At a snails pace, a Burgundian snail that is, we have navigated almost all the canals of Burgundy over a period of 5 weeks and over 626 kilometers. There are three canals that head south of Burgundy, the Canal de Bourgogne, the Nivernais, and the Briare, and there are two canals in Burgundy that connect these three, the Canal Lateral and the Canal du Centre. We have navigated through all of these except the Briare, which we will do in the spring when we leave Burgundy to head south to the Canal du Midi.
Burgundy is by far our favorite region of the four regions of France we have visited with our boat. The people are very warm and friendly. There are always bike riders and walkers along the canal waving to us and shouting “Bonjour”, and if they walk by while we are eating, they politely say “Bon Appétit!” The villages are very quaint and idyllic. Along the Canal de Bourgogne, to me the villages look like the beautiful little one in the movie “Chocolat” with Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp (which was filmed in Burgundy) . They were all built about the same time, around the 13th and 14th centuries by the Dukes of Burgundy, and the town church and bridges all have similar designs. They are all very quaint, charming and are villages fleuris, an award in France given to towns that are decked with flowers. The larger cities such as Dijon (yes, where the mustard originated) and Beaune have decorated Burgundian roof tiles on the major buildings that are beautiful.
Of course as food and wine is of utmost importance to the French, the food (and wine) in Burgundy is also something that I must mention that we like about the region. We love the Burgundian wines, the Chablis from the town of Chablis near Auxerre, Aligoté, another good white from the region, and of course the full bodied red Burgundian wines (pinot noir) . I love the cheese of the region, a stinky soft cheese called Époisse. Specialties from Burgundy include les escargots, les oeufs meurette (eggs poached in red wine) coq au vin, and boeuf bourguignon. Do you see the theme of wine here? I will go into more detail about the food in another blog. There is just too much to love!
Another reason we like Burgundy is that it is really the region that has the most canals, and the French promote and preserve the canals for pleasure craft. They are no longer used very much for working barges, and so they are very tranquil.
Burgundy is by far our favorite region of the four regions of France we have visited with our boat. The people are very warm and friendly. There are always bike riders and walkers along the canal waving to us and shouting “Bonjour”, and if they walk by while we are eating, they politely say “Bon Appétit!” The villages are very quaint and idyllic. Along the Canal de Bourgogne, to me the villages look like the beautiful little one in the movie “Chocolat” with Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp (which was filmed in Burgundy) . They were all built about the same time, around the 13th and 14th centuries by the Dukes of Burgundy, and the town church and bridges all have similar designs. They are all very quaint, charming and are villages fleuris, an award in France given to towns that are decked with flowers. The larger cities such as Dijon (yes, where the mustard originated) and Beaune have decorated Burgundian roof tiles on the major buildings that are beautiful.
Of course as food and wine is of utmost importance to the French, the food (and wine) in Burgundy is also something that I must mention that we like about the region. We love the Burgundian wines, the Chablis from the town of Chablis near Auxerre, Aligoté, another good white from the region, and of course the full bodied red Burgundian wines (pinot noir) . I love the cheese of the region, a stinky soft cheese called Époisse. Specialties from Burgundy include les escargots, les oeufs meurette (eggs poached in red wine) coq au vin, and boeuf bourguignon. Do you see the theme of wine here? I will go into more detail about the food in another blog. There is just too much to love!
Another reason we like Burgundy is that it is really the region that has the most canals, and the French promote and preserve the canals for pleasure craft. They are no longer used very much for working barges, and so they are very tranquil.
The Canal de Bourgogne was our first taste of the waterways of Burgundy. We entered the Canal de Bourgogne on July 15, the day after Bastille day, and we navigated on it for 3 weeks. On this canal (each seems to be run differently even though they are all managed by the VNF, Voies Navigables de France) lock keepers followed us, most were young University students since it was summertime, and they followed us on mopeds, the older VNF employees in cars, and some on their own bikes. They would fill or drain the lock depending upon whether we were climbing or descending the river, and shut and open the gates of the lock. Often it was very hot, and they would have to walk back and forth and cross bridges to get to close or open the other side of the gate. Some were opened and closed by turning a crank, others by pushing a big bar. It was very physical work, and Chris often would jump off the boat to help them open or close one of the sides. They would follow us for 6 or 7 locks, and we usually gave them a tip, and they were so surprised and appreciative and I think this didn’t happen very often to them.
The only thing that we did not like about this canal is the grass growing in the canal that would get stuck in our cooling tank. Chris had to stop several times to unclog the pipes leading to and from the tank, and our engine would overheat when the pipes were clogged with grass. One eclusier told us that the grasses are there because someone dumped the water from their aquarium into the canal and the grass from the aquarium is invasive and took over most of the canal. They try mowing it. We actually saw the mower sitting at the side of the canal once, but it is not enough. When you look into the canal it looks as if you are floating on waving grass.
Our good friends from Belgium, Celine and Koen and their daughters, Lily and Olivia, came to visit us in Dijon along the Canal de Bourgogne, and continued with us for four days stopping in little villages to spend the night. The girls had fun swimming each night in the Armançon river which the Canal de Bourgogne paralleled. The towns all had a swimming hole, and the water was very clean and clear. We had a great time with them and it was our first time having an entire family stay with us. The girls took the second cabin and Celine and Koen slept on the couch in our salon which makes into a bed.
Later along the Canal de Bourgogne, another dear family from Belgium came to visit and met us in Tonnerre. Babitha and Steven, and their three children came to stay one day and night with us on their way to the Dordogne. Their visit was also a great adventure for us, and the children, Nora, Dan and Isa loved learning to handle the lines, and even steer the boat.
We ended our tour of the Canal de Bourgogne at Migennes, and then made our way on the Yonne to Auxerre, where we planned on staying for awhile. The owners are Linssen dealers and we were planning on having regular maintenance done on the boat there, as well as obtain our carte de séjours for France. Auxerre is a beautiful city in Burgundy on the Yonne river. We will be returning there to spend the winter, so I will be writing about Auxerre again later.
The only thing that we did not like about this canal is the grass growing in the canal that would get stuck in our cooling tank. Chris had to stop several times to unclog the pipes leading to and from the tank, and our engine would overheat when the pipes were clogged with grass. One eclusier told us that the grasses are there because someone dumped the water from their aquarium into the canal and the grass from the aquarium is invasive and took over most of the canal. They try mowing it. We actually saw the mower sitting at the side of the canal once, but it is not enough. When you look into the canal it looks as if you are floating on waving grass.
Our good friends from Belgium, Celine and Koen and their daughters, Lily and Olivia, came to visit us in Dijon along the Canal de Bourgogne, and continued with us for four days stopping in little villages to spend the night. The girls had fun swimming each night in the Armançon river which the Canal de Bourgogne paralleled. The towns all had a swimming hole, and the water was very clean and clear. We had a great time with them and it was our first time having an entire family stay with us. The girls took the second cabin and Celine and Koen slept on the couch in our salon which makes into a bed.
Later along the Canal de Bourgogne, another dear family from Belgium came to visit and met us in Tonnerre. Babitha and Steven, and their three children came to stay one day and night with us on their way to the Dordogne. Their visit was also a great adventure for us, and the children, Nora, Dan and Isa loved learning to handle the lines, and even steer the boat.
We ended our tour of the Canal de Bourgogne at Migennes, and then made our way on the Yonne to Auxerre, where we planned on staying for awhile. The owners are Linssen dealers and we were planning on having regular maintenance done on the boat there, as well as obtain our carte de séjours for France. Auxerre is a beautiful city in Burgundy on the Yonne river. We will be returning there to spend the winter, so I will be writing about Auxerre again later.
We left Auxerre after a three week stay and headed down on the Canal de Nivernais.
Of the Burgundian canals, the Nivernais is our favorite because there are so many little ports along the way which make it easy to tie up for the night or to do shopping or to find a nice restaurant. The lock houses on the Nivernais are also the most beautiful, and are maintained the best. They are usually rented now instead of housing lock keepers. Many on the Nivernais have beautiful gardens, some house restaurants and others potters or iron workers who show their art in front of the houses. The scenery is beautiful and always changing. One day you see rolling pastures with cows, and then the next day soaring limestone rocks. The Canal de Nivernais is the most popular canal of Burgundy and in the middle of the summer it is very crowded. We went at the end of August so we never had a problem finding a place to moor the boat and the canals were very quiet. You do see quiet a few hotel barges on this canal though, so you have to be careful when you pass them in the narrow canal and to not take their reserved place in the harbors. On the Nivernais there were young university students manning the locks, one person at each lock, and again Chris enjoyed jumping out to man the locks with them.
After the Nivernais we traveled through the Canal Latéral, for only two days, and then the Canal du Centre for a week. We were making our way to the River Saône to visit the city of Lyon in the region of the Rhone- Alps, but we enjoyed each canal along the way, and all the little cities and villages of Burgundy. Both of these canals have mechanized locks that are set up by the lock keepers to be open when you arrive. They ask you as you finish for the day what time you want to leave in the morning, so that they can set the lock to be ready for your boat to enter. What service! The only thing is you are in charge, and you have to climb out to activate the lock which shuts the gates and commences the filling or draining of the lock. I prefer to have lock keepers because some of the locks are deep, and I was concerned with Chris having to climb slippery ladders to activate the locks. However most of the time a lock keeper was there to help at the really deep locks, and we went through one at the end of the Canal du Centre that was 10 meters deep!
Our good friends from Belgium, John and Josiane joined us for part of the Canal du Centre, a really pretty part at the end where we went through Santenay, a beautiful town surrounded by vineyards, know for its wines, with many vintners in the town open for tastings, and the town of Chagny and Chalon sur Saône, both with beautiful markets.I could continue forever about Burgundy and it’s canals, but it is time to make some Coq au Vin and drink a glass of Santenay. Bon appétit!
Of the Burgundian canals, the Nivernais is our favorite because there are so many little ports along the way which make it easy to tie up for the night or to do shopping or to find a nice restaurant. The lock houses on the Nivernais are also the most beautiful, and are maintained the best. They are usually rented now instead of housing lock keepers. Many on the Nivernais have beautiful gardens, some house restaurants and others potters or iron workers who show their art in front of the houses. The scenery is beautiful and always changing. One day you see rolling pastures with cows, and then the next day soaring limestone rocks. The Canal de Nivernais is the most popular canal of Burgundy and in the middle of the summer it is very crowded. We went at the end of August so we never had a problem finding a place to moor the boat and the canals were very quiet. You do see quiet a few hotel barges on this canal though, so you have to be careful when you pass them in the narrow canal and to not take their reserved place in the harbors. On the Nivernais there were young university students manning the locks, one person at each lock, and again Chris enjoyed jumping out to man the locks with them.
After the Nivernais we traveled through the Canal Latéral, for only two days, and then the Canal du Centre for a week. We were making our way to the River Saône to visit the city of Lyon in the region of the Rhone- Alps, but we enjoyed each canal along the way, and all the little cities and villages of Burgundy. Both of these canals have mechanized locks that are set up by the lock keepers to be open when you arrive. They ask you as you finish for the day what time you want to leave in the morning, so that they can set the lock to be ready for your boat to enter. What service! The only thing is you are in charge, and you have to climb out to activate the lock which shuts the gates and commences the filling or draining of the lock. I prefer to have lock keepers because some of the locks are deep, and I was concerned with Chris having to climb slippery ladders to activate the locks. However most of the time a lock keeper was there to help at the really deep locks, and we went through one at the end of the Canal du Centre that was 10 meters deep!
Our good friends from Belgium, John and Josiane joined us for part of the Canal du Centre, a really pretty part at the end where we went through Santenay, a beautiful town surrounded by vineyards, know for its wines, with many vintners in the town open for tastings, and the town of Chagny and Chalon sur Saône, both with beautiful markets.I could continue forever about Burgundy and it’s canals, but it is time to make some Coq au Vin and drink a glass of Santenay. Bon appétit!