Barging on ANJA

We are now on the Canal du Centre.

From Decize we detoured onto the Canal de Roanne a Digoin, a short (58kms) canal built in 1838 to serve Roanne's industries of steel, cotton and textiles. During World War 1 Roanne was a major port for shipping of shells and artillery. With the decline in commercial traffic, the canal is now almost entirely used by recreational boats and has been termed the "tranquil canal". Certainly the scenery is tranquil, mostly dense forest growth or rolling pastures climbing to low hills in the distance. The Charolais cattle graze right next to the canal and often watched our progress with interest. We wondered about a herd of goats crossing a bridge in front of us, apparently unacompanied; yet another of life's little mysteries.

While the scenery is tranquil, the locks are quite daunting. There are only ten, but one has a 7.2 metre drop, two are of 6 metres. Another lock has a strong current which caught Anja as she was entering and pushed her into the other side of the lock gate- all 36 tons of her! The current was not meant to be there, there was an underground defect in the "plumbing" which caused the problem. Some locks are automatic but close for lunch.

The Loire is never far away, getting closer to its source in the South of France. We spent the weekend in Roanne, a town which used to be a major port on the Loire, in fact way back to Gallo Roman times when it was called "Rodumna". It is unmarked on any tourist maps but interesting nonetheless. There is an excellent museum displaying archaelogical artefacts found locally (in fact in the adjacent streets) dated as far back as the 2nd century BC, most of it 1st and 2nd century AD when it was a thriving Gallo Roman settlement. There is a characteristic "Roanne Bowl", with many examples found here but nowhere else.

There was also an excellent display of more modern ceramics, many made locally or in Nevers, including a collection of over 600 items from the time of the French Revolution, beautifully made and very attractive, full of revolutionary slogans and celebrations of the new order. Others were quite funny including one from the mid 18th century called "The Tree of Love" with a dozen men in the branches of a large tree and a similar number of women with axes and saws chopping it down and trying to grab the escaping fellows. Other ceramics were more what we had expected, with deep colours and exquisite workmanship.

The weather here is continuing to be warm and sunny. We had a brief storm the other day but otherwise no rain, so the farmers are not happy. We can see the growth browning off, especially on the ridges. Penny got caught in the storm at the ecluse but the eclusier kindlky unlocked a small shed so she could shelter while the boat rose in the lock (see photo below).

After a day's rest we set off again back towards Digoin, where the Canal Lateral a la Loire ends and the Canal du Centre begins. Just outside Digoin we crossed the Loire yet again, via a 240 metre aqueduct. This is our final view of the Loire whose many faces we have observed for the last few weeks. Again David steered straight and true, undaunted by the many watchful eyes from people walking alongside. We continue to be much photographed but are now used to it. The biggest crowd watching us entering a lock was about 23.

When we left Roanne, we learned from the eclusiers that they wanted us to hurry and get beyond a certain point that day because they were going to try and repair the defective lock. So, the next day, a major section of the canal was closed and we suspect they had to drain that section of the canal in order to get at the subterranean leaks. As usual, things were a little unclear and there were variosus stories going the rounds of boats that were turned back.

Photos show:

Ramparts at Decize, the Loire, Penny working the lock from the bow, Penny shelters from storm, the "tranquil canal", typical bridge over Roanne canal, Musee at Roanne, Roanne harbour, town of Bourg le Compte, high lock, Paray le Monial, Last sight of the Loire from the Digoin aqueduct, Digoin aqueduct.

Best Regards, Penny and Dave

Flag etiquette on Barges is not quite as strict as that on sailing boats. For example on Anja, Dutch registered, we started correctly flying the French flag in front and the Dutch one on the stern. So many people came up to speak to us in Dutch that we took advice and replaced the Dutch flag with an Aussie one. Charterers seem to bring their own flag with them, and so far this year, as well as the numerous French, Dutch, British, Swiss, German and rare but welcome Austrailian flags, we have identified a Slovak flag, one from Cuba and to arouse our curiosity, two boats travelling together flying the flag of the Confederate States of America.

Never, ever would anyone do these things on a yacht and country officials have been known to get angry about the size and quality of flags displayed on visitors' yachts or motor crtuisers.

On Pastime we carry the excellent little "Book of Flags" by Alfred Znamierowski so that we can satisfy our curiousity when we see an unfamiliar flag. We tried to buy a second copy for Anja but it is already out of print, but our searches unearthed a copy on Amazon of Znamierowski's "The World Encyclopedia of Flags" second hand but unused for $1. Postage cost more than the book.

We have only seen one flag that we could not identify.

David went and spoke toi the owner who was Swiss and did not speak any English. What we discovered was that the flag was one he made himself by joining parts of the Swiss, German and French flags because "Switzerland is a small country, taking parts of its culture from the surrounding countries".

Best regards,

Penny and Dave

We had intended to explore the Southern end of the beautiful Nivernais Canal. Last year, we explored from Auxerre down to Clamency.

We knew that this could be difficult because the cruising guides list the maximum "tirant d'aire" [air draft] as 2.78metres. Now, we are 3.22metres at the centre of our roof and knew that the problem bridges were arched with good clearance in the middle and only 2.7metres out at the extremities which are 5.2metres apart.

All went well for a while and we glided slowly through the first couple of bridges, dead centre, and cleared the bridges with the aft edges of our roof by a few centimetres.

Then we came to a bridge which was lower. I asked Penny to go to the bow and look back, to see if there was enough clearance. This turned out to be a mistake. She called that we were probably not going to fit. So, I went into neutral, but when the propellor is not turning, the level of water rises a little and so this happened, there was a "crunch" and we damaged a section of roof where our front roof joins the back sun roof. The damage was not too bad and less than the sound had indicated.

We decided to continue and overnight at a town called Cercy la Tour. But, when we reached the bridge before the town, it was even lower than the previous bridge which caused the damage.

So, we decided to pull up and stay the night and turn around next day.

Problem!

The first problem was the width of the canal. Only 12metres whereas we are 16metres without the rudder and bowsprit. So, we could not turn around where we were. It would also be extremely difficult to reverse 6km backwards because Anja's rudder does not work in reverse. We could not ask the Eclusiers to drop the level in the canal because of the water shortage and the fact that we were in a very long reach of water (millions of litres of water would only drop the level a centimetre.

I rode up and let the Eclusiers know what was happening. I also took the tape measure and carefully checked the dimensions of the bridge. I worked out that we could fit, provided we were exactly in the centre of the span and did not move more than +-3 centimeters from that course. There was a little elderly lady sitting in her front yard and watching me very curiously as I clambered around the bridge, tape measure in hand on three separate occasions.

Repairing the damage proved quite easy and, in the process, I was able to lower the sides of the roof by a further 1cm. Then fiberglass filler, screws and epoxy resin completed the job.

Next morning, we successfully negotiated the bridge with centimetres to spare. Very slow but very nerve racking.

Then came another chore. Turning around at the town. The expanse of water was wide, but there was a very narrow channel. I hoped that our very shallow draft (85cm) would enable us to use some of the shallow water for turning. No! the propellor was touching the bottom. We made it in the end by turning in the other direction with the propellor nearer the shore and the bow passing over the really shallow area. We accumulated quite a crowd of onlookers from the small town.

We made it and then had to go back under the really low bridge. We successfully achieved that too.

Then, we returned to Nevers which is 15km away and at the start of the Nivernais Canal and at the junction with the Canal Lateral a la Loire.

We were very apprehensive when approaching the bridge that had damaged the roof. We also noticed that the channel underneath it was not aligned with the centre of the arch, so in fact, one had to scrape alond the side of the 5.2metre channel under the bridge. We made it with a mere 2cm of clearance from the roof!

So, it was just not worth the effort of exploring the bottom of the Nivernais with mere centimetres of clearance on the bridges. We spent a pleasant night moored on the beautiful Loire River and stocked up on provisdions fromn the extremely close Super Marches and a very convenient hardware store. Then, after some exploring of the pretty town, it was back to the Canal Lateral to continue the journey South West.

Best Regards, Dave and Penny

Before we had consumed too much of the bottle of wine, we decided to take advantage of the long twilight to ride to an unusual circular lock. This is on the disused Lorrains Branch of the canal which used to allow entrance from the Allier River. The lock is 32 metres in diameter, with three gates. A boat would enter at one gate, and be turned around to exit in a different direction. A barge could almost turn back on itself to make a 330 degree turn if required.

We were pleased to have had the chance to get our minds and our lines in order for the Guetin staircase lock, with one rise of six metres, one of four metres. We needed longer lines than we have used before to reach the bollards which are 10 metres higher than the boat, and set well away from the lock wall. Fortunately the lock- keeper dangles a hook over the side so that the lines can be sent up that far. There would be no chance of reaching the bollards otherwise.

With two large barges in the lock both of us were very close to the lock gates, so it was important to keep the lines firm as we rose. Indeed, until the lock gates were closed, we only had about 30cm between our bow and the stern of the boat in front, plus there was about 30cm space for the gates to close behind us. Once the gates were closed, there were an extra couple of metres, so we could slide back a little.

All went well and we exited onto a narrow 340 metre aqueduct over the Allier River. David steered very straight again. After this the tension was over. The Canal Lateral a la Loire has very few locks for its length, with one on average every 5 kilometres, compared with the Briare Canal which has one every 1.7 k. After the hard work of the Guetin lock, there is a 20.7 kilometre pound (stretch between locks) so we could sit back and enjoy the countryside, with some beautiful farming country and attractive cottages. Ten kilometres along, we turned onto a branch canal to reach Nevers, the capital of the Nivernais district (Nievre Department) and soon tied up at the Port. The branch canal used to join the Loire (on which Nevers is built) but is now closed, and a huge swimming pool has been built into the end of the old canal and last lock.

Nevers has many of the features we have become used to- several churches, two dating back to the 11th Century, a ducal palace and ancient town walls and gates. When we visited the Cathedral the huge Church organ was being tuned so David was interested to peer into the workings at the back (which was open). The stained glass windows in the Cathedral are very modern, as the originals (and parts of the building) were destroyed by a mis- directed Allied bombing raid in 1944. There is a beautiful and ancient ceiling fresco which escaped the bombs and is in excellent condition.

St Bernadette, whose name is linked more with Lourdes, actually spent much of her life, and died, here in Nevers where she joined the Convent of the Sisters of Charity of Nevers. Her naturally preserved body is in the Chapel of the Convent and we saw it. Amazing.

Nevers is also noted for beautiful ceramics whcih have been manufactured here since the 16th century. The work is exquisite. While in the Port at Nevers the final coat of white paint has been applied to our new roof, and the panels in the engine room are all back in place after David's on- going improvements to Anja's electricity generation capacity. This has meant that tools and odd bits of wood are now back in their rightful place so we are much more shipshape. Nevers has also given us our first rainy day, with the temperature hovering around 15 degrees outside, very conducive to turning on the central heating and relaxing.

Pictures attached here show the following (but not necessarily in this order!)

Spring flowers, Ducal Palace, Nevers Cathedral, Palais du Justice, Tower Goguin, Nevers Township, the Allier River and also the Loire, Round Lock, Guetin Lock, us at Guetin, pretty farm house and a barge powered by legs and arm muscles.

Best Regards,

Penny and Dave

The River Loire is never far away from us. We love this wide, fast flowing river, with lots of islands (which change if there is a flood) and plenty of rapids. Salmon breed here! The Canal we are now on, Canal Lateral a la Loire, was built to allow barge traffic an easier run, but we are never far from the beautiful Loire. We have enjoyed hopping on our bikes to visit the Loire townships and the River itself.

La Charite sur Loire was a highlight. A priory was established there in 1107 and the name of the town acknowledges the generosity to the poor. Many of the original buildings are still in use. The view of the Loire from the town ramparts is outstanding.

An overnight stop in Guetin was very pleasant at an exceptionally good town guay. There was a wide stretch of grass next to the quay, with tables and chairs plus trees for shade. It was so good that we moved the BBQ and other implements to one of the tables and cooked/ate dinner as the sun set (around 9pm) and the level quickly dropped in the bottle of a fine white wine from Sancerre (which we passed a day before).

Tomorrow, we tackle our highest lock yet. It has a monster 10metre rise and we will be sharing it with a larger barge- there will be almost no room to spare.

Here are pictures from Charite plus the local Nuclear Reactor referred to earlier.

Best Regards, Penny and Dave

When we were in France last year, we were intrigued by signs on lampposts and notice boards in towns, advertising "Vide Grenier" and giving a date. This year we noticed them again so we asked Christian at Les Chouettes. He explained that it meant "clear the attic" (empty attic) and was so popular that huge numbers of extra newpapers were sold when the special supplement appeared listing "Vide Grenier" times and places.

We were delighted then to see signs indicating a Vide Grenier in Briare while we were there, and it did not disappoint. The town square was full of stalls selling bric a brac, furniture, old tools, clothes, books and plants (which were not from an attic I am sure). There were hot food stalls as well. We bought a vase and two teapots (usual story, we bought one then liked another better) for a total of 5 euros. Now we will have to find out how you donate goods to be sold at another Vide Grenier, to get rid of the extra teapot and the old one which we never liked!

Best Regards,

Penny and Dave

The town of Briare is full of boats!

The Briare Canal finishes in the town but we chose not to continue to the end through the last three locks to the "Port de Plaisance" there as we had heard that there was rarely room for boats as big as ours. Instead we entered the "Canal Lateral a la Loire" and tied up at the "Commercial Port" together with sightseeing and hotel boats. Room was scarce there too. It was by far the most expensive night so far, at 17.30 euros without water or electricity, the same price as at the Port de Plaisance but without the wifi, electricity and showers available there.

First step was to walk across the Briare Aqueduct which takes the Canal over the Loire River. A boat was waiting on the other side to cross in a Northerly direction, but just as one boat travelling South almost reached the end, another would start across- and the rule is, if you are on the Aqueduct, you have priority. The North bound boat waited quite a while to get its nose onto the bridge first and even then had a bad time banging each side as they were not able to enter the narrow aqueduct .

The aqueduct itself is very impressive with grand entrance columns and lamp-posts installed when it was built in 1896. It is about 680metres long and carries the canal high above the Loire River. It is supposed to be the longest "Pont de Canal" in Europe and possibly the world. It is an engineering masterpiece, even today, and must have posed challenges when designed (with some assistance from Eiffel). On a sunny day, it expands as much as half a metre and there are rubber bellows which take up the slack. Heaven knows how much weight of water there is but it would hold at least 25million litres of water.

Briare is noted for its mosaics which have been manufactured there since 1851. The museum gave an interesting historical account and then we noticed them everywhere in the public areas and town signs. The Church of St Stephen, financed by the owner of the factory Mr Bapterosses used locally produced mosaics extensively on the walls and as friezes throughout. The huge floor area is all done in mosaics.

Leaving Briare, we were very fortunate to find no boats coming the other way on the Aqueduct and David excelled by steering straight down the very narrow channel without wandering to either side. So began our trip on the Canal Lateral a la Loire.

Pictures show the Aqueduct over the Loire and the old tree lined canal.

Best Regards, Penny and Dave

Chatillon-Coligny proved to be a particularly good place to be stuck when the locks were closed. First there was a very comfortable quay in a quiet and attractive setting, equipped with free electricity and water. An excellent boulangerie was very close, so David was happy.

The planned walk gave us an idea of the set- up of the 14th century fortified town, including many of the original buildings. We particularly enjoyed the museum which had a beautiful jar from the 5th century BC and artefacts excavated locally from the burial places of a wide range of inhabitants- Gauls, Celts, a Germanic tribe as well as the Romans. This was the home of Henri Becquerel who shared the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics with Pierre and Marie Curie, for his work on natural radioactivity. He was the third in four generations of Becquerel men who were noted for their scientific research, and who all lived here.

Next day we continued our trip through several more automatic locks this time without any problems. The locks were very high (we were going up at this stage) making it difficult to put the ropes on the bollards. Sometimes the rise was so great that the bollards could be seen only by standing on the raised foredeck, so Penny walked ahead so that David could pass up the rope to her once he was safely in the lock. However, we found that even though these were automatic locks, there was a lock- keeper at hand. He would travel between several locks in his little van. It became easier to stay on the barge and take advantage of the hook he lowered over the side to receive the rope. Soon we were at Rogny where a "staircase lock" had been built in 1642 to take boats up (and down) 39 metres at once. this masterpiece of engineering was in use for over 250 years when the canal was renovated and the current 6 locks, spread over several kilometres, were put in place instead. That day we travelled 20 kilometres through 19 locks, so we were quite happy to pull into a pleasant quay at Ouzouer for the night.

Here are some pictures showing a bascule bridge (common on a number of the locks here), some of the sights from Chatillon Coligny and other views from the Canal.

Best Regards, Penny and Dave

We thoroughly enjoyed Montargis just as we had in 2007. This time, we got to explore more and do the "17 bridges walk". Unfortunately, we are slightly early in the year. Very soon, they will put planter boxes full of beautiful flowers everywhere but particularly on all the bridges. They also moor boats full of flowers on the small canals which thread through this old town- it is like a mini-Venice.

Other good things happened here.

1. Hooray! We drove to Dijon (500km round trip) for our chest X-rays, medical examinations and final interviews to confirm our long term visas. This is a daunting and expensive process and to date, it has cost well over 1,000euros and taken quite a bit of effort. The people were very helpful and we got a shiny new "Titre de Sejour" to accompany our visas. On top of that, they said we should be able to get a one year extension with little bother. This is something the French Consulate said was no longer possible. Excellent! So, we might not have to go through all this again next year but will not know for sure until a couple of months before opur return.

2. Our window (the double-glazed, armoured glass window that was made 35mm too wide) has been re-made and installed here in Montargis. Simon (the shipwright) had to do a lot of arguing to get it to happen. The company was happy to re-make the window which they had mucked-up but NOT at all happy to install it. Anyway, in the end they did it and the work happened quickly and professionally.

3. There were some patches of epoxy on the roof that did not dry properly. This was the second coat which went on late due to fog that morning. Some patches got affected by earlly dew. In the end, I had to cut out the epoxy and fiberglass clth and re-do the work. Well, it is finallky finished. So, the main wheelhouse roof is complete. In another week or two, we will lightly sand it, scrub it with scourers and detergent and then paint with high quality white marine paints. While finalising that roof, I made a start on repairing the aft roof which is a sun roof behind the wheelhouse. It was also poorly constructed and there were some even worse repairs made to rotting timber. I have now properly repaired it. The curved rounded edges still need to be removed and done properly plus we are going to paint it white but that can wait a little while longer.

4. The bathroom is fully operational again. Damaged piping repaired and replaced. All pipes insulated. Five panels now removable for inspection and repairs rather than the single panel previously. We have sponged and sucked 100litres of water from the under-floor area (after the burst pipe and bad/leaking jopins) but there is still more to get out. A further (estimated 150litres) was remoived by the bilge pumps. There is perhaps 50litres more to go. Yuk!

5. The bus alternator on the engine is working really well with my own-designed regulator. The tachometer is also working properly. It was connected some years agoi and the installer clearly did not understand how to set it up. I have changed the wiring and settings and it works perfectly for the first time.

Well, that's an update on the various projects. We have moved from Montargis and are now in Chatillon Coligny.

More later, Regards, Dave and Penny

One of the enjoyable aspects of cruising the waterways is the variety of Eclusiers (lock-keepers) and learning something of their lives. Nearly all of them are really enthusiastic, interesting and helpful.

So, here are a couple of short stories:

1. We had one jolly eclusier for a total of five locks. Now, that is a considerable number of locks for one person to handle. (normal is 1-3). He was very much on the plump side and chain-smoked cigars. He was one of those people who has been an eclusier for decades. When we stopped over night at Nargis, we had negotiated a 10am start the next morning (so I could do some epoxying on the roof- there is too much dew early on). Well, the dew was not going to dissipate in time and we noticed the eclusier readying the lock gates. We asked if we could leave earlier, but he was very apologetic and explained that he had a commercial barge to see through the five canals but that we could go straight after. In the mean time, he explained that we could go to the Boulanger and buy wonderful baguettes and cakes to keep us occupied. I did not have the heart to explain I had already been there a couple of hours before.

Anyway, we did get going and at the next lock, the eclusier explained that a friend lived there (at the lock-keeper's cottage) and that she had been to Australia (Surfer's Paradise). This explained the "Kangaroos 25km" sign in her lounge window. She also had the flags of a number of countries high on a pole next to the lock. No Australia! The Eclusier asked if we had a spare flag. We did have one and it was very suitable. Hegave it to the lady from the cottage whoi then ran out to the chook-house, and he explained she was getting us fresh eggs. He would not open the lock gates until the eggs were collected and duly delivered. We had some of them for lunch that very same day!

2. Most locks are manually operated. Some use wheels, others levers, others chains. Very few (except the large river locks) on the canals are electric/hydraulic. Well, today we came to a flight of four automatic/electric locks. Very strange- the first one did not have a red or green traffic light. We went into the lock, tied up and pushed the lever to activate the lock. Nothing. Everything was dead. A couple of VNF employees shouldering pick-axes turned up and suggested we move further forward in the lock. Still nothing. Then some other guys turned up, apologised and said that there was a National Power Failure and that was why nothing worked. But, "not to worry, we have a generator and will get the lock working". The bad news was that there was only a single generator for all four locks and that they would have to transport it between locks. There was also another boat going the other way which would also need the generator. The generator was indeed quite large and required two people to push (on wheels) and three to push up into the small van for transportation. They also explained that two later locks would be closed next day (which we knew) but that there was a very good market in the next town as we would likely be stuck for a couple of days!

Well, we finally got through the locks (including those destined for closure the following day) but it took a long while. At one lock, they could not make anything work despite the generator. One guy was assigned to keep us amused while the others slaved away. At every lock, the tow path was on the opposite side to the equipment, so they would drive to one side of the lock, unload the generator, push it over the lock gates, then connect it and run it. Then back to the other side and into the van again. On the last lock, rather alarmingly, the lock gates opened for us to exit, then closed on us when we were 2/3 of the way through! Almost a disaster but we accelerated and scraped out with the gates trying to squash us. Foirtunately our solid rubber fenders prevented disaster. But a fibreglass boat could have been severelyt damaged.

When we got to the last lock of the day, we asked the eclusier if we could start the next day at 10am rather than the normal 9am. Sure, he said, then rang the following eclusier to organise it. At that stage, he found out that a bridge was being assembled the following day and that two locks would be closed all day. He also reminded us that the previous locks would also be closed, so we would be "stuck in the middle". The bridge work was something that had not been scheduled and no-one knew about previously. So, we are "stuck" after all, until Friday. But we are in a nice place with plenty to do tomorrow and interesting sights.

Best Regards, Dave and Penny

Next morning we were ready to leave at 9am when the locks were due to open again. About 9.15 the keeper arrived and we set off, sharing the lock with a hire boat. We shared the locks with them for the rest of that day's trip which was quite strange as we were the only two recreational boats on that section of the canal all day. We're sure the lockkeppers were pleased as it cut down thier workload. We came across half a dozen commercial vessels, travelling both North and South, but at the moment there are very few pleasure craft on the move.

We stopped in mid- afternoon at Nargis so that David could get some work done on the roof. It had been showery in the morning but cleared to a fine afternoon. Nargis is a small town, very quiet though well kept. Everything was orderly, down to the Boulangerie which had an "In" and an "Out". When David went to get our baguettes the next morning he didn't notice the signs so started going out the "In" and was quickly corrected.

Our start in the morning was delayed by the passage of a commercial barge but after that the going was very smooth. A single eclusier was with us for the first four locks, again reminiscent of the Burgundy Canal where this is common practice early and late in the season.

Very soon we reached Cepoy, the last lock of the Loing Canal, which had been the first lock of the Canal d'Orleans (heading West) when it was built by the Duke of Orleans starting in 1682. The Loing Canal was built between 1720 and 1723 after the success of the Orleans and Briare (started 1605) Canals showed how successfully canals could speed up carriage of goods and people. After the Loing was built the trip from Briare to Paris could be five days, compared with the previous five to six weeks.

Entering the Birare Canal at Buges we could see to our right the start of the Canal d'Orleans, which looked fine there but is closed. A few more kilometres and a few more locks, some of them automatic, took us into the beautiful town of Montargis, where we will spend the next few days. We tied up at the Town Quay. We have been here before (2007) and there is still more to see and do. On Tuesday, we are driving to Dijon to hopefully complete our immigration formalities. We need to have chest X-rays plus a medical exam, pay plenty more Euros etc. We are hoping it all goes well. David successfully phoned ahead and booked appointments for the chest X-rays.

It still surprises us that Montargis (which is very picturesque, with Venice-like canals) does not make it into either the Lonely Planet or the Rough Guide for France.

Attached is a photo of the overnight stop in Nargis.

Best Regards,

Penny and Dave

At St Mammes we turned from the Seine to head South along the Canal du Loing. This Canal joins the Canal de Briare and then the Canal lateral a la Loire as a route to head south to the Mediterranean (though we have no intentions of going that far).

We immediately felt very much at home, transported back to our first experience with locks, on the Burgundy Canal last year. The lock sizes are very similar and preclude the huge barges which travel on the Seine. It is still possible for commercial barges which meet the Freycinet standard to use these canals as they fit in the locks and under the bridges. The "Freycinet Act" of 1879 set a standard for canals which would allow 300 ton barges (no more than 38.5 metres long with a beam of 5 metres, air draft below 3.5 metres with a 1.8 metre draft) to pass safely along them.

The country we passed was very pretty too and the River Loing was often to be seen near the Canal. Again there were herons and plenty of ducks, but fewer swans than we had seen on the Yonne. Our second lock in this stretch was automatic, the first we had operated. It is controlled by sensors so that the lock gates open as a boat approaches. Once set up, the barge driver pulls a rod which sets in train the normal lock process. It all went very smoothly and soon we stopped at Moret sur Loing for an early lunch.

Moret was established as a town even in Neolithic times and in more recent history was fortified with gateways, a Castle where Kings would spend time (later used as a prison, fortresses, an ancient bridge and mill stream. We enjoyed exploring the cobbled streets of old houses and visiting the 12th century church. The town was also quite modern with well stocked shops.

After lunch we continued to Nemours where our day came to a premature stop when the lock keeper didn't turn up to open the lock. This lock was around a right angle bend so, unusally, it was impossible to tell what was going on unelss one got off the boat to go to the actual lock. There was a sign there that the eclusier might be at another lock and just wait. For the first hour we reguarly visited the lock to see if anything was happening or if there was a contact number but over two hours later, when the locks closed for the day, he still had not come. By then we had given up and tied up to the pontoon intended for those waiting for the lock to open.

It was not a "big deal" because we were in a pleasant place to stop for dinner and over night.

Attached are photos (mostly of the Loing and Moret) but also one showing all the barges at St Mammas plus a couple of us moored alongside our "big brother" barges. The Moret photos show the river in the town (where the waters were used to power a tannery and a milkl). The famous painter Sisley worked and died in Moret and still today, there is an emphasis on painting.

Regards, Penny and Dave.

Our trip on the Seine this year was short but interesting. We needed to get from the end of the Yonne at Montereau to the start of the Loing Canal at St Mammes, a distance of 16 kilometres with only one lock. The guide book suggested contacting the lockkeeper on the radio but we did not think our limited French would do the job.

We had already observed the size and the frequency of big commercial barges in this section so were pleased to see none when we set off. Once we reached the lock we could see that it was closed to us and that a barge was in there already, coming towards us. All we had to do was wait for it to come out, then we could go in. Twenty minutes later we were still waiting then we could see another barge apporaching to join the first in the lock: the keepers prefer to cut down the number of times they raise and lower the water. They will hold a boat if they know another is coming. There was plenty of radio chatter, presumably the other drivers telling him of their approach.

The waiting continued so long that two large commercial barges came up behind us. As they have priority we pulled out of the queue and reconciled ourselves to an even longer wait. No lock we had so far seen would accommodate us all.

Finally after over an hour the lock gates opened and three huge barges exited. Our spirits lifted- if they all fitted in, surely we would be OK with the two also waiting. We confidently lined up behind the other two and obeying the green light entered the lock to find a huge area, 180 metres long by 11.4 metres wide; the two barges in front of us were side by side, so we had masses of room to tie up. The lock operated quite quickly so we were on our way an hour and a half after arriving for the lock. We were pleased it was the only one on we needed to negotiate on this busy waterway.

We soon reached the town of St Mammes, described by the guide books as a major barging town as it lies at the junction of the Seine River, the Loing River and Canal and not far from the Yonne. This will be our furthest point North for a while and we are onlyt 75km from Paris. The books were right about the number of barges lining the banks of the River and Canal, many being lived on, some for sale and others apparently waiting for the next job. We were able to tuck ourselves behind one of these barges on the Town Quay.

The town itself was quiet. Perhaps in years gone by, the barging town was raucous at night but not so now. We were too late for the Museum of Barging but could nevertheless see some of its display on windows which displayed the history of barging both for those inside and outside the building.

Regards, Penny and Dave

Photos are of a sunken barge (sadly, not uncommon). Sunset at the junction of the Loing and Seine. One of the 100 metre barges on the Seine. A container barge. Sand mining on the Yonne.

We enjoyed Easter in Sens. The weather stayed beautiful and we were able to go to the historic Cathedral for the Easter celebrations. We were surprised to find that Good Friday was "business as usual" in town.

We really appreciated the convenient mooring on the town Quay and had a chance to get properly settled and organised on Anja and for David to start filling in the holes and replacing the tiles he had cut out in fixing the bathroom pipes. When he finishes, the panels will be screwed so that they can be removed again if necessary without hacking into the walls.

Easter Sunday was one of the few days of the year when most of the locks are closed. Easter Monday saw them open again so we set off early and reached Pont sur Yonne by lunchtime. tying up at a newly refurbished pontoon there to spend the night. The next day we came 29 kilometres (6 locks) to complete our journey down the Yonne River, joining the Seine River at Montereau where we tied up at the Quai d'Yonne, quite a difficult spot as there is a sill beneath water level and the frequant large and fast barges meant that we were moved around a lot. The speed limit here is 20 kph so these huge boats move a lot of water. we were being buffetted every time a barge went past. We didn't like the scraping noises from under the hull so soon moved back to the Yonne to find an alternative mooring along the river bank under some trees.

Most locks on the Yonne have at least one sloping side. Many have two and for some of these a pontoon is built on rails which follow the slope of the wall so that a barge can tie up to it and drop down the sloping side as the pontoon drops. Otherwise it is very difficult for the rope person (in this case Penny) to reach the bollards on the sloping side and tie up far enough out then fend off constantly, to allow the barge to keep clear of the side as the water level drops. The last few locks on the Yonne had two sloping sides and no pontoon, so David held the boat steady in the centre of the lock without tying up with Penny ready with a pole to fend off if we came too close to the side.

Another feature of the later locks on the Yonne was that they had red and green traffic lights to inform the barges when they could enter or leave the lock. This made it much easier as we approached- usually it is a matter of looking carefully through the binoculars to see if the lock gates are open or closed.

This year on the Yonne there are many commercial barges carrying grain, sand and unidentified containers. Here at Montereau at the junction of the Seine and the Yonne they are passing regularly about every 20 minutes. We have seen very few recreational craft yet.

All the best, Penny and Dave We enjoyed Easter in Sens. The weather stayed beautiful and we were able to go to the historic Cathedral for the Easter celebrations. We were surprised to find that Good Friday was "business as usual" in town.

We really appreciated the convenient mooring on the town Quay and had a chance to get properly settled and organised on Anja and for David to start filling in the holes and replacing the tiles he had cut out in fixing the bathroom pipes. When he finishes the panels will be screwed so that they can be removed again if necessary without hacking into the walls.

Easter Sunday was one of the few days of the year when most of the locks are closed. Easter Monday saw them open again so we set off early and reached Pont sur Yonne by lunchtime. tying up at a newly refurbished pontoon there to spend the night. The next day we came 29 kilometres (6 locks) to complete our journey down the Yonne River,joining the Seine River at Montereau where we tied up at the Quai d'Yonne, quite a difficult spot as there is a sill beneath water level and the frequant large and fast barges meant that we were moved around a lot. The speed limit here is 20 kph so these huge boats move a lot of water. we were being buffetted every time a barge went past. We didn't like the scraping noises from under the hull so soon moved back to the Yonne to find an alternative mooring along the river bank under some trees.

Most locks on the Yonne have at least one sloping side. Many have two and for some of these a pontoon is built on rails which follow the slope of the wall so that a barge can tie up to it and drop down the sloping side as the pontoon drops. Otherwise it is very difficult for the rope person (in this case Penny) to reach the bollards on the sloping side and tie up far enough out then fend off constantly, to allow the barge to keep clear of the side as the water level drops. The last few locks on the Yonne had two sloping sides and no pontoon, so David held the boat steady in the centre of the lock without tying up with Penny ready with a pole to fend off if we came too close to the side.

Another feature of the later locks on the Yonne was that they had red and green traffic lights to inform the barges when they could enter or leave the lock. This made it much easier as we approached- usually it is a matter of looking carefully through the binoculars to see if the lock gates are open or closed.

This year on the Yonne there are many commercial barges carrying grain, sand and unidentified containers. Here at Montereau at the junction of the Seine and the Yonne they are passing regularly about every 20 minutes. We have seen very few recreational craft yet.

All the best, Penny and Dave

Photos show Pont sur Yonne, the old bridge there and the view from our spot in the centre of Sens. Photos show