The ABC's of a Rally--Auxerre, Barges, Crémant & a Castle

The past week has all been about the gathering ("Rally") of the Barge Association (DBA, because it used to be the "Dutch Barge Association", but it's not just barges these days) in Auxerre, France. Auxerre is a town of about 35,000 people in the Burgundy region southeast of Paris. A busy center of commerce and government under the Romans and a former episcopal city, present-day Auxerre has a charming old town that, despite several fires over the centuries, has hundreds of timbered houses and three huge churches, including a cathedral.

The rally was based in the Arbre Sec Park just upstream of the first lock of the Canal du Nivernais, south of the old town center of Auxerre. There were over 70 attendees, most residing on one of the 24 boats moored at the park, but well over a dozen attended "on foot". 

The 24 boats moored two-by-two along the park quay. CARIB is on the outside, 
the 4th boat down from the top left. (Thanks to James and his drone for the photo.)

All dressed up with signal flags.

This banner was posted on the boat next to the quay, and 
contained our pertinent info. It was tough to see much of us behind
a 25-meter barge.

Big kudos to the DBA members who organized the gathering, as it was a perfect mix of optional tours, social gatherings, and free time. An opening reception on the evening of Wednesday, July 12, kicked things off. We joined the next day's tour to the Bailly Lapierre Cellars. The "Caves de Bailly" are the center for the production of the sparkling wines known as Crémant de Bourgogne (crémant of Burgundy). Since 1972, the company, an association of winegrowers, has been making crémant in an underground limestone quarry that for several hundred years had been the source of building material for sites in France such as Notre-Dame de Paris, the Pantheon, and Chartres Cathedral. 

Lon outside the entry to the Cave.

The Cave was up on a hill which overlooks the Nivernais/Yonne,
and hills of Burgundy are all around.

The Cave maintains a cool temperature perfect for making sparkling wine.

The bottles age for a while and pick up some
dust along the way. 

After a tasting of two different types of crémant (maybe not the best idea before noon), we returned to the boats for an informal--but very social--lunch, and then had the afternoon to do as we wished before an evening barbecue hosted by Aquarelle, the local Port in Auxerre. The city's Bastille Day fireworks display followed. Although Thursday was July 13, and therefore not the actual Bastille Day (which is the 14th of July), many towns have their Bastille Day fireworks on the 13th. The cheeseburgers were cooked well (because unlike many hamburgers in France, they were not rare in the middle--yay), the company was interesting, and the fireworks display was lovely. What we especially liked was the musical soundtrack that really enhanced the experience.

Fireworks over the Yonne frame the 
Eglise Saint Pierre (St. Peter Church).

The next morning--the actual Bastille Day--we went on a guided walking tour in the historical center of town. We'd done this at the last rally we attended in Auxerre in 2017, but "so many towns, so many stories" meant that a refresher on the details of this particular town could only be a good thing. As Aquarelle will provide our winter mooring for C.A.R.I.B. III, we'll have a few weeks in August, September, and next spring to explore the town to a greater extent than an hour-and-a-half long tour can provide.

Place Saint Nicolas was the location of the town port in medieval times. Given its location
on the banks of the Yonne, and the prevalence of boaters, it's fitting that it's named after
the patron saint of mariners (and a statue of St. Nick resides in a niche in the facade of the
beige building at the center of the photo.) The oldest timbered buildings in Auxerre are the two
"twins" at the left in the photo.

The front of the cathedral. Built and rebuilt over several
centuries, and never completely finished. Of the Romanesque
church from the early 11th century, only the crypt remains.
When Auxerre lost its status as an episcopal center during the
Revolution, the building ceased to be an official cathedral.

Way back in the day, the cathedral was colorful both
inside and out. Only remnants remain of the medieval
and Renaissance frescoes.

The Town Hall (Hotel de Ville) and, to the right, the Clock Tower.
The Clock Tower was originally built in the 15th century and
used as the prison of an earl before it was turned into a clock
and belfry in the late 1400s. The current structure is a 19th century  
rebuild due to the destruction of the original by fire in 1825.

Timbered buildings in the wealthier upper town. Colors started
being used on the timbers in the 18th century.

As we'd encountered in other towns, the workmanship
of the carving to decorate the wood on these 16th
century buildings was impressive.

There wasn't enough time for the guided tour to make it to the Abbey or to the Saint Pierre church, so those are added to our "to do" list for later, along with some other things. In the evening, the DBA held its first-ever Progressive Dinner. It was a three-course event, and participants were with different people for each course. As a host boat, we stayed on CARIB throughout the evening and provided the main course, but our guests were responsible for the appetizer and the dessert. We were a little disappointed that we weren't able to move to any other boats during the dinner, but we realize what a complicated scheduling endeavor it was, so we can't be too critical. Overall, it seems to have been quite a success and a great way to "mix it up" among the attendees.

On Saturday, July 15, the "event of the day" took us to Guedelon Castle. 

Guedelon Castle. The chapel tower to left, pigeon-loft tower
(to enable the Middle Ages version of email) at center,
 and gatehouse towers to the right.

Pretty impressive--for a structure whose construction started in 1997. The Guedelon project is a form of experimental archeology, with the goal of trying to answer some of the unanswered questions that exist about medieval castle-building. The castle is being built from scratch and is styled on military architecture that was used for hundreds of castles erected during the reign of Philip-Augustus in the late 12th/early 13th centuries. Aside from some concessions to modern safety requirements--such as steel-toed shoes--the castle is being built with the materials, tools, and technology of the time by workers wearing period clothing. The construction site is adjacent to a quarry whose stones provided materials for buildings for hundreds of years, and a forest that provides wood for the support beams. It is quite an interesting effort.

Courtyard view 1. The building at left contains storage rooms
on the lower floor, and a reception room on the upper floor.

Courtyard view 2. The chapel tower is at center, to the left
we were able to walk atop the defensive outer wall.

This "hamster wheel" contraption (treadwheel winch) was
 used to help hoist materials (capacity of about 1000 pounds)
 to the upper levels. The power is being provided by the man
walking in the wheel to the left. 

Lon in an interior walkway on the upper floor
of the building with the reception hall.

The decoration in the lord's chamber. The pigments
used were obtained from the local soil. 

The wood-working area. Everything-from beams (one per tree, to use the drier center wood and
avoid having to wait months for the wood to season), to shingles, to wooden nails-are prepared here.

 

And if you got tired of buildings, you could always watch
an alchemist at work. Now if only we could have understood
what he was mumbling as he performed . . . 

A relaxing Sunday--not being "market people" we skipped the outing to a Sunday market in Chablis. We did, however, attend the afternoon Q&A forum in the Abbye Saint-Germain and the casual farewell dinner at a bistro in the park very near to our moorings. On Monday we hung back and let the morning rush of boats heading through the lock back toward Auxerre get through, then followed in late afternoon and moored again at the Aquarelle Port.

As of this writing we'll head south again on Thursday and try to get in a few cruising days on the Nivernais Canal. Because of some low bridges our boat height won't allow us to go too far, and we have to be back in Auxerre on August 1 to receive guests on August 2, but we've heard that it's lovely cruising on the Nivernais, so we want to at least give it a try.