Barging on ANJA

We have made our way downwards on the Canal du Centre, heading for the Saone at Chalon sur Saone. This is a very active trip with 34 locks in 48 kilometres, all automatic. Many of the drops are over 5 metres. the countryside is mainly rural and is most picturesque at Santenay where our overnight stop gave us a panoramic view of the grape-vines in the Southern part of the Cote de Beaune wine- growing area.

On the last leg of this trip, we finally had a day of rain, with the temperature falling to 12 degrees. After 11 locks Penny was wet and cold, very pleased to tie up just before the end of the Canal, at Fragnes where there was an attractive quay in the centre of a tiny and very modern village. Instead of the old stone buildings we are used to, the covered area which serves as the Town Square is a large open area with a steeply pitched roof, much more like the community buildings in the Solomon Islands or New Caledonia than what we are used to in France.

There is a bus service which allowed us to go into Chalon. We wanted to explore the city and to check out the moorings there, as we are to meet Penny's sister who is spending some time with us after a meeting in Rome. Sadly there is nothing there for us. The town quays are too steepand deep and the bollards very far apart; we are too big for the Port de Plaisance which has a 15 metre limit. So we will stay at Fragnes.

Chalon is yet another ancient town, chosen as the supply centre for Julius Caesar but settled long before. It was also the birthplace of Nicephore Niepce who invented photography so we enjoyed a visit to the Museum devoted to photography. It included some of his original images and other inventions. We also visited the arcitectural museum which outlined the development of the town over thousands of years.

The bus service which made this trip possible is worth mentioning. There is a bus timetable, but it is necessary to ring to book two hours before one wants to travel. If there are not enough bookings for the bus, a taxi is sent but the price is maintained at 1 euro per person. We had a taxi each way, just us on the way there, with one other person on the way back. All for two euros each.

Fragnes itself is a pretty and quite modern town. It has only a boulangerie (plus coiffure and restaurant) but a truck comes with limited groceries each day, and there is a large supermarket and a hardware store a bike ride away. David has been able to stock up with bits and pieces he has been wanting. The first trip was to buy tubing to repair a leak in the injector spill rail line which had developed during the final days of the trip up the canal. This leak emptied 40litres of diesel fuel into the bilges. He had to collect it, then work out if it was white (propulsion) diesel or red (heating diesel). Then came the process to find the leak.

The painting of the back roof is now almost complete but there are millions of tiny bugs with a death wish plummeting into the paint. Fortunately it was worse on the undercoat than on later coats. During his time on the roof David was entertained by parachutists and aerobatics planes flying from a nearby airstrip. This is (we think) to commemorate D-Day. Another distraction was a day for children with a disability. They arrived at the port as passengers in the sidecar of motorbikes and then were kitted out with life jackets and helped into motor boats for a ride on the canal, followed by some refreshements. There were children coming in batches all day Saturday, with many adult helpers to ensure the smooth running of the day.

One day of the air show was also set aside for these children. An imressive effort from all the people involved.

Next, we exit the Canal du Centre through a lock with a large drop of 10.7metres. Then past Chalon and on the Saone to Tournus. After that, we will divert along the Seille River and back, thence to Lyon.

Best Regards,

Penny and Dave