By Cherie Thiessen
It’s May, the perfect time for getting a deal on a cruiser and checking out how the Pouilly, Sancerre and Burgundy vintages have turned out as we cruise through the French countryside. The strawberries will be showing their first blushes, the asparagus will be striking out for the sun, and the fields will be a riot of yellow canola blossoms.
So with a smattering of excruciating French, hardy gloves for handling the ropes in the locks, non-slip deck shoes, rain slickers and a corkscrew, we landed in Paris, took a high speed two-hour train south to the LeBoat base in Decize, and boarded our 36’ Clipper that same evening. We didn’t need the corkscrew.
The town of Decize is located on an island in Burgundy’s Loire Valley. Although the LeBoat base is a few kilometers from there, its position is actually perfect. Close to a large supermarket for provisioning, the location also offers boaters their choice of three different routes: one lock leads unto the Loire River and shortly thereafter, the narrow Nivernais Canal with its proliferation of locks, tunnels and lifting bridges, another heads southwest on the Lateral Canal towards Digoin and beyond, right down to the Mediterranean for those with months to spare. The other direction on the Lateral winds toward the short Nevers canal, twists to Briare and eventually joins the Seine on its way to Paris. We opted for this canal because of its wider banks and fewer locks, figuring this translated into more time to spend checking out Nevers’s famous ceramics, and wine tasting in the Sancerre region, Sancerre being one of our vintages of choice.
Allowing two weeks, this return trip consists of 60 manned locks and 264 kilometers in total. Who can resist towns with names like Marseille-les-Aubigny, Ménétréol-sous-Sancerre, and Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire? We spent many an hour in these places before docking at Briare, re-provisioning, enjoying a delicious, chatty meal with the locals at one of the many buzzing brasseries in this festive town, and then starting back to visit them all over again.
Been there done that?
Don’t you believe it! Going back the same way is not a hardship; we got to visit all the places we’d passed and looked at wistfully, not able to stop because the lockkeeper was waiting for us at the next lock.
The Canal Latéral a la Loire, which follows the left bank of the Loire for the whole of its length, was completed in 1838 The highlight has got to be the picturesque Briare Canal Bridge. Crossing the Loire here used to be a problem for many years, with tempers and money constantly lost as barges waited out floods or lightened their load in order to ride the low water levels. Toward the end the 19th Century, a decision was made to build a steel aquaduct to float the barges high over the Loire. It was a benchmark bridge, using ‘mild’ steel in its construction, for the first time in France as it was considered the only metal both strong and light enough for a structure of this size. The views from our upper deck steering position were expansive but captains aren’t allowed to look. It was one-way only up there, and with no traffic lights, looking ahead was a priority.
Fortunately, this was a requirement only on the bridge because there was so much to constantly distract in every direction: Sancerre’s castle on the hill, right out of a Grimm’s fairy tale, fields of race horses, chateaux and castles rubbing turrets with little country homes wrapped in vegetable gardens and flowers, and halcyon rest spots tugging at us to linger. The selection of overnight spots swamped us with indecision. Would tonight be in an historic village, or beside a brasserie? Would it be in the middle of the forest, with only a nest of storks to keep us company? Or beside a grotto with a path through to an estate winery? . The options were heady.
As relaxing as this holiday was, it delivers plenty of exercise. Handling the ropes or gates at the locks is good upper body work, and chasing down provisions generally means visiting the villages and foraging for food. Nothing beats discovering where the baguettes and pain au chocolate are hiding out; for that you walk, watch, and ask. Watch for a baguette weaving down the path or sidewalk, usually with the end nibbled off. Then ask the nibbler from whence it came. Youtou’d be surprised where that sometimes was: a private home, the town hall, even once, a church. Bartering for new potatoes, local produce, fresh eggs, or crates of good local wine at the locks, the farms, or the country markets was always fun too. And, of course, there’s always that regional wine to discover.
Don’t even think of not sharing this sensory overload with another couple. Not only will they be eternally in your debt for introducing them to France in such a novel and intense way, but they’ll also come in handy at the locks. Everybody will soon find out how good they are at rope tossing, inserting wide objects into narrow places, and cranking open bridges and sluice gates, as the boat tumbles in and out of one lock after another.
You cannot hurry this cruise, even if you want to: the hours of the lockkeepers, and the locks themselves will all ensure that you take time, and you know you’re emulating the French lifestyle when you decide the pacing is actually perfect. Because it is.
