Canal de Bourgogne, travel-report 2002: prelude

After more than 900 kilometers we leave the motorway at five o'clock in the afternoon. Some minutes later we are fascinated by the view of Semur-en-Auxois.

Before us a fortified city rises from a deep cleft. In the depth I can see the river Armançon running. There 's a watermill down there. In front of us I see the city with two impressing fortified towers.

We don't have time to enjoy the village because we are expected at the base of the boat-hire company between four and six o'clock . Immediately after we drive into Venarey-les-Laumes we see the base at our left side. I also recognize our boat at once and I park the car next to it. We are welcomed heartily by the letter who introduces herself as Marie. She gives us the time to unpack before we do the paperwork. After the wide boat we rented last year, we have to get used to this somewhat smaller boat. Nevertheless, it 's a boat of the 11 meters long and there are two steering positions, one inside and one outside. Everything is settled quickly this time, our luggage is overloaded and given space, the contracts are signed and we are getting the instructions about the boat.

I am pleased with the testing navigation though it 's a strange sensation to stand at the wheel again. I find it easy to turn the boat in the canal and I am also satisfied too with the mooring.

The lockkeeper of lock 56 asks me if we want to pass through the lock this afternoon but I tell him we want to go into the other direction first. He says that that lock (55) is tended by his colleague.

A few moments later our boat is refueled. The lockkeeper has told Marie that we are going to Pouilly-en-Auxois first and for that extra trip we need a full fuel-tank.

The renter, Marie, tell us later that she was surprised that we wanted to go to Pouilly-en-Auxois. Obviously I am the first one to do so. After a moment of thought she realised that it is possible to make a double-trip to Pouilly. She tells us the base is only open for a month.

While doing some shopping I see a pizza-car in he village. At the end of the day we want to buy five pizza's but it takes more than an hour to get them ready. As we can get the pizza's around eight o'clock we are starving. Yet we have left some considerable pieces.

The weather during our journey was unstable. Sometimes we were driving through rain-showers but there were also bright periods. Arriving in Burgundy it looks like rain but the weather stays dry.

In the evening I walk along Canal de Bourgogne. I watch the different villages which are pasted to the hills. It looks beautifully. I walk to the first lock. I read that one can be locked three times a day: the first time at 9.00 o'clock and the next time at 12.30 p.m. We have to be on time tomorrow. The lock looks very old. The house of the lockkeeper makes a desolate impression. The bollards and the ladder are situated on the left side. I can see that the lock is raised in the past with a huge stone to adapt the draught to the so called Freycinet measures.

Meanwhile the children are surveying the environment and they have discovered a lama in a meadow at the other side of the canal.

At night the lights of the street lanterns are mirroring in the surface of the water. In the boat we can hear the dashing of the water. We have to get used to the sounds and smell of water. The boys however are tired of today's journey and fall asleep immediately.