La Mer, le Canal & les Pyrénées

[Jacques Vert]

We enjoyed our time in Clamecy, partly because we had the best weather of our trip and partly because being in the centre of twon we had access to shops, cafes, etc. I was able to walk to the boulangerie for fresh croissants for breakfast, something I had missed for the first 4 days of our cruise. We ended up staying two nights here.

Then it was time to continue down the valley. Some mist over the Yonne River in the early morning:




At Clemecy, the Canal enters the river Yonne. Originally the canal went through the town on a separate course but that route has been permanently closed off. But first we have to wait for the lockkeeper to open the swing bridge and then lower us into the river...






and for the first time on this trip we have company; this small private boat was its way to Paris.




We let him lead the way...




Early morning rowers:




After a few kilometres we leave the river and are back in the canal; some of the bridges are very low and narrow...




Beautiful scenery along this part of the canal....












We caught up to another boat so now we are going through each lock as a group of three:




Back into the river; in fact the canal enters and leaves the river numerous times in this part of the valley:










We leave the river and back into the canal again...

 

[Jacques Vert]

Mailly-le-Chateau

We are due to hand back our boat at Mailly-le-Chateau which had a population in 2021 of 531 although looking at the village it would appear that there was a time when the population was very much higher:




This is another village that has hit hard times as farming has become more mechanised and the people move to the bigger towns and cities. We went for a walk around the town and again, the only shop that was open was the Tabac. Everything else is permanently closed. There is even a very nice looking hotel and restaurant that appear to have closed in the past couple of years, as well as the boulangerie, a motor cycle shop and a number of others. We did come across four teenagers and it dawned on me that, other than some school children in Clamecy, I had not seen any people under 50 in the past week. They confirmed that everything in town had closed, except for the Tabac.

It's a shame as, like many of the other small villages, there are numerous classic stone houses that are decaying from a lack of maintenance and there is noone living in them; just waiting for someone to restore/renovate them. Of course, it would be costly but it's still a shame to see this history at risk of permanent loss.

The basin where we are to drop off the boat tomorrow is very underwhelming...



About the only thing here is an old pontoon with our boat company's name, but at least they have installed power and water. It appears to be a work in progress; a drop-off point for those just hiring a boat for a week.

 

[Jacques Vert]

That night we were treated to a spectacular sunset...













Next morning and the problem is that there is absolutely no public transport to or from this village.

Fortunately, I had managed to arrange a lift from here back to Chatillon-en-Bazois where we had left our car and my man arrived just as arranged. So it's an hour and a half back to Chatillon and then about one hour, forty minutes from there to Auxerre where we have booked an apartment for the next three nights. Meanwhile, my three shipmates will make their way to Mailly-la-Ville, about 5km downstream, from where they will catch the train to Auxerre and we will all meet up that evening. What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Jacques Vert]

Well, I made it back to Chatillon, picked up the car and headed for Auxerre. About half way there I received a call from my shipmates to advise that the train had been cancelled, there were no taxis or Ubers and they were stranded in another small village where everything was permanently closed. So I detoured to Mailly and picked up one of them plus the bags and continued on to Auxerre, arriving about 4 hours after leaving the boat. Then I drove back to Mailly-la-Ville, picked up the remaining two shipmates and drove back to Auxerre. All up, about five and a half hours of driving back and forth. I guess it could have been worse: what would we have done without the car?

 

[Jacques Vert]

Auxerre

Auxerre is the capital of the Yonne department and has a population of 35,000 although the larger surrounding urban area accounts for around 113,000. The old town quite pretty...










The clock in the above photos dates from 1484. The clock’s distinctive features are the two hands: the first is a solar hand (goes round the clock in 24 hours) and the second is a lunar hand which goes around with a delay of about three quarters of an hour. However, both hands juxtapose at midday at new moon and midnight at full moon. It indicates both the solar time and the moon phases.










Auxerre would have been a better place to pick up or drop off a canal boat as it has plenty of transport options including trains to Paris and buses from Dijon and many other towns, although we have needed at least two weeks. Here is one of the bases in Auxerre...

 

[FlyingFiona]

View attachment 414697

I never knew that St Nicholas was the patron saint of seafarers until I saw him in the square named after him in Auxerre.

 

[Jacques Vert]

I never knew that St Nicholas was the patron saint of seafarers until I saw him in the square named after him in Auxerre.

Yes; from Wikipedia:

Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, toymakers, unmarried people, and students in various cities and countries around Europe.

...an interesting mix.

 

[Jacques Vert]

It seems to me that every French town with more than a few hundred residents (either now or in the past) has to have a cathedral and Auxerre is no exception...

 

[Jacques Vert]

Our accommodation in Auxerre was in a renovated stone house about 500 metres from the centre of the old town. It was very nicely done but unfortunately I forgot to take photos. The only doownside was that the central heating was set to 20 degrees and there was no way to turn it up. As the weather in Auxerre was quite cold while we were there it would have been nice to come home to something a little warmer. While people in this part of the world may be used to wearing jackets inside, we are not.

So after three nights in Auxerre it was time to head south to warmer weather which had always been our plan. First we had an overnight stop in a small village named Saint-Gence, about an hour north-west of Limoges. This place is one of the nicest we've staying in, anywhere...