On the canal de Garonne

 

 You can imagine our dismay when we arrived back on the boat after a Christmas holiday in Canada - to snow  - and even worse - ICE!

Not at all what we expected - in the south of France! The canal was absolutely frozen for a couple of weeks - strong enought to walk on by all accounts, although we didn't try our luck on that. 

Snow covered ice on the canal.

Shortly after that we discovered the water seeping away from our canal pound (between the lock in front and the one behind us) as there was a fault in a gate which allowed the water to trickle away. It wasn't long before we had to push ourselves further away from the canal bank in order to stay level in the remaining water; I think we may have been resting on the bottom for a short period of time, but as we have a flat bottom, we had no problems. 

Friends in barges just behind us found themselves at quite an uncomfortable angle and had to resort to propping up bed legs and table legs to maintain reasonably horizontal. I  imagine cooking was quite a challenge - things skittering off work surfaces without warning. 

Soon enough we  were back to normal, and even managed to have a few out door coffee sessions and the occasional barbeque in the warm sunshine of early spring.

We have – almost by accident – acquired a “stationnement’ at Caumont sur Garonne, where we headed originally. (Parked up behind our friends Charles and Caroline - originally from the Canadian yacht Itza Purla and who now live on the barge Connie).

The VNF  (Voies navigables de France) who manage and maintain the canals in France decided that all canal users ought to be tracked. (Or possibly realised somewhat belatedly that all the boats that use the canal are a source of revenue. Somebody has to pay for all those trees that have to destroyed and canal banks that have to be replanted.) They came armed with cameras and GPS to take note of who we are and where we were and how long we stayed in one spot. 

Soon we were told we had to move on barges and boats could stay in one place only for 30 days, otherwise they have move 10 meters. Which is usually perfectly OK – except if one gets lazy and wants to stay put. Or if one wants to continue the ongoing work on the boat – as we did, well, as we still do; it is definately more convenient to stay put in the same place, especially as we have a source of electricity and water nearby. 

Sara, Caitlyn and Breanne, Portugal

 We duly applied for a temporary “stationement” (cutting a long story much shorter) hoping we could stay in our customary place for another three months.  When the contract (in triplicate – and in French - who said we’d have a paperless world?) finally arrived several months later - we discovered the authorities (VNF) had awarded us a contract for  five years (with a very modest yearly fee). 

So now we have a base home from home. 

When we wish to move on, we can still untie the lines, fire up the engine and make way, but we are legal on the canal; we also understand that this is also acceptable by our insurance, should we wish to winter over in the same place.

We had some splendid times over the summer.  

My daughter whisked us off on a fabulous holiday in Portugal, where we enjoyed sun, sand and sea together with two of my grandchildren. We wangled a few sailing days between the northern Mediterranean coast of Spain and the fabled island of Corsica with Charles and Caroline on Itza Purla, and even had time to explore some of the mountains and hillside villages on the southern end of that island. 

Sap from fir trees

We’ve also enjoyed a week or two looking after friend’s dogs and cats, getting our ‘pet fix’ where and when we can.

Assorted friends and relatives came to visit us over the months, enjoying, we hope, the local wines along with gourmet treats of delicious breads and cheeses, fois gras, cassoulet and duck, to name a few;  finally cruising friends flew in to assist us on the uphill battle with the locks on our way past Toulouse to this, our winter port on the Canal du Midi, in Cathar country.

Fiona and Chris came to visit last year on the Midi - this year it is all uphill again - just a different canal!

Portugese castle

Markets are particularly popular in the summer time.  Stalls and vans are ranged around or under the ancient covered market squares of Bastide villages, overflowing with local produce (some of it - chickens and rabbits in particular - alive and kicking); fruit and veg, haberdashery and hardware, clothes, shoes and cushions are only a fraction of the enticing articles on display. 

 There is an abundance of foie gras, specialty cheeses including goats cheese, local yogurt, honey, preserves, olive oils, chutneys, locally grown prunes and olives bursting with flavour. 

There are white breads and brown breads, both paysanne and baguette; wines abound – red, white, rose and sparking, in bottles, jugs and boxes, together with Cognac and Armagnac. All manner of fowl (duck and goose being especially popular in the winter season) on display, side by side with vans or stalls offering the juiciest selections of pork, veal and beef (lets ignore the horse and rabbit) and often one can see locally hunted venison, together with sausages, mussels, oysters, fabulous paellas and selections of fish. Pies, pates, chocolates, coffee, teas and flavoured chocolate drinks - the list seems endless.

Cork from a cork tree

Hunting appears to be very popular in our rural area. The local "Chasse" can be heard popping away at anything and everything that moves, and seem to be particularly active on quiet Sunday mornings. A van will rush up and park next to a convenient field gate, and a man will throw open the back door, allowing a number of dogs of mixed breed, size and age to tumble out, each one baying with excitement. Off they go across the fields and farms for a morning's entertainment, and woe betide any stray creature that may cross their path. Rabbit, duck, pigeon, deer are all fair game in season (and "they" say - even songbirds and your favourite pooch may not be immune to the ravages of the hunt). At the end of the season the local hunt group will host a special gourmet dinner - for a mere 20 EU per person one can dine like a king on locally grown venison and game.

In the summer months we can meet with friends several times a week in one or another nearby village square to enjoy a night market, squeezing into a place on a bench or chair at the long tables set  up by the local Marie. 

Live chickens and pidgeons at market

 Various vendors sell food – with choices ranging from mussels, pizza, paella, salads, fries, duck, beef and sizzling pork - with varieties of cheeses, ice creams, strawberries, or fruit bowls to follow. Local vineyards sell their wines, by the bottle or by the glass (a bottle of water can cost nearly as much) and small cups of that strong coffee so beloved by the French are available.

Local musicians and bands arrive with their equipment to entertain (some better than others) and as the night wears on most of us manage to strut our stuff on the dance floor. The French still do ‘tea dances’ – and love to practice their fancy footwork - so often a pleasure to watch. Small children accompany their parents and grandparents, and groups of teenagers may be seen joining the dancing later in the evenings – all comers well behaved and all appearing to have fun.

Vide Grenier are also a common attraction and the one held in our village is especially good.  The term, loosely translated means 'empty your attic'. In Caumont the single road through the village (there is after all only one shop in the village it is so small,) is blocked off in the early hours of a summer morning, ensuring vendors adequate space to set up their wide ranging variety of tables and stalls. Parking thereafter is at a premium and one may have to walk over a kilometre or even from the next village to get to the scene of excitement. 

Barges in Portugal

 Who said one man's trash is another man's treasure? Well - here you may have it - whatever you want. Shoes, jewellery, crockery, books and furniture jostle with toys, house wares, tools, linens, the overflowing tables lining both sides of the street. 

In the bright sunshine deals are struck and happy, smiling customers carry away their booty. At the end of the day children struggle with armloads of toys; baby carriages overflowing with clothes are pushed away; school desks and chairs are lugged off by sweating dads; wine racks and tools, teapots and towels find new homes. Contented stall owners pack up in the waning light, and by the next morning the village has returned to it's normal sleepy routine.

Wild pigs roam Corsican mountains

Between all these wonderful holiday breaks we worked on the boat – painting and grinding, grinding and painting! We now boast fresh new paint on decks, the back patio and on the superstructure. We had already explored the bilges, scraping away what little rust we could find and re-coating the metal with that nasty grungy grease. 

The galley is functional with a new cooker and a household fridge freezer, a tiled shower has been installed, and a washing machine arrived to take up space in the head. Mike continues to work his magic with electrical fittings and water hoses. New cupboards line the walls, fresh paint adorns the bedroom, and still we have plans for more. 

Mountain village, Corsica

By October we were firmly ensconced in the Port of Castelnaudary for the winter season (October through till April 1) where there are several other boats whose owners also live on board permanently. The VNF use the winter months to do repair work on the ecluse gates, and often on the canal banks where they get washed away. 

Molly and  Doug came to visit

Now they also have to do a great deal of work felling and replacing many of the majestic plane trees that line so many kilometers of the winding canal banks, providing much needed shade and whose roots also keep the canal banks strong and solid. The beautiful 200 year old trees have a diseaase - which we are told was brought into the country by American ammunition boxes during the war. 

It will be very sad to see the changes as time progresses, and other less attractive trees spread along the canals.

The Canal du Midi - south at last!

This is what it's all about isn't it?

Gliding peacefully down beautiful shaded canals, supping on good French wine and sampling the glorious array of delicious pate and stupendous selections of cheeses.

 
And are we enjoying it all? A resounding YES.

That is after we have recovered from the blistering heat and being scorched on the lock sides as we negotiate fight against what seems like an endless succession of upward bound locks!

Fi and Christ, stalwart line handlers helping with refreshments

Jumping off the boat to sprint (well - not exactly sprint, but it sometimes feels like a marathon if I get dropped off any distance away from the lock) to find out it there is any chance of us locking through immediately, or if we have to wait until either the downward traveling boats finish footling around, or alternatively, the lock keeper is off because its his lunch hour.

That is one of the least convenient things we have to come to terms with - extended lunch hours in France. And Sunday closing. And Monday morning closing - for the shops I mean.

Here on the Midi the locks (with their lock-keepers) don't open until 9 am, so it makes for a reasonably short day for us - although we are making good  time westward.

After coming off the Rhone at Beaucaire we first negotiated the Camargue country, via the Petit Rhone; past the Etangs where the canal almost becomes part of the sea, separated only by swamp ground and low dykes.

Even those low mud walls were breached in some places, so that one might have paddled across the shallows into the ocean.

Pink flamingos

Here we saw pink flamingos - large flocks wading in the briny water, heads down, foraging greedily for the shellfish they rely on. (Last saw pink flamingos in the Galapagos!).

I'm told there are several hundred different species of birds that visit or live in the area, enjoying the salty water (and I daresay the buggy meals, as I imagine there are lots of mosquitoes here) of these marshes.

Some parts of this canal are of unknown origin, but were once used by Romans and Greeks, salt smugglers and Spanish luggers making their way to and from the The Rhone to Lyon or to ports south in the Mediterranean. Now there is a small amount of commercial traffic, but generally it is all tourist traffic like ourselves.

Etang

The town of Sete hosts a series of water jousting tournaments in August. Long wooden boats have eight rowers and a jouster who stands with his shield and lance with which to knock an opponent into the water. A different jousting competition from those staged for kings and queens on horses, but just as much fun to watch.

This end of the canal (Petit Rhone) is in a sad state of disrepair, and it was quite difficult to find somewhere to stay for a few days while we waited for our visitors to arrive. It seemed that the work of excavating the canal and rebuilding the sides was ongoing for many kilometers.

Fabled white horses and black bulls of the Camargue

I was anxious to see a bull fight - although I am happy to know that here they are not fights to the death, more a display of the famous white horses and stunning black bulls which make the region so famous. Unfortunately we were unable to find such a display - have to wait for a different opportunity!

We found a little area just at the convergence of the canal and the river  Let (les Quatre Canaux) where we could safely tie the boat and also where a car could also park fairly close by. 

Fiona and Chris duly arrived – with numerous and assorted bags and baggage - which they were taking back to their yacht in Asia. 

The first part of the trip was through the etangs close by the sea and soon there was a short sea crossing we had to negotiate - and we were forewarned to be aware of the weather because being so shallow there might be a very quick build up of rough water.

In reality this was an open stretch of water - the Etang de Thau - much exposed to the Mediterranean weather. This is a protected waterway and we were warned not to flush toilets, wash dishes or otherwise create a health hazard to the water - oysters and mussels are grown here, by the ton. Luckily we crossed on a fine day, although rather later in the afternoon than we might have wished.

To the rescue

Shortly after we committed to the short passage we encountered another boat, which, it soon became apparent, was in distress. People on board were waving and shouting and when we cautiously approached they told us their engine had failed.

Being fully crewed (with our visitors on board) we were able divert and take them in tow across to the opposite side. It was almost dark by the time we rafted alongside the little fibreglass tour barge type of boat on the wharf for the night at Maresillan - an unplanned detour, providing a little bit of excitement. Just as well that we could raft alongside as it was too dark to find our way to the canal entrance, and anyway – tourists are not permitted to go at night.

Our next little bit of fun was at the first lock – the infamous Agde Round Lock.


It is almost unique because it is really round, and which allows a boat to turn around, (built in 1876). The fact that it has three sets of lock gates, proved quite confusing as to which side (or curved wall) we could tie against. Good enough for the usual smaller sport boats or even the hire boats, who are generally more manoeuvrable than us, we managed to get a bit muddled.

We survived, and the Bee probably received a couple more bruises, but little did we know what else was in store for us.

Ladder of locks at Fonsérannes

Not just single locks, or even double locks, but threes and fours and once a veritable staircase of seven levels!

This particular "ladder" is particularly popular with the tourists – who all wait to see us getting it wrong. The celebrated ladder of locks at Fonsérannes allows boats to rise 21.5 meters in height over the course of 300 meters. We had arrived at the foot of the locks in the late afternoon and elected to wait until morning to start the climb.

Unfortunately the next morning there was a string of large tour boats and hotel barges that took precedence on the canal, so we had a few hours to wait for our turn. As usual there were lots of camera toting tourists out and about, but we locked up and up and up without incident. Lucky for us we had our crew – we might have had a very different experience!

Originally made up of 9 locks, only 7 are still in service today. Once started up we made good progress, with two people onshore walking the ropes along the side where possible. I don't like to think of how we would have managed with just Mike and me. Going down would be perfectly easy of course, with no high walls to throw the ropes up and over. The picture show the Bee on one side, together with two hire boats.

Aqueduct at Beziers

Not to mention that these locks were all rounded (ovoid) - that is to say that instead of a nice straight flat wall we could lay alongside, these walls are curved - apparently all the better to contain the vicious water pressure, but somewhat disconcerting for us at first.

Remember our barge is almost 17 meters long - and does not bend to fit the walls. By the time our hardworking visitors were due to leave we had it all down to a fine art and could almost manage that casual attitude and relaxed stance that inevitably speaks of absolute confidence born of great experience!

Much depended on where the bollards were placed at the sides – it seemed that they were in the most inconvenient places for us – either too near the foreword lock gates or too far back against the gates at the rear. Either way – the ropes had to be controlled all the time.
By the time or hardworking visitors were due to leave we had it all down to a fine art and could absolutely manage that casual attitude and relaxed stance that inevitably speaks of complete confidence born of great experience! (or so we like to think)

The 240 km long Canal du Midi has over 90 locks, most manned by lock-keepers, especially in the busy tourist season when the hire boats are out in force. We also encountered small bridges, the lowest being less than 3.5 m high, but with curved arches making it even more treacherous for tall craft. 

The Malpas tunnel at Enserune is 160 meters  long but doesn’t present much of a challenge. There are also 40 aqueducts – the longest being 240 meters, traversing roads and rivers. 

The Midi canal was the brainchild of a certain M. Riquet, who wanted to build a transport route between the city of Toulouse and the sea, enabling the local farmers and artisans to boost their markets. The Canal du Midi was built between 1666 and 1668; both men and women dug the 240 kms of channel. At first it was used by small sailing barges with easily lowered masts, bow-hauled by gangs of men; horses were employed to do the towing and then steam tugs came in 1834 which made crossing the Etangs a great deal easier.

Small boat ferries used to  take passengers to Toulouse but at the multiple locks they had to get out, with their baggage, and climb past the locks on foot, in order to board a different boat on the other side.Now of course the traffic is mainly tourist, with only a few commercial barges small enough to make their way under the low bridges.

42,000 plane trees were planted about two hundred years ago, to stabilise the canal banks (also giving shade to the working crews and possibly lessening the evaporation of water off the canal),  but in 2006 a canker stain infection was discovered that is killing the trees.
It is projected that all the trees will have to be destroyed and replaced -  at a cost of 280 million Euro – and to the possible loss of it’s designation as a UNESCO world heritage site. The VNF are busy with chainsaws, cutting and burning the damaged trees, and we are warmed not to tie to roots in the water so as to help prevent the spread of the infection.

Those beautiful water avenues of tall leafy trees will never be the same.

Hard workers

This southern area of France was home to Catharism, a religion first heard of in 11^th century and eventually extinguished by the Catholics, at first by the crusades and then by the medieval inquisition. The famous walled city of Carcassonne was held under siege by (Simon de Montefort) as was the town of Bezier; the religion was finally stamped out in the 14^th century. Cathars were hanged, or burnt at the stake. There are several old fortified castles in the region that sheltered Cathar communities, wonderful places to explore on foot. They are all situated on the top of tall hills.

The nearby mountains of the Pyrenees separate Spain from France – and in Castelnaudary, where we have spent a winter in port, I’m told the accent is heavily influenced by Castilian. Andorra is only a short road trip away, and on a clear day we can see the snow capped peaks of the Pyrenees. Just an hour away to the ski slopes in winter.

Carcassonne

The Bee meandered along the truly beautiful canal du Midi, stopping wherever we wanted for the night – even stopping in an open area so that Mike could rig up the TV and watch a rugby game! Eventually we pulled into Castelnaudary, where we bid Fiona and Chris adieu. We had enjoyed having our crew for company and all their help on the uphill run.

At Castelnaudary other visitors arrived and although we didn’t take the boat anywhere we had the car with us, and could explore some of the countryside, which included a trip south to see the Mediterranean Sea, and a brief stop in Spain before heading back through the mountains.

Circe Sailors

We also managed to arrange a meeting with yet other old friends - again a cruising couple we had sailed with years previously in the Caribbean. By coincidence they were visiting the old walled city and we were able to drive a few miles to meet them.

Carcassonne was first inhabited in about 3500 BC, since then Celts, Visigoths, Gauls, Romans, Saracens and French royalty have all resided in the town; now fully restored, it is a popular tourist site. One can easily imagine knights of old, clad in armour and brandishing swords and shields, clattering up and down the narrow cobbled streets, ducking between the overhanging houses.

Barge with mini on board

Castelnaudary is famous, so we are told, for the French Cassoulet. Personally - I don't find all that greasy duck very appealing, but we  stayed at the port and booked to return the following winter. Our insurance indicates that we should have the boat in a port on the canal or on a stationnement for the winter months. Winter here is from October 1 to April 1.

We had a very pleasant surprise when we discovered yet another couple of cruisers (can't say old cruisers can I? They are younger than we are!) we had sailed with in the Caribbean were due to take a rented boat onto the Canal at the same time as we would be in Port. We had a few enjoyable hours with Brenda and John from the yacht Willow before they took off in the opposite direction.

Castelnaudary

After Touoluse our journey became very easy – going down in the locks was a doddle, especially as we had fewer boats going our way.  Here too, on the Canal Lateral du Garonne, we could control the locks by ourselves using a twisty pole that hangs in the centre of the canal. We motor up to the pole give it a quick twist and hey presto – the lights turn green to signal the ecluse opening. If they don’t turn green  - we just wait a while – usually for another craft to come through and past. No stopping for lunch on this canal!

This canal completes the waterway between the Atlantic (at Bordeaux and the Bay of Biscay) and the Mediterranean. The canal follows the river Garonne quite closely, but the river is very shallow in some areas making it unsuitable for navigation. There is a very attractive bicycle trail which runs conveniently alongside the canal, along with several conveniently placed camp sites and many small Chambres des Hotes and Gites. Great for a get-away-from-it-all holiday.


 

 

Holland, Belgium and northern France

Bees Knees moored near a towpath

It was May and  a glorious spring time when we untied the lines and backed slowly and carefully off the narrow, slightly rickety wooden dock at Jachthaven Roggebotsluis on Drontermeer near Kampen in the Netherlands.

The boat had been thoroughly sand blasted and sported a nice new coat of paint so now looked very smart.

We have extra blue paint for the hull and white paint for the superstructure stowed away below stairs for the paint jobs we plan to do when we are down south. There is a huge cavern under the wheelhouse which will be very useful for storing all that 'stuff' we don’t use all the time. (At the time of review that 'cavern' is getting smaller and smaller - merely a crawl space now)  We managed to get rid of a lot of bric-a-brac from the previous owners and created a bit of space for our possessions.

Glorious swans flying in

We also gave the boat a new name - Tureluur seemed difficult to us - it means I believe, redshank - a wading bird.  Well - to us this iron monster doesn't feel much like a bird.  What we failed to realize however, was that no one apart from those of English background, has any idea what Bees Knees might signify.  I mean - what  is there so special about  the knees of a bee?

Tulips on flower stall

Our berth was very sheltered and quiet we were able to clean up and explore our new water borne home at our leisure. We found most of the things we needed in the town nearby, despite the minor problems of language.   So many people in the Netherlands speak excellent English – putting us linguistic dunces very much to shame. Everyone we met seemed friendly and helpful although the other boat owners in the marina kept to themselves, mainly because they were weekenders and only visiting as it was so early in the season.

Cheese and  more cheese

We were constantly entertained by the bird life on the sheltered waters around the marina.  Flocks of graceful white swans grazed in the shallows just feet away from the boat, and we frequently heard the great whomping sound of their huge wings as they flew in to land on the water nearby. Ducks shyly hid in the reeeds and grasses along the dock shoreline - skittering into hiding with their fluffy specked chicks. Grebes ducked and dived around the boat, appearing in due course with their babies safely stored on their warm feathered backs.  

In the evenings the geese would parade out into the shallow waters, two or three families together, each with an adult at the front and rear of a well ordered line of chicks.

Amsterdam canal

Kampen is a lovely old town on the  lower reaches of the river IJssel, a tributary of the Rhine and which carries a certain amount of commercial barge traffic.  The river flows between what used to be known as the Zuiderzee and the Rhine connecting the Swiss Alps and the North Sea. 

There are several marinas in Kampen and some very beautiful old wooden ships now converted for charter or cruise ships. The most common type (and to my mind the most attractive) are the Tjalk sailing barges – previously used to carry bulk cargo around Scandinavia and across the North Sea, but now widely used for recreation in these northern waters, many converted for liveaboards; I believe some are still raced competitively.

Bike and buggy transport

Nick arrived from Canada as anticipated, (via Iceland for some reason) and Mike started to plan our first passage as we took a few days to acquaint Nick with the area. Amsterdam was only a short train ride away so we spent some happy and interesting hours admiring the city and some of the main tourist attractions there. Nick wanted to see the diamond merchant and Mike wanted to see the red light distract  I was interested in the Anne Frank house.  I find it quite extraordinary that a whole family could remain undiscovered for so long in such a small part of the house and in such a commercial area, right on the canal. It must have been very tedious trying to stay quiet and being unable to go out at all.We also visited the Van Gogh gallery - busy as ever, but such a joy to see the paintings.  

Day sailing

We soon realised that everyone in Amsterdam must own at least one bicycle - the streets are clogged with every size and shape of pedal transport, and I'm sure everyone must own more than one bicycle. I read that there are 600,000 bikes in Amsterdam alone; they stack up by the bus stops and there are special two tier storage sheds at railway stations that always seem to be overflowing; bicycles even have right of way on the roads and roundabouts - ignoring everything else including pedestrians! The streets and bridges over the many canals are very narrow, and parking for cars, at a premium in any city, also costs a great deal here. We saw even the smallest children pedaling alongside a parent on busy roads.

Popular pub

The many canals  in this beautiful old city are only used by tourist boats now, although  they were the main carrier of all traffic some years ago. We thought they were a very attractive sight in the city, particularly when we found a convenient cafe or bar nearby where we could sit and enjoy the sunshine, watch the people and drink really good beer!

We planned a quiet departure, which I am sure went unnoticed by other residents. The river was calm, the early morning bright and clear and the first stage of our new adventure looked promising. We made a careful turn to port outside the shallow marked marina channel and chugged along the well-buoyed river route, keeping watch for the large commercial barges that work the route. 

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Unexpectedly there was a sudden change in the rhythm of the engine noise.

Mike hastily steered closer to the shallow riverbank side of the channel, and slowed the barge. Nick and I hastily dumped the cumbersome and very heavy fisherman's anchor over the front, winding out a length of chain and wire with the ancient hand crank windlass. Then we scrambled to find the secondary anchor - (a new fortress, still packed neatly in it's box,) which we tossed over the back, hoping it would keep us out of the traffic lanes.

Tea house

 Once safe nearer the edge Mike pulled up the large and unwieldy metal lid covering the engine (under the back deck area,) and a horrifying, heart stopping, impenetrable cloud of black smoke billowed out, over and around the boat. 

The pipe where the cooling water entered the exhaust had broken down - rotten through. 

Tied up in Weesp

Nick made a brilliant short-term fix – he finagled a temporary repair to the exhaust elbow using a page from a shiny IKEA catalogue, an old plastic shopping bag, duct tape and string!  With this makeshift bandage in place we cautiously turned and retraced our short route back to the marina and slid quietly back into our familiar slip.   Not the most auspicious start.

Mike was fortunate to be able to arrange an excellent replacement with the helpful marina mechanic and we were very happy to have this newly fabricated elbow installed the next morning - we were on the road again by 10 am – slightly traumatized but ready to face any new challenges.

Market stall

Several attractive anchorages went by as we motored along the quietly flowing river – most already occupied by boats of various shapes and colours, the local population obviously happy to be enjoying the warmth of an early spring.

Eventually we found an appealing little horseshoe shaped island called De Schelp Island, part of a National Park, where we could turn inside the little bay formed by the land on either side and tie up to conveniently spaced bollards. This was our first night on the water.

Wine by the barrel

We soon turned onto the Vecht river,and we motored past well kept windmills and stately homes with manicured lawns and glamorous ‘tea houses’, (in the 17th and 18th centuries, many country estates were built on the banks of the Vecht by rich merchants and administrators from Amsterdam)

 We tied up in Weesp, but discovered  that we had to use the dingy to cover the two meters to shore in order to go into the small town.

Sunny afternoon - tea anyone?

We motored past well kept windmills and stately homes with manicured lawns and glamorous ‘tea houses’, (in the 17th and 18th centuries, many country estates were built on the banks of the Vecht by rich merchants and administrators from Amsterdam).

We stopped alongside the towpath in Leonen and explored the village before finding a cool pub. As this was one of the first deliciously warm and sunny weekends of the year - we were also treated to the company of hundreds of other boating enthusiasts – small runabouts of all shapes, sizes and ages.

Waiting for the small lift bridges to open was sometimes tricky for us as there were so many other boats around; we had to maintain a stationary position to keep our place in the line of vessels waiting to pass through; avoiding backing or bumping into anyone else proved to be quite a challenge with over 16 meters to manage and a back end that doesn’t respond quickly! It appeared that almost every little lift bridge has its own operator, and each one liked to hang out a wooden clog on a piece of string, hoping (or expecting) that any passing boat would contribute a few Euro. 

Commercial barge in a hurry

The Amsterdam Rhine canal presented the next trial. Over 18,000 tons of goods are moved daily in two streams of continuous    traffic by huge, fast moving barges along this canal, and we were a little nervous about where we would fit into this apparent maelstrom of fast-moving and relatively unwieldy traffic. 

These commercial craft may be just one fast moving vessel or two or three barges linked together and pushed by a tug to make a leviathan craft.  Often crewed by families they frequently carry at least one car on the deck. We've seen playpens and bicycles, small boats and even a second car on some of the large commercial vessels.  

Lift your car ashore here

There are many stopping points on the canals where a car can be lifted onto dry land with their own special boat cranes. 

Mike had heard that Sundays on the canal were less hectic, so we duly made another early start and motored 10 km along the Amsterdam Rhine canal to the Merwedekanaal with absolutely no problems and then enjoyed the relatively calm backwaters.

Nick left us in Gorinchem towards the end of the Merwedekanaal in the southern part of Holland and flew back to Canada (via Iceland again). Before he left he very generously treated us a to very attractive teak table and matching chairs – just right for relaxing with sundowners on the back porch!

Tourism office Den Bosch

We stopped briefly at Heusden on the Meuse (or Maas)when the wind was blowing extremely hard. So hard that we nearly lost the dingy when it went overboard! We walked around the little fortified village - quaint houses and a small market square.

We carried on along the Meuse before turning into the small inlet canal at at 'S Hertogenbosch on Zud Willemsvaart, where we had arranged to meet our cruiser friends Gertrude and Nick from Tartufo, and had a couple of days enjoying the fortified town.

The Zuid-Willemsvaart canal is a   hand dug canal in the southern part of Holland providing a shortcut with the Meuse river between the cities of Maastricht and s' Hertogenbosch. Zud Willemsvaart was a particularly beautiful canal and traveling through this area was glorious.

On this journey we watched as the countryside changed from the flat open spaces in Holland, through dairy or agricultural landscapes, to high hills and dense forest.  

 The locks had become smaller; frequently we have spent days and night on our own, sometimes ‘wild mooring’, pounding our long metal stakes into the grassy riverbank and mooring for a night, or fastening onto handy bollards set on a convenient wall in a small village community

Citadel at Dinant

Outside the town of Dinant stands "Bayard rock", a large cleft rock formation Bayard Rock was a natural barrier against invaders, but somebody cut  a road through it so the local people could get past.

Fantastic Frites at Fumay

When we were moored at Rekem by lock Sluizen Lanaye on the Albert Canal in Belgium we were approached by a large fast rubber dingy which held several heavily armed people.Two requested to come aboard and we realised they were Belgian police.  This was to be our welcome to Belgium?

 It turned out that there was nothing to worry about as they were only conducting an inspection of safety gear. Luckily we had the required amount of fire extinguishers and life jackets and so forth. Mike was worried they would ask for his radio license - he has one of course - but where is it? Somewhere in Canada probably.

Other vessels in the lock with us

The Meuse is navigable over much of it's length: In the Netherlands and Belgium, the river is a major inland navigation river, connecting the Rotterdam-Amsterdam-Antwerp port areas to the industrial areas upstream.

Our next challenge was those massive locks on the Meuse – not an entirely happy experience for us.  We found the process to be quite an ordeal, especially when, to our consternation, we found that we often had to lock in with up to 12 others; at one lock there were two big barges rafted together and 10 sport boats besides us! Somebody rafted to us (it is no surprise that the expensive ‘sport’ boats - fiberglass - with their fancy and no doubt expensive paint jobs – don’t offer for us to raft to them!)  We also discovered that many of these northern boaters have no manners – it is each man for himself and an elbows-out race to get the best available wall space in the lock. 

Market day in Liege

On at least two occasions we have been first in line waiting for the lock to open, and others, more aggressive and more maneuverable than we are, have gone ahead and tied up before us and in front of us – leaving us no space at the rear, so that we have had to motor ahead and try to get a rope on a bollard in a comparatively small space close to the forward lock gates. As Mike was still learning the characteristics of handling our particular ‘scheep’ (is this how they say it in the Netherlands?) and finding the responses and peculiarities far different from our beloved CC, we have, on occasion, lost a bit of paint here and there! (Not to mention frayed tempers and a generous smidgen of colourful language).

Liege was busy on the Saturday we passed by – local market stalls stretched along the riverside street for about 5 kilometers – the gaily coloured awnings and tents beckoned enticingly, but, knowing there would be many, many other markets in the future, we continued on our way.

 

Mooring on the wall in Namur

We paused for a couple of welcome rest days in Namur, on the Meuse River in Belgium. We found a long dock in Namur opposite the marina Port du Plaisance d'Ames and tied up for a night or two after passing Liege. Here we saw some real Dutch barges - not the common 'sport boat' that we had become accustomed to being around. And - even luckier - a couple of UK registered barges - so, quick as a flash - Mike was off and chatting! We explored the town later that day, admired the citadel, and next morning - set off again.

But when we left, when we were waiting for the gates to open in the small lock, still in sight of the small town, Mike noticed that the cooling water from the engine had stopped gushing out at the back of the boat. 

Small lift bridge in Holland

The lock-keeper was friendly enough and said we could tie up on the other side for a short time while we investigated the problem, but when we found the impeller had broken, he told us to move on to the next marina - which - joy of joys, was just a few hundred meters off.  
 

Even better, we were soon tied up a big black monster barge – the owners Laurence and Fred welcoming us and offering their amazing help with repairs! Laurence and Fred turned out to be the best. Fred knew all there was to know about boats, and Laurence spoke excellent English.  How lucky could we get? 

Even luckier it seemed – they  made numerous phone calls to find a new impeller impeller for us, as well as fitting it - quite a task in the confines of the engine area. They took us shopping in their car and even invited us to join them and their friends for an impromptu sardine barbeque on the barge pontoon! 

This was our very first sampling of the barge community spirit – something we missed when we quit the cruising circuit. What a cheering experience!

From Givet, the river is canalized over a distance of 272 kilometers. The canalized Meuse used to be called the "Canal de l'Est — Branche Nord" but was recently re-baptized into "Canal de la Meuse". The waterway is used by the smallest barges that are still in use commercially (almost 40 meters long and just over 5 meters wide).


At Givet in the Ardennes on the Border between Belgium and France we purchased our French Vignette – a whole 400 Euro - which allowed us to cruise through France for the season (April through October). It seemed expensive but generally speaking the locks are in great shape and we had superb lockkeepers – all very patient and pleasant.   There is another great fortress here.

Soon after entering France we entered our first tunnel – the Tunnel de Ham, 565 or so meters long – that has the reputation of being somewhat narrow and difficult to navigate. We (the Bees Knees) are narrow and low – so although we were very cautious, we had no problems. Maybe those annoying sport boats reported the difficulties! 

We enjoyed a great meal from a chippy van at Fumey, where a lot of cheery cyclists whom we had seen earlier in the day on the canal paths also turned up to enjoy the beautiful sunshine. Fumay is sometimes known as "The City of Slate" due to the slate mining which brought prosperity to the town in the nineteenth century.

magnificent Ducal square

Charleville Meziers was another pretty place located on the banks of the Meuse river. We had a couple of days here - possibly because the locks closed.  Here we saw a terrific statue of a Charles de Gonzague – a real French cavalier with feathers in his hat and a magnificent swagger – just like my impression of how the three musketeers must have appeared.   

We admired the beautiful ducal square where the restaurants had conveniently set out tables and umbrellas. We also managed to buy a SFR dongle for wifi here, because we were having difficulty finding Internet access – and we all know that we can no longer exist without the Internet! Unfortunately the wifi is extraordinarily slow in France – very frustrating and bothersome.

Cavalier statue

We left first thing in the morning to discover that we would have to wait for the lock to open at 9am - much later than we preferred.

Reims Cathdral

In due course we passed Point-du Bar, where the canals divide and where we turned onto  the Meuse canal. We passed  Chesney and Chateau Percien on our way to meet friends in Reims.

Leaving the Meuse we entered the Canal des Ardennes for 38 km. This was very narrow and there was a chain of locks going down - we negotiated 27 locks in one day! So we were happy to leave it and enter the Canal de l’Aisne a la Marne, which took us further towards the  City of Reims.

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Debbie and Brian, cruiser friends from our days in the Caribbean arrived in Reims a day or so before we pulled in and as Debbie is fluent in French they were able to arrange a very opportune “couple up” to a large live aboard ex commercial peniche on the town dock. Places to stay were very limited in Reims, and even the small marina did not have accommodation for a barge of our size. 

After a couple of dull and drizzly days when we shopped by bus, first for a bed sofa at IKEA (only to find it would never get through our narrow wheelhouse doorway); then to admire the truly beautiful and ancient Cathedral where over the centuries numerous Kings of France have been crowned; finally to buy and sample some delicious local champagne. We were in the very heart of champagne country after all!

Some of the lock walls show signs of age

We proceeded to treat our visitors to an unparalleled day of canal cruising – the wettest, coldest day imaginable, with several upward (and therefore more strenuous) locks to negotiate. The weather did eventually improve, but those first hours were probably the most miserable of our entire trip south. 

Debbie and Brian certainly earned their stripes on that stretch, bounding up ladders, hauling ropes and managing all the galley work – and we vote that they can come back anytime. (They probably won’t risk it!) They left at an ungodly hour at Challons sur Marne one morning to catch their train to Paris and we continued past Conde sur Marne to Joinville along the Champage and Bologne canal.  Here we joined the Canal Lateral a la Marne taking us to Vitry-le Francois, where there is another junction between the Canal du la Marne au Rhin and the Canal de la Marne a la Saone.

The next 224 km on the Canal de la Marne a la Saone led us up in a succession of locks to Langres where there was a fortified town on the hilltop (possibly founded in the second century) 

Entry to the tunnel de Balesmas

We had - amazingly - free electricity and free water at the dock, but only paused overnight before making our way onwards to the summit where there was a long, damp and shadowy tunnel. 

The Tunnel de Balesmas is 4820 meters long at about 340 meters above sea level. The canal rises (or falls) 239m through 71 locks between Vitry and Langres.  This is also the highest point in the watershed between the Mediterranean and the English Channel. Boats can only travel one way at a time, and it can be a long wait for somebody coming the other way.

There was a moment or two of confusion when we arrived at the entrance and discovered there were no signal light to tell us if the way was open for us; we were accustomed to lock lights which indicated red for stop and wait and green for go ahead. Another boat (French) joined us but they hadn’t a clue either! Just as we were about to set off down the very narrow entrance way to the tunnel we noticed a big light shining at us – so wisely, it transpired - decided to wait until the oncoming boat went by. Soon  we were off down the other side of the hills – 43 lovely locks where it was so easy to go down, downward to the river and Heuilley sur Saone. 

Most of these particular locks are not automated; previously we had been equipped with transponders for the previous smaller locks. Just press a button on the gadget when you approached and hey presto! The lock lights said stop or go! In this section f the canals we had lock keepers to accompany us, often zipping between each lock on small scooters.  These lock-keepers were mostly students (what a great holiday job) and we enjoyed talking to them while we waited for the locks to fill. 
 
Going up in the ecluses can present some difficulty; Mike had to learn how to place  the front of the barge just at the ladder so that I could climb up to manage the ropes. The ladders are often very slippery and slimy and can present quite a challenge. On other locks there is a long rod that one has to get alongside in order to push it up and activate the locks system. By chance  the temperature had risen into the mid 20’s, and the sun was shining!Next thing you know it will be sunstroke!

Auxonne is a small town with an interesting history - it was here that Napoleon first learned his profession at the military academy in the 18^th century. We tied to the town steps for the night and walked around the fortified walls of the old buildings. There is also a good marina here – a place where one can winter over, although I could imagine it gets quite chilly as it is still quite far north where the water freezes. The river is canalized and very narrow for quite a distance after Auxonne so we were lucky not to encounter any traffic coming towards us.

St Jean- de-Losne on the Saone is said to be the barge capital of France. There is a hire boat base; two reasonably well stocked ship chandleries and two large marinas.  Once again we tied to the town steps (only yards away from a convenient restaurant and even more useful – a good launderette) When we explored we saw innumerable barges of all shapes and sizes and in various conditions in the marinas. 

Lyon

 Bastille day found us at a small yacht club at St-Germain-au-mont-d’or on the river where terre was a pontoon conveniently placed so that we could just motor up and tie up. We were invited to join in the celebrations; a few local boats, mainly very small yachts, were going to the nearby town for  festivities and fireworks, but we declined the friendly offer. We saw them go but didn’t hear them return – maybe they are still partying! But we did join in for aperitif at the clubhouse earlier in the evening. Very nice!

Lyon was our next port of call - and we were lucky to be able to go into the small town marina - a new construction. We had to phone ahead – luckily the young port captain spoke excellent English – and had the barrier opened so we could get into the enclosure.

Marina in Lyon

Once tied up we were able to look around, and admire the local architecture. It seems that the current mayor has decided to clean up the old docks area, and modern buildings surrounded us, mostly apartment buildings, although there was an admirable amount of green space interspersed amongst the various structures. 

What was very interesting however, was the fact that all the buildings were clad in different coverings – stainless steel, copper, wood, ceramic tiles, pressed concrete – an impressive variety on buildings that were also designed slightly differently. In the middle of one section I found a little park area that had raised garden boxes where the residents planted their own vegetables or flowers. It was all very new and we didn’t see a great many people (probably all at work), but at least the design of the area made it an attractive place to live. 

Traboules abound in these houses

During World War II, Lyon was a centre for the occupying German forces forces as well as a stronghold of the resistance. The traboules (secret passages) through houses enabled the local people to escape Gestapo raids. It is a World Heritage Site. 

Lyon was first a Roman colony ( taken over from a Gaul hill fort settlement,) Much later during the French revolution the city was under seige for 2 months before giving in to the Revolutionaries, and 2,000 people were subsequently executed.

To the west is Fourvière, known as "the hill that prays". This is the location for the highly decorated Basilica of Notre Dame de Fourviere, the palace of the Archbishop, the Tour metallique (a highly visible TV tower, replicating the last stage of the Eiffel Tower) and a funicular railway on a steep hill.

Barge garden

We took the speedily and convenient city tram into the town (actually within walking distance) and strolled through the large main square and across the bridge over the Rhone to the little funicular train that climbs a steep hill; we explored the remains of the roman amphitheater, glanced through a splendid twin towered church and then continued on to the interesting old town area.  

 This area is a fantastic maze of tall buildings divided by small cobbled streets, entirely unspoilt by modern contrivances. Here in days gone by business was conducted in the warehouses on the ground floors and the people lived on the remaining three or four levels above the emporiums. Some doorways had special plaques which indicated that we could explore the old courtyards, with doors leading to various cellars or corridors and hidden passageways and looked up to the various windows and balconies. It was easy to see why the wartime resistance movement had their headquarters here – they would have been able to disappear into this rabbit warren without trace, and they would have had little difficulty to find several ways in and out, protected no doubt, by the residents.

Disaster - off the main channel

The Rhone and the Saone rivers converge to the south of the historic city centre, and all too soon we were off again, past the port area and onto the fearsome Rhone river.

Once again we shook off the mooring lines and made for Vallence on the Rhone River. We wanted to be there in good time because Sara was coming to visit with my granddaughters Caitlyn and Breanne.  by amazing co-incidence we met a yacht we had seen in Australia - they told us the current at some of the locks made them slow down to  one  knot or so

The current in the river was fair – no faster than anticipated, although we had to be careful when we eventually turned across the mainstream to go into the marina. We did see other boats slipping sideways in the relatively strong current, only just managing to stay within the marked entrance channel.

After Sara's visit, we tuned into the weather, and to a website that tells how much water is going downriver. We wanted to be sure that the Mistral wasn't blowing - the wind that travels from the north increasing in strength and making travel for barges like us increasingly difficult and even dangerous.  

We stopped overnight at the City of Popes - Avignon – and saw the famed Pont – now only half of the original bridge. The arched Pont St Benezet was once extremely long, reaching from Avignon to the Tour Philippe le Bel over a kilometer away at  Villeneuve.  

The song is about dancing on the ‘island’ across the river from Avignon, under (sous) the bridge not on (sur) ‘le pont’. 

The Pope left Rome in the early 1300's and went to Avignon, where he built the amazing palace and walled town, now a maze of streets behind massive defensive walls and an annoying traffic and parking problem.
The Rhone is one of Europe’s greatest rivers: in size, in power and in the commercial traffic it carries. Conditions can be difficult at times (for example when the Mistral blows) and impossible at others (during the winter-spring spate, when alpine melt-water feeds into the river) and there have been times when even commercial traffic is stopped.

There are few places for a vessel of our size to stop along the river and if the wind is blowing any riverside mooring can become unpleasant.  We were advised to wait for any Mistral to blow itself out; this could take 3 or more days. A southerly wind (not unheard of) will also kick up the river surface, wind against current, making headway uncomfortable to say the least.

If there is a lot of current in the river, that too can make a small barge's journey difficult, as keeping control with the current going with a flat bottom boat is just plain impossible.  

The effect of the current flow is affected by the width of the river or canalised section. The current is strongest in the centre of the river channel, lowest at the edges due to friction effects, but the  narrow canalised sections can also be swift flowing. The river’s power is used at each lock/barrage to produce hydro-electricity and the river is the location for a number of power stations and wind farms. 

VHF #20 – 23m rise/fall.

Our passage downriver was relatively uneventful. we managed to find somewhere to stop each night, sometimes at the lock gates. We passed miles and miles of vineyards, carefully tended and neat. Somebody told me once that it takes one vine to make a bottle of wine - there must be a great deal of wine out there!

The locks here are massive, as usual, precedence is given to commercial shipping, but we were rarely held up, and often found ourselves locking by ourselves. The Bollene is the deepest in Europe at 23 m. although the other locks vary at 10, 12, 14, 16 meters. Each lock is equipped with bollards that are set into the walls and move up or down with the water, so it was comparatively simple for us to approach a bollard, for me to get the front rope on and for Mike to motor up a little in order to get the aft rope onto the same bollard. We were often on our own in the locks but there was always more than enough room for any other craft going the same way.

More to come soon) in the next blog page

Exited the river at Beaucaire down the Petite Rhone stopped at St Gillies not far from the ecluse