BargeBlog

Charolais, ceramics and the Canal du Centre

Imagine's in the port of Digoin at the end of the Canal du Centre after exactly 60 locks since the beginning of the canal near Chalon sur Saône. Our chart books refer to this section as "very picturesque but quite twisty" and Paul earned his keep at the helm. He insisted the engineer Gauthey who designed this waterway must have been related to the Marquis de Sade as we discovered locks just around tight bends. It was beautiful however. The entire stretch wound its way through the heart of the Charolais cattle region. Hedge-lined hills dotted with huge white cattle made a backdrop for villages lining the banks. Homes and business alike were studded with decorative brick and capped with ceramic finials and tiles. The ceramics factories, many of them closed, originally used this canal to ship their goods. Fortunately, we only saw two commercial barges and they passed us while we were moored. I shuddered to think of encountering one of them around one of these bends that Gauthey installed because "straight lines are boring." Maybe for him.

Last night we ate at the Relais du Canalou - the Canal restaurant - a hotel and bistro specializing in escargot, Charolais beef and fish fresh from the Loire river. Three course meals, including wine, cost us 50 euros a couple.

We're poised to start north up the Canal Lateral a la Loire following the Chateaux-studded Loire River. A cold front came through and the temperatures are comfortable.

On top of the world

Yesterday Imagine straddled the French continental divide. On one side of us the water the water flowed to the Mediterranean and the other to the Atlantic Ocean. Now were on down locks after a long climb out of the Saône valley in Montceau-les-Mines. The town was built on mining, but a nuclear power plant stack dominates the horizon. We're only an hour and a half by car to Dijon, but a world away...

Michelle Caffrey skipper/owner of "Imagine" www.bargeandbreakfast.com

Sitting at the edge of the world

We're in St. Leger on the Canal du Centre in port. When we arrived, our friendly lockkeeper asked us when we were descending. "Oh, but we're not." Usually we turn around here and head back toward familiar ground. Not this time. I said, "We're on our way up toward Paris and Champagne." He looked suitably impressed when I explained Imagine was 100 years old this year and we planned a big celebration cruise. I'm on deck, looking at the turn-around and realizing this is the first time for us on a new long stretch of water. Eventually we'll retrace our steps of our training cruise with Roger Van Dyken. After Paris, over toward Champagne all new until we pick up our maiden voyage down from Holland. And tomorrow.... we're off!!!

July 5, 2006

We're just about ready to take off on our Centennial Cruise. "Imagine" has lots of fresh paint and our final provisioning is well under way. We will start our Journey from Dole on the Canal du Rhone au Rhin and head toward the river Saône. From there we go south toward Chalon-sur-Saône where we pick up the Canal du Centre.

Watch this space for more details!

Paul and Michelle Caffrey