We left Paray-le-Monial and passed a huge marquee filled with people singing hymns. Paray-le-Monial is a famous place of pilgrimage after a vision was seen in the 1800s. We arrived at Montceau-les-Mines later that very hot day in the company of a barge called Renaissance. Terry and Terry owned the barge and we moored up along side them in Montceau.
They were going to be staying the winter there but we were staying just two days as the next day was Bastille Day and a public holiday.
We went off shopping to a large hypermarket to stock up the fridge and then in the hot evening air stayed up late to watch the fireworks which were being launched in the port where we were moored. So we had front-row seats for the performance which was incredible. Incredibly loud and incredibly bright.
We were joined for the fireworks by Terry and Terry (Terence and Theresa) and afterwards sat out on deck until 1am in the warm air sipping wine and chatting. The next day we relaxed as we could do nothing and nothing was open. It was windy and unfortunately our umbrella developed a penchant for flying and so we had a quick look around any open stores to get a replacement which we couldn’t do.
And then it was off again along the very beautiful Canal du Centre. We stopped the night at St Julien sur Dheune. Unfortunately we could only stop next to a large barge. There are numerous barges all along the canals these days – mainly UK, Dutch and American. They clog up the quays and as they are large there is seldom room for other boats. On top of that they are used as floating cottages and as a result stay in the same place for weeks at a time. One Dutch barge we saw stayed in the same place all summer..
Going up the canal towards the summit as we were doing the locks are all named Ocean 1 or Ocean 34 etc as the water flows to the Atlantic ocean from that side. Once we reached the summit at Montchanin the locks are number Mediterranean for obvious reason. The view from the summit was fantastic.
And for the first time in weeks we started heading down locks rather than going up. Bridge Heights are always a problem on the canal and we have a stick at the front that tells us when a bridge height is less than 3.5m. Many are and we have to lower the canopy a few more centimetres. We are getting good now at estimated bridge heights to the nearest few centimetres. The clearance under the bridges is only a few centimetres. Any less and we risk losing the top of the boat. The canal follows the River Dheune and winds along the contours with vineyards above us and vineyards below us, all from the fabulous Monts d’Or where the great Burgundy wines come from.
There is virtually no commercial traffic at all these days. Once places like Montceau-les-Mines had hundreds of barges loading coal but today there is nothing. The canals are too small to compete with the railway. The bigger rivers and large canals are still busy because they can take giant barges.
Eventually one cloudy day after a thunderstorm we went down a 10 metre lock and emerged onto the mighty River Saone and left the Canal du Centre behind us. We headed downstream a few km to Chalon sur Saone where we spent the night. This morning we wandered around the town and bought lovely fruit and vegetables in the weekly market. Apricots have just come in to season and they are lovely (and cheap) so we bought a huge bag to stew for breakfast. hen after lunch we headed upstream to Verdun sur Doubs. A lovely town at the confluence of the River Doubs and the Saone.
We will be travelling up the Doubs in a few weeks time but first we shall explore the River Saone upstream for a couple of hundred kilometres upstream. The weather is still hot but not quite as bad as there is a cooler Northerly wind instead of the SE hot one we have had for weeks.
