Briare – Châtillon-sur-Loire – Beaulieu-sur-Loire – Belleville-sur-Loire – Les Fouchards – Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre
Briare
Although we had been officially on the Canal Latéral à la Loire since mooring in Briare, we were now going to properly start our cruise down its 196 km length.
The storm had passed through the night before and while it was still somewhat overcast, it was time to make a move and take Catharina Elisabeth across the famous Pont Canal de Briare. It may look a little daunting, but many boats cross this in both directions, every day. It is not controlled as such, one simply approaches it from a waiting pond and if you cannot see any other boats coming your way (as it is only wide enough for one boat at a time) it is time to begin. So we began – and the trip is in the video below. The crossing takes about 10 min and the video speeds it up to 2 min.
We are often kept abreast of other boats’ movements – such as hotel boats travelling in our direction or coming towards us. We knew it might be difficult to find a mooring on the other side of the Pont Canal at the next small village, Châtillon-sur-Loire, as it is often fully taken up by hotel boats and long-stay boats. However, as we slowly came around a bend in the canal we saw a single hotel boat moored, with a space beyond it just long enough for Catharina. The idea was not to stay the night, but to take the bikes off and have a look around before continuing on our journey.
The town was arguably the most fragrant we can remember. Flower baskets abounded, and while some of the houses looked a little tired, most were well looked after. The Mairie (town hall) was one of the prettiest we can remember.
We are always keen to get inside the churches in these towns, and now we know a trick to enter locked churches – the Mairie might have the key. We first came across a Protestant church, and since it was opposite the Mairie it was a simple matter for me to go in and ask. Unfortunately, the Mairie did not have a key, and shrugged off their knowledge for access. Not daunted, we took off on our bikes, skirted the road works and found a way to the top of the steep hill and the Catholic church ‘Saint-Maurice’.
On the outer wall was a painting of a mediaeval fellow, Amyon-le-Fort, a local landowner and vigneron, who donated the land on which his house had been built to the church.
Indeed, around the whole town there were depictions of the villagers and their activities, commissioned for the “Décorer la Ville” project.
Very clean on the outside, again with big baskets of flowers but also very pretty on the inside. Mosaics were again evident and the Stations of the Cross were interesting in that they were painted directly onto the stone walls, with mosaic inserts along with commentary from the Bible.
Elements of Joan of Arc’s life (and death) were commemorated in two vitrines
and there were a number of other stained glass windows.
Also, we saw a wonderful 400-year-old wood and polychrome statue of the virgin and child that I found quite appealing.
Cycling back down the hill, we topped up with baguettes and patisseries to see us through the afternoon, as well as Pâte de viand, which are large sausage rolls. Once we discovered these they formed a frequent lunchtime snack for us as we travelled along.
Before returning to Catharina, we made our way to an old écluse that links the Loire to a large, calm basin where today boats can moor for the winter. It was very pretty with flowers adorning the bridge over the lock and had a fascinating information board about how the boats used to cross the Loire from the old to the new Canal Lateral à la Loire before the pont canal at Briare was established.
First, an idea of the layout: we are at the point labelled ‘vous et ici‘ near the port of Châtillon and you can see the entrance over the other side (downstream) to the old canal that led to the Canal du Briare and onto to Paris.
This was our view of the lock gates and out to the Loire looking downstream:
On the other side of the lock is the basin/port:
Nearby was a board explaining how boats made it across the Loire:
The translated text reads:
The Passage en Loire enabled the river to be crossed between the Châtillon lock (on the left bank) and the Combles lock (on the right bank), located on the lateral canal. The crossing was made via a white-water channel, with a system of groynes and submersible levees to channel the water and maintain a sufficient head of water. Put into service in 1838 with the lateral canal, this passage was used until the opening of the Briare Canal Bridge in 1896.
From 1838 to 1880, bargemen manoeuvred boats across the canal by hauling them alongside the levees or using anchors (#1 using just anchors across the river, #2 & #3 aided by groynes built in the river). These manoeuvres lasted from 3 to 6 hours, depending on the direction of passage and the height of the water. Boats (around 4,000 a year) waiting to pass through the port of Mantelot and Les Combles had to pay between 70 and 110 francs (a substantial sum for the time).
In 1873, the sub-divisional engineer made the following observation. ‘The passage is always difficult, frequently interrupted and when it can be made, it is a cause of delays and costs that it would be of great interest to reduce”. In 1880, the installation of a winch to accompany the boats by keeping them in the channel, pulling them or holding them back made the crossing easier. Initially using a sunken chain, it was adapted by Ferdinand Arnodin to use a cable with a regulator on the winding spool.
The boats were raised and lowered according to rules that took into account the type and number of boats usually in convoys, their depth and the height of the water. The passage company offered the possibility of taking out insurance. By 1890, traffic had increased to 8,000 boats a year (30 crossings a day). The Loire and Canal bargemen were particularly afraid of this passage through the riverbed. It presented a real danger due to :
– the strength of the current at high water (it can reach 2.5 m/s at this point),
– the difficulties, if not impossibility, of crossing during low-water periods and when the channel was silting up (80 days a year).
Occasionally, a boat would break its moorings while manoeuvring and was then recovered at the Briare locks. Despite all the precautions taken, there were an average of 10 shipwrecks a year.
That’s why the Pont Canal at Briare was such a significant innovation.
Back on board, we cruised off again, only to see a large fallen tree covering two-thirds of the canal.
Ian felt we could pass it safely, giving appropriate attention to how much might be under the water, and I called the VNF to tell them the location of the tree so they could remove it. We know they had not done this a few days later when our friends on Maria passed the same spot.
And onto Beaulieu. On the way, we cruised beside the ancient lateral canal of the Loire and eventually came to the lock that let it join our modern (ie post-1896) canal.
Beaulieu
We were pleased to find a decent spot to moor at Beaulieu, despite the mooring rings being well-hidden in rather large clumps of bushes. Friends of ours had been here a few days earlier and recommended it.
Our principal reason for mooring here was to follow Patrice’s advice and cycle over the Loire to a nearby large supermarket in the town of Bonny-dur-Loire and, in addition to topping up our groceries, we understood we could buy Mandarine Napoléon, a liqueur that he and our friends on Vroue Catharina, thought we would like. The company says “Mandarine Napoléon is the world’s leading mandarine liqueur, craft distilled since 1892. A rich, complex, and versatile blend of macerated Sicilian mandarins and botanicals, infused with the finest cognac. Perfect to drink neat, on the rocks or mix it up in your favourite cocktail.”
We were distracted by a church we passed and had a stop to go through it. There were several placards describing some recent, substantial renovations. The outside was fresh
and the inside is also nicely restored,
and complete with the requisite Jeanne d’Arc.
Success! We found the Mandarine Napoléon and bought two bottles – one for now and one for home in Australia. We were keen to taste this as our digestif that evening. Delicious! Under €20 (AUD$50) and not too sweet, with cognac as a base. Other than that, and a rather interesting bridge crossing the Loire, we had nothing more to do there, and were happy to continue the following morning.
Belleville-sur-Loire
Summer was still waiting in the wings so we had a grey, cool but fine day to cruise to Belleville. Along the way, we could see the twin cooling towers of the nearby nuclear power station.
When we reached Bellville we found a beautifully refurbished mooring (as of June 2024) which was really pretty with lovely stone edges and good bollards for mooring,
flowers everywhere, picnic tables and plenty of seating and a nice cafe-restaurant.
What we call a free mooring, with power and water, if needed, for no charge. Unfortunately, it seemed a little shallow for us and our stern grounded a little away from the quayside so we untied and cruised up to the other end of the mooring, closer to the next lock. However, we found ourselves in a similar position and had to leave our stern sitting a little out from the quay, probably in a small channel.
Such a nice mooring and we immediately decided to stay a couple of days. Also, as one of France’s nuclear power stations was only 2 km away, and nuclear power stations had just become a political issue in Australia, we were keen to check this out. So, we hopped onto the bikes and cycled over the canal and the river Loire,
and after cycling round and round the staff carpark, where we came across the highly protected entry for staff to the power station,
we eventually found the museum/information centre which proved to be very comprehensive.
With our science backgrounds, the general theory of operation was not too difficult for us but the details of the construction were fascinating.
Ian is a supporter of the idea that this could be a useful tool to take Australia to carbon neutrality – still, lots more information about the other options and a full picture of how they might be implemented is necessary.
We just lounged around the next day, taking it easy. The church, unfortunately, wasn’t open and a restaurant we were considering for a meal looked unappealing and so we enjoyed one of our cans of duck confit complemented with a generous serving of frites from the bistro at the mooring.
Les Fouchards
Our next stop, after a short cruise, was at a wild mooring in a basin that widened between locks at a place called Les Fouchards. Again, with no services available, (on which we are not dependent anyway) we stopped early in the day in this basin, and got ropes on bollards between overgrown bushes that hung over Catharina’s decks and which might have had a little haircut once we were secured. Maria was not far behind and joined us soon after. In the afternoon, we took the bikes off and cycled over the canal and then the Loire to Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire. There was a nice little museum that focussed on the activities and culture through history around the Loire with plenty of English commentary.
The chaland was a type of barge, very shallow-drafted so that it could make it across the common, shifting shoals that characterise the Loire.
Just as today, using these craft required tools like barge poles (indeed, it is said that you don’t need a bow thruster in a boat if you have strong crew with a long bargepole – but having one is easier on crew!).
One form of entertainment in the 18th and 19th centuries was the magic lantern, a box with a lens, a light in the back and coloured slides that were projected on a wall.
We also had a preview of one of the canal features we would have to deal with in a few days, the pont-canal du Guétin. Another bridge over a river (the Allier this time) shorter than the one at Briare but with the additional challenge of two very deep locks just before crossing it. Something to look forward to. Hmm.
The interior of the church at Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire looked quite attractive but, inconveniently, it was gated off and the best one could do was peer through the gaps in the ironwork.
But there was one other interesting if not somewhat bizarre item that gave the town a degree of fame – its main street had been part of Route Nationale 7. In the mid-20th century, France had a network of road routes and Route 7 was the one that ran from Paris to the Côte d’Azur and Nice. Indeed, most of our cruise since we joined the Loing had been following this route. It was every bit as famous in France as Route 66 in the US. In the day, during summer, this street would have been chock full of cars as Parisiens made their way to the Mediterranean beaches.
So famous was it that one of France’s iconic singers, Charles Trenet, had a song in the late 1950’s, ‘Nationale 7‘. The lyric at the end (with which Ian was quite taken) is:
On chante, on fête [We sing, we celebrate]
Les oliviers sont bleus ma p’tit’ Lisette. [The olive groves are blue, my little Lisette]
L’amour joyeux est là qui fait risette. [Joyful love is here, it makes us smile]
We’re happy on Nationale 7 [We’re happy on Nationale 7]
Well, we certainly are – both here and on our watery Route National 7.
Back to Catharina and sociable drinks with Mike and Karen on Maria.
The following morning, Ian took a short walk up the hill on our side of the canal, and discovered a lovely little château, Buranlure.
He came back to Catharina very excited, saying it was so close and “this is what we do – explore.” We checked out access and found the château was open for visits. We booked online and showed up at the appointed time, to find the current owner (Marguerite de Vogüé) who would be our guide. Her family has owned the château for over 250 years. The castle originally was on the French side of the border between France and Burgundy and saw service during the 100 Years War. It also served as a provisioning fort during this time as the Loire river used to run next to it. Later, the château was also a stronghold for the Catholic forces that attacked and eventually defeated (and massacred) the protestants in the nearby town of Sancerre during the religious wars of 1572-1573.
While we were asked not to take any photos inside, we enjoyed a fabulous 90 minutes, being taken through with the history being delivered in French, but Marguerite was happy to check I was following, and explain anything needed in very good English. Returning to the welcome building, and learning that the château produces wine from its own vineyards. I asked Marguerite to expand on a comment she had made during the tour about Vaux-le-Vicomte. This remains Ian’s favourite château of all time, and it has the most bizarre but fascinating history (some of it covered in this blog from 2018). Anyway, to our absolute delight, we learned that one of her family (Patrice de Vogüé) also owns Vaux-le-Vicomte, and her great-grandfather is responsible for returning it to its current glorious state. Get out of this city!!!!
Laden with several bottles of wine from the château’s vineyard, we left at about 1 pm. Back on Catharina, and knowing Mike and Karen were long gone, we set off for an afternoon cruise to our next stop. The vineyards of Sancerre. An advantage of having fellow cruisers like Mike and Karen on Maria and Pat and Lon on C.A.R.I.B. III ahead of us is that we can check on the moorings ahead and also have the possibility to raft against a big boat if the mooring is full. Mike told us that there was still space at the mooring ahead so we were comfortable with leaving so late in the day. So we left at 1:30 pm for the short 100-minute cruise, with only a single lock, to Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre with the knowledge that we would find a safe mooring on our arrival.
The cruise was delightful as we moved back into vineyard country – almost but not quite as spectacular as we had seen on the Marne in champagne country.
It really is quintessentially French to see rolling hillsides packed with vineyards and this heralded the start of the part of this season where we would be cruising in and around the southern Burgundy wine regions.
Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre
It is not without great pleasure that we have been travelling with a number of friends on their boats. This time, Maria had arrived at Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre a little before us. And we knew from ongoing communication throughout the day, that there was space for us to moor behind them at this not very long spot. True enough, we settled in behind them early in the afternoon.
When we arrived at Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre, we had the first ‘sloping edge’ mooring of the year where instead of a vertical quayside, the edge just slopes towards the centre of the canal. This can be a problem as it means the base of the hull rubs against the stone of the canalside. To mitigate this, we put down some tyres that sink underneath and form a buffer against the contact. It also means we have to deploy our gangplank or passerelle so that we could bridge the watery gap between Catharina and the shore.
We chatted with Karen on Maria as Mike was off to collect their car then, on Catharina, made plans for the next day – immersing ourselves in wine again.
