Travelled to Montbard by train from Dijon. Taxi to the port. Not many boats there and we guessed that the smallest of all was ours. Met by Christophe, our man in Montbard, and after dumping luggage in storage there, we walked to the town. After coffee and lunch we bought some supplies and headed back to port. Weather very warm and sunny.
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| On board La Pipee |
At 2.00 we boarded our little Penichette called La Pipee and settled in before our handover from Christophe. He spoke excellent English which was a blessing. We loaded our bikes on and then Christophe took us for a test drive before handing the wheel to Adrian and explained the crew's role (that was Fran at that time). As we near a mooring, the crew-person moves to the bow of the boat and assists the capitaine to get as close as possible before leaping ashore with rope between teeth (...non! poetic license), hopefully without misjudging the distance and landing in the canal or breaking a leg!
Then it was our turn. We had two choices. Stay in Montbard at the dock for the week or motor out. Fortified with some water and some chocolat, we opted for the latter. Sure enough there just a few hundred metres downstream was our first lock. Our approach was made a little more difficult by the fact that two boats coming the other way were locking up so we had to idle, staying to the right and trying to keep La Pipee from getting too close to the canal edge.
Fortunately all the boats come with bumpers, but we noticed that previous sailors had left their mark/s on ours. The locks are easy and the lock keepers very helpful and friendly. Fran informed the first one that this was our first day and our first lock. She muttered something that was possibly the French equivalent of "yeah that'd be right". We travelled through 4 locks on our first day having left Montbard at 4.30 and moored just past the little village of Buffon at around 6.30.
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| Morning on the canal |
Rode our bikes back 1 km to Buffon and enjoyed a pleasant meal, finishing it off with 4 different cheeses, 3 of them local. Fran did question the wisdom of two glasses of wine considering her lack of aptitude on two wheels, but we made it home along the towpath without her riding into the canal or the river on the other side (fortunately with a buffer of trees and bush in between). So quiet and peaceful at our moorings in the middle of nowhere. Woke to the sound of birds at 6.30 ready for the new day.
The shower, toilet and wash basin are all in the same room the size of a closet. Definitely only enough room for one person at a time. There's not enough room to swing a cat's tail let alone a cat!
On day 2 we visited a 17th century forge, Forges de Buffon that used a water wheel to power the crushers and bellows etc to create the iron and steel objects like plough shears, iron bars, and castings. Spurred on by our successful debut in the locks the day before, we managed 7 more. That meant we only had 40 to go. Mon Dieu!
Day 3 we decided to stay the night at Ancy le Franc. We're doing quite well with our mooring until some guy (nationality unknown) tried to assist . Think he was concerned that La Pipee may do some damage to his rather glamorous and expensive looking barge. He urged Adrian to "hurry hurry" which was like a red rag to a bull. The knots and the method that l'assistante used to attach us to the quay were so convoluted, it's a wonder that the pompiers or SAPU were not called to the port to untangle us.
That night we again dined out and opted for the magnificent chariot de fromages instead of dessert.
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| Le Chariot |
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| Our deepest lock |
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| La Capitaine |
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