Gendarmerie Fluvial de Saint Jean de Losne, the water police. The officer who came on board looked over our paperwork, checked our life jackets and discovered our fire extinguishers were out of date. (The fire extinguisher issue is apparently universal as we had a hard time finding two new ones that afternoon. The one chandlery was all sold out!) He was very proud of the four (!) boats they had for gendarmerie duties and was very polite and helpful. All we had to do was email a picture of the receipt for the new fire extinguishers and we were good to go.

Monday morning after refilling Oldtimer’s fuel tank with 650 liters, we were off up the river. Our first stop was Pontailler sur Saone. The municipal quay is right downstream from a bridge and, although the current on the river wasn't too bad, when funneled through the bridge abutments it was hooting! We were actually rocking back and forth a little from the water rushing by. In the morning it took some extra power to get through the bridge but mighty Oldtimer managed just fine.

Tuesday night we tied up next to the swimming beach at the village of Autet. We spent several days there last year in the trees, enjoying the swimming and visiting the buvette set up at the beach for evening cocktails. No swimming this year but we did visit the buvette. The next morning as we departed the maintenance man was out knee deep in the water raking the sand clean of weeds.

Next stop was Port sur Saone, another village that sprung up around the water-borne trade of the Saone in the old days. They’ve maintained the long riverfront quay that used to be the stopping place for the commercial barges. No services but good, secure moorings right in the center of things. They're also making a concerted effort to improve the town. Increased traffic on a major road through town, and one of the few bridges over the river, has essentially cut the town in two .Big plans are afoot to route the highway around town and redevelop tne main street. There was a display of "Port sur Saone, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" posters on the waterfront; some land-use planning consultants hit the gold mine. We hope it all works out because we liked the town; there's real potential.

As usual, one of our first stops was the tourist office. We browsed through the usual brochures for events and such, looking for an interesting bike ride as we thought we’d stop for a day. We walked up the the desk to get maps and information and Cathy Jo let out a yelp. C’est moi! There we were! On the wall! 

Sometime last year when we were cycling around, someone took our picture and they used it for the poster touting cycling the the Valley of the Saone. We thought it just a little ironic that a couple of Americans would turn up on a French cycling poster. They also printed a postcard. We picked up a couple for souvenirs. And this year we have helmets.

Friday it was more up the river, finding another good bankside spot. This time, Oldtimer had a front lawn!

Saturday around 3:30 pm we exited the first lock of the Saone and at around 3:45 went through the first lock on the Canal des Vosges. We’d completed the Saone navigation and now it was time to climb a hill.

More Moving On

We had already traveled this canal just a few days before and if we were to make it to Holland by the first part of September we weren’t going to have much time to dawdle but, this being a barge, there is no moving fast. And there were some places we hadn’t seen because of the rain so we would make some time.

Although there was still alot of bad weather, there were finally a few nice days. We tied up at the municipal halte at Beaulieu. Free water and electricity! Sunshine! Time to do some laundry!

We also made a short day to stop after the double locks at Guetin to bicycle the 4 k, dodging rain showers, to the village of Apremont. It’s maintained it’s medieval look and our chart book describes it as “one of the most beautiful villages in France.”  And flowers everywhere.

Since we were backtracking and the navigation was now essentially dead-end, we saw many of the same people and boats we had seen just a few days or weeks before.

There were some reunions as well. The mooring in Digoin resulted in a dinner party with Jenny and Adrian and their kiwi friends (there are pictures on Jenny’s blog). We’ve talked and emailed frequently but hadn’t seen them since we were their first guests on Piedaleau last spring. And since we had to stop in Santenay (again!), we got in touch with Philippe and Michele whom we’d met on the Roanne Canal and they drove down from their home in Mersault for an evening of food and wine.

Other boat traffic was also an issue. The Lateral and Centre both have personnel staffing the locks and with little boat traffic, this year probably due to the horrible weather and canal problems, traveling was a breeze. 

The distance between locks, especially on the Lateral, is usually between 3 and 5 k with some 10’s and 20’s thrown in. The lockkeeper phones ahead to the next lock and more likely than not, the lock is open and waiting. As we got closer the the Saone and the weather improved, however, the hireboat traffic picked up and the locks get closer together. All of a sudden we were waiting for traffic and sharing locks with another boat. And amateurs at that! Such is the hard life on the canals.

Along with the improving weather, the scenery is getting more attractive. Since we were in Santenay a month and a half ago things have greened up a bit and they put the flowers in the boxes.

Santenay on the afternoon of the Solstice

After an overnight stop at the quay right next to the giant grocery store at the end of the Canal du  Centre, at a little after 9 in the morning we reentered the Saone, this time pounding upriver back to Saint Jean de Losne. A little extra power was required from Mister DAF to overcome the current but much to our surprise when we arrived at Saint Jean about 5 o’clock there was just enough room for us to squeeze into a space on the steps of the Quay National.

After 7 weeks, 850 kilometers and 222 locks we were right back where we started.

Apology

It's been nearly forever since I updated our travels. We haven't had wifi so I'm doing this from my phone, which is a pain. No pictures either.
We pushed on and completed the Centre then took only one day to reach Saint Jean de Losne against moderate current on the Saone.
After subsidizing the chandlerys and the fuel dock and visiting with friends we hadn't expected to see again so soon, Monday the 27th we headed further up the Saone. We're currently tied under some trees just about 15 k from the end of the navigable river and the beginning of the Canal des Vosges. The weather has finally improved (we actually had a mini heat wave, naturally the first two days of summer) and the river has calmed down to it's usual placid self.
I promise to provide more juicy details and pictures when internet connectivity improves. Meanwhile we press on... Slowly.

Backtrack!

Since we would only be able to proceed a little way up the Canal du Briare before turning around, we figured we might as well turn around now. All along we have been planning to have some work done on the boat; mostly replacing fixed windows with opening ones to improve air circulation, especially when it’s hot (if it ever gets hot again!). We had contemplated taking the boat to Holland for the work, as that is where the windows will come from and it would be easier to find a yard to do the work. Since we were going to have to start our summer’s journey all over again from Saint Jean, we thought we might as well just head for Holland and make arrangements for the work. The trip would take us up the Saone to the Petite Saone and onto the Belgian Meuse, a navigation that we really enjoyed in 2009, through Maastricht to Maasbracht, kind of the boatyard capital of Holland.

First we would have to recross Le Pont Canal, the bridge that takes the canal over the Loire. 

 Built between 1890 and 1894 with the help of the same engineer that built the Eiffel Tower, the bridge is the longest in Europe at about 663 meters (almost 2200 feet). It’s very Deco.

And the river rushes by below.

Now it was just a matter of “making kilometers.” We’d just passed through this same scenery over the last couple of weeks but if we wanted to get to Holland by the first of September, we were not going to be able to dawdle too much. We did make it a point to find some more of that great Pouilly Fume and goat cheese, however. Priorities!

All the rains had washed alot of decayed plant materials into the canal and raised the tannin levels. The falling water over the top of this lock gate had created a foam monster!

We had to go very slowly out of the lock or it would have overwhelmed the front deck.

The old railroad bridge above Menètrèol is now a very elaborate footpath.

Cathy Jo on the bridge/path.

Goodby to Ines

The taxi driver called the boat around 10 am. There were no trains running. A quick check of the chart showed we could get to Briare, a town with more train connections, by early in the afternoon and, lucky for us, that section of the canal had just been reopened after the high water.  Off we went. Briare has two ports, the newer commercial port and the Port du Plaisanciers which used to be the commercial port and where the canal used to enter the river. During the big floods of last week, the water had risen so high in the pleasure boat port that the quays were submerged and people were trapped in their boats. Many of the boats were moved into the commercial port which was now crammed. There would be no place for us there, the pleasure boat port was still closed so we just had to stake to the bank a little way down the canal. 

We hustled into the tourist office where the extremely helpful woman checked bus schedules. No bus to Paris but there was one to Orleans, a much larger city where trains might still be running. Unfortunately, the bus had left an hour before and there wouldn’t be another until tomorrow. Nothing else to do but call a taxi. The tourist office lady made a couple of phone calls and found a driver that would make a deal for the 1 1/2 hour drive to Paris. 15 minutes later we put Ines bags into the car and off she went. Now we had to figure out what to do with the rest of our summer.

Meanwhile, central France was in a watery mess. The Seine was over it’s banks causing the closure of the Metro and several of the big museums and turning the already difficult traffic into a nightmare. Art on the lower levels of the Louvre had to be relocated. Boaters were trapped in several locations where canals cross rivers and would be for weeks. Pontoons and quays were underwater trapping people for days. We just felt lucky to be on a canal that had little problems other than a stretch closed for a couple of days. It could have been so much worse!