Unexcused Absences

We started Sunday, our last day with Susan, camped out just past the canal bridge over the Allier river (very close to where it merges with the Loire). We ate an early breakfast of oefs brouillés (scrambled eggs) with champignons (mushrooms), fromage (cheese) and lardons (hard to translate), then set sail (“set motor” just doesn’t sound romantic enough) for the city of Nevers.

Heron in the Nevers boat harbor

Written records for Nevers go all the way back to 52 BC, when one Julius Caesar rolled through and made Noviodunum a storage depot for his war materiel. The city next entered the history books in the 5th century, when it was made the seat of a bishop. A thousand years later the Dukes of Nevers built a big palace near the cathedral, and for the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries Nevers prospered. It declined somewhat in importance after that, to where Nevers is now just a smal city in the approximate geographic center of France.

Canal Latéral à la Loire

Susan took us to lunch at a nice pizza place on the main town square – plenty of people-watching – and then we wandered the city for some window shopping. Her husband secretly arranged with me so that we’d only visit shopping districts on Sundays, when everything in France is closed. Good call Greg!

That evening we met some fun folks on a charter boat in the Nevers marina. Three of them were licensing experts (two were independent and one worked for Sony) by way of Lucas Studios, and the fourth owned a charter sailboat in Grenada. We had a great happy hour talking about all the fun places in the Lesser Antilles (the Caribbean islands). It all started because I was wearing a Pink Floyd “Dark Side of the Moon” t-shirt late afternoon when I walked over to the Capitainerie, and one of them (Bob) commented that he liked the shirt, and that started the conversation about how my friend made the shirts – under license, of course – and then he said he was in licensing and then their skipper came on deck wearing a regatta T-shirt from a Caribbean sailboat race and that was all it took. And FYI, Susan’s a big sailboat racer, so everyone had a lot to talk about.

Cornfield ready for harvest

Monday morning the alarm gave us the jolt at a very uncivilized hour, and it was time to get Susan to the station for her 5:50am train to Paris. Local tip; don’t trust the taxi service in Nevers. We had carefully arranged a 5:00am pickup at the marina the previous evening, but 5:15am came and went with no cab so we hopped on our bikes and rode, with luggage, approximately two miles to the Nevers train station. The rest of the day we did laundry and chores and then continued south with the boat, stopping in Chevenon. A friend had recommended a restaurant there, which was (naturally) closed Monday.

Château Chevenon

We did take time to ride into the village, where we stumbled upon a 14th century fortified castle, Château Chevenon. What continues to strike me about rural France is the sheer number of châteaux everywhere. There must be thousands. This one had no sign (other than a plaque in the village identifying it as a 14th century château), no indication that it was occupied, nothing to give a hint of the events that must have taken place here. It was just sitting there, down a small road from the center of the village. It appeared to be a gorgeous example of a fortified castle, in excellent condition, and anywhere else in the world this would be a major tourist attraction, but here, 15km south of Nevers, it was just part of the scenery.

We’re the attraction

Tuesday we moved on to Fleury-sur-Loire, where we caught up with Bob and Lynn on Tracker, and they graciously let us tie up to them as the anchorage was completely full. We enjoyed a group happy hour, catching up on our travels since we last saw each other towards the end of our spring trip, and then retired to our boat for dinner.

Lockkeeper’s house

Wednesday we arrived at our 9am lock appointment to find Paul and Susan on Gulliver, a modern steel boat done in the classic péniche style. We shared the locks with them to Decize, arriving in time for Heather to get a load of laundry started at the big Intermarché supermarket before lunchtime. At this point in our trip, with less than a week on the boat remaining, we needed to start thinking about what we were going to leave onboard, and get everything cleaned and bagged. We did manage a happy hour onboard Gulliver, they certainly have an amazing story. Paul and Susan left San Diego in 1982 on their sailboat, and didn’t get back until 26 years later! They were expert sailmakers, so were able to find work in anchorages all around the world. They spent 14 years in the South Pacific alone. In the mid 2000′s, they traded sailing for canal boating, and now live in France. Truly an amazing couple to chat with, we’re so glad we bumped into them. We had actually seen their boat this past spring parked on the Canal du Centre, flying a big American flag, and were hoping to meet them someday. Inspirational story.

Châteaux everywhere, this one on the Nivernais Canal

Thursday morning Heather hopped a train back to Nevers to rent a car, and I started the cruise up the Nivernais Canal, stopping in Cercy-la-Tour. Heather was back with the car by the time I arrived just before lunch. Because our winter spot in Baye is so remote (no trains or buses or even taxis), we needed to rent a car to both get around in Baye and to get from there back to Paris. Europcar prices are quite reasonable; a one-way, one-week rental, Nevers to Paris, unlimited mileage, was less than $200 US. And the car is a diesel, so it gets close to 50 miles per gallon. Why they don’t have these type of cars in the USA is a rant for another day.

Lunch stop in Panneçot

Friday morning dawned a gorgeous blue France fall day, and we cruised all the way to Fleury, then enjoyed a nice 21km bike ride to get the car. Saturday we continued into Châtillon-en-Bazois, a beautiful stop with free water and electricity courtesy of the town. The mooring is also directly below a gorgeous château. One bizarre bit of trivia about the town, from French Wikipedia; native son Pierre Rousseau, born 1863, was the chief cook on the Titanic and was lost in the sinking.

Châtillon-en-Bazois

Sunday morning we started our cruise back to Baye for our winter mooring. The day was misty and chilly, not quite the final day of travel for our 2012 cruise season we had hoped for, but we soaked in the experience nonetheless, sad that it would be mid 2013 before we return to Après Ski to continue our journey through the French canals. We remembered the new friends we’ve made and the old friends we met again, including John and Karen on Chateau Dux, Tom and Lou on Herkelina, Arthur and Barbara on Ichtus, Bob and Lynn on Tracker, Ron and Lynn of the French countryside near Cluny, Wendy and Roger on Izula, Bruce and Yerda on Rival, Martin and Sue on Babushka, Paul and Susan on Gulliver, and David, Liz, Jeni, Ken and Roland on Mornington Croissant, who were very patient to help us with proper English lessons. We’ve also made some fun acquaintances with folks on charter boats, as well as various guests on the above live-aboards. Sadly there are a few folks notable by their absence on the canals this summer (for various reasons), including Susan and Jack of Aegir, and Eric and Sudi of OldTimer.

Lock 24 on the Nivernais Canal

And of course we can’t close without mentioning Marianne and Jean-Pierre and their family, from near Dijon, they treated us incredibly kindly and were responsible for some of our favorite and most cherished memories of 2012.

This year’s cruise has reinforced why we bought the boat, we had so much fun that we seriously didn’t want to leave. Although we have a lot of great adventures coming up, including a partial ski season at Beaver Creek, we truly cannot wait to get back to France.

Fall 2012 Week 5 Numbers:

• Kilometers: 119
• Locks: 46
• Engine Hours: 25
• Cost of Moorings: 0.00 euros

Fall 2012 Total Numbers:

• Kilometers: 402
• Locks: 133
• Engine Hours: 82
• Cost of Moorings: 63.00 euros

France Fall 2012 Week 5 Route

Farms along the Nivernais

An old-style flood-control weir

A classic scene from rural France

Châtillon-en-Bazois

Vintage lock mechanism

Pumpkins

Château de Châtillon-en-Bazois

The 5:45am alarm Sunday morning was quite the jolt after Charline’s fun birthday party with Marianne and Jean-Pierre’s family Saturday evening. We struggled out of bed, then met JP and his son Paul downstairs for the drive to Vosne-Romanée to join the big grape harvest, described in detail in our previous post.

Dinner party on the terrace

After the harvest we pointed our rental Peugeot 208 (turbo diesel! integrated navigation system!) south towards Mâcon, about a two hour drive, to visit Lynn and Ron of Southern Fried French. They have lived in France for the past 9 years or so, and have carved out a fabulous ex-pat existence in the rolling hills outside Cluny. As soon as we arrived we all headed to a neighbor’s house for a grand evening meal on their terrace (Sunday Enjoying!). There were eight of us total, and we all relaxed over an amazing 5-course dinner until well into the night. There was a Dutch contingent, an American contingent, and our host, the only Frenchman for the evening. An absolutely perfect end to the perfect off-boat excursion.

View from Lynn and Ron’s place near Cluny

Monday morning we lounged with Lynn and Ron, then backtracked to Cluny for a group lunch (delicious pizza) and a visit to the famous Cluny Abbey. The Abbey has a long and very complicated history starting in 910 AD, but the short version is that the Abbey reported only to the Pope (quite unique), and not through the usual church heirarchy. As its influence grew, it attracted much attention and money, so that by the 12th century the Abbey was not only the largest church in Europe, but also the largest building, and remained so for four centuries until the reconstruction of St Peter’s in Rome. Cluny was not known for its severity or asceticism, to say the least, and the opulent lifestyle of the monks ultimately led to its downfall after the French Revolution. In the late 18th century the Abbey was torn down and the stones used to build houses in the village. There are currently only one of the smaller steeples and some walls remaining of the once enormous church.

Cluny

Late afternoon we drove back to the Loire Canal where Après Ski patiently awaited our return. Tuesday morning we did a short tour (by car) a half hour downstream along the Loire River to the town of Sully-sur-Loire, site of a fortress/château in excellent shape, considering it’s over 600 years old. The castle controlled a strategic crossing point of the Loire River, and was owned by the founding family right up until the mid 20th century, when the final heir died and the estate passed to the local government. Today the building and grounds are a very nice park and historic monument in the Loiret departement of France.

Château de Sully-sur-Loire

That afternoon Heather moved the boat up the Loire Canal to Sury-près-Léré, while I drove the car. Having a car is nice for the excursions it allows, but is also a bit of a hassle to bring along as we move the boat. We arrived in Sury and immediately made reservations at Chez Fred, the only restaurant in town. The place is completely unassuming from the outside, but upon entering and walking past the bar, one needs to prepare for a truly delicious experience. We were a little afraid that our meal here last year was maybe part of a dream, but they did not disappoint this year, and we enjoyed a fantastic multi-course meal for less than 25 euros each, including Apéritif (pre-dinner drink) and wine.

The all-brick church in Gien (fourth church on this site)

Wednesday I returned the car in Gien, then took the train to Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire. From there I hopped on the bike (pre-positioned there earlier that morning) and rode across the river to Les Fouchards to meet Heather on the boat. We only had a few hours to relax before our friend from Colorado arrived on the train for a short visit. Fortunately all the connections from Vail/Beaver Creek worked out and Susan jumped off the train exactly when and where we expected. Our grand plans of a second dinner at Chez Fred were foiled, though – remember that much of France is usually closed – so we gave her a brief tour of the boat and then we were off on her first canal boat ride, as we needed to get to Sancerre for the evening.

Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre

As usual we parked in Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre, and because the port was packed tighter than Dutch boats at a free mooring (canal-boater inside joke), we tied up to Bruce and Yerda on Rival, whom we had met back in Montargis. They were very gracious, even letting us plug in to a socket on their boat for electricity.

Sancerre, a photographer’s dream

Sancerre is an interesting story in cooperative marketing. Back in the 19th century, the wine growers in Sancerre started making some very good wine, but they did not have the name recognition of Bordeaux or Bourgogne. A few growers decided to load up a truck and take it to the Paris Expo (I forgot which year) to give away samples of their wine. Word got out, and they began to make a name for themselves.

Food porn; the “second dessert” at La Tour

They then commissioned posters showing the beautiful hilltop town with vine-covered slopes, and Sancerre became a regional tourist attraction with the advent of passenger train service, being only a few hours from Paris by train. The town got another boost after World War II, when the “bistro” scene in Paris validated Sancerre wine as an easy-drinking, “food friendly” white wine. To this day tourists flock to Sancerre to walk the streets, admire the vineyards, and taste the wine – kind of like us!

Thursday morning we took Susan on a walk up through the vineyards for a stroll through town, and then she treated us to a lunch at La Tour, a Michelin-starred restaurant in the center of town. Wow. The meal defied description, each of the three main courses and two “extra” courses were completely unique and delicious. The wine, from the local “Mount of the Damned” domain, was also wonderful. As was the service and the Champagne. It was a most fantastic start to Susan’s visit.

Château de Sancerre

Railway bridge at dawn

That afternoon we continued our wanderings, and I spent more than a few minutes taking pictures. Readers may recall that it was in Sancerre last year that my former camera began to call it quits, so I had extra work to do now that I had a new (and my first) digital SLR. Back in Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre for happy hour we lounged on deck and chatted with the folks on Rival.

Early morning light on Sancerre

Friday morning I was up early to stake out a spot on the abandoned train bridge for yet more picture-taking. The lighting didn’t cooperate too well, but it was a beautiful morning nonetheless. We again walked up the slope to town, this time to check out the Maison Sancerre, a very interesting museum dedicated to the vine growing and winemaking in and around Sancerre. For instance, did you know that the south-facing Sancerres slopes allow the cold night air to flow down into the Loire basin (thus reducing the threat of frost damage), and the vines generally run north-south to allow each row’s foliage to shade its neighbor’s grapes during the morning and afternoon sun? I sure didn’t. Who knew winemaking was so complicated?

Street market in Charité-sur-Loire

That afternoon we continued south to Charité-sur-Loire, a very old village perched on the edge of the Loire river. Saturday morning Susan got a taste of her first French street market (which made Susan and Heather want to simultaneously eat everything at the market and cook at least 1,000 different dishes), and we wandered the medieval streets until lunchtime. Then it was back to the boat to continue the journey southward, as we needed to reach Nevers by Sunday so Susan could catch her train back to Paris Monday morning. We camped out just above the double lock at Guétin and we all enjoyed a delicious home-cooked meal to go with some of our recently purchased Sancerre white.

Crossing the Allier river on a canal bridge

Sunday starts the last week of boating this year, and we have no idea where the time went, although with these weekly recaps I could actually go back and read about where the time went! This has so far been one fantastic experience in France, even better than last year.

Fall 2012 Week 4 Numbers:

• Kilometers: 82
• Locks: 18
• Engine Hours: 15
• Cost of Moorings: 6.00 euros

Fall 2012 Total Numbers:

• Kilometers: 283
• Locks: 87
• Engine Hours: 57
• Cost of Moorings: 63.00 euros

Fall 2012 – Week4 Route

View of Cluny from the “Cheese Tower”

Up close with a nuclear power plant

Sancerre village

Lunch at La Tour

The “main” dessert

Seafood appetizer

More vines

Mechanical grape harvesting

Downtown Charité-sur-Loire

A frequent sight; Susan at the helm

Sunday morning in Châtillon-Coligny found us still scratching our heads, trying to figure out the “animation” we had seen the night before. Definitely fun, but slightly curious. We enjoyed a kebab lunch and cruised south to Dammarie-sur-Loing. The canal is quite pretty in this stretch, with a few château visible through the woods and several sections of old canal still standing. Remember that the Briare Canal is the oldest one in France, and it’s been upgraded several times as cargo barges got bigger, so one can see the old structures quite often.

Marina in Châtillon-Coligny

The mooring at Dammarie-sur-Loing is a bit of an oddity, although definitely of the good variety. The town provides a nice quay with lighting, picnic tables, and modern water and electricity connections, and all this at no charge. While some bigger towns provide free services to entice visitors into the shops and restaurants, Dammarie has no services other than a small Bar/Tabac that is usually closed. Not quite sure who pays for the upkeep and the utility costs, but we’re happy to plug in for several reasons.

Ancient lock pair near Dammarie

After starting the motor Sunday morning I noticed that the alternator was not kicking in as it should have. This was not a huge crisis (c’est ne pas grave as the French say) because as long as we can plug in at night we can keep the batteries topped off. But it absolutely needs to addressed sooner than later, because someday soon we’ll come to a stretch of canal with no plug-in points for several days, and being unable to charge the batteries while we drive is ultimately not a good thing. The excellent news is that Briare, our destination in a couple days, is home to a respected mechanic, Allain, who owns Charmes Marine.

“Après Ski” in Rogny-les-Sept-Écluses

From Dammarie we continued south through Rogny-les-Sept-Écluses where we got a double hit of bad luck, baked-goods-wise. The first boulangerie was closed Monday (naturally), and the second one that’s normally closed Wednesday was in fact on vacation. After asking around I finally found a small épicerie (grocery) attached to a salon-de-thé (tea house), which fortunately stocked baguettes.

Bruce grilling duck on “Rival”

After lunch in the summit pound of the Briare Canal, we began our downhill drive towards Ouzouer-sur-Trézée, a medium-sized town a short distance from Briare. In Ouzouer we parked next to Bruce and Yerda aboard Rival, who we had briefly met back in Montargis. They run a small B&B-type operation aboard their boat, and they invited us to the picnic dinner they were throwing for their four guests, who were departing the next day. The evening was delightful, sitting at the big picnic table in the port and chatting with everyone. Our hosts and their four guests all had very interesting stories to tell.

Dinner with the gang from “Rival”

Tuesday morning we cruised the short distance into Briare, then waited most of the afternoon until Allain had a free moment to come check out our alternator problem. In the meantime I hit my library of boat- and diesel-maintenance books, and after some troubleshooting figured the problem was either in the voltage regulator or the exciter circuit. The purpose of the failed circuit (as I understand it) is to detect when the alternator is spinning, and then supply a field current to the electro-magnet in the alternator rotor. The field current is needed to induce the spinning alternator to actually generate charging current. So, no exciter voltage, no field current, and no field current, no charging.

Once Allain showed up and confirmed that it was the exciter circuit, we rigged a simple work-around consisting of a push-button mounted to small scrap of plywood. The button was wired from 12 volts over to the business end of the exciter wire, so now I only need to tap the button after starting the engine to trip the circuit that begins charging the batteries. I helpfully labeled this the “Magic Charge the Battery Button.”

Magic Charge the Battery Button

Crossing the Loire River on the big canal bridge

That evening we made the acquaintance of Martin and Sue of Babushka, a very pretty steel Dutch cruiser moored near us in the upper Briare port. Happy hour on their boat turned into dinner on our boat, and we had a really fun evening getting to know our new friends. They have unfortunately been stuck in place for a week, ever since the water pump on their DAF engine gave up the ghost. They have been patiently sitting in Briare waiting for word on a replacement part. Conveniently they have a car with them (they’re British), so when the pump failed they simply hopped a train back to where their car was parked, and now at least have local transportation while they wait.

Mosaic floor in the Briare Church

Wednesday morning Martin gave me a lift to the Europcar office in the next town where I rented a car for our big excursion to Dijon and Maçon. Our French friends from this past summer (read about that here) had invited us over for un week-end plein de surprises (a weekend full of surprises). And that’s exactly what we got, an absolutely fantastic four days of amazing times.

On our way (by car) to Dijon we made a critical diversion to the tiny village of Cheilly-les-Maranges, where we stopped into le Domaine Chevrot where we had purchased the awesome 2010 Chardonnay wine last spring. To our immense disappointment, though, they were recently sold out of that wine (an Hautes Côtes de Beaune), and we tasted a few others, but nothing that achieved the combination of price and taste that had piqued our interest a few months ago. We bought a couple bottles of some more expensive white, and as we were leaving I said that we really really really liked their 2010 Chardonnay and perhaps there was a place we could buy it in Beaune or Dijon. The woman (I think the mother of the two brothers who own the domaine) asked how many bottles we wanted, and we said just a few, and she gave us a wink and said she could let us have three from their secret stash. Bonus!

Tasting room at Domaine Chevrot

After the success at Domaine Chevrot we continued driving east and north through the heart of the Cote d’Or, passing through the most famous of wine towns in the world, including Meursault, Pommard, Nuits-St-Georges, Vougeot, and Gevrey-Chambertain. Needless to say we didn’t bother stopping to taste any, as the prices are light-years beyond our reach. It was certainly a beautiful drive, though.

One of the many chateau along the Cote d’Or

Arriving at Marianne and Jean-Pierre’s house north of Dijon, we sat down to a nice happy hour with two of Marianne’s children, Charline and Antoine, and then drove to a friend’s place for surprise number one. Their friend (name withheld) runs an “unlicensed bakery” on their farm for about 20 of their neighbors. Turns out the existing boulangers do not look kindly on folks who bake bread for themselves and neighbors, so everything’s kind of hush-hush, but we enjoyed a great evening watching their friends bake bread the old-fashioned way. The wood fire burns for about nine hours in the brick oven, which is then cleaned out, and the residual heat is enough to cook dozens of loaves of bread. Needless to say, the smells, and the bread, were delicious.

Illicit bread

The next morning we visited the street market in Dijon with Charline, then met Marianne for lunch at her school, where we also met the English teacher who practically spoke better English than we did! Friday night was time for surprise number two, and we drove to Beaune for a two-hour blind wine tasting with food and cheese. It was incredibly interesting to taste the wine without knowing anything about the “where” or the “who” of the producer. It definitely strips away any pre-conceived notions. After 14 different wines, I settled on my two favorites, which were then revealed as a 2008 Pinot Beurot (Burgundy’s name for Pinot Gris) from Marsannay (north end of the Cote d’Or) and a 2009 Pinot Noir from Montagne-St-Desire (near Pommard). Naturally these were the two most expensive wines of the tasting.

Wine tasting in Beaune

Saturday we visited a cheese factory (with tasting of course), followed by a visit to a local winery before Charline’s birthday party that evening with five of the six siblings plus assorted fiancée’s and boyfriends (if you’re counting, that’s a grand total of 11 for dinner). Heather made her banana cake and Marianne made some delicious mini-crepes and we were honored to be part of the family festivities.

Charline’s birthday party

And then Sunday morning was the truly amazing event (not quite a surprise since we knew about this one), but you’ll have to wait until next week’s post to learn the details!

Fall 2012 Week 3 Numbers:

• Kilometers: 35
• Locks: 20
• Engine Hours: 9
• Cost of Moorings: 11.60 euros

Fall 2012 Total Numbers:

• Kilometers: 201
• Locks: 69
• Engine Hours: 42
• Cost of Moorings: 57.00 euros

Fall 2012 – Week3 Route

Countryside near Montbouy

Flowers

Brouillard (mist) in Châtillon-sur-Loire

Apres Ski in Rogny-les-Sept-Écluses

Canal bridge in Briare

Local wine from Plombiers-les-Dijon

10th century church in Fixin

Cheese tasting in Gevrey-Chambertin

Epoisses cheese manufacturing

Very expensive grapes in Vougeot

I am seduced by photos of the past. Imperfect windows, they reveal life, people and the natural world long gone. French tourists must have sent hundreds of thousands of photographic postcards during the 19th century, and as a result market vendors and antique dealers often display boxes of them for sale for a few euros each.

I adore pawing through the old boxes of cards, looking at the old, sometimes surprisingly crisp photos. Occasionally, the handwriting is squashed and illegible, other times the clarity of the penmanship evokes the bygone era.

Since canals and the navigable waterways as well as their nearby attractions have long been tourist destinations in France, we’ve picked up a few post cards along the way of towns, rivers and château we’ve visited. Here they are, along with present-day photos we’ve taken. We’ve even reenacted a few with Après Ski!

Joigny

Joigny Today

La Bussière

La Bussière Today

Rogny

Rogny Today

Chateau de Tanlay

Chateau de Tanlay Today

Auxerre

Auxerre Today

Wine harvest 100 years ago

Wine harvest Today

Last week’s recap ended with Saturday night’s fireworks display in Moret-sur-Loing, and we liked the town and the mooring so much we spent Sunday evening there too. Three nights in one spot is a little decadent for us since we typically need to run the engine to create hot water for showers and washing dishes. But the port in Moret-sur-Loing has nice hot land showers, so we stayed put.

City hall in Moret-sur-Loing

Sunday morning we biked the 20 minutes over to St. Mammes and their nice street market, where we picked up some fruits and vegetables, and a couple nice cheeses, an aged goat cheese coated in gray mold, and a tomme de brebis with the characteristic perfect contrast of supple yet firm texture.

Camped near Souppes-sur-Loing

Monday morning we left the Seine River and began our trip south on the Loing Canal, arriving in the big town (or small city) of Nemours by lunchtime. We hit the convenient laverie automatique on the main road, and did some restocking at the big Intermarche on the east side of town. That is half the fun (if that’s the word) of living on a small boat with an even smaller fridge; one day you can’t find anything because the fridge is packed, and the next day you’re out of supplies. It takes a little getting used to, shopping every two or three days.

Dusk in Montargis

Tuesday we planned to enjoy a nice walking tour of Nemours but were foiled by the first rain of our fall trip. We changed gears and spent the morning relaxing, reading, and sorting photos (a LOT of photos), then continued south a couple hours to a remote mooring near Souppes-sur-Loing. Souppes used to be the site of a quarry for the yellow stone that was used in the construction of some of the most prestigious buildings in Paris. And of course the canal we’re on was how the stone got from Souppes to Paris back in the day. Now the usine (factory) has been converted over to glass recycling.

Big church in Montargis

From Souppes we motored south for six hours and arrived in Montargis, the biggest city we’ll see until Nevers a couple weeks from now. Montargis is criss-crossed with many little canals, and calls itself la petite Venise du Gâtinais (the little Venice of the Gâtinais). The port is a vibrant boating community, with a number of live-aboards, and is also close to several boulangerie and the walking/shopping district. Montargis is where the Canal du Loing ends and the Canal de Briare (the oldest canal in France) begins.

One of many little canals in Montargis

The city boasts a church big enough to be a cathedral, except that it was never the seat of a bishop, and hence is technically only a parish church. The church contains a stained-glass window depicting the “dog of Montargis” who, when his master was killed by an envious knight, displayed such hostility towards the killer that the court took this as sufficient evidence to have the perpetrator hanged. I suppose the rules of evidence were a bit lax in the early 15th century.

Montargis is also where the first pralines were created, back in the time of Louis XIII. The original shop is still in business.

Downtown, with the Château de Montargis on the hill

After two enjoyable nights in Montargis we moved on to Montbouy, a one-boulangerie town on a rural stretch of canal. A couple kilometers north of town is the ruin of a Roman amphitheater (uncovered while digging the canal 350 years ago).

From Montbouy it was a short cruise to Châtillon-Coligny, which has one of the nicer halte-nautiques (ports) on the Briare Canal. Saturday was the start of les journées européennes du patrimoine (European heritage days). Most towns and châteaux put on some type of special event, and Châtillon-Coligny was no exception.

Parked in Montbouy

The nice lady at the port office was very excited to tell us all about the local patrimoine events. She pointed us towards a beautiful château nearby (Château de la Bussière) that was only 12 kilometers away, easily manageable by bike. The château is known as the fisherman’s castle because the owner is absolutely bonkers for fishing. He had that place decorated in fish prints, fish paintings, fish sculptures, fish books, and a rather gruesome giant fish sitting in what looked like formaldehyde (?). They invited artisans from all over to set up shop on the grounds, so we could wander among tents of wood carvers, brick makers, blacksmiths, cooks, painters, and even the proverbial basket-weavers. Definitely a fun (and delicious) afternoon.

Château de la Bussière

Then, that evening, the town put on what they called une animation (difficult to translate). A bunch of town residents dressed up in period costumes, mostly 19th and early 20th century, and set up various stations around town. There was a farm station, where “workers” pretended to hoe the ground, tend a vegetable garden, wash clothes, etc.

One of the "actors" in the street animation

The whole procession was accompanied by a man with a megaphone giving a running commentary of the events we were witnessing. We passed a wine growers station, baker’s station (where the “baker” handed out free hunks of bread), even a little street scene where they re-enacted the assassination of Jean Jaurès with a loud bang (commentator: “and Jean Jaurès is dead”). The procession then ended in the square by the church where volunteers served crêpes and cider to the crowd. A lot was lost in translation, but we had a fun evening nonetheless.

Fall 2012 Week 2 Numbers:

• Kilometers: 66
• Locks: 31
• Engine Hours: 16
• Cost of Moorings: 16.80 euros

Fall 2012 Total Numbers:

• Kilometers: 166
• Locks: 49
• Engine Hours: 33
• Cost of Moorings: 45.40 euros

Fall 2012 - Week2 Route

Little canals in Montagris

Very tasty boulangerie

Château La Bussière

Near Souppes-sur-Loing

Blacksmith

Old well at La Bussière

Bridge in Chatillon-Coligny

Château la Bussière

Fishing in front of the "Fisherman's Castle"

"Animation" in Chatillon-Coligny

Food porn