June 20 2007 Canal du Nivernais

Canal du Nivernais

We decided to go on the Canal du Nivernais instead of continuing up the canal lateral a la Loire. This meant going into the first lock into Decize to stock up on food as we had heard that there aren't many towns at the beginning of the canal with shops. We called into the Crown Blue Hire Marina to get fuel and water, the manager Florian was very helpful in directing us to a shopping centre nearby and the post office as we needed to recharge our french mobiles. We checked on the condition of locks etc on as we didn't want to be held up on the way to Paris and he told us the lock into the town which leads onto the Canal du Nivernais had been closed for 3 days as heavy rain had fallen and the Loire River was running too fast to open the lock. Lucky for us it was open now so we started our journey up the Nivernais.

In May and June here in France the majority of weather has been cool, cloudy and light rain. It was hot in April and most people seem to think that summer has gone.




The Canal passes a mixture of farming vistas

small villages,























Towns on Market day are always interesting.



Chateaus
















a very old fortified farmhouse
















many hire boats.
















and the large towns of Clamecy and Auxerre.



The locks and lock houses were mostly built 1837 but we noticed one built in 1790. The lock houses are rented out or deserted as the lock keepers travel to the locks to work. Some of the houses are gaily painted and have nice colourful gardens, others are deserted and some used as cafes or pottery studios.




In France in very small villages we are always overawed by the size of the churches, many of which were started in the 11th century and have been added to over the centuries they also have wonderful paintings, very old stained-glass windows and statues. We went into this little village of about 25 houses to get a baguette and took these photos of the church.





















At first the Canal has a lot of straight stretches with very low bridges









then at one time it winds around so much that we went 16 k but only 6 k as the crow flies. We go up 25 locks in 56 k and pass through farming country with corn crops and fields of sunflower not quite out and wheat crops that are so thick it looks like one could walk across the top of them.


From 56 k to Baye at 66 k we went through sets of two or three locks together.



Along this stretch we found two cafes at lock houses, one a creperie and the other a café serving great French food.



It was a real bonus, we had the traditional lockkeepers lunch break of one hour when we arrived in time for a set menu of four courses for 11.5 euro.




Here we met a French group on a cycling tour having a great time singing, when they found out we were Australians they sang Waltzing Matilda.



We found the locks to be a reasonable height around 2.5 metres deep but with bollards set about 1 to 1.5 metres from the edge which sometimes made it a bit hard to see where the ropes went onto the bollards.








Helping to wind the locks makes the travel a little faster.











At Baye the scenery changes and we go through three tunnels,


the first 758m, then 268m and 212m.

Surprisingly they have no lights in these tunnels.



In between each tunnel the canal passes through beautiful trees and greenery with waterfalls running down into the canal.





















After the tunnels we enter a series of 16 chain locks in 3200m going down 2.5 m a time, always a good feeling when we reach down locks. We had a lovely peaceful overnight before lock 12














The lock gates are wood and called Bois de Taureaux as they look like bulls horns. Here you can see what a chain of locks is like, when you leave one lock the next is about 300 metres away and the gate is opened ready to go in and start all over again.




On this section there was an enterprising lady driving a van alongside the canal selling fresh baguettes, cheese, ice creams and some groceries.




From 74 k to 114k we pass crops, forests, many Chateaus and we encounter the draw bridges which must be opened to pass through and then closed.





We stayed overnight in a hire boat port at Cuzy where we met 4 Perth people on a hire boat. We all had a great meal together in Flez Cuzy about 70 metres from the canal in the restaurant L'Estaminet, where the owner Valerie was very happy to try her English and gave us a postcard to send back as she put them all up on the wall. In the port there was a large barge alongside an English narrow boat, an interesting boating contrast.




The next day we rode our bikes into Tannay as the Sunday market was on and I wanted some fresh vegetables and a geranium.




We have been in the canal of hire boats and now at Clamency at we are encountering hotel barges. Here we are lining up to go through the lock, first the two hotel barges and then the boats. It took us 90 minutes before we got our turn so it was a slow day.


The scenery is starting to change again and we pass by Limestone cliffs







and we reach Auxerre at the end of the Nivernais.



In Auxerre is a city of several historical churches, a cathederal and a basilica, we followed all the tourists on the walk around the sights and tried the local whites. The Port Acquarelle where we stayed had wifi by connecting to Clicknews so we were able to get our emails once more. Many of the buildings in the old part are the half wood type that we used to think of Tudor but are all over France.