Kerr Barging Blogs

Well, we have again had a "flood experience".

The Nivernais is a canal in the upper reaches but lower down, it is part canal and part river with locks set in short canal sections and barrages across the river. France experienced a very dry winter and we have had a dry (and very pleasant) start to the barging season. Due to lack of snow melt, some have been describing it as drought conditions.

We had a pleasant stay at Chitry les Mines and met Ted Johnson who is based there and has been supplying our engine needs plus other bits and pieces over the past six years. Ted (with a French partner) was the first person to introduce hire boats to France in 1959. This was in the Marne region. Later, he introduced them to the Nivernais Canal. So, he is quite a celebrity in the boating world. He was also the agent for the engines such as used in Anja and has encyclopaedic knowledge as well as a building full of spare parts plus contacts all over the world. So, it was good to put a face to the person on the other end of emails and telephone calls over the years.

We turned around at Chitry les Mines and stopped the first night near Chevroches, a few kilometres from Clamecy. It started raining 10 minutes after we stopped and continued, sometimes heavily, for the following 36hrs.

The next morning we planned to stop in Clamecy and reprovision. We had organised this with the head lock-keeper the night before. However, when we met the lock-keeper the next morning, he told us that the canal was to be closed further down at midday and that we had no time to shop unless we wanted to stop earlier. The problem was a point further down where the Yonne River actually flows across the canal- just downstream of a lock. This is a so-called "Level Crossing"; these are very rare. Going upstream, in drier conditions, we had been influenced by the strong sideways current from the river as we crossed it to enter the lock. Now, the river level had risen and the cross current was becoming dangerous.

The lock-keepers worked well as a team to get us through the critical spot in time. When we arrived, there was a hotel-barge in front and it took it a long time to get through. The lock-keepers persevered into their lunch times to get us through. Firstly, they lowered the lock and opened the lock gates. Then, one of the other lock-keepers raised the barrage on the Yonne River to slow the river flow somewhat. When we were given the signal, we gave the boat a lot of throttle and roared across the cross current, keeping well to the right to prevent being swept down to the barrage. All went well and we were relieved to be the last boat through before the river and canal closed at that point.

We tied up for the night, some hours later and started to relax. However, relaxation was short lived. A lock-keeper arrived and said that the section of river where we were was expected to become dangerous and we must move. He took us downstream another 6km and several locks where we could finally be safe.

The next morning, we set off for the next lock as arranged. The first problem became evident on the way. Our flag pendant at the bow is a fixed height above the water and we use it to ensure we will fit under bridges. Unfortunately, it showed we would miss and tear several centimetres from the roof. Stopping was not an option so we simply "put the foot down". This had the effect of sucking lots of extra water from under the rear half of the boat, causing the aft end to sit lower in the water. Penny looked and we made it by 2 centimetres! This is what the professional captains sometimes do but we had never tried it ourselves. Wow!

The lock was ready and we arrived in it and a rental boat followed us. No lock-keepers. Three of them arrived about 45mins later and explained that they had been lowering the manual barrages and that the river below the lock was now closed as were several other ports upstream of us. We could not return as the water level had risen further under the bridge behind so we were stuck in the lock, which was really not too bad as it was full and we were quite comfortable.

Later, after lunch, they told us that we could go if we wanted but that rental boats could not. Fortunately, we had checked the downstream bridge heights and found that one further down was way too low for us at the river levels so we stayed where we were.

We were able to leave the following day and safely negotiate the final low bridge.

The flood caused problems for rental boaters with tight deadlines and also two 39metre hotel barges. One of these barges was very comfortable for the passengers but not the skipper. You can see him huddling under the umbrella (held in one hand) and steering the boat with the other hand!

Hard work for the Captain- in the rain with umbrellaOnly two people live in this huge Chateau

We have now returned to Migennes, at the start of the Burgundy Canal where we will buy some more provisions and also wait out May Day which is a major holiday with locks, rivers, canals and shops closed.

Regards,
Dave and Penny

Ancient wooden lift bridge on the NivernaisPush or pull- ancient lock gates on the Nivernais CanalNear the summit of the Nivernais CanalA very unusual cafe at one of the lock keeper's cottages

We forgot to mention that there is a re-enactment of the flottage in June/July this year. They are building a modern day raft of logs and will float it to Paris. We think they will be taking considerably longer than the original norm of 11 days and it might cause some small disruptions on the river and canal.

Us at Villiers sur Yonne

David rode from Clamecy further up the canal to measure the actual bridges in an attempt to see if we would fit. We found that we COULD fit, provided we went exactly through the centre of the bridges. In some cases, this was complicated because the towpath consumed some of the sideways space under the bridges. Anyway, the result was that even though the guaranteed height was only 2.95 metres to the summit level, we could fit our 3.22 metres if we were careful.

Needless to say, we were worried by the first bridge at the lower height, but all was well. We were able to travel considerably further than Clamecy, until the point where the bridges and tunnels further restricted height to a mere 2.70metres. We therefore stopped at Chitry les Mines and cycled the relatively short distance to the summit. We could easily have taken the boat but it was hardly worth it to then turn around and would have necessitated transitioning 50 locks. Instead, David cycled 33Km return and Penny 24Km return. Penny reached the summit and first tunnel and David cycled over the small mountain to the other side. It was possible to see the Seine Basin and then the Loire Valley.

Yonne at Monceaux le Compte with Lavoir and millstream left

We visited many small towns on the route and had a truly excellent dinner at the "Auberge du Centre" in Monceaux le Compte. The scenery between Clamecy and the summit was excellent. Very rural with sweeping views, meadows, forests, pleasant villages and of course, the Yonne River. We have now travelled the full length of the Yonne- another to add to the list of rivers traversed for the full navigable length.

Towns on rivers are called "xxxx sur yyyy" where xxxx is the name of the town and yyyy is the name of the river and "sur" means "on". One remarkable small town has no name! It is simply called "sur Yonne"!

When we were in Belgium and more particularly the Netherlands, there were many lifting bridges and we found a number of those in the Netherlands somewhat frustrating. Previously on the Nivernais, we had experienced only one such bridge and we had to operate it manually last time. Now it has been automated and was operated for us. However, we found about a dozen more lifting bridges further up the canal. We operated them ourselves or sometimes a lock-keeper did so. On one occasion, a gentleman walking his dog did it for us. When Penny thanked him, he said "It's nothing, you are in France!" Typical of the generous attitude we experience. One bridge was very old, made of wood and did not raise completely so we had to be very careful not to scrape the roof on it. Another had to be operated manually- a task which we shared. David up and Penny down.

There were not many boats and almost 100% of those we saw were rental boats. Maybe there will be more private boats later in the season?

Best Regards,
Dave and Penny

Mailly la Ville

Spring flowers

The old Guard Post at sur Yonne

We have been experiencing wonderful weather. Warm days up to 29deg with clear skies, lots of sun and cool nights.

View from Mailly le Chateau

After Mailly le Chateau, we proceeded via the quaint town of Lucy sur Yonne to a somewhat larger town called Clamecy. This was our furthest port before turning around in 2010.

Mailly le Chateau at the top of the cliff

The Yonne at Mailly le Chateau
Lucy was very quiet and had no shops. Just a lot of old and unusual water pumps used in the wells of 200 years ago. We stopped on a dike separating the canal from the River Yonne. Horses came down to drink here and there was also a very well preserved Lavoir (wash house used for clothes washing in the 18th and 19th centuries).Old well-water pump

A thirsty horse at Lucy

At Clamecy we took walking trips around areas of the town we had not seen last time. We also visited the museum which we missed last time. At a cost of three euros including audio guides, the museum was a bargain and far better than we expected. It contained a lot of the gifts made to President Mitterand, an excellent pre-history section with excellent finds from archeological excavations, some fine arts and a good museum concerning the flottage (floating of wood).

For hundreds of years, this region (which includes the famous Morvan Forest) supplied wood for Paris. The wood was the sole source of fuel for heating, cooking and industry. The wood was cut into fixed lengths, marked with the wood cutter's mark and then thrown into local streams and rivers which led to and included the Yonne River. The wood floated to the town of Clamecy. At that point, it was pulled from the river and piled up into piles according to the woodcutter mark. When you see the photo here (from around 1900) you realise what a huge and daunting enterprise it must have been.

So much wood at Clamecy

The wood was then made into rafts about 78metres x 1.4metres. These rafts were floated down the Yonne, usually steered by children of 10 years. When they reached Joigny (around 75kms away) the adults took over and then navigated a further 100km to the Seine and onwards about 70km to Paris. The children walked back to Clamecy and the adults from Paris to Clamecy. Wow! One million logs were floated to Paris each year and the industry finally stopped in 1923 when Northern canals opened, bringing coal by barge from Belgium. Also, boats continued to bring timber from this region via the Nivernais canal (which was built beginning 1783). Increasingly, that timber was used for construction.

So, there is a fascinating history of the timber "flottage" in this region. The flotteurs were very poor, worked very hard but were essential to the survival of Paris. They are perhaps honoured more today than they were over 100 years ago.

Flotteur memorial on Clamecy bridge

We stocked up our food supplies in Clamecy. We had thought that we would have to turn around at that spot but....perhaps not. The official bridge height is 2.95metres and we are 3.22metres in the centre of our roof and 3.16metres at the edges. Many of the bridges are arched. That is why we turned around there in 2010. Read what happened in the next blog!

Dave and Penny

Fine Clamecy porcelain

We travelled a short way downstream (North) on the Yonne River so that Tess and Frank could see St Cydroin plus Joigny and also have a fabulous dinner at the Paris Nice Restaurant- one of our favourites and a truly excellent restaurant.Historic town of Auxerre

We then delivered them to the Gare at Migennes, so they did experience 200metres of the Bourgogne (Burgundy) Canal. However, the real reason was to be near a close station for their trip to Paris and then Barcelona.

After that, we set off South along the Yonne and over-nighted at Moneteau, a small village outside Auxerre. We were astonished to meet with our friends Chantal and Christian just before heading to the lock the following morning. They had dropped their grandson at school and then gone for a walk. Seeing an Australian flag on a boat, they investigated and found it was us! What a nice surprise.

We had a speedy trip past Auxerre and ended up in Vincelles. This is the sister village to Vincelottes where we attended our first Vide Grenier of the year and successfully bought a number of French books for our grand daughters (who are studying French at pre-school).

Vincelles, in the Yonne River valley

After Vincelles, we went up the "Vermenton arm" of the canal and stopped at Accolay, just short of Vermenton. This branch of the canal follows the Cure River rather than the Yonne which is followed by the Nivernais. Some year ago, we visited fascinating prehistoric caves at Arcy, on the Cure River.

The Cure River

From Accolay, we backtracked a short distance to the town of Cravant where we stayed an extra day so that Penny could travel up to Paris and spend the day with her sister who was travelling from Jerusalem to Sydney with a longish stopover in Paris. That day was relatively fine in Paris but quite wet in Cravant, so it was g good day not to be travelling on the canal. Indeed a couple of lock keepers mentioned that there were no boats travelling that day.

The Vermenton Branch Canal

After Cravant, we travelled to the picturesque town of Mailly le Chateau which is perched high on a cliff. We visited this fortified town last in 2010. Amazingly, since our last visit here, the authorities have provided free water and electricity for up to 12 boats. But we are the only boat within kilometres. People think that the depressed European economy plus the high cost of rental boats is keeping down the number of visitors. In the peak season, in previous years, there have been 30-40 boats per day passing any particular spot. Many of these are rental boats.

Best Regards,

David and Penelope

Typical Nivernais bridge and lockAttractive wood house in Cravant (built 1380!)Main town gate of Cravant

Guedelon- building the Chateau FortWe have managed to pack a lot of things into the time since we arrived.

As well as performing maintenance work on Anja and getting things out for this year's adventures, we have attended two Vide Greniers, three Markets, done lots of provisioning and taken the boat down and up the river in order to show Tess (daughter #4) and Frank (new son-in-law) something of barge and river life in France. We had an excellent dinner at Paris-Nice in Joigny (what an excellent restaurant!). On Sunday, Tess and Frank caught the train to Paris and then onto Barcelona. There was an accident on one line (delaying that train 2hrs) so they needed to catch a later train with tight connections at Bercy-Gare de Lyon. But, they made it okay.

We had an excellent time visiting Guedelon. This is a Chateau-Fort which is being built using 14th Century techniques. They started in 1995, so construction has been going 20 years with another 20-25yrs until it is finished. It is self-funded by visitors such as ourselves (300,000 per year).

Cutting and dressing the stone

The workers mostly wear the costumes of the time and use all the old techniques. The only concessions to modernity are hard hats (worn under period felt hats) and some safety equipment. Sheep are shorn and the wool spun to make rope. The Blacksmith hand forges the tools and repairs the worn and broken ones. The trees of the forest are felled and cut. Horses and carts and people are used to transport the materials. The clay, chalk and cement are all hand made. The stone is quarried on the site and cut/trimmed by hand. So, work proceeds at a slow but steady pace.

Construction is in an old quarry and there was careful archeological checking to ensure no prehistoric site was being disturbed. We spent a thoroughly enjoyable and educational morning at Guedelon- something we have wanted to do since 2010.

Best Regards,

David and Penny

The happy couple- on Anja at Migennes

Moving stone, mortar, wood, people

Making the ropesMaking a spikeBuilding a high wall