La Mer, le Canal & les Pyrénées

[Jacques Vert]

Vannes

At the head of the Gulf du Morbihan is the the city of Vannes. It has a history dating back over 2,000 years but is best known for its medieval old city, its ramparts and its half-timbered houses (of which there are approximately 170 remaining). It also has a port area just outside the old city which can be accessed by reasonably large pleasure vessels via the Gulf du Morbihan. Although it is now a city with a population of around 54,000 the old city centre has managed to retain it charm.

I've been to Vannes three times and I have to admit it remains one of my favourite cities in France:
















On one side of the old city the ramparts have been maintained and the area once containing the moat is now a beautiful open area:

 

[Jacques Vert]

Most french towns have their marché and while the one in La Rochelle remains the stand-out on this trip, the one in Vannes, although much smaller, is also pretty good...

 

[Jacques Vert]

île de Groix

As noted before there are quite a few islands along the South Brittany coast. The île de Groix is situated around 17km south of Lorient and there is a ferry that goes from the port in Lorient and takes around 50 minutes to cross over to Port Tudy, about midway along the north coast of the island. We were thinking of making the trip and when the lady at the Office du Tourisme mentioned that there were free tickets for the ferry, of course we decided to go.

Not surprisingly the deal turned out to have conditions. You had to travel on the earliest ferry and return on the latest; although when booking it did seem that you may qualify if either your departure or return ticked that box, not necessarily both ways. Next condition was that there were only 10 free tickets per day and they sell out quickly. So at midnight I was ready to pounce but didn't realise that each ticket had to be purchased separately; that is, I couldn't buy 2 free tickets on the one booking. By the time I worked that out most of the tickets were gone but I did manage to get one free ticket and purchased a full fare ticket for +1. Oh well, effectively a 50% discount and we are always up for a bargain.

Our ride:




So on board just after dawn and the trip down Lorient's harbour is beautiful; one of the better harbours on the Atlantic coast. First a couple of photos for @drron :






There's a bit of mist hanging around as we head towards the open sea:






And we pass the German submarine pens...



Continuing towards the ocean...






Finally we leave the mainland behind us...




Approaching the island the mist is starting to lift...




The harbour at Port Tudy:




Our ship being unloaded:

 

[Jacques Vert]

île de Groix continued...

As with the other islands we have visited, there are bikes for hire adjacent to the wharf. We asked about a tandem but there are none on the island. We also visited the tourist information office adjacent to the port to pick up a map and some advice/suggestions and I was a little surprised to learn that there were bicycle routes and separate walking tracks where bikes were not allowed. So we decided to walk around the eastern end of the island...

The start of the walking track proved a little difficult to find due to the poor quality of the map we were given but we were soon on our way. First there were some nice views of the harbour and you can see how small it is. It's a pretty good effort to get a ferry in here safely; could be quite a challenge in poor weather:






Next some nice views along the way...






There's a couple of nice beaches on this end of the island...






The track started off nice and easy but developed into more of a challenge as we progressed...










We forgot to take photos of the roughest sections as we were busy maintaining our footing. Easy to see why bikes are not encouraged along the walking path although there are sections where the walkers and bikes share with vehicles...




After about three hours we decided it was time to head to the only restaurant open on the southern side of the island for lunch. The tide was out when we arrived. The view from the restaurant...




Fortunately, the restaurant was not only in a nice location but the food and drinks were excellent. After a nice cold cidre to quench my thirst, I settled for the Moules Mariniere washed down with a crisp rosé...





+1 also had moules but with a different sauce; both were excellent. By the time we left the tide had returned...




So we took the shortest route back to Port Tudy and passed through the main village along the way...








before arriving back at the harbour where we had time for additional refreshments before boarding the ferry back to Lorient.

One thing I did notice is that quite a few of the old stone houses appeared to be abandoned or falling into disrepair. I assume the younger generation have moved to the cities and many of the residents have either passed away or grown too old to maintain these properties properly.

 

[OZDUCK]

Extremely jealous of what looks to be a fabulous trip. Have you noticed what the public transport is like in these areas? Obviously a car gives you much more freedom but are there smaller rail lines running around there? We are thinking about France next year and this area looks really nice - or your great photos are just deceiving us

 

[Jacques Vert]

Well the photos are from +1 and I agree she does an excellent job. The area is very nice as well.

I haven't taken a lot of notice of public transport options. There are certainly plenty of rail lines running around but how regularly are they used? I don't know. There are plenty of buses in the larger towns.

Sorry I can't offer more info than that.

 

[OZDUCK]

Thanks - you can only tell me what you know.

I had a quick look and it seems that there is reasonable service. For example there are numerous Paris to Vannes trips taking from about 3 to 6 hours and with at least one stop. Locally, Nantes to Vannes has 13 daily services on weekdays.

I have normally driven in France but as I get older it is not as enticing.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Extremely jealous of what looks to be a fabulous trip. Have you noticed what the public transport is like in these areas? Obviously a car gives you much more freedom but are there smaller rail lines running around there? We are thinking about France next year and this area looks really nice - or your great photos are just deceiving us

Following on from your post and having given this a bit more thought, I note that there are regular trains from Paris to La Rochelle, Saint-Nazaire, Lorient, Nantes, Rennes and all the way west to Brest and many places in between, so train services to the larger population centres are good. Getting to some of the smaller places we visited on this trip would be more difficult and you might be best to consult sncf-connect.com or the local Office de Tourisme. The Man in Seat 61 | The train travel guide may also have some helpfull information.

In addition, Nantes has an excellent and cheap tram system as well as buses; and Rennes has two metro lines.

 

[OZDUCK]

Thanks for taking the time for another reply. The limited details I got in my post just before yours were from the SNCF site. I have used The Man in Seat 61 previously. I would do as you suggested and get to a 'major' centre and fan out from there.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Thanks - you can only tell me what you know.

I had a quick look and it seems that there is reasonable service. For example there are numerous Paris to Vannes trips taking from about 3 to 6 hours and with at least one stop. Locally, Nantes to Vannes has 13 daily services on weekdays.

I have normally driven in France but as I get older it is not as enticing.

Heading to Vannes (and further west), you could also go from Rennes (about an hour to Vannes).

 

[OZDUCK]

Heading to Vannes (and further west), you could also go from Rennes (about an hour to Vannes).

Rennes does seem to be very well situated for travel around Brittany. As well as seeming to be a very attractive city.

 

[VPS]

just butting in but Rome to Rio is fantastic at mapping out routes

 

[Jacques Vert]

Rennes does seem to be very well situated for travel around Brittany. As well as seeming to be a very attractive city.

Rennes is currently the capital of Brittany so would tend to have good connections.

 

[Fruitloop50]

Extremely jealous of what looks to be a fabulous trip. Have you noticed what the public transport is like in these areas? Obviously a car gives you much more freedom but are there smaller rail lines running around there? We are thinking about France next year and this area looks really nice - or your great photos are just deceiving us

We stayed in Rennes last year and though we didn't travel anywhere west of Rennes, we caught trains to/from Sant-Malo, Nantes and Le Mans.

There is also a large bus station next to the Rennes train station that had many different bus routes. We caught buses to Fougeres, Dinan and Mont Saint-Michel. The buses we took were actually coaches and very comfortable.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Time to leave La Mer and head east for the next stage of our trip. We were heading to Chatillons-en-Bazois to meet up with friends for a week on a self-drive canal boat. Back in 2016, +1 and I spent a couple of weeks on the Canal du Midi: Provence, Canal du Midi and More When planning this current trip some friends suggested that we meet up and spend a week cruising the canal. We agreed however, as +1 and I had previously spent two weeks on the Midi, I suggested that we look at a week on the Canal du Nivernais instead, as it is often described as one the the most beautiful canals in France. So we looked at prices of boats, availability, etc. and booked a week through Les Canalous, picking the boat up in Chatillons-en-Bazois and dropping it off in Mailly-le-Chateau. It wasn't until much later that we realised neither place is blessed with public transport options. Our friends arrived in Nevers by train from where they had to take a one-hour ride on a local bus.

Of course, we still had our car so we departed Lorient around 0830 and after 626 km, $63 in tolls and $219 in fuel, we finally arrived at a lovely cottage in Alluy, about 3 km outside of Chatillons, where we were to spend the next 2 nights. After dropping off +1 and the bags, I picked up our friends from the nearest bus stop and settled down for a well earned aperitif, or three.

Our accommodation in Aully was a renovated barn that had been done very well by a lovely Dutch couple who sold up in the Netherlands and moved to this small village in Burgundy so they could be debt-free. Unfortunately, those aperitifs must have gotten the better of me because I forgot to take any photos of our accommodation.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Le Canal




As noted in the previous post, we had decided to spend a week on the Canal du Nivernais, which claims to be the second most popular canal in France (after the Canal du Midi) and one of the prettiest. It is one of three canals that connect the Loire to the Seine. It is 174 km in length, beginning in Decize and ending at Auxerre on the river Yonne, a tributary of the Seine. Between Decize and Auxerre the canal crosses the Morvan mountains by way of 119 locks and 3 tunnels. It opened in 1843 and was mainly bulit to transport timber from the Morvan forest to Paris.





To cover the entire length of the canal would take the best part of three weeks. As we only had one week we started from Chatillons-en-Bazois and were due to hand the boat back at Mailly-le-Chateau which means we only have 75 locks and the three tunnels.

Unfortunately after three and a half months of excellent weather, the outlook for the coming week was not great: cold and showers.

Our boat...




Unlike the Canal du Midi, most of the locks on the Nivernais are still manually-operated, same as they have been for the last 200 years...

 

[Jacques Vert]

After successfully negotiating our first lock, we're off:







Only 74 more locks to go, 13 to the top of the mountain and 61 down the other side.

 

[VPS]

Le Canal

View attachment 413316


As noted in the previous post, we had decided to spend a week on the Canal du Nivernais, which claims to be the second most popular canal in France (after the Canal du Midi) and one of the prettiest. It is one of three canals that connect the Loire to the Seine. It is 174 km in length, beginning in Decize and ending at Auxerre on the river Yonne, a tributary of the Seine. Between Decize and Auxerre the canal crosses the Morvan mountains by way of 119 locks and 3 tunnels. It opened in 1843 and was mainly bulit to transport timber from the Morvan forest to Paris.


View attachment 413315


To cover the entire length of the canal would take the best part of three weeks. As we only had one week we started from Chatillons-en-Bazois and were due to hand the boat back at Mailly-le-Chateau which means we only have 75 locks and the three tunnels.

Unfortunately after three and a half months of excellent weather, the outlook for the coming week was not great: cold and showers.

Our boat...

View attachment 413317


Unlike the Canal du Midi, most of the locks on the Nivernais are still manually-operated, same as they have been for the last 200 years...

View attachment 413318

View attachment 413319

View attachment 413320

Is that a Nicols boat. It looks very similar to ours when we did the canal lateral a la Loire

 

[Jacques Vert]

Is that a Nicols boat. It looks very similar to ours when we did the canal lateral a la Loire

No; it's from Les Canalous. We did consider Nichols as I consider their boats to be the best maintained but the price and availability didn't align with our needs.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Mont-et-Marré

When doing some "passage planning" prior to picking up our boat, I was hoping that if we got away early and all went well, we may just make it to the top of the mountain the first evening. I should note that the locks are open from 0900 to 1200 and from 1300 to 1900; yes, everything closes for lunch in France. I was aware that it was unlikely that we would make it that far but there is always hope.

First of all, filling out the paperwork took considerably longer than I had anticipated so we were later starting than I hoped and I had also under-estimated how long it would take to negotiate each lock. Experience on the Canal du Midi suggested that an average of 15 minutes was doable. However, the locks on the Midi are mechanised while on the Nivernais they are manually operated as noted in a previous post. First the lockkeeper closes one gate behind you after you enter the lock, then s/he walks to the other end, crosses over to the other side and walks back and closes the other gate behind you. S/he then walks to the gates in front of you and opens one of the sluice gates to start filling the lock and then the second sluice gate. After the water levels equalise, s/he then opens one of the main gates in front of you, then walks to the other end and crosses to the other side then back to the front where s/he opens the second gate and off you go. The whole process takes the best part of 30 miunutes.

The rain held off and we passed a pleasant afternoon/evening working our way up the mountain with the help of the lockkeepers...










We crossed over the river...




We pushed on as fast as we could and made it as far as the double staircase lock at Mont-et-Marré 6.5km upstream where we were informed that the lock was out-of-order and being repaired but would be back in action in the morning.




As it turned out it was 1845 by the time we got to Mont-et-Marré so we would only have made it to the other side of this lock before the lockkeepers finished for the day, so we hadn't lost much distance; only 71 more locks to go!

There is apparently a restaurant nearby but we had our own food onboard and the weather wasn't the best so we settled down for a few drinks, dinner and a good night's sleep.