Barging on ANJA

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