Low water on the Canal de Bourgogne, Yonne side.

5th to 16th September 2023

After some lovely summer months coming vaguely north west on the Canals Centre, Loire, Briare and Loing, then on the river Yonne to Auxerre, it was time to head southwards to our winter mooring at Saint Usage.

Saint Usage is at the bottom of the Canal de Bourgogne where it joins the Sâone – normally a lovely cruise through the countryside. But this summer had been very dry and several canals had already closed due to lack of water. We carefully watched all the VNF Avis (notices from the French Waterways Authority). Despite lower than normal water levels on the Bourgogne we, with our 0.9m draft, could still get through. Hooray!

Of course it wouldn’t be the end of the world if we could not go to Saint Usage – plenty of alternative winter moorings to be had. But nice to know we could complete our planned 2023 cruising loop.

Calliope had been in Auxerre for a few weeks while we made a short trip back to the UK. On September 3 we back and ready to set off, giving ourselves two final nights on the Yonne river before arriving at the lock from the Yonne to the start of Canal de Bourgogne, at Migennes.

The sun continued to blaze down from its cloudless azure sky and we were pleased of the breeze flowing through the wheelhouse with the windscreen down and back doors open.

It was also nice at the bottom of each lock, in partial shade and with water pouring in! We had just three locks on our first day, taking us to Brienon for our first night.

Although it was a relatively expensive place to stop (€19) there was a nice long grassy mooring at Brienon – with good strong bollards to tie up to!

Next morning before leaving we went to buy bread, find an ATM, and for me to see quite a famous and lovely oval lavoir – so reflective at that time of day.

That allowed us to discover an interesting church and several characterful buildings that we might otherwise have missed. Always worth a walk away from the canal.

At the first écluse (lock) off the day we were asked to wait for another boat and after a while we were joined by a solo sailor on his recently bought boat. It is not always easy alone on a boat at the bottom of a lock, without good ropes.

With some help from the éclusier (lock keeper) and Stewart he managed a rope amidships onto the ladder – not an ideal situation, but it worked.

At the top Stu jumped off to help the éclusier open the gates. This canal is consists entirely of manual locks, with various means of being and closing the gates – here the good old push bar method.

We came out of the lock onto a pretty little pont canal, or aqueduct, over the river Armançon …………….. to find a big long commercial barge waiting to enter the lock and go down towards the Yonne. In fact the captain was waiting to go back down.

The September weather was hot and sunny, so much so that the crew gave little whoop of joy whenever we turned into a shady section of canal. It’s usually quite cool in the wheelhouse as we cruise, with the front windscreen down and the doors all open. But nice to let the whole boat cool off a little.

Soon we were on our way again, with more work for Stewart at the locks. It’s not compulsory to help, but we both enjoy the physicality of it, and it builds relationships with the élusiers. We also move through the locks a little faster.

We were now at St Florentin, and a post canal over a smaller river that ran into the Armençon.

We were going on just a bit further and expected to moor at Germigny where I knew I could go for a swim in the river. But it was not to be.

Despite trying several times at different places along the Germigny mooring there was not enough water for us to get alongside, despite Calliope’s shallow draft of only 0.9m.

We had said goodbye to our éclusier at Germigny écluse, expecting to stop there for the night. We now had to call him up and ask for suggestions for an alternative near-by mooring deep enough for Calliope.

He joined us again at the next lock up the canal, where the retired éclusier who lived in the lock house came out to help us on our way through.

We soon reached Pont de Butte. Due to the canal narrowing to go under the bridge, and because the sides of the canal are vertical stone walls at this point, the water remains deeper.

Se we moored up under the bridge – one of our more unusual, but quite pleasant, moorings.

Next morning provided more sky blue skies, and the hint of another hot day. We were soon under way and gapping through the two écluses de Percey. The first of the two had a bright red wheel mechanism to open the lock gates and a very willing 4-legged helper.

Then on to écluse 102Y, Villiers-Vineux. The Y stands for the Yonne side of the canal. It was back to the push-bar method for closing the bottom gates, and Stewart climbed up the ladder to help.

We find we have to get the right rhythm for helping out, especially when coming into the bottom of a lock. First we need to see which side of the lock the éclusier is waiting. Then we moor near to a ladder on the opposite side, or tie up loosely and drift across to the ladder if the bollards are inconveniently spaced on the side we preferred.

I hope that makes sense!

The house at écluse Villiers-Vineux is occupied by someone who likes the livestock and horticultural possibilities of a rural retreat. Goats and chickens were wandering around and signs offering miel (honey), aspèrges (asparagus) and girolles (a type of mushroom) stood along the top of the fence.

We were keen to find a shady mooring for the night; the temperatures were touching 30C again. I had read about some old railings at Charrey that were supposedly in the shade, and sure enough they were; beautiful!

And out in the countryside try too!

Not only that, but a short walk along the towpath brought me to a little path down to an ideal swimming spot on the river!

It was the perfect place to cool off in the evening – fresh clean water falling over a small weir into a wide shallow pond. Mmmmmmm.

Next day we were on our way to Tonerre – home of one of the most beautiful lavoirs in the world, although this time we did not plan to visit it. If you are ever near by it is well worth a visit!

The startlingly blue skies show that the hot weather was continuing and we were pleased to find another shady mooring as we arrived at Tonnerre.

We just stayed the one night at Tonnerre as we wanted to reach Montbard and spend a bit longer there; we have cruised straight through it 7 years before when last on this canal. It had looked interesting a note in our map book told us to stay longer next time!

About an hour upwards out of Tonnerre we were enjoying superb views across the hills. Lots of space for deep breaths of morning air before the summer heat rose to its midday high.

As midday and éclusier’s lunch break crept closer the Captain was glad of a shady seat to sit and wait for the lock to fill.

The éclusier had cleverly calculated that we could reach the lock where he lived by lunchtime and we enjoyed an hour just outside Tanlay at the bottom of a lock in the cool and spray.

After lunch we went on to Lézinnes. We had begun to understand that the éclusiers were keen to keep us moving along, so out usual lazy day of about 3 hours cruising in the morning began to change.

The next such mooring was at Lezinnes, an interesting little village built around the river Armançon, and with the canal flowing past just above on the side of the valley.

We were pleased to find another place in the shade, in what is now a quiet area, but in its day was a very busy industrial hub.

The journey as always included a couple of ‘I-spy nature’ moments. On this occasion we had a drop-in praying mantis visitor in the shower, presumably flown in through the roof hatch, and a highly perched heron.

I guess neither are very remarkable. I just like to share some of the French flora and fauna that we see.

We were feel ng very comfortable le about our next stop – Ravière – having moored up here before and knowing it had a good stone edged quay. In addition we had been told that there was plenty of water at the edge for us.

It looks a bit plain in this view, but there are interesting old houses behind the trees on the left, and the right hand side of the canal looks through some more trees to expansive countryside – as you will see below.

The old town of Ravière was built on stone quarrying and stonework. Although now a lot quieter there are still many wonderful corners to discover. For example the tiles around the boucherie (butcher) windows, the ancient chateau, and bits of deserted agricultural equipment are just waiting to be seen.

Then back to Calliope, and that view to the other side of the canal that I mentioned, probably more beautiful at sunset than at any other time day.

An hour further up the canal and Calliope reaches ècluse 74Y, d’Arlot; we are getting (slightly) closer to the summit! Most of the locks along the canal are about 2.5m deep, making it quite an easy stretch for Captain and crew to throw a loop over a bollard.

We carried on past more reminders of the stone history of the area – big quarries in the hills, and another stone built lavoir, at Perigny. This one, although signposted from the canal, was relatively hidden and unloved. It still spoke of its social history, silently yet eloquently.

The river Armançon still ran alongside the canal, weaving its way nearer and further according to the topography. At Rougement the two are virtually adjacent.

It was still rather warm, and with my love of water I went looking for a ‘splash-point’. After crossing the old river bridge I found a clear shallow stream feeding into the Armençon – just right to cool the toes.

Montbard’s most famous son is Georges Louis Leclerc Comte de Buffon. He was the reason that I wanted to return to the town and learn some of the historical facts about this 18th century scientist, especially his work in natural history. I’ll just give you a taste of the town.

At the top of the town, on what must the Mont part of Montbard, is Buffon Park. The big tower pre-dates Buffon, but the smaller building with a red roof was his study. The ugly face on the right is part of an old fountain.

The views from the top across the town and beyond are beautiful from every angle.

And also, much to our surprise, around the top of the mount the little streets and alleys of the old town are still quite intact, with La Brenne river flowing through the centre on its way to join the Armençon. The area is surprisingly lovely, and worth a good exploration if you have time.

But during our two night stop we had a visit from one of our éclusier friends with a serious question – when did we expect to get to the top? This was when we found out that the VNF wanted to close the Yonne side of the canal on Saturday 16th, just four days, 64 locks and 55 kms away……..

It turned out that we were more or less the last boat through, and they were following our progress carefully. If we needed a bit longer I think they would have allowed it, but we decided to go for it and be in Pouilley-en-Auxois basin by Saturday afternoon; deep breath, enjoy the last evening, and on we go!

I think I have mentioned before that our gentle retirement days preference is to finish cruising by lunchtime and have the afternoon for local exploration. But with the added urgency for this part of our journey we continued longer than usual, ending up at Venarey-les-Laumes ourselves.

The quay for boats that are passing through is being redeveloped, and will be a nice place to stop. Already it is equipped with a good, long, firm mooring and there is evidence of a new shower block plus a small park being built.

As the sun began to go down at around 1930 it coincided with time for cool refreshments on the back deck. Another day spent in paradise!

It was to be one of our exceedingly upwards days, with 29 locks between us and the next chosen mooring at Marigny-le-Cahouët. It was to be a 7 hour day, with the usual one hour lunch break, so we got ready to enjoy the trip; a positive attitude always wins through.

Within half an hour the mists had cleared and we were up through our first lock of the day, now accompanied by two éclusiers. From now on we mostly had two teams of éclusiers with us, overlapping each other and preparing the locks in front of us as we traveled. With all these fabulous workers there was little for us to do – but we were glad we had stocked up on beer in Montbard as we like to give a couple of ‘thank-you’ Winnie’s to each éclusier at the end of each hot working day.

With so many éclusiers it is not surprising that one had time to take photos of Calliope – always welcome as when you are crewing on the boat it is not always possible to jump of for photographic moments!

We thought we were the only boat on the canal up in this stretch, so we were surprised when the éclusiers told us, in French, to be prepared to pass four boats going in the other direction – in a fairly shallow section. This seemed rather unlikely to us …….

Many of the 29 locks are really close together – just 150-250 meters in some cases. Some of them work as a chain, so when there are more boats around you might have to wait for some boats to coms down through a chain before you set off up the same set of locks.

Occasionally there is a widening of the canal where groups of boats can wait together for their turn. But for its, apart from the collection of 4 boats we had passed, there was nothing else coming our way that day.

We had been recommended Marigny-le-Cahouët for our next overnight stop – a good distance for a day’s cruising and a nice place to moor.

Our designated lunch stop on the way there was between lock 45 and 46 on the Pouillenay chain at a place where the canal widens and has another of the good stone quays. There must have been a local industry that used the canal for transport in previous times.

We were getting quite high now, and loving the extensive views – when we had a moment to look round at them! It’s quite focused work for the Captain as well, steering into a succession of locks. But its a good challenge at the same time – we love the physicality of some days of life on Calliope as well as the more relaxed moments.

And it became a bit more challenging and physical when we reached Marigny!

After a couple of attempts I managed to jump ashore and get a bow rope round a bollard, but then it was difficult to get it back onto Calliope and secure it. So a quick clove glitch round the bollard had to suffice before I came to catch a stern rope and secure that as well.

Phew, we were moored for the night, even though we were a good meter off shore. But we knew there would be no boats coming past to disturb us, so we would be perfectly comforable for the next few hours.

In fact taken from a different perspective it looks a lovely mooring.

It was a little more interesting by next day. We were ready to set off at 9.00 to meet the day’s team at the next lock. But Calliope was not so ready. Overnight the water levels had dropped a bit more and Calliope had gently settled her stern into a soft mud berth!

We now had one more night before we reached to top of the canal and planned to spend it at Pont Royal – a mooring that we rather like.

Before we get to the top I thought I would share a few characteristic views from the Yonne side of the canal, starting with some lock keepers houses, in various states of (dis)repair.

As you can see some are inhabited and others not. The photo with the parasols is at a lock house that is now a restaurant. While the éclusiers and us toiled under the midday sun the lucky diners sat in the shade watching on!

The last photo shows an elderly lady peeling her walnuts. Apparently she has lived there many many years, enjoying the peace and solitude; that lock, number 18, is off road, and miles from anywhere.

And a few of the many old metallic artefacts that we see – the metal work of the bridges against the sky, the ancient metal mooring rings, the metal (yes metal!) boats used got clear debris from the canal, and the wells, needed at every rural lock as they are miles from connection to national networks.

It was ‘only’ 12 locks to Pont Royal, leaving 13 for our last day on the journey up to Pouillly at the top. That’s still a few more than a normal day for us gentle travellers, but both manageable and necessary on this occasion.

And to prove the point ……….. there we are on the left. and there is the hotel/restaurant on the right.

We arrived there in time for lunch, and because it was a bit of a novelty having La Maison du Canal de Bourgogne right next to us we bought sandwiches for lunch. There is also a tiny shop there, and bread can be ordered for the next day, but obviously we were too late to grab a fresh baguette the day we arrived.

After lunch and a siesta there was still time for a look round the area before we started sipping wine and nibbling more food.

We walked around the area including going to the next lock – very close! It was a blockhouse full of character, and a lock full of autumn leaves! By now it was 15th September and the long hot summer was causing the leaves to drop quite early.

As we walked back towards the Pont-Royal itself we could see Calliope in the distance. Maybe you can also spot the Captain!

It seems that the ‘royal’ reason for Pont-Royal is that the bridge carries the Route de Royal road over the canal, but as yet I cannot find the reason for the naming of the road.

What a delightful spot for our last evening and night ascending the Canal de Bourgogne.

In the morning we were above to collect our pre-ordered baguette, ready for lunch as we made the final push top the top. Just 13 locks to go – hope that is not an unlucky number!

Once through the first lock it was not long before we were going through the long cutting near Saint-Thibault.

Often these cuttings are built so that the rich people in a near-by chateau did not have their rural view split by the working barges passing by. In this case, despite looking at satellite maps of the area, once again my research efforts came to nothing.

Nonetheless it was an interesting kilometre and a half, hoping not to meet another boat unless it was at the widening at the centre, and counting the old safety ladders, built into the walls every hundred yards or so to help any wet sailors climb back out.

We were soon nearing the summit and could see across to the top of the hills. The weather had changed during the day, becoming progressively cloudier with a definite potential for a storm. It was very much needed after all the (beautiful) hot sunny September days so far.

We came round a curve in the canal to see our last few locks ion a straight line ahead of us. At this point we were back to electrically operated locks so one lock keeper could easily see us through just by pushing a series of buttons.

And then …….

…. at last, we were entering the basin of Pouilly-en-Auxois, some 980 feet above sea level and the highest summit of any canal in France.

The quay over to port was promisingly empty apart from two other barges so we headed over to investigate.

There was plenty of room for a ‘little one’!

In a way that is the end of this odyssey, from Migennes on the Yonne, up 114 locks to the peaceful basin at Pouilly-en-Auxois.

By 20.00 it had all blown over and we were treated to stunning skies for the first night of our short stay.

Next day we walked from the port and along the approach to the tunnel that we would need to go through in a couple of days time at the start of our descent. The village of Pouilly-en-Auxois has some pretty corners, and some good boulangeries.

With bread in hand we walked back, stopping to look at the historic means of going through the tunnel. There is no towpath through the tunnel so horses could not pull the barges through. Instead various ingenious methods were deployed, one of them being this electrically operated chain puller.

The chain ran through the tunnel and the wheels and cogs inside the vessel pulled the chain through, moving it along, plus any barges it had in tow. (I hope that makes sense!)

But mainly we relaxed. Here’s cheers to our half way stop on the Canal de Bourgogne.