Our first two weeks in France were anything but auspicious.
It had rained almost non-stop day after day. Last year it was so dry that
canals were closed because there wasn’t enough water and now they were
closed because there’s too much! Quelle
domage!
French bureaucracy raises its silly little head as always
when it comes to getting connections to the internet. You need either a French
bank account or a French Visa card to buy a monthly contract and of course to
get a French bank account you need a French address along with completing a
multitude of forms and references. We’d been dealing with Bouygues, as we had
their dongle from 2 years ago, but even they threw up their hands in
frustration and sent us off to SFR, a competitor. So we now have a mobile
connection – not as good as Wifi but better than nothing. We can reload by
going to a store and buying more time like you do with a prepaid phone. It
means access isn’t as reliable but it’s better than waiting for free wifi cafés which are not usually available
in small towns and villages. However parts of the Nivernais don’t even have
mobile phone service so our communications will be spotty at best!
As always we enjoyed our brief stay in Auxerre – what a
lovely city. We met a very nice couple from near Lewes, Sussex, where Phil was
born. They are heading south to the Midi as well, so we hope that we’ll run
into them on occasion. While in Auxerre we also reconnected with Wendy and
Roger (our friend Helen’s brother and wife) and had a lovely visit over several
glasses of wine! They live on a really awesome barge – all amenities and then
some! They are mostly permanently moored
in Auxerre with summer cruises and visits off the barge to a second home in
England. I want to be adopted!!!
Stuart and Angela Farrar
from Lewes
Saying goodbye to
Auxerre
They’ve closed a section of the Nivernais canal where it
meets the Yonne river as the currents are so strong; it’s too dangerous to open
them to pleasure boats. So instead of spending our 43rd anniversary
imbibing at Deux Pieces – a Michelin starred restaurant where we ate last year,
we ate on the boat. The upside was not having to stagger back to the boat – I
just had to crawl into bed while avoiding bumping my head on the door sill. We
ended up sitting in Chatel Sensoir for 4 days but it is a pleasant little town
with at least a cafe and food. No internet access however. That’s a bummer!
Chatel Sensoir – view
from the moorage
When we finally were able to leave Chatel, we made our way
to Clemecy and we did get to eat at our favourite restaurant. We had an
absolutely lovely time – great food and only ½ bottle of wine this time!! The
restaurant only seats 20 people and the chef is great. A delight for the eye as
well as the stomach. The hostess is the chef’s wife and she is a real charmer.
Two other Canadian couples from North Vancouver were there and the hostess
regaled us with the history of the building – it used to be a bank and there is
a tunnel in the basement leading to a vault.
Deux Pieces
Amazing appetizer – 3
scrumptious sensations
Charolais filet with
Burgandy wine reduction – yum, yum!
Dessert – heaven!!!
As we left to head south, we enter a part of the Nivernais
Canal that we haven’t travelled before. In my mind, it is prettier than the
section from Auxerre to Clemecy - but that’s just me! The North Van couple were
videoing the canal for a promotion for Le Boat rental company and were asked to
do the northern section. Interesting! The added feature of this section –
Clemecy to Baye – is that it is all uphill, or as we boaters like to call it –
upstream with the emphasis on UP. Multitude of locks – really hard work.
The entrance to the
“new” part of the Nivernais
Charlolais country –
boeuf on the hoof!
June 1, 2012 will remain indelibly etched in my memory
forever. If you think 16 locks in 3 ½ kms looks scary on the navigation chart –
you should experience it in person!! There was very little cruising between
locks – few hundred metres at most so there was no break. It must be done in
one day as a crew follows you to prepare the locks and there is absolutely no
place to overnight. My arms now have muscles that it didn’t know where even
there! The journey was compounded by the engine overheating so we had an
unexpected stop in one of the locks while it cooled down. To top the day off –
and who doesn’t relish the icing on a cake?? – we had 3 tunnels at the very
end. But 2 were 212 and 268 metres long respectively and the last was 758
metres. They are so narrow that boats can only go in one direction so you have
to wait for the tunnels to be clear before you are allowed to set off. There is
no lighting so while Phil steered (only bumping the side once!) I was down
below with a hand held spot light to light the way. We were never so glad to
see the end of a day in our 3 years of cruising. Thank God we don’t ever have
to do that again! The bad news – in Baye no restaurants or stores; the good
news – it’s all downhill for the next few weeks!!!!!
One of the lock crew
to help us - Phil keep your eyes on the canal!
Beautiful cruising
Entrance to the first
tunnel
End of the day at
Baye!!!!
We are looking forward to the next and final part of the
Nivernais and then both the Canal Latéral
à Loire and the Canal du
Centre as we head to Chalon-sur-Saône
– a major milestone on this year’s cruising agenda. But that’s many weeks of
cruising!
Until then – love
to all
The Captain and
the ‘much skinnier but hard working’ Crew
