Unexcused Absences France 2015 - Week 7 Recap (he said)

France 2015 – Week 7 Recap (he said)

by Kent 3 Aug 2015

Sunday at noon we said goodbye to Jen, our visitor for the past week, at the train station in Thaon-les-Vosges, and then continued south on the Vosges Canal towards Épinal. The port of Épinal itself was closed for lack of water, but we found parking in a lock staircase a bit west of the city, between locks 8 and 9 in the backyard of a Trane Air Conditioning factory.

Monday we had all the post-guest chores to attend to – clean the boat, scrub the floors, re-stock the wine cellar, do lots of laundry, etc. Unfortunately we were a good distance from Épinal, and any hope of a laverie automatique (laudromat), but someone who recently opened a car wash thought to include a few laundry machines in the bargain. I found these outdoor laundry machines thanks to the kind lady at a boulangerie about a five minute bike ride from port, and another five minutes brought me to the machines.

Outdoor laundry

The laundry crisis was because we were about to enter a very rural section of the Vosges Canal, similar to the southern Champagne Canal from last year or the central Burgundy Canal from several years ago. There would be no hope of laundry, much less groceries or fresh bread, until much later in the week. Water, too, was going to be an issue; we last topped up in Charmes about 4 days prior, and the next water was not going to be for several more days. I was able to put 100 liters into the tank by dragging a 20-liter jug back and forth to a hand pump in the park.

Filling the water tank 20 liters at a time

And speaking of bread… once we got the washing machines started, I set out on the long ride into Épinal to visit the Boulangerie Nedelec, a very special boulangerie in a country full of wonderful boulangerie. This particular bakery was owned by a family from Bretagne (Brittany), which in itself isn’t so special except for the fact that Bretagne is where the local bakers created and perfected the kouign-amann (Breton for “butter cake”) in 1860. This magical dessert is a layered pastry made with lots of butter and sugar, so that after cooking you end up with a dense, caramel and butter and sugar concoction that is out of this world. Oh, and Boulangerie Nedelec makes a baguette that easily qualifies for our list of top 5 baguettes in France.

Laundry finished, baguettes (3) and kouign-amann (also 3) in hand, we started into the wilderness. Our Monday night stop was in the summit pound at a new halte-nautique and picnic area next to the Réservoir de Bouzey, the supply lake for the Vosges Canal.

The Vosges Canal near Bouzey

Tuesday we took a bike ride through the woods and swamps around the ~250 acre lake, then headed west and south to a beautiful halte between locks 8 and 9 on the southern side of the Vosges Canal summit. This place was rural with a capital R. There was no cellphone signal, and we were in the deep woods many miles from the nearest town and boulangerie. We just got in a bit of late afternoon exercise (a bike ride for me, a run for favorite wife) when the rain started. We had no real complaints because this part of France desperately needs rain, and we were also happy to see the thermometer take a meaningful drop compared to the heat wave of Week 6.

Deep in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains

The rain continued all night, but by 11am Wednesday the skies cleared and we were on our way south. Our stop for the evening (after 20 locks) was the little halte in front of the Auberge du Coney, a rural inn and restaurant. We were clued in to this place by our friends Marie-Hélène and Christian, of the cruiser Wisdom, with whom we had dinner last week. The meal at the Auberge was delicious, and best of all, they agreed to sell us a couple baguettes the next morning. I have to give myself credit for asking the restaurant for bread, because the other tables around us that were occupied by boaters overheard my request, and I could see them all ask the waitress for bread and pastries too.

Fontenoy-le-Château

Thursday we descended another 10 locks and arrived in Fontenoy-le-Château, a town with a Le Boat rental base and (finally) a boulangerie. The town has a museum of embroidery (that we didn’t visit) and also boasts dozens of panels, with philosophical quotes, mounted on fences, bridges, and doorways around town.

“Marriage is like a lottery, but you can’t tear up the ticket if you loose” – F.M. Knowles

“Women’s rugby exists, it’s called the clearance sales” – Anonymous

“A dessert without cheese is like a beautiful woman who is missing an eye” – Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

This beautiful village also contains the ruins of the oldest fortress in the southern Vosges region, a castle started in 980 by the Bishops of Toul. At the time, the town was on the main road between Burgundy and Lorraine. About 400 years later, the defenses were acquired and expanded by the powerful Neufchatel family.

View of Fontenoy from Le Château

The castle was finally sacked during the 30 years war, and the walls were almost completely dismantled and used to construct houses in the town. During the 19th century, the last of the walls were destroyed and used to build the town hall. Finally, in 1978, some local folks started a project to restore the donjon (keep), which is in pretty bad shape and is the only significant structure remaining above ground. Unfortunately, after a burst of restoration activity in 2008, nothing much has been done since, and the keep continues to decay.

All that’s left of a once thriving castle

Friday after lunch we cruised the final section of the southern Vosges Canal and arrived in Corre in late afternoon. Finally, electricity, water, groceries, and boulangerie! Our Italian friend Andrea, who was a fellow course worker at the World Ski Championships at Beaver Creek back in February, drove over from Paris to spend the weekend with us. We had a great evening eating a late dinner and catching up. Andrea works as a thermal engineer for Snecma, outside Paris, a company that makes jet and rocket engines for commercial and military aircraft. It was fun to catch up with him and re-live the fun times we had on the Talon Crew working for the Championships.

Dinner with Andrea, and no, that’s not a real American flag. Our table cloth has 14 stripes.

Saturday morning we locked down into the Saone River and drove a few hours to Montureux-lès-Baulay, yet another town in this part of France without boulangerie. We strolled around town, then took a long walk through the fields and woods north of town, visiting Tartécourt and Venisey, neither of which had bread. Back on the boat Andrea cooked up some delicious pasta alla carbonara (coal miner’s pasta), made with cream sauce, eggs, and bacon. An outstanding end to Week 7. The question for Week 8 will be whether the Vosges Canal has enough water to remain open long enough to get us back to our winter spot on the Canal de la Marne au Rhin. Stay tuned.

Week 7 Numbers