Friday, 13th July 2007 (I kid you not!!)
Day's progress: 16kms 28 locks (Total to date 135kms: 90locks)
Wow, this was a hectic day – we did almost half the number of locks today than we have done in the entire trip so far. We only traveled 16kms but were on the go all day.
It was very difficult to get out of bed. Tried to laze around for quite a bit trying get rid of some of the stiffness in my shoulders and back (all those locks and bridges) – Steve decided it was too far to walk to the boulangerie so he took a bike and was back in no time. He didn’t see the chateau.
We bolted breakfast and got onto the canal before anyone else – our timing for the trip today was really tight.
Students manned most of the locks and there were sometimes 2 students working one lock. They were from the region and were there for the holidays. They all spoke quite a bit of English and were delighted to have someone to practice on. They were great and seemed to be enjoying themselves. There was a lot of laughter and they were so grateful for the cold beers we gave them – it was sweltering and they really pushed it to get us through. When we were through the lock one of them would leap on a bike and pedal like crazy to the next lock – to help the next student – then that student would take off for the next lock. They used walkie talkies to speak to each other. It was very organised and they enjoyed our participation – wherever I could I helped with the gates and would walk whenever possible between the locks.
Some of the locks were very old with enormous oak levers instead of the mechanical winches. You had to push against the levers to open or close the gates….timing was all important here – if there was the slightest bit of water coming into the lock it was really heavy, but quite easy once the water had settled.
We were climbing in altitude quite quickly and the hurdle we had to get through w
as a series of locks called a ladder. This ladder comprised 16 locks in a row and once we got onto them there was no stopping. Together with the students we worked like mad things to get through. Some of the locks were only 50meters apart-there was much running around, pushing shoving, wincing and jubilation when we got to the top – what an amazing sight looking back down this ladder of locks and how much we had climbed! Extraordinary engineers who built these locks and canals – a good 200 years ago.
The next and last hurdle was to go through a section that had 3 long tunnels – this was a one-way system and we had to wait a bit for a tourist boat to come through.
Again, there was communication from one side to the other via radio. There was no place to moor or turn around on this section and we were anxious as Baye was on the other side and we really didn’t want to moor up where we currently were at Porte Brule. After about an hour's wait we were given the green light.
100m along this part of the canal we found ourselves in the most beautiful setting – it could have come out of a fairly fantasy movie – the trees hung over the canal turning the light into shades of pale green with dappled sunshine coming through the leaves. The canal had been dug into a hill so there were steep sides – trees were balanced precariously, hanging over us – everything was cool, green, lots of moss and ferns, dead quite and very beautiful. The canal and old tow path was lined with bricks that had been cut from stone – each one perfect and all the same size. These had probably been laid 200 years ago. In a couple of places some restoration work was taking place – damage to the canal walls seemed to be as a result of soil erosion or from trees and roots.
The canal was dug through three hills and these tunnels were 212m, 268m and 758m long – this really was a case of a light at the end of the tunnel. The tunnels are named des Breueilles, de Mouas and La Conlancelle respectively. The tunnels are near a small town called La Collancelle. They were dead straight, very dark and towards the end we were icy cold – I was dreading the final one, which was the longest – I was shuddering with cold by the time we got to the end. It was quite eerie in the tunnels – very quiet – the only sound was the hum of the engine and the wake lapping on the walls of the canal. The towpaths were clear of debris and I expect one could walk through the tunnels. The last tunnel had 2 circular air vents spaced equidistant from the beginning and end of the tunnel. I am not sure how high the air vents went up through the hill but they must have been at least 50m high – paved with bricks all the way up. A shaft of light came down the vents making a circular spot in the middle of the canal – at first I thought it was an electric spotlight. When we got underneath it, moisture dripped in huge drops on us.
It was amazing and once again an incredible engineering feat – these tunnels were built a couple of hundred years ago and still going strong.
We arrived in Baye in good time to get a good mooring, plug into the water supply and electricity and put a load of washing into the marina washing machines. Baye or more correctly, the Etang Baye is a very interesting water/wet land and covers about 100 hectares. There are a number of lakes which are fed by 3 or 4 rivers and it is these lakes that provide water to this section of canals.
When we had hung up the washing on our little makeshift washing line we unhitched the bikes and cycled the 3kms to the small town of La Conlancelle. It was a lovely ride and we were feeling more confident about being on the open road and, for us, riding on the wrong side of the road. It takes a bit of getting used to – another thing that takes getting used is that the drivers of cars and trucks are so polite and are not going to run you off the road. This is just a tad different to what we are used to in South Africa. In fact I would not ride a bike on a public road in Johannesburg – you will either get killed by a car or hijacked for your bike!
La Conlancelle had a really small bar/restaurant called Le Martin Pecher, with a tiny epicerie tagged on the side – you could get the basics like milk, a few vegetables, some tinned food and wine. Tagged on the other side was a fishing shop, which makes sense given all the lakes and rivers in the vicinity. There were perhaps 2 dozen really nice houses and a huge church with a very beautiful WW 1 monument in the tiny town square.
The owners of the restaurant were charming and had only moved there 2 months previously. There were a
couple of other people having dinner and at the bar. We had a super dinner – steak and chips and this was the biggest portion of chips I have ever seen. The local tramp was having a beer and snacks at the table next to us – Steve offered him some of his chips, which upset the owners immensely. This was not our intention – we actually felt quite sorry for the poor fellow. We also had a splendid local wine – so we bought 2 bottles and a bottle of rose. We had bought some milk, tomatoes and cucumbers and everything was bagged in very flimsy plastic bags.
We asked if we could have lunch there the following day as we were quite keen to join in the Bastille Day festivities. The owners said that although they had a big group booking it would be OK if we had lunch – they were quite happy to extras. Because there was not a bakery in this town, the restaurant owner took our order for bread and said he would collect the extra loaf when he went to the larger nearby town for their bread in the morning. They were so helpful.
On the way back to the boat I was flying down a hill on my bike, full of confidence when the rear wheel stuck – I went flying and landed, fortunately unharmed, in the ditch. The bag of wine and vegetables lying next to me – also unharmed. Steve had already gone round the corner so did not get to see this – nor anyone else thank goodness. We found out a few days later that the brake stuck on the wheel on a right turn – hence my accident. The next day I had huge purple bruises on my legs and smaller ones on my arms. They faded after about a week to a really sick mustard colour.
It was a good day and we had worked really hard. I didn’t note down what we did for lunch – I really cant remember – we had been so busy.
Day's progress: 16kms 28 locks (Total to date 135kms: 90locks)
Wow, this was a hectic day – we did almost half the number of locks today than we have done in the entire trip so far. We only traveled 16kms but were on the go all day.
It was very difficult to get out of bed. Tried to laze around for quite a bit trying get rid of some of the stiffness in my shoulders and back (all those locks and bridges) – Steve decided it was too far to walk to the boulangerie so he took a bike and was back in no time. He didn’t see the chateau.
We bolted breakfast and got onto the canal before anyone else – our timing for the trip today was really tight.
Students manned most of the locks and there were sometimes 2 students working one lock. They were from the region and were there for the holidays. They all spoke quite a bit of English and were delighted to have someone to practice on. They were great and seemed to be enjoying themselves. There was a lot of laughter and they were so grateful for the cold beers we gave them – it was sweltering and they really pushed it to get us through. When we were through the lock one of them would leap on a bike and pedal like crazy to the next lock – to help the next student – then that student would take off for the next lock. They used walkie talkies to speak to each other. It was very organised and they enjoyed our participation – wherever I could I helped with the gates and would walk whenever possible between the locks.
Some of the locks were very old with enormous oak levers instead of the mechanical winches. You had to push against the levers to open or close the gates….timing was all important here – if there was the slightest bit of water coming into the lock it was really heavy, but quite easy once the water had settled.
We were climbing in altitude quite quickly and the hurdle we had to get through w
as a series of locks called a ladder. This ladder comprised 16 locks in a row and once we got onto them there was no stopping. Together with the students we worked like mad things to get through. Some of the locks were only 50meters apart-there was much running around, pushing shoving, wincing and jubilation when we got to the top – what an amazing sight looking back down this ladder of locks and how much we had climbed! Extraordinary engineers who built these locks and canals – a good 200 years ago.The next and last hurdle was to go through a section that had 3 long tunnels – this was a one-way system and we had to wait a bit for a tourist boat to come through.
Again, there was communication from one side to the other via radio. There was no place to moor or turn around on this section and we were anxious as Baye was on the other side and we really didn’t want to moor up where we currently were at Porte Brule. After about an hour's wait we were given the green light.
100m along this part of the canal we found ourselves in the most beautiful setting – it could have come out of a fairly fantasy movie – the trees hung over the canal turning the light into shades of pale green with dappled sunshine coming through the leaves. The canal had been dug into a hill so there were steep sides – trees were balanced precariously, hanging over us – everything was cool, green, lots of moss and ferns, dead quite and very beautiful. The canal and old tow path was lined with bricks that had been cut from stone – each one perfect and all the same size. These had probably been laid 200 years ago. In a couple of places some restoration work was taking place – damage to the canal walls seemed to be as a result of soil erosion or from trees and roots.
The canal was dug through three hills and these tunnels were 212m, 268m and 758m long – this really was a case of a light at the end of the tunnel. The tunnels are named des Breueilles, de Mouas and La Conlancelle respectively. The tunnels are near a small town called La Collancelle. They were dead straight, very dark and towards the end we were icy cold – I was dreading the final one, which was the longest – I was shuddering with cold by the time we got to the end. It was quite eerie in the tunnels – very quiet – the only sound was the hum of the engine and the wake lapping on the walls of the canal. The towpaths were clear of debris and I expect one could walk through the tunnels. The last tunnel had 2 circular air vents spaced equidistant from the beginning and end of the tunnel. I am not sure how high the air vents went up through the hill but they must have been at least 50m high – paved with bricks all the way up. A shaft of light came down the vents making a circular spot in the middle of the canal – at first I thought it was an electric spotlight. When we got underneath it, moisture dripped in huge drops on us.
It was amazing and once again an incredible engineering feat – these tunnels were built a couple of hundred years ago and still going strong.
We arrived in Baye in good time to get a good mooring, plug into the water supply and electricity and put a load of washing into the marina washing machines. Baye or more correctly, the Etang Baye is a very interesting water/wet land and covers about 100 hectares. There are a number of lakes which are fed by 3 or 4 rivers and it is these lakes that provide water to this section of canals.
When we had hung up the washing on our little makeshift washing line we unhitched the bikes and cycled the 3kms to the small town of La Conlancelle. It was a lovely ride and we were feeling more confident about being on the open road and, for us, riding on the wrong side of the road. It takes a bit of getting used to – another thing that takes getting used is that the drivers of cars and trucks are so polite and are not going to run you off the road. This is just a tad different to what we are used to in South Africa. In fact I would not ride a bike on a public road in Johannesburg – you will either get killed by a car or hijacked for your bike!
La Conlancelle had a really small bar/restaurant called Le Martin Pecher, with a tiny epicerie tagged on the side – you could get the basics like milk, a few vegetables, some tinned food and wine. Tagged on the other side was a fishing shop, which makes sense given all the lakes and rivers in the vicinity. There were perhaps 2 dozen really nice houses and a huge church with a very beautiful WW 1 monument in the tiny town square.
The owners of the restaurant were charming and had only moved there 2 months previously. There were a
couple of other people having dinner and at the bar. We had a super dinner – steak and chips and this was the biggest portion of chips I have ever seen. The local tramp was having a beer and snacks at the table next to us – Steve offered him some of his chips, which upset the owners immensely. This was not our intention – we actually felt quite sorry for the poor fellow. We also had a splendid local wine – so we bought 2 bottles and a bottle of rose. We had bought some milk, tomatoes and cucumbers and everything was bagged in very flimsy plastic bags.We asked if we could have lunch there the following day as we were quite keen to join in the Bastille Day festivities. The owners said that although they had a big group booking it would be OK if we had lunch – they were quite happy to extras. Because there was not a bakery in this town, the restaurant owner took our order for bread and said he would collect the extra loaf when he went to the larger nearby town for their bread in the morning. They were so helpful.
On the way back to the boat I was flying down a hill on my bike, full of confidence when the rear wheel stuck – I went flying and landed, fortunately unharmed, in the ditch. The bag of wine and vegetables lying next to me – also unharmed. Steve had already gone round the corner so did not get to see this – nor anyone else thank goodness. We found out a few days later that the brake stuck on the wheel on a right turn – hence my accident. The next day I had huge purple bruises on my legs and smaller ones on my arms. They faded after about a week to a really sick mustard colour.
It was a good day and we had worked really hard. I didn’t note down what we did for lunch – I really cant remember – we had been so busy.
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