Day 18 : Rogny-Les-Sept-Ecluse to Montargis

Wednesday 25th July 2007

Day's Progress: 34 kms : 17 locks (Total 394 kms : 185 locks)

I missed writing for a couple of days! The northward canals that we are on are quite different to the southward journey. There are not so many locks which results in longish stretches of time doing nothing. I usually try to do the housekeeping first thing in the morning – like sweeping the boat, making the bed, washing the few breakfast dishes and every other day I do a bit of clothes washing. I hang it on a makeshift clothes line and usually buy the afternoon the clothes are dry. I don’t iron anything but if I smooth it out when I hand it up it is usually ok and we don’t look too rumpled.

At Rogny there was an ancient “lock chain” (hence the full name of the town). There are 7 locks going down a steep hill – it is like a giant flight of stairs. These locks are not in use anymore and the canal has been diverted around the hill a bit although there was still a small and less steep chain that we went through. The old chain is being restored and hopefully will be in use again. This was built from the 16th to 18th century. The chain we went through comprised 6 locks and one is supposed to do it all in one go – we arrived there quite late and were allowed to moor the boat between the last 2 locks for the night next to this lovely meadow. In the morning we awoke to the boat bouncing up and down and it turned our that the locks were being equalised and water was gushing in and then being let out … it was quite hectic!

We had dinner in Rogny – the dinner was nice. They were a bit short staffed – in fact I think there was one waitress/chef and she yelled at us for trying to order wine when she was busy. I saw flames and smoke coming from the kitchen and when the people next to us (British) got their steaks they asked each other if it was supposed to be so charred – and they ate them anyway!!!!! We had ridden into town for dinner and the ride back, in the dark, very up-hill over little rickety bridges was exciting.

Today for the first time I rode my bike alongside the canal. There was a thin track that I rode along and it was a bit rough going – nettles all over the edges so I didn’t want to fall off. There were lovely villages and houses alongside the canal and the lock-keepers are very friendly.

When we arrived at one of the locks, the old lock-keeper rushed inside his house and turned a old ‘fairground organ’ towards the canal and as we drew into the canal he turned it on. And we were serenaded with lively music. I couldn’t take photos because it was too dark in the entrance to the house and I had to stay on the boat as we were going down! The organ was pale green with gold trim and had four figures that rotated in time to the music. What fun and such a surprise. I am sure he does this for everyone and he would only let us go when the tune had finished. I found this picture on Wikipedia - an example of what our lock keeper has!!!!

We went through our first radar controlled lock today – the locks were much bigger than the ones we are now used to and the radar controls the opening and closing. We went through 4 in quick succession.

We also saw 2 ultra luxury barges today. These are converted from the old commercial steel barges. They are huge and take up an entire normal sized lock (we can sometimes get 3 boats in one lock) and there is not much room on either side or front and back – literally a couple of inches space all round. These barges were beautifully kitted out – at least what we could see of them. Lovely wooden fixtures, a small splash pool, gym equipment, wooden decks and lots of staff waiting on the passengers. These babies come with a full set of crew and I should imagine it must be amazing being on one of these.

I think one of the reasons there are a lot villages next to the canals is because they all have grain silos next to the canal. So I guess at the right time, this section of the canal could be quite busy with commercial barges collecting the grain.

We will spend a bit of time in Montargis - we need a bit of a rest – it has been a hard day.

I saw large areas of ‘frog buttons’ in the water today – this is the first time I have seen them in the canals or rivers. They were spread out over a distance of about 10kms.

Each time we moor for lunch or the night I am always amazed at the number of dogs out for walks with their owners. The French really love their mutts – I just wish they would pick up after them – you have to be careful where you walk as there is dog poop on pavements, lawns and the side of the roads. I have seen quite a few cats now and they also seem o be well cared for.

A few notes about the restaurants we have been in – particularly the ones in small towns and villages. The waiters are well trained and there are very few of them – usually 2 if it is a biggish place! They are quick and know what is on the menu, can advise on wines and make sure your glass is kept full. You don’t have to ask for something twice. All the restaurants have pretty paper table mats – you don’t just eat off the table al la South Africa. They then remove the table mats and put down fresh ones for the next people. The paper napkins are thick – about 4 ply at least. They don’t break and disintegrate like the SA ones and they are large. The waiters work hard and are on the go all the time.

I drove the boat quite a bit today. Nearly took Steve’s head off twice – mainly because he wasn’t looking where we going. There were low hanging branches over the canal which he didn’t see and the second time he just didn’t see a low bridge that we pass under – he was actually driving then but was looking at the floor!!!!
My fault – I didn’t shout duck loudly enough *grin* oh well….

I saw a small red deer next to a forest bordering the canal.

Montargis is a fascinating place. It is a big town with very old buildings and churches. There are a lot of smallish canals in town and it is known as the “little Venice” of France. After walking and biking around a bit I was not sure about that label… but maybe we just didn’t get to see all the canals. There are new modern sections to the town by the main canal and there are a number of tall apartment blocks here. In the city centre you can see old houses and building built right on canals – there is water lapping at their foundations and small bridges to the front doors. It is quite a cosmopolitan place – seem to be people of all nationalities living here – you hear different languages and there are people of all colours. It would have been nice to explore this town some more but we didn’t have time. The very large cathedral was locked – what a blow. And there is a plaque outside the main door saying that this is where St Joan stopped off on her ride south – 19th September 1493 (if I remember correctly!) . The drain pipes from the roof have saints on them instead of the usual gargoyles.

We stocked up on provisions and beer – there was a small park near the supermarket which had a bit sectioned off for dogs.

I think they make the large luxury barges here – I saw one being renovated.

We had dinner at a local hotel – it was a sort of “chain” type hotel. Steak and chips again for us. The town was very busy and we were on our bikes – hair-raising and this is the place where I went round some traffic circles, with the cars, buses and other cyclists and of course everything was back to front and on the wrong side of the road. Scary stuff.