Saturday 30th June 2018 St-Leger-sur-Dheune to Chagny My other half made us a chocolate, peanut butter, plant protein smoothie for breakfast. Then my friend and I went to look for a pair of sunglasses as hers had broken. Even if I’m trying hard not to shop I’m more than happy to help someone else shop. We had a little walk around town and along the canal. We wanted to make the most of her time on the waterways. It’s always nice to experience a French market. Sunday was market day in Chagny. We also wanted to go back to Santenay. Last year we hired bicycles at St-Leger-sur-Dheune and cycled there. Cycling is not for everyone. Our bums were stiff and sore after that day out. This time we decided to boat to Santenay, tie up and have a nice lunch there. Then head to Chagny for the night. The temperatures were around 36’C but with almost no wind it felt like 50’C. It’s quite debilitating. My lipsticks had melted and were no longer usable.
Vineyards in Santenay
We got going around 10.00am and my sunscreen was already streaming down my face. No point in even trying to apply more so I wore my huge big hat. This is a lovely stretch of waterway. We found a shady spot with bollards a short way from Santenay. A few boats had already tied up there and people were swimming in the canal. A kind woman from the boat in front helped us with our ropes, told us how to get to Santenay and also showed us a thing that dispenses spring water hidden in a bush. Without her we would never have known. It’s a metal thing painted green that looks a bit like an ancient fire hydrant. You turn the top and delicious, cold spring water gushes out. One chap was dowsing himself in this water. Maybe it even had healing properties?
The heat drove people indoors
There is a fabulous place in the town square in Santenay that specialises in salads. We went straight back there and all had a delicious salad and a glass of Burgundy wine. Followed by equally delicious sorbets and coffees. Then walked the 1.5 kilometres back to the boat, untied and headed toward Chagny.
The marina in Chagny is nice and new. Jettys with fingers and the basics – electricity and water. No WiFi or ablution facilities. Our bill for the night came to €15.60. Only thing is it’s right across a massive 24-hour factory. Not too noisy but not a pretty place to stop. It looks like they make roof tiles or bricks. We took a walk up to Chagny and it was obviously the French were playing a match in the 2018 Soccer World Cup in Russia. People were at bars and pubs with French flags painted on their faces. We had a drink each and some frites and then back to the boat for more salads, this time on the fore deck.
Friday 29th June 2018 St-Leger-sur-Dheune We had a nice slow start to the day. My better half wandered down to the Locaboat office which is also the Capitainerie and got WiFi passwords and a code for the amenities. St-Leger-sur-Dheune has lovely clean amenities, excellent WiFi and a helpful Madame Capitain who spoke excellent English. We had to move our boat a short distance so that a few hotel boats could turn around. I cleaned up inside of the boat and he washed down outside. Since we had WiFi on board I took most of the day out catching up on work.
Two coach train arrives with a friend
My friend was due early evening. We popped out late afternoon to the supermarket and did a bit of shopping. Dropped that off at the boat and went to the same lovely Bar come Coffee Shop we’d been to the previous year. It’s over the bridge in the direction of the supermarket on left hand side. We sat on the pavement outside. My phone instantly connected and we did a bit of sharing photos and contacting people over a glass of wine. My friend texted to say she would be late. The driver absconded in Dijon and they had to find another one. She finally pitched up on a teeny tiny two-coach train. So cute. We walked her back to the boat.
St-Leger-sur-Dheune
As we turned on the water pump I heard a dripping sound. My other half always says I can hear a gnat fart. I insisted there was something wrong and located the area in the boat where the noise was coming from. Turns out the water pipe had come loose at the hot water cylinder and was pumping water into the bilge. Fortunately my better half has gotten into the habit of turning off the Water Pump when we leave. After our epic disaster in St-Vitry-le-Francois, one of us has learned a valuable lesson. He refitted the pipe but wanted to do a bit of pipe replacing and refitting as soon as we had time and access to a decent Bricolage (harware shop).
Sigh! A boaters work is never done.
After all that stress we had to have a glass of rose on the back deck. Then a big fat salad. And chatted until nearly midnight. It was just to hot to go inside the boat. It had been days on end of hell hot temperatures. No matter how many drapes we placed over the boat to create shade, it was still hot.
Wednesday 27th June 2018 Genelard to Blanzy We shared the locks with a couple from Germany. Fortunately the bollards are easy to see. And to reach. The first lock from Genelard went fine but the next few locks are set so the water flows in really fast. Not exactly expecting that, the couple in the other boat and ourselves were a bit unprepared and our boats lurched violently. It was a decidedly breezy day which wasn’t helping one bit. We had to keep the radar arch and back awning down due to the low bridges but resolved to drop the front awning in the locks as it was behaving like a sail, catching the wind and pushing our boat about. I would have preferred us to keep the radar arch in storage while we boated in France as taking the thing up and down every day and then stepping over it while juggling ropes was a right pain. But I’m not the captain.
As luck would have it a new type of grass cutter was busy at the third lock of the day, grinding away at growth next to the canal. I’ve never seen so many different contraptions and devices to remove grass as I had the last few days.
Arriving in Montceau-les-Mines
The wind was also welcome as temperatures were above 30’C – peaking at 35’C in the forthcoming days. There are three lift bridges just before the marina at Montceau-les-Mines which don’t operate during lunch time. Straight after lunch we passed through them. They must have cameras or sensors as you don’t do anything to trigger them. And then we saw a newly renovated marina. It looked amazing. All the forsaken boats were gone! Lovely new jettys. Probably had WiFi. We briefly considered changing our plans and stopping there but decided to stick with our original plan.
We arrived in Blanzy and realised where the dead beat boats had gone. Blanzy! I will never understand why these boats that are rusted, covered in black mould, rotten wood trimmings and curtains, have not seen an owner in yonks and not paid their licenses in decades – are allowed to hog prime mooring places marked on the maps for visitors of the waterways. It makes no sense.
Marina at Montceau-les-Mines
They are costing potential income as they don’t bring visitors, they detract from a place as they are an eyesore and they don’t pay toward the waterways. Proper moorings designed for visitors should have a maximum 3-day stay and then boats must move on. Or go where boats go when they are no longer useful or loved. If it’s a renovation project, it belongs in a boatyard and not on the waterways. If a boat is not being used, it must be scrapped. Simple.
And while I’m at it. Another thing that irks us is huge big barges that tie up permanently in these places. Blanzy had a barge that took up 40% of the available space. Naturally they put the usual A4 paper “hand-made notice” ordering the rest of us boaters not to go anywhere near “their” plug point or boat. I’ve seen boats put up chevron tape between bollards or paint the quay with their boat name so visitors can’t tie up. If people want to live on the waterways I can completely understand that. But then they must invest in bollards and an electricity point for their boat further along. Not take over what precious little space there is for visitors. Rant over.
Deadbeat boat in Blanzy
There’s a plethora of shops about a half an hour walk back in the direction of Montceau-les-Mines including a huge E Le Clerc supermarket. We took our trusty wheeler and did yet another shop up at ALDI. How does a couple get through so much food? Then we took a gander into Blanzy to see what it had to offer. On the same side at the mooring was a pizza place and a couple of bars. We went all the way to the top and no-one knew of a place where we could get WiFi. My better half suggested we try the bar on the other side of the canal. Yes they could help us out with WiFi. And for free.
I asked for a glass of red wine and the woman serving us said this region had particularly good white wines and she would like me to try one. She was right. My better half and I had a different white after that, this time a Chablis. Also excellent. We feared 3 wines and 1 beer off-the-menu might be a bit expensive but it came to €9.50. This lady was so helpful. She gave us tourist info leaflets in English and loads of tips.
Thursday 28th June 2018 Blanzy to St-Leger-sur-Dheune This was going to be a heavy boating day – 27 locks and 28 kilometres. We knew that. Since we were meeting my friend in St-Leger-sur-Dheune, we wanted to make sure we got there. And needed a bit of time out before she arrived. The great place across the canal opened at 07.00am so I nipped over for a quick coffee with my laptop to do a bit of banking and last minute communication. She even had decaf coffee. Have to love that! I suggested she promote her WiFi to waterway users but unfortunately – to conform with French legislation – she has to do a whole bunch of things she’s not willing to do.
And then we set off. I’m not sure if it’s typical of local weather patterns or the weather was unique the last few days. The hotter it got, the windier it got. This was a decidedly brisk day. Trees were heaving and there were little waves on the canal. Thank God I didn’t have to drive our boat. We had all the gear down so nothing could blow. And kept the engine running in the locks to help hold the boat in place. An old school lockie pitched up as we got going and popped up at each lock. He did have to make a few things work, that should have worked, but didn’t work. Like open a lock or close it. Or open the paddles. He would quietly pop inside the lock house or pick up this remote control thing and wiggle at controls.
Starting the descent
What does an old school lockie look like? They have a bit of an ageing rock star look about them. And wear full VNF outfits. They’ve seen it all and have an unfazed demeanor. They know when to arrive and what isn’t going to work. They make it all happen with minimal fuss. But they also don’t fall over themselves to help with ropes in a lock. These locks were also filling hellava fast and that, combined with the wind, was turning an already busy boating day into a stressful one.
At our fourth lock the same lockie was quietly removing vast piles of grass built up in the lock and observed us. I saw more VNF staff and vans rocking up. Much chatting between them and our lockie. I suspect they were engineers. They all stood and watched us. I couldn’t help but wonder what was being discussed. It was all in French so we would never know.
Local architecture
We climbed 17.5 metres in the locks to Montchanin which is the summit of this area. You can see the etangs (resevoirs) which feed the canals as you pass. And we dropped 66.9 metres down by the time we got to St-Leger-sur-Dheune. Some of the locks on the other side of Montchanin are deep. Montchanin marina is as awful as we remembered it from the previous year. Dead beat boats galore, not only tied up but toppled over on the banks. Plus old cars and anything you can think of wrecked and decrepit all lying around in a mess. I would call that a junk yard, not a marina.
A hire boat full of Germans joined us as we approached our 20th lock of the day. As we got closer to the lock we realised the lights weren’t on. We’d learned not to go in and hope for the best. Instead my husband tried to hold the boat in the howling gale and phone the Help Centre. The woman who answered didn’t understand a word we were saying.
Why would we phone the Help Centre if we didn’t need help? Complete waste of time. The Germans climbed off their boat, walked to the lock house and pushed the emergency button. Then phoned. Then pushed the emergency button again. And phoned again. We waited 45 minutes for the lights to finally come back on.
Huge Dutch barge coming through
At the very next lock there was more commotion. The VNF staff had all rocked up there. Fortunately a young lockie popped over to explain that two humungous Dutch commercial barges were coming through. One would pass and then we could go through, but the other one was so big it basically obstructed the canal. He suggested we tie up and helped us with our ropes. Been a while since we saw a boat that size. How they fit through the locks is a miracle.
We arrived in St-Leger-sur-Dheune at 17.30pm. Tied up and plopped onto our bed to rest our feet. After a drama filled day a quiet night was much needed.
Tuesday 26th June 2018 Paray-le-Monial to Genelard We were woken from a peaceful slumber by a grass cutting machine making it’s way past our boat along the canal at 06.40am. There I was thinking the French strictly observe working hours. Yet more grass to toss into the canal. Grrrr. A grass cutter was waiting for us as we entered our first lock of the day and began cutting grass right next to us in the lock. Another bloke with a Weed Eater was on the opposite side helping him. Grass cuttings and dust was raining down on us – and our poor boat – trapped in the lock. My eyes were full of grit and all I could think was – how were we ever going to clean this fine dust and grass shavings permeating our boat.
Grass cutting machines
And if that wasn’t enough, we had not one, not two, but three different types of grass cutting tractors at it while we were in the fourth lock. Same avalanche of grass cuttings and grit flying everywhere. A plethora of similar machines were cutting grass the entire day. One can only assume all the local towns, the VNF and whoever else manages grass on the waterways pick a grass cutting date and they all work together. And by God they get it right.
Thick mounds of grass tossed in the canal
Since we had an enforced early start, we were making great progress toward Genelard. Saw a family of storks aloft a tree, passed the beautiful Chateaux Digoin. A friendly lock keeper came to check on us. He said it had been a quiet day, but the previous day was busy. We mentioned we weren’t stopping for lunch and hoping to make Genelard around lunch time. The next lock had no light on but was set for us. So we went in, tied up, and pulled the blue cord and – nothing. Tried pulling the cord for longer. Nada. Tried lots of quick pulls. No luck. Tried an extra hard pull. Nope. Nothing at all. It was 11.57am. Lunch time. So we settled down to a nice long lunch and waited. As you do in France.
Storks atop a tree
After lunch we phoned the VNF offices and they told us to back out the lock and try again. This time the lights were on. Maybe the automatic locks take a lunch break too. We tied up with stakes in Genelard. It’s a lovely place. They have a mini Vival supermarket in the town and a bigger one about 1 kilometre out of town. My other half made a BBQ supper on the banks of the marina and we ate on the back deck. My favourite type of evening.
