Barge Date:  07-28-2021

Going North, Still Having Fun

We are making progress on the Bourgogne.  We will reach Montbard this week and will likely lay up for a few days.  It is a larger town. Marianne is happy: two book stores. But let's look back at where we have been.

We left Pouilly-en-Auxois and it seems like we have gotten in a routine of doing locks in the morning and exploring in the afternoon. The locks are all down hill and lock travel is quicker in this direction than when coming up. Water seems to exit faster than when it is filling a lock.  Doing 10-12 locks a day when we are moving forward.  One day we did 19 (I am told this as I don't remember). The lock workers have been great and they seem to work well together. They are moving on motorbikes and electric cars.

When we stop for the day we are normally near a small village. Most of these villages must have a history that goes back years and so do the buildings. It is fun to just roam the streets looking for locations that don't show modern "stuff" and take a picture.  This is what we are doing when we snap a picture but you might not get the context by just seeing our photos.

In the village of Marigny-le-Cahouet we were told by a lock worker that there was a chateau that has been in a number of movies. We had no idea where it was and I had to ask a shopkeeper. Straight ahead, bear right at the monument then take the Rue du Chateau. We ended up out in the countryside and woods but found it. Privately owned (it appeared deserted) and not open to visitors.  But we took a number of pictures and then looked at Google Earth for a topside look. Not many people get a moat around their house.

I am guessing this little foot bridge has been here since the Middle Ages.

When I get to take pictures from the barge or walking around doing landscapes it is a shame that you don't get the total view I see in my panorama. The land on both sides of this canal is very beautiful. Always sloping high hills on both sides that show you how it is being used. It is wheat and oat time and sometimes we see the combines and sometimes we see the straw they have made.  The farmers are also making hay. Higher up the slope you see pastures that have been used for hundreds of years occupied by sheep and Charolais cattle. It all goes so well together.

This is France and as we all know the Frenchman is always looking for romance, especially a second or third woman.  This lock worker thinks he can win Marianne's heart by giving her some flowers picked along the canal. You will have to look at her record of the event by tuning in to her collection of pictures and thoughts here. Let me know how it ends.

Regardless of his intentions he and his crew did a great job with the locks.

Since we have been moving the barge this year there has been no wind, until recently.  This can play havoc with getting the barge in through the open lock doors.  More so now since we are always sitting high for these dropping locks thus the wind sees you. One day we were left by the keepers as they went off for lunch. With the wind I was hoping to just blow to a side of the canal and eat lunch too. But the blow was from our stern and trying to get to a side had the barge tipping because of low clearance (we call this water draft). The wind just kept pushing us towards the lock.  I could keep the engine going and control the barge that way but I wanted to eat lunch too. My final decision was to put the bow on the wall to the right of the lock doors and push the stern to the canal side and stake out. Now it is always my hope that when you are within spitting distance to the lock all the bottom gunk will be cleaned out and there will be a clean wall. Not here, at least. But I got the stern close enough to throw over a stake and sledge hammer and tied on.

Now it is at this point I should say that we had been seeing the same couple biking along the canal and had even spoken with them. Belgians. Like others along the canal, seeing a boat use a lock can be interesting so they watched and talked.  Andre (sorry, don't know how to do the accent on this PC) and Benedicte. (boy, could I use that accent with these names).

I spoke with Andre and learned he and his wife are retired and are traveling in a VW van, a hippie van, going from site to site and riding their bikes. Both looked very healthy from this adventure.

So lunch is concluded, the workers have returned and Andre and Benedicte roll up again. I have my doubts about the stern; will it come off the muck or not by pushing with a long pole?  I can't get it to move. Stuck. The bow is no problem as it has swung towards the lock doors. But with the wind still from our stern there will be some questions.  I gave the barge some power, Marianne pushed away with the pole, and we could pull off but the wind wanted to play with us. So with stern free and bow wandering I threw a line to Andre and he was able to pull the bow so that I could go in the lock. Without his help we would have needed to find other helpers. Now Andre and Benedicte can go home to Brussels and come up with an interesting story when someone asks, "What did you do on your vacation?" Thanks to our Belgian friends.  And we did see them again further down the canal.

André and Bénédicte (I did learn how to do those accents)

We are moored tonight in Venarey-les-Laumes. Lock keeper suggested a full day here. Yesterday I took the bike to get some store supplies and today we were to visit the site of the last Gauls vs Romans battlefield. Have your mask? Check. Have the phone? Check. Umbrella and raincoat ? Check. Walk 3km and what do we need? Vaccination stuff.  First time we have been called out. Probably because it was a place with fifty or more people. We had some of what they wanted but not all so we gave up and went back to the boat (after doing some shopping at the Super U). Live and learn.

Here at our mooring there is an interesting barge in front getting a good paint job. Looks nice and then you see the door and the little warning tag. These Dutch. They want to take this boat out where the big waves play. Probably if they roll over they are air tight.

Shoving off in the AM.

Warning sign on door says "To Be Kept Closed at Sea".