Category Archives: 2017 Season Part 3. Canal de Bourgogne

2017 Season Part 3. Canal de Bourgogne, Places, Practicalities

Of chateaus and wine

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The next leg of our journey would see us leaving the Cote d’ Or region of Bourgogne and entering the Department of the Yonne. The middle of July saw the sunflowers in France in full bloom and, as we cruised along the canal, we were treated to views of brilliant golden fields.

We had more mundane issues when we pulled into our next mooring at Ravières. As we completed our engine checks, we noticed that the transmission case had leaked a significant amount of oil into the collection box underneath, just above the bilge. This prompted me to check the automatic greasers along the propellor shaft, of which there were three. They were marvellous little gas-driven injectors, of the “set-and-forget” type. And I had forgotten. I normally changed them at the beginning of the season but they had plenty of grease left when we left Èpinal so I had left them in place. A bit too long. Now, with the extra effort of pulling through weed, the shaft had worked too hard and overheated the transmission, which had then ejected a far bit of oil. No damage, but an immediate need to replace the lost oil. Out here, in the middle of nowhere. After checking my online maps I located an agricultural machinery service place a couple of kilometres away, so I set off to cycle there, fingers crossed. Fortunately, I was able to buy some oil rated for large tractor transmissions, and I felt this would probably see us through until we could find somewhere with the real stuff. I kicked myself, then counted my blessings.

These mechanical tasks meant we missed the marvellous stained-glass windows in the 12th/15th-century church of Saint-Panteléon in Ravières, but not too much else in this small but attractive village. Like so many similar villages in France, it lost population continuously over the course of the 20th century, and today has only about half the number of inhabitants it boasted in 1910. Still, it has a boulangerie, a small supermarket, schools, a post office, a retirement home and a stone quarry. It persists.

Keeping a close watch on our gauges to make sure our transmission was OK, the next day we cruised three hours to Ancy-le-Franc, where we spent a couple of days. First order of business was the renowned Château d’Ancy-le-Franc. This 16th-century Renaissance marvel was designed by the Italian Sebastian Serlio with interiors by Francesco Primaticcio, both of whom worked at Fontaineblau. Its lofty ambitions were later continued by the work of landscape architect Andre le Nôtre, famed for his work at Versailles. The most notable features, however, are the amazing interiors, murals, motifs, trompe l’oeil and glazed tiles on every surface.

It was almost a relief to escape all this richness for a light lunch at the modest Bar du Chateau in town, before heading out on a bike ride to the nearby village of Chassignelles, for a look at the extraordinary Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste. This smallish 12th-century Romanesque church sits lonely on a hill above the village. With a roof of flat stones, its interior is a wonder of 12th and 13th century murals and paintings. On a very hot and windy day, we waited in the cool of its portico for the man to come and open the church for a couple of hours; he was a very keen and talkative guide and commentator and we even managed to understand some of what he said!

Back in Ancy, just by the Chãteau, we came across a 19th-century communal wash house, or lavoir, another of these facilities that dot the towns and villages of rural France.

Another nine locks down the Canal de Bourgogne (including one in which we stopped for the lock-keeper’s lunch break) brought us to the village of Tanlay. Another pleasant mooring in a wide basin, with a top little café/restaurant right by the quay, where we joined an extended family of English boaters for an excellent dinner of buckwheat galettes.

Tanlay’s claim to fame is another 16th-century Renaissance château, built around the same time as the château we visited in Ancy-le-Franc, but in different circumstances, this time by a leader of the Protestant Huguenot faction, Francois de Coligny dÁndelot. His death during the Wars of Religion meant the castle remained unfinished, until the work of its new owner Michel Particelli d’Hemery in the 17th century. It then passed to Jean Thevenin when he was created Marquis de Tanlay in 1705 and has been in the same family ever since. We especially liked the trompe-l’oeil work in the main gallery, and the frescoes in the original Tour de Ligue, where the Huguenot rebels met in secret… as well as the massive stables complex and the nymphaeum at the end of the “Grand Canal” within the grounds, separating the chateau from the neighbouring golf course.

We were looking forward to our next stop, at Tonnerre…. because we knew there were a number of interesting sites in the town itself, but also because it was where we would take a side trip to the wine village of Chablis. We didn’t know how we would do that yet, just that it was obligatoire. An easy morning cruise through six locks brought us to the mooring basin at Tonnerre; we spent the afternoon catching up on paperwork, researching our visit to Chablis and catching up with a New Zealand couple and their friends with whom we had played canal leapfrog since we had first met them back in Pont Royal. Part of our research and socialising revealed that we could catch a bus to Chablis the next day for the princely sum of €2 and return later in the afternoon for the same price via the Mobigo regional service. Problem solved; we rang the number, reserved our seats and planned to gather with our NZ friends at the SNCF car park at a bit after midday, trolley bags at the ready.

On the morning of our trip to Chablis we squeezed in a trip to the small but excellent covered market (marché couvert) in Tonnerre for provisions.

A 40-minute ride through picturesque wine country brought us into central Chablis, home to some of the world’s best Chardonnay and a miracle of recovery from the phylloxera decimation of the late-19th century and a slow decline up until the 1950s. The village itself is an attractive collection of old buildings, narrow alleyways, shops and winesellers, and we had a pleasant walk down the main street, to an old riverside lavoir and back to catch some sustenance before our tastings.

vineyards-nr-chablis2.jpg

We bypassed the Domaine de la Moutonne… it looked closed and, with mainly grand cru wines, it was beyond our range in any case!

Our target was La Chablisienne, a co-operative of growers and winemakers formed in 1923 housing a great representation of Chablis wines at various levels of quality, complexity and price. The tasting started well, with a couple of excellent wines, but it really got interesting when our NZ friends let it drop that they had owned a South Island winery some years before. When our host asked for the winery’s name, the answer produced a gasp and wide-eyed smile; she disappeared momentarily and came back with a couple of bottles… from that very winery! I’m not sure but I think this connection resulted in us tasting at least 7 different wines (a casual tasting usually gets only 3) as our host strove to introduce us to her range. Jane and I left with several cases stowed in our trolley bag, including Chablis “Les Vénérables”, Premier Cru “Les Lys” and a single Grand Cru “Les Clos” which our La Chablisienne host snuck into my hands as we were leaving, a fantastic, unexpected complementary extra!

We returned to our boat well satisfied with our outing and well-stocked to remember and enjoy it for some time to come.

The following day, our third in Tonnerre, was spent wandering the town and exploring some of its sights. The most famous is the Fosse Dionne, a spring-fed pool with a prodigious flow of water averaging 300 litres per second. The town of Tonnerre was essentially built around this spring, and in the 18th century an eleborate lavoir wash basin was built to surround the pool.

Fosse Dionne, Tonnerre

We then ascended to the Eglise Saint-Pierre, with its original foundation and choir surviving from the 11th century, its Renaissance side chapels dating from rebuilding works after fire in the 16th century, and its classical-style southern facade and portals from the completion of those works in the 17 century. It’s therefore quite a mix, but very imposing and commanding a great view over Tonnerre.

Eglise Saint-Pierre, Tonnerre3

Back in the centre of town we had a look over the Hotel-Dieu, the 13th-century hospital for the poor built by Margeurite de Bourgogne. At the time it was the longest medieval hospital in Europe. After 350 years it was replaced as a hospital by a new adjacent building and it became a chapel and mausoleum, then a market after the French Revolution, before being declared an Historic Monument in 1862. It contains the tombs of its founder Margeurite de Bourgogne (died 1308) and the Marquis Louvois, Count of Tonnerre (d. 1691). The space inside the Great Hall of the Poor is impressive, as are the 16th-century altar and the sacristy with its 15th-century marble Mise en Tombeau.

Leaving Tonnerre we travelled to Flogny-la-Chapelle, a somewhat out of the way place but where we had expected to find a stone mooring with services. To our disappointment when we arrived, much of the quay had collapsed into the canal, we had to moor alongside another boat that had already arrived, and there were no services to be had. A shame, as it was quite a pretty spot. There were metal baffles ready to be driven into the bankside to repair the damage; we hope it won’t be too long before the work starts.

Passing on from Flogny, the next day we arrived at Saint-Florentin, where we found a pleasant, well-equipped and well-managed port de plaisance.

With a week in Saint-Florentin and in no hurry to keep moving, we took the opportunity to undertake some necessary maintenance and administration. First up, we stripped down for a swim and manually cleaned the weed and debris that had collected around the propellor and shaft. Then, with the help and advice of Didier, who ran the excellent marine works yard near the port, we had some specialist marine transmission oil delivered so we could empty and refill our precious gearbox.

cleaning-the-prop-saint-florentin3.jpg

Then we set about discovering the town. Delights included a couple of half-timbered houses, an historic church and old towers, and a market that operated on Saturdays in a market hall and on Mondays in the hall plus the surrounding streets.

We also found a lovely little place for a beer, wine or casual lunch, the Café des Fontaines, where we could enjoy our new favourites – croque madame with frites, and omelette composée with frites. Bonnes frites!

Lunch, Cafe des Fontaines, Saint-Florentin

Saint-Florentin, we found, is also blessed with an excellent supermarket, a couple of very good hardware stores, a garden centre, several boulangeries and butchers and various other commercial services. There is a nearby rail station with services direct to Paris. The marine atelier was a useful facility for any work we wished to do or have done – mechanical, painting, repairs. And the capitain of the port de plaisance, Vincent is an absolute gem – good-humoured, endlessly helpful, fluent in English. It didn’t take us long to change our plans for the season and decide to make “Saint Flo”our winter port, where we would leave Eben Haezer in mid-October for six months when we returned to Australia. There was an added bonus:  because we no longer needed to travel so far to a winter port such as Briare, we could afford to spend a good length of time in Paris – an idea which, in its own regard, of course but also after so much rural cruising, took on a brilliant shine.

As a result, we decided to travel to the regional prefecture in Auxerre and apply for my carte de séjours, or long stay visa, using the port at Saint-Florentin as our residential address in France. This was to be the first of several trips to Auxerre, we were sure (not just because French bureaucracy would demand it), and we were delighted to find it a beautiful, welcoming, historic, buzzy town.

We entrusted our paperwork to the prefecture in Auxerre and were told to return in a couple of months for the next stage of the process. Having read all kinds of stories of woe concerning the barriers to gaining a long stay visa, we found it no so difficult so far and could only resolve to deal with things as they emerged.

2017 Season Part 3. Canal de Bourgogne, Places

Cruising westward down the Bourgogne

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From Pouilly we were faced with a few challenging days as we scaled down from the summit of the Canal de Bourgogne through a series of lock “chains”, with several days of up to 19 locks to navigate each day. From Pouilly to Pont Royal = 13 locks, the first 12 of them in only 7 kms; Pont Royal to Marigny-le-Cahouët = 13 locks in 11.5kms; Marigny to Pouillenay = 19 locks in 5.7kms; Pouillenay to Venarey = 10 locks in 4.5kms. Fortunately, we were aided by the efficient travelling lock-keepers and managed to complete our daily passages fairly quickly and without incident. The countryside we passed through, when we had a chance to take it in, was beautiful and enchanting.

Our first stop was Pont Royal, a tiny village in the middle of nowhere. We spent a couple of pleasant days there, with power and water provided by the Maison du Canal at the halte (which also operated as a Maison d’hôtes  or B&B). The village restaurant, Le Pont Royal was a typical roadside cafe/bar but was unfortunately closed for meals during our stay.

One of the local residents clearly had an unsubtle sense of humour, judging by the decoration on his car’s radio aerial….

Pont Royal

We only spent one night at the next stop in Marigny-le-Cahouët, but we received a pleasant surprise when we visited the nearby Château de Marigny-le-Cahouët. This castle was originally built in the 13th century by Montaigus of royal blood, then remodelled in the 17th century and restored in the 19th century. It was acquired by the family of the current owners in 1962 and early on was the location for the noted French film Angélique, Marquise des Anges. The day we were there, work was being done restoring the wonderful Burgundian tiled roof; we admired the walls and the moat and the gate but did not expect to see inside, since it is a private property. As we were about to leave, a voice came from one of the huge old windows… a young girl cried out to us, asking if we wished to come in. Of course we did! She was the daughter of the current owners and she and her friend guided us around the main interiors of the castle, clearly pleased to be practising their English. We were delighted.

After a long, hot day with many locks out of Marigny, the calm quiet of our solitary mooring at Pouillenay (no services) was a chance for a restful afternoon, and later a walk through the village.. not a lot there, but neat and quite attractive, mostly modern building styles with an occasional touch of old French rural.

Another slog of 10 locks brought us to Venarey-les-Laumes – only 4.5kms further along the Canal, accomplished in under 2.5 hours. We had to settle for an uncomfortable temporary mooring nearly under the bridge and against the rocky canalside, until a couple of large hotel boats departed and we claimed a spot along the quay. To be honest, although the port included a Nicols hire boat base and marine shop, it was a little bit run down in many respects. The town was interesting, all the same, with a pleasant bike ride through a park to reach the town centre, which boasted all the services one could wish for.

Mooring, Venarey

Our main interest in Venarey lay in the nearby Gallo-Roman ruins of Alesia, the site of Julius Caesar’s last and greatest battle against the Gauls, under their leader Vercingetorix, in 52B.C.  After the battle the Gallic town was occupied and rebuilt by the Romans and today the archaeological diggings have uncovered a treasure of fascinating relics and ruins of this significant town, while further diggings have uncovered extensive evidence of the extraordinary siege fortifications built by Caesar in the weeks and months leading to the decisive battle… which saw the besieged Gallic forces of 80,000 and their reinforcements of 100,000 or more overcome by a Roman-Germanic force of 60,000. We caught a taxi to the site and spent a couple of hours wandering the remains of houses, arcades, forges, bathhouses, theatre and basilica, before our taxi returned to take us back to the boat – but not without a detour to see the bronze statue of Vercingetorix commissioned by Napoleon III in 1865

I am tickled pink to report that once again we defeated the best efforts of bad weather to deter us…. it rained in the taxi out, stopped for our walking tour of the historic site, then began again just as we got back into the taxi and thundered down once we got back to the boat.

Storm over Venarey

While in Venarey, we also enjoyed a visit to the modern interpretive museum attached to the historic ruins, known as the MuséoParc Alesia – a modernist building within a large park with a recreation of the siege fortifications. Inside there are various interpretive displays and we managed to catch a rather quaint performance of a battle between Gallic and Roman troops.

We also managed to fit in lunch at Bistro de Louise, a delightful restaurant with modern minimalist interior, tiny open kitchen and truly delicious menu.

Our next stop was the provincial town of Montbard, where we hoped to enjoy three principal points of interest: the Parc and Musée of the town’s most famous inhabitant, the Comte de Buffon; Bastille Day celebrations; and a visit to the nearby Abbaye de Fontenay.

After a pleasant morning’s cruise we elected to moor at the old port near the railway station, in preference to the newer port de plaisance further along. We felt this was closer to the action in town and had more space for larger boats. We tied up right outside the VNF (French Waterways) offices and set off to explore the town.

The Parc de Buffon sits on a hill overlooking the town. Not much remains of the château, originally built in the 11th century and transformed by Buffon into kind of botanic gardens and zoo dedicated to his studies in natural history. Today it makes a pleasant walk before diving into the crazy, eclectic collection of oddities preserved in the Musée de Buffon by its side. Buffon, born George-Louis Leclerc in Montbard in 1707, was a naturalist, cosmologist, mathematician and encyclopédiste in the age of Voltaire, with whom he corresponded. He was the director of the Parisian botanic gardens, the Jardin du Roi, for nearly 50 years, and he was a member of both the French Academy of Sciences and the Academie Francaise, as well as an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He propounded a number of ideas that could be considered loose precursors of Darwin’s theories of evolution a hundred years later. Today there is evidence of Buffon everywhere in Montbard – statues, the Parc, the Museum, street names. What you will not find is his body; although he was buried there, during the French Revolution his grave was looted for the lead casing to make bullets, and his body parts were lost…. except for his cerebellum, which was preserved in the base of the memorial statue and is today located at the Natural History Museum in Paris. Weird, what?

Our second visit of interest in Montbard was to the Abbaye de Fontenay, about 6kms from town. It was built in the early 12th century by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (whose mother Aleth was born in the Château de Montbard), and is one of the oldest and most complete Cistercian abbeys in Europe. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. It is a remarkable collection of gardens, dormitory, cloister, chapter house, church and forge. Its forge from 1220 was the first metallurgical factory in Europe and was the original hydraulic hammer, fundamental to later industrial manufacturing. Its spirit of austerity and self-sufficiency (in reaction to the worldliness that had become attached to the great Benedictine Order based in Cluny) is obvious even today, although it hasn’t been home to any monks since the French Revolution. It was turned into a paper mill by the Montgolfier brothers (of hot air balloon fame) and was extensively restored in the early 20th century by a Lyon banker, whose family still owns it today.

In the run-up to Bastille Day, we took the opportunity to stock up at the excellent covered market (marché couvert) in Montbard, a wonderful facility in a small town of only 5,000 people.

Some towns and villages in France celebrate Bastille Day with fireworks on July 13; others hold them back for Bastille Day itself, and this was the case in Montbard. The night before, we celebrated the Fireman’s Ball, or Bal de Pompiers. In France, most firefighters are volunteers and the Fireman’s Ball is a special occasion. We enjoyed cheap beer, cheap seats and easy dancing.

Bastille Day itself was as thoroughly French as we could have hoped for. We started the evening with a meal of oefs en meurette and escargots; then we followed the Pompiers’ Parade with the children carrying lighted lanterns to the old bridge across the Brenne river, where we took up our positions to watch the fireworks. There was a marvellous atmosphere of family celebration, but the serious side of the occasion was brought hoke by the narration that boomed out from the public address system. We witnessed something I’ve never seen before: from time to time, the fireworks would continue bursting in colour above us, but somehow in silence, as the narrator spoke about patrimony, loyalty, community and heritage. Then the noisy fireworks would begin again, only to turn silent again a few minutes later for more narration over the PA. Extraordinary! Overall, it was a wonderful celebration of France’s national day…. patriotic but not jingoistic, joyful but not drunken, ritual but not mindless.

After a thoroughly memorable and enjoyable few days in Montbard we bade farewell and set off for our next stop, which was only 7kms and 5 locks further along, at a wild mooring adjacent to La Grande Forge de Buffon.

Mooring, La Grande Forge2

We had already come across the Comte de Buffon at Montbard; the Grande Forge was the naturalist’s experiment in metallurgy. Built from 1768 with land and money he inherited from his mother, the forge never really was on a commercial scale, but is a fascinating insight into Enlightenment venture into industry. Apart from manufacturing ironwork for the fences and gates of the royal botanic gardens in Paris that he directed, Buffon also tried to use the forge to conduct experiments on the age of the Earth and research for his work in The Supplements of Natural History. Predictably, he ran into trouble for doing so from the Church and the Sorbonne. The complex he built here is a remarkable integrated collection of industrial works, managers’ and workers’ accommodation, and associated infrastructure such as vegetable gardens, bakery, chapel, dovecote and orangerie. On a small scale, a sort of self-contained early industrial age version of a monks’ abbey like the one at Fontenay with which he would have been very familiar.

 

2017 Season Part 3. Canal de Bourgogne

Climbing the Canal de Bourgogne

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Before we left Dijon, I decided to have a go at my first effort at splicing rope. I had bought some lengths in Saint-Jean de Losne, and needed to create a loop for one of our new mooring ropes. It was fine rope and I didn’t want to muck it up. I think I managed a good job… and subsequent intensive use has proved its longevity. I quite enjoyed it…. I might take it up as a hobby!

A couple of days after our unforgettable tour to the wine country of the Cote d’Or, we set off from Dijon to continue our journey along the Canal de Bourgogne. The canal starts fairly soon after Dijon to climb into hilly country, in contrast to the plains we have left behind. Our first night was spent in the fairly forgettable village of Velars-sur-Ouche, moored outside the supermarket, with a decent boulangerie but with not much else to recommend it. The next day, however, we arrived at Lock 34(S), Ecluse de Banet. This was more like it! This mooring is run by a couple who lease the lock and lock-house, and who have turned it into a shop, cafe and delightful stopover. Electricity and water for a few euros per night, a delightful ambience, a place to savour. The cafe was closed when we were there but we bought a few pretty nick-nacks from their shop as gifts for friends back home. We shall return!

As we proceeded up the canal, our surroundings became more and more picturesque and we felt ourselves enveloped in a soft blanket of calm and peace. We had left the city behind and we felt things unrolling in a decidedly slower fashion.

Canal de Bourgogne, nr Banet2

The next day brought us to La Bussière-sur-Ouche, a pleasant stop in a sweet little village, but without much in the way of services or commerce. Our highlight here was a visit to the Abbaye de la Bussière, a remarkable 12th-century Cistercian abbey that had been broken up in the Revolution, renovated at the end of the 19th century, donated to the bishopric of Dijon, which then granted it to a friends’ association, before it was sold in 2005 to an English couple who have transformed it into a luxurious estate and hotel/restaurant. Its grounds and buildings are amazing and it has a Michelin-star restaurant and bistro where we enjoyed a magnificent lunch.

Back at our mooring, walking along the canal below the village, we were reminded of how proud many French people are of their gardens, and how so many of them lovingly tend to their vegetable plots. Food in France is relatively cheap, fresh and readily available; with so many domestic veggie gardens, it’s little wonder shops and supermarkets offer superb variety at low prices… if they didn’t, the French would simply grow it!

Our next stop was at Pont d’Ouche, another village in the middle of nowhere, but a very lovely mooring with a sweet little bistro attached to the port. The proprietor, Sonya, is an absolute gem and made our stay worth every moment.

After a couple of days at Pont d’Ouche we set off quite late, on the advice of the VNF, and settled for a mooring at Crugey, a small village by the busy Autoroute de Soleil. It was pleasant enough, without services, and we were lucky to enjoy a delightful meal at Le Chemin bar/restaurant, where I had the best whitebait so far experienced in France and some really good scalloped fries.

The next day a short morning cruise brought us to Vandenesse, a pleasant mooring not far from the famous 15th-century fortress at Châteauneuf-en-Auxois. We spent three lovely nights here. On the second day we rode up to the hilltop Châteauneuf, a very hot and very difficult climb on our bikes! Not at all for the first or the last time (we have been miraculously blessed in this regard), the weather gods smiled on us: the ride up was sunny, but as soon as we entered the chateau and its museum it poured with rain, then stopped when we emerged for lunch, a walk around the village and the ride back, then bucketed down again just after we stowed our bikes and were comfortably inside.

The château and its surrounding village are delightful and fascinating and would reward an extended visit. First constructed in the 12th century by the lords of Châteauneuf, whose reign came to a sad end when the last heir, Catherine was burned at the stake in 1456 for poisoning her husband, it passed to the Dukes of Burgundy and their favoured advisors. It passed through various hands over the next 500 years, undergoing the usual ritual defacement in the Revolution, and eventually was handed to the state and, with the surrounding villlage, was declared a ‘monument historique’ .

The views from the château and the village were outstanding. The village itself was also charming, with many narrow alleys, stairs and lanes, many small shops and ateliers and studios, and a very pleasant cafe/restaurant.

Our last treat in Vandenesse was lunch on our last day at Chez Lucotte, a small restaurant opposite the port, one of those treasures of regional France, a country restaurant for workers with great food and atmosphere. A menu that offers little variety, a small carafe of wine and a large basket of bread at every setting, and some classic French dishes such as oefs meurette, boeuf bourgignon, a cheese course and creme brûlée, and absolutely no pain for the wallet. No tables for two, we shared our meal at long tables with the workers, and a few friends including a French photographer we had met a few days before at our mooring in Crugey and a couple of fellow boaters.

Cheap lunch, Chez Lucotte, Vandenesse

This sustenance and a good night’s rest prepared us for our work the next day, travelling through 8 locks and the tunnel (souterain) de Pouilly to reach the summit of the canal. One of the locks just before the tunnel was a riot of colour with flowers and a fascinating museum of old tools fixed to its walls.

Ecluse 4 Grand Pre, Canal de Bourgogne3

The Pouilly tunnel, at 3.3 kilometres, plus another 2 kms or so of narrow cuttings at both ends of the tunnel itself, was the longest we had navigated so far. We’d approached it with some trepidation, but in the end it was a breeze*…. although after 20 minutes of the one-hour passage, time seemed to stretch on an on and on to an eternity before the light at the end appeared and approached.

* Jane has reminded me that our tunnel journey was not in fact a breeze. It was over an hour in a very narrow, low, dimly lit, dank and damp underground tube. The air was so moist that we had to keep wiping the wheelhouse windows so we could see; and our windscreen wipers didn’t work, so Jane had to crawl out onto the foredeck to wipe them by hand. I later found that our electrics system has a quirk that means you can’t operate the spotlight (which was absolutely necessary) and the windscreen wipers (which would have been decidedly handy) at the same time. 

Pouilly itself is a broad stretch of the canal offering a large and convenient port, although there’s not much there and you have to walk or ride a distance into town for shops, services and cafes. Nevertheless ,it was a pleasant stay with some nice vistas and pathways for pleasant walks along the canal.

Pouilly represented the summit of the Canal de Bourgogne, at 378 metres above sea level the highest apex of any canal in France. We could  now look forward to falling down some 290 metres (in 156 kilometres) west towards the Atlantic coast… and only 112 locks until the Yonne River!

2017 Season Part 3. Canal de Bourgogne, Food, Places

The Côte d’Or – wine country

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We had decided that on one of the days the Dijon Market was closed, we would take a side trip south to the wineries and villages of the Côte d’Or…to taste and to buy.  We dreamed of names like Nuits Saint-Georges, Beaune, Pommard and their surrounding hills….homes to some of the best pinot noirs and chardonnays one could hope to find. But how to go about it? If we hired a car we would inevitably miss some of the sights and would definitely have to miss the tastings. If we caught a bus we would have a problem getting anything more than a few bottles back on board. If we joined one of the guided tours we would be shunted to someone else’s idea of good – probably the bigger houses/domaines – or pay through the nose for a custom tour. In the end we got lucky: we asked our young neighbour in the pirate’s harbour that posed as the Dijon marina what he thought we should do, and he offered himself and his car to drive us for the day. Voila!

So it was, that on a Monday at 9.00am ‘ Flo’ (Florent) picked us up in his little old Renault and we set off down the Route des Grands Crus. Flo didn’t appear to know very much about wine or wineries, but he knew his way around and he was a very handy interpreter. We didn’t know any more than he did, though we had done a little research and had decided our day tour should have five elements: (1) a small family domaine where we could taste and buy; (2) a large commercial domaine where we could taste and be given a prepared lecture on the region; (3) a clos or walled vineyard with a domaine on site; (4) a look around some of the villages and surrounding vineyards; and last but not least (5) a nice lunch.

First stop was the village of Nuit Saint-Georges, just 25kms south of Dijons. Although home to no Grand Crus, Nuit is well known for its Premier Cru reds, which account for nearly half of its terroir, with 41 distinct climats at this level within the Nuit Saint-Georges AOC geographic designation. It’s a pretty and well-kept village, surrounded entirely by the vineyards that are the basis of its prosperity. The connection between the village and the countryside was reinforced by the regular sight of the weirdly-shaped vineyard tractors driving through town.

Next stop was the Maison Bouchard Père et Fils in the town of Beaune. This domaine is both very old and very chic. Tracing its origin to 1731 with Michel Bouchard, it gradually through the generations acquired more and more vineyards; today it owns 130 hectares, including 12 Grand Cru and 74 Premier Cru. In 1820 they acquired the 15th-century Chateau de Beaune, which today forms their headquarters and remarkable cellars. We managed to hold ourselves back and bought a handful of wines, including a couple of Grand Crus and a handful of Premier Crus.

The other highlight of our visit to Beaune was the remarkable Hotel-Dieu, or Hospices de Beaune, founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin, Chancellor to the Duke of Burgundy, and his wife Guigone de Salins as a hospital and refuge for the poor, which operated continuously until the 1970s, and financially maintained by philanthropic gifts of vineyards to its estate as well as other riches such as works of art and, since 1859, an annual wine auction and festival. It is in remarkable condition and provides a fascinating insight into its historical operation, including its wards, chapel, kitchens and apothecary.

After our visit to the Hospice we refreshed ourselves with a delightful light lunch at L’Air du Temps in the centre of town, before making our way to Pommard for a tasting and buying session at the small family-operated Domaine Michel Rebourgeon. This domaine traces its roots all the way back to 1552, but the current incarnation dates to the grandmother of the current proprietors. Delphine, her brother and her husband (who, to our surprise, is English), own all of 3.5 hectares of vines, from which they produce a variety of excellent wines including a couple of Premier Crus. They are the epitome of small wine producers from the Cote d’Or, and we love them for it. Delphine’s grandmother Palmyre, or Mary, who was a Bourgogne (a family which first began cultivating vines here in the 16th century), married Emile Claude Rebourgeon in 1920. She inherited some vineyards and they acquired some more. But they passed on their lands to two sons – Michel in this case, and another, whose descendants still operate adjacent plots under another name (Rebourgeon-Mure). Anyway, we enjoyed a lovely tasting and walked out with a few cases, including some of their excellent Premier Cru. We were delighted to discover that Delphine’s son William, aged 19, intended to continue in the family business, and even happier to discover that he was continuing his wine education in Australia.

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After leaving Pommard our next destination was the fabled Clos de Vougeot. First established by Cistercian monks in the 12th-14th centuries, with the current buildings dating to the 16th century. It was sold off after the French Revolution and passed through a series of owners and subdivisions by inheritance until in 1944 it was sold to the Société civile des Amis du Château du Clos de Vougeot (Friends of the Château du Clos de Vougeot), who leased it to the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin (Fraternity of Knights of the Wine-Tasting Cup), who operate it today. At around 50 hectares it is the largest single Grand Cru vineyard in the Côte de Nuit appellation. There is no wine processing on site these days but the château is a fascinating historic site and holds a number of receptions and dinners every year.

Our final visit was to la Grande Cave de Vougeot, not far from the Château. It has some amazing underground cellars dating back to the 17th century.

A final note on our visit to the wineries and villages and vineyards of Cote d’Or. We learned a great deal about the unique geographic designations that attach to Burgundy wines, which we will try to outline here. We hope we don’t muck it up: it’s very complicated, though absolutely fascinating. It is part of the joy of discovering the industry, the agriculture, the art and the tradition of wine in Burgundy.

The system is based on the AOC – appellation d’origine côntrolée – which basically assigns official designations to geographic areas of food production. Dating back as far as the early 15th century, it gained increasing application in the early 20th century, especially for wine but also for cheese and a number of other products. Burgundy is the most AOC-conscious area in France, which is all  to do with terroir.

The vineyards in the Côte d’Or are intensively mapped and analysed – for soil characteristics, crop phenotypes and growth habitats, with such designations going back centuries. Over time, areas were designated as specific to their geographic location, mainly around certain villages – such as Nuit Saint-Georges, Pommard, Puligny-Montrachet, and so on. There are physical signs erected indicating when one enters and leaves these areas, and boundaries are strictly observed. Within each of these areas, specific locations are designated capable of producing grapes for Grand Cru, Premier Cru, or village classification, with the regional appellation applied to wines that come from across non-designated plots within the AOC area.

Then, within Grand Cru and Premier Cru designations, you will find micro-designations of specific acreages allocated a distinct climat, based on their unique terroir – which is a composite judgement based on soil, aspect, habitat and historic characteristics. In some cases a particular climat might only refer to a few hectares or less, and rarely to more than 10 or 20.

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Overlaying this complex system of designation of terroir is the system of land ownership, which has taken form over hundreds of years. Families have acquired land, then gained more through marriage or acquisition, then split their holdings between descendants, who have in turn tried to increase their holdings through marriage or acquisition, then in turn split inheritances. The result is an almost impenetrable patchwork of thousands of tiny plots, often no more than a hectare or two, which vignerons work in composite across their holdings to grow the grapes they need to produce their annual output – unless of course they sell their grapes to neighbours or larger collectives and processors. It’s a marvellous and fascinating mosaic and a testament to the dedication and commitment of families over decades and generations and centuries to their craft and the production of fine wine. There are large conglomerates and mega-producers in the Cote d’Or. But it is not Bordeaux. The Cote d’Or is above all about small landholders and small producers. It is unique, and it is beautiful.

2017 Season Part 3. Canal de Bourgogne, Food, Places

Dijon

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We had been looking forward enormously to Dijon, and we were not disappointed. A marvellous city of about 155,000 (385,000 in the larger urban region), it was the traditional seat of the Dukes of Burgundy and has a rich historical, architectural and gastronomic heritage. The central city has a delightful scale, with many distinctive houses, buildings, churches and palaces, as well as some very chic pedestrian shopping streets. We spent days wandering the town, every moment bringing another visual treat.

Streetscapes

Shops, houses, half-timbered buildings, mansions of the rich, cafes and parks… Dijon streets offer hours of delight to the cyclist or flâneur.

Churches

Large and small, old and not so old, ornate and sparse, still operating or converted to theatres and museums…. Dijon has many churches.

Palaces

Although generally lumped together and physically connected, the Palais d’États de Bourgogne and the Palais des Ducs de Bourgogne are different, though adjacent. In any case, it’s an impressive complex facing an impressive square. The oldest Gothic-style parts are from the 14th/15th centuries as the seat of the original Dukes of Burgundy; the larger Classical-style part was built in the 17th and especially the 18th century, as royal residences after Burgundy was subsumed into the Kingdom of France.

Food

Dijon is noted for its gastronomic heritage and is the birthplace of crême de cassis and the kir cocktail, pain d’épices de Dijon (known as gingerbread, but without any ginger!), Lanvin chocolate snails and, of course, Dijon mustard. The most famous brand of the latter is Maille – which, after swallowing its Dijon competitors Amora and Grey-Poupon, was itself swallowed by the multinational Unilever, who moved the factory from central Dijon to the neighbouring town of Chevigny-Saint Sauveur in 2008 and, in fact, makes its mustard from seeds mainly imported from Canada. The only true moutarde de Bourgogne made using 100% local mustard seeds is from the Fallot company in Beaune,  45kms from Dijon. We like their mustard very much. But as tourists we made sure to visit the iconic Maille shop in Dijon.

The Dijonnais are serious about their food, as we could see clearly when we visited a cheese and charcuterie shop near the central market (Fromagerie Porcheret). Not only their fabulous range of fresh and mature cheeses and butter, and their great selection of cured meats, but also the glass-roofed cheese cellar under the shop floor and the magnificent hand-cranked charcuterie-cutting machine….

The Dijon Market

In a nation famous for its food markets, street or covered, the Dijon market at the Halles centrales is a stand-out. Our single complaint is that it is only open four days a week! What are we to do with ourselves on the other three days?

Such an abundance of beautiful foods – fish, meats, bread, cheeses, fruit and vegetables, spices, mushrooms….

And the joy spilled out of the hall…..

We were in heaven…. but a heaven we could revisit every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Unfortunately, we were only in Dijon for one week. We will be back.

2017 Season Part 3. Canal de Bourgogne

Canal de Bourgogne

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The middle of June saw us begin the next stage of our 2017 season – a cruise along the famous Burgundy Canal, the Canal de Bourgogne. This canal was conceived in the early 17th century but not completed until 1833. It sounded to us like quite a challenge: 189 locks crammed into its length of 242 kilometres, plus a tunnel more than 3 kilometres long. But it also held promise of beautiful countryside, historic chateaux and the city of Dijon, so we set off from Saint-Jean de Losne with great anticipation. Before we entered the canal, we filled up with diesel – 480 litres at €1.62 per litre = €780! As I handed over the cash I consoled myself with the knowledge that this would almost carry us through the rest of our season.

Refueling, Saint-Jean-de-Losne
Refuelling at Saint-Jean de Losne

The first stage of the Bourgogne would see us reach Dijon across a fairly featureless plain, not entirely flat since it involved 22 locks in 30 kilometres, so we broke it into two days, with a stop at Lock 65, Bretenière. Not much there, although we did find a decent pizza place behind a warehouse not far from our mooring.

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This section of the canal was thoroughly infested with weed, which would have been a problem for boats with water intakes for their engine cooling; we were lucky to have a closed system, so the only difficulty was thicker weeds fouling the propeller, which we could take care of when we reached Dijon. At least the VNF was busy working to harvest and clear the weed, with a strange reaper-craft and banks of weed deposited all along the canal banksides.

In Dijon, we initially moored alongside the quay on the south side of the Ile aux Canards, a smart place with new bornes for electricity and water. Only problem…. they needed tokens to operate and no one, I mean absolutely no one, knew anything about how to get tokens. Since we intended to stay in Dijon for a week, we needed access to power and water, so we moved across to the old marina. It was a delicate operation, since we needed to reverse into our mooring then tie up to tiny, ricketty, aged pontoons, using every bit of rope we had to secure ourselves, hoping our bow was not poking out too far into the channel.

Dijon mooring.crop

The old marina at Dijon was a funny old job. There were plenty of points for electricity and water, available for nothing, as the marina had been unsupervised since the old capitainerie burnt down a couple of years previously, and no one in the city administration had got around to imposing a new regime. We were happy; and, so it would appear, were numerous others, since the marina was mainly populated by old boats occupied more or less permanently by young folk rapt in their good fortune at finding free accommodation in a major city of France. We felt comfortable and secure, despite all the comings and goings; in addition to the floating squatters, there was a children’s playground adjacent to us (only really used in the afternoons as mothers brought their children home from school), a floating bar/disco (the Peniche Cancale) which mercifully did not have a late night license, and an embarcation point for the hotel barges which were in a constant state of arrival/departure throughout our stay.

The saddest tale we came across was an older Australian chap who introduced himself to us on our first day and proceeded without delay to tell us his story. He had invented something that would have earned him a lot of money but the patent was stolen from him so someone else was cashing in. He had arrived in Dijon some years previously with a campervan and had bought his boat, which he had been in the process of readying for cruising. He had then suffered a fall and had to return to Australia for medical treatment. While away, his campervan had been impounded, never to be returned, and his boat had been taken over by young squatters. He had managed to evict them and was living on his boat, and thought he would be ready someday soon to set off along the canal. Maybe. He wasn’t sure. And anyway, he had never driven it before…. or any other boat. So, maybe. One day. We tried to give as much encouragement as we could.