The Fourth of Four

On Tuesday, July 23, as we left Digoin behind, we also left the Canal lateral a la Loire and entered into the last of the four "Bourbonnais Route" canals, the Canal du Centre. At the time of its construction between 1783 and 1793, it was called the Canal du Charolais, after the historic region of France in which it was constructed. This artificial waterway is a transportation link between the town of Chalon-sur-Saone (to the east, on the Saone River) and Digoin in the west. It contains 60 locks within its 114-kilometer length. 

In several particulars, the differences between the Canal du Centre and the Loire Lateral Canal made themselves known immediately: (1) the locks on the Loire Lateral were primarily manual, with eclusiers on site to work the locks. On the Canal du Centre, the locks are automatic, with lock preparation done remotely, and with the lock up/lock down functions being triggered by a boater pulling on a designated blue cord after entering a lock; (2) the Canal du Centre has many more curved sections than the Loire Lateral Canal, which means more blind curves and thus a heightened need for slower approaches and for a judicious use of the horn to warn possible oncoming traffic; and (3) there are more low and narrow bridges--many at curves--on the Canal du Centre, with the same need for slow speed and the use of a warning horn.

Upper: the low bridges started as soon as we left Digoin.
Lower: We're still not sure how our first lock on the
Canal du Centre "knew" to be ready for us, but once we
started, all the subsequent locks were ready as well.

We didn't encounter much other boat traffic on the 23rd, but we did have to make a couple of slow passes. Things were a little shallow and weedy when we were forced to leave the center of the canal to make these passes, but it wasn't too bad.

Our stop of the day was the town of Paray-le-Monial. The quay of the halte fluvial was quite large and had space for several barges; it was also conveniently placed to the historic sites of the town center. First impressions being what they were, we thought that this town deserved a 3-night stop.

Paray has been a significant center of Christianity for centuries, for different reasons at different times. The first monastery, associated with the church at Cluny, was founded on the site of the current basilica in the late 10th century. The third iteration of the monastery church was built around 1100, and is said to be a smaller replica of the huge Cluny Abbey church that was almost completely destroyed in the decades following the Revolution.

The apse of the Basilica of Paray-le-Monial, with its
radiating chapels.

The front of the Basilica of Paray-le-Monial by night. At the
front, the tower to the right dates back to the 11th century and is the
remains of a prior church. The tower on the left is 12th century.

View of the basilica's interior. The modifications over the centuries have been few, one of the
most significant being the reconstruction of the southern apse in the 15th century into a 
funeral chapel for a noble local family. The porch also had to be reconstructed in the 19th century.
A restoration in the early years of the 21st century introduced some contemporary elements such as 
the chandeliers and new stations of the cross. 

The domed ceiling of the apse contains this (probably) 14th
century painting of "Christ in majesty" that was discovered
in 1935.

 

The medieval-style cloister gardens of the last
priory building (attached to the basilica to the south),
which was built in the 18th century.

Paray became a center of pilgrimage in 1873, in response to apparitions of the Sacred Heart--the heart of Jesus, the symbol of His love for humankind--that appeared to nun Mary Margaret Alacoque between 1673 and 1675, apparitions that were authenticated by her priest, Father Claude La Colombiere. Sister Mary Margaret became a saint in 1920.

The Chapel of Apparitions, the site where Sister Mary Margaret
said that she saw the apparitions of the Sacred Heart.

There are a number of other churches that have significance in the town. 

The Church of Notre-Dame, of which only the choir remains. Old
on the outside, repaired and modern on the inside, it is situated on 
the site of the town's cemetery.

The interior of La Colombiere Chapel. The chapel is dedicated to the priest
 who verified the apparitions of Sister Mary Margaret. Claude la Colombiere was
canonized in 1992; this chapel was built soon after he was beatified
 in 1929. The mosaics were amazing.

Left: the interior of the Chapel of Notre-Dame de Romay (12-13th century) on the outskirts of Paray.
 It was said to be a place where stillborn infants could be brought to temporarily restore them to life so that they could be baptized before burial. Right: The fountain on the chapel grounds is said to be miraculous for healing eye illnesses.

Not all is a religious experience, however. The town in general was clean and had a nice "feel" to it, including its small, but lovely, commercial area. 

The ice cream break from sightseeing was excellent!

Barging friends Ian and Lisette were in Paray at the same time we
were, and advised us of "happenings" in the center of town on Wednesday
 evening.  It turned out to be street theater, but sadly, we would have
had to understand more French to make it really enjoyable.

On Thursday, July 25, it seemed as though the boating community was converging on Paray. By the time the day was over, the quay was full up with boats. That evening we had a fun docktails/provide your own dinner evening quayside with four other couples.

We departed Paray just before 9 a.m. on Friday, July 26. We hadn't contacted the vnf, but the lock was open and the light "green" just upstream of our mooring when we arrived about 10 minutes before 9 a.m. OK. It seemed we could enter the lock, so we got a slightly early start on the cruising day in the comfortable morning hours. We didn't have any issues with water depth during our cruise, nor were weeds much of a problem. We are cruising through a heavily agricultural area and seeing lots of cows of the Charolais breed, named for the region we are in. 

Charolais cows are cream-colored, and are the most common beef breed in France. They are
everywhere in this region.

The road not taken. The Chateau de Digoine could be seen from the canal. We could have stopped, 
could have paid to enter, but we were still rather "Chateau-sated" from our Loire trip. We heard good
reports of it, though, from Ian and Lisette.

We stopped for the day at the small town of Genelard, which had an amazingly large halte fluvial for a town of its size. Power, water, no charge--the best kind of stop! One of the main points of interest for us in the town was its interpretive center for the WWII Line of Demarcation. France existed as an Occupied Zone in the north and west, administered by the Germans, and a "Free Zone" in the southeast, administered by the French, but under the strict eye of the Germans, from June 1940 until the Germans invaded the Free Zone in November 1942. The demarcation line was officially removed in March 1943. The interpretive center described life under that system.

The interpretive center had lots to read, but thankfully, they provided
the information in three languages: French, English, and German.

An Art Deco facade on one of the former Genelard factories. Its
aim was to make the factory look more "modern," than it actually
was. A true triumph of style over substance.

We were promised a concert in the evening, and this is our view from CARIB. An all music
program would have been great; however, this turned out to be more of a comic
 sketch with some music. Since the spoken parts were all in French, it wasn't easy to stay interested.

We were into our first lock--immediately adjacent to the halte--at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 27. It was a beautiful morning, and aside from a scare when we met an overly fast cruiser at a bridge on a blind curve, everything went well. We almost made it to our destination of the day, Montceau-les-Mines, without incident, but what fun would that be? We were in Lock 10, the last lock of our cruising day, when it decided to (take a lunch) break.

We entered the lock, triggered the process, the gates closed--and then
opened again. Needless to say, the lock filling process didn't
start. As this happened between noon and 1 p.m., no vnf staff were
immediately available to assist us. Cue lunchtime. A phone call
after 1 p.m., a 15-minute wait, and we were on our way soon after.

Going the final stretch into the Montceau port de plaisance felt a little bit like an obstacle course. We had to pass under 3 lift bridges in quick succession, all operated by the vnf.

We passed under the first bridge (left) and the next (upper
right) was opening. The third bridge (lower right) was a
 pedestrian bridge with a vertical lift, the port/marina
just beyond.

Montceau was very different from most of the towns and villages that we've visited this year. It is a very young town in the scheme of things. In the early 1800's the Chagot family had moved its mining company from the nearby town of Blanzy to what is now Montceau. As the industry grew and the workforce increased, a town was founded in 1856 in response to the rapidly growing population that had come to work in the coal mines of the area. Its name--Montceau-les-Mines--reflects its heritage. The town developed on the southeastern bank of the Canal du Centre and the mining area was very close by, on the northwestern bank. 

We were able to get a spot on one of the floating docks of the city port, and it was one of the nicest ports we've seen in France. Not expensive, and we thought that three nights would be enough to see what we wanted to see of the town itself as well as take advantage of the numerous stores in the area. We treated ourselves on Saturday night to dinner out at an Italian restaurant called "La Trattoria" and had a great time. The couple at the adjacent table was very sociable and the owner of the restaurant was rather humorous. Oh, yes, the food was good, too.

CARIB in the port de plaisance of Montceau. Ian and Lisette showed up in their barge
the day after we arrived and snagged the T-head of the dock just behind us.

Upper: The Infinite Circle, a wooden sculpture installed in Maugrand Park
on the west side of the canal. You wouldn't know to look at it, but the parks
are on land reclaimed from what used to be coal mines. Underground mining
in the area stopped in 1992; open pit mining continued until 2000.
Lower: the old coal washing building, used for the sorting of the mined
 material. The former barge basin is now occupied by a boat maintenance
and repair company.

Upper: The City Hall in the background, the Mine Victim's Monument
 in the foreground (with the dates of the mining catastrophes.)
Lower: left, some of the town buildings had great wrought iron
decoration, like something you might expect in New Orleans; 
right, a view down the main shopping street. It was surprising how
many shops there were, given the proximity to the town of
a large commercial area with many "big box" stores. 

On Monday, July 29, Lon and I and Ian and Lisette cycled to the neighboring town of Blanzy for a visit to the Museum of the Mine. It was a very warm day, but at least part of the visit included access to some of the underground areas where the temps were cooler. The tour guide was a wealth of information--in French, of course--but we English speakers were given a written guide to the place with abbreviated explanations. 

Under the sky (left) and underground (right). I can't imagine
doing that job day in and day out. And the horses that worked
in the mines had it even worse. 

We ended up spending a total of four nights at the port in Montceau. It was a bit more time than the town warranted (but I will say that even though it was totally lacking in things medieval I still liked the town). The length of the stay was a self-imposed navigation stop on our part to avoid having to cruise during some very hot (90+ degrees Fahrenheit) days. The cruising part might not be too bad, but working locks in hot sun can be very draining and probably a bit dangerous. We are fortunate enough to have air conditioning on CARIB, so we were more than happy to take advantage of our access to electricity. As it turned out, sticking around the port on that 4th day was a very good thing. Lon was able to make a repair to our indoor driving station after a trip to the local bricolage (hardware). He had also contacted the local boat maintenance company via e-mail, on Monday the 29th, about our bow thruster problem, but we didn't get a response. Then, a knock at our door on Tuesday afternoon turned out to be one of the owners, and he said that he would be able to repair our broken bow thruster drive chain within a couple of days. We can continue to cruise, and he will drive to meet us wherever we are when the repair is complete. Wow! Totally unexpected, but completely awesome.

We left Monceau this morning for a very short cruise (2 locks and 3 kilometers) to the halte fluvial at Blanzy. It's still beastly hot outside, but the quay has power and we're comfortable inside. It should be somewhat less hot tomorrow, and because we cruised the little bit today, we should be able to get to our next destination in the cooler morning hours.

Just Cruisin'

Ten days is a long time to leave the boat in one place during the height of the cruising season, so by the time July 16 came around, we were ready to move. Nevers is at the halfway point of the 200-km-long Loire Lateral Canal, so it would take several days of cruising to reach the Canal du Centre, the final waterway of our Bourbonnais Route. With no identified "must do" items along the 100-km length, our stops would mostly be guided by mooring availability and the weather.

We didn't have an auspicious start. For whatever reason, each cruising season seems to present us with a bow thruster problem at some point. This year, that "point" came as we were entering the 2nd lock on the Nevers branch channel taking us to the Loire Lateral Canal. A few disturbing "clunks" were rapidly followed by the sound of a free-wheeling motor and no bow thruster action. There wasn't much to be done at the moment other than to secure ourselves in the lock and revert to "no bow thruster mode" (NBTM) for the rest of our cruising day. NBTM requires slower approaches and entrances to locks, and an overall more thoughtful approach to maneuvers. Lon has always done well with this, and thankfully, nothing had changed in that respect. With not much to be done while underway, we continued to our stop of the day, Fleury-sur-Loire.

Fleury was a small village with a 12th century church, a small bakery/cafe, a few old houses, and a lovely halte nautique with an on-site restaurant.

A small campground was adjacent to the halte, a pretty
 and peaceful setting, and we contentedly tucked in along the quay.

St. Julien church. The bell tower and apse are the
12th C elements registered as historic monuments.

Once stopped, Lon was able to spend some time and effort on the bow thruster problem. The worst-case scenario would have been the loss of the prop, as this would require the bow thruster tunnel to be out of the water during the repairs. It didn't take him too long to determine that the drive chain had broken.

The culprit--our broken three-stranded drive chain. 

Still not the easiest fix, but at least the repair won't require lifting the boat. At this point, however, with no replacement part to be had, our only choice was to continue cruising. And after a day like that, cooking was not an option.

Waterfront dining on a tasty and reasonably priced three courses.
Smiling was the only possible response.

Our destination for July 17 was the town of Decize, at the junction with the Nivernais Canal. Temperatures were now starting on an upward trend and becoming more traditionally "July-like." At this point we were trying to keep our cruising days relatively short to take advantage of cool mornings and avoid hot afternoon sun, necessary because we are still limited to driving from the flybridge. Lack of a working interior helm wouldn't be an issue if we could raise the bimini for shade, but there are many bridges over the canal and most of them are too low for our bimini.

The lock operations in this part of the Loire Lateral Canal have changed. There are still eclusiers at each lock, but most of the locks are now fully manual. Gates and sluices must be cranked open or closed--no "push button" automation. This can involve a lot of walking for the eclusiers so, when possible, Lon and I try to provide at least some assist. We're still going "up" so Lon often helps by closing one of the back lock gates after we've entered, and I usually get off the boat after we've risen in the lock and open one of the front lock gates so that we can leave. It saves the eclusier a few steps and saves us a few minutes in lock passage.

Opening a lock gate is also a good upper body workout for me.

Decize is one of the larger towns along the canal, and we'd originally thought about spending two nights, but we weren't quite ready to take a mini-break so soon after our long break in Nevers. Short, but very warm, walks to the grocery store drained us of any incentive for exploration. Decize had been a fortified town, so it had its sites of interest, but we had to be satisfied with what we could see on an after-dinner bike ride.

The Church of Saint-Aré, with an 11th century chancel
and a 7th-century Merovingian crypt.

Above: a tower and walls of the medieval ramparts
Below: One of the squares in central Decize

We had high hopes for our destination on July 18. Our waterway guides said that Les Vanneaux was the location of Entente Marine, a company with experience in barge repairs. The web site looked OK, so Lon sent off an e-mail to enquire about engaging their services for a bow thruster repair. Our hopes were dashed when the return e-mail said that the owners had retired in December 2023 and the business was closed. I guess we'll be in NBTM a while longer.

There isn't much to say about Les Vanneaux. The public quay was full when we arrived, so we tucked in behind a long-stay boat closer to the former repair shop. 

CARIB is at the far left in this photo. It was a very hot day,
so we didn't even bother to pull the bikes down to seek out
the ruins of an old castle a few kilometers away.

An early start on the 19th and a short cruising day had us on the quay of the halte nautique in Beaulon (power and water--yay) before lunch. On the way we encountered a little bit of canal maintenance.

Weed hasn't been too much of an issue for us this year (so far). In this stretch of the waterway,
the vnf was taking out weed that was implanted along the sides of the canal.

Already on the quay when we got to Beaulon was the barge "Maria," one of those boats that we keep encountering over various cruising seasons. Also on the quay that evening was the boat "Imagine", and its lovely French owners Yves and Marie-dande, who we seem to be keeping pace with this week.

The three boats of Beaulon: Imagine is at our left, Maria is far right.
We hosted "docktails" for all on CARIB and enjoyed an hour of socializing.

The village of Beaulon was a little way off the canal, too far to walk in the day's heat, but it wasn't too bad of a jaunt with the bicycles after we had lunch. It's obviously been around awhile, because it had some half-timbered buildings and a chateau, but the church was relatively new in the scheme of things, and it was hard to find much information about the town.

The Church of Saint-Privat is a 19th century building.

Lon on a bridge over a waterway in the village--old canal or 
old stream? It was hard to tell. The village had a nice "feel" about
it, however.

Upper: a timbered building, now a seemingly
popular restaurant.
Bottom: the Chateau de Beaumont, an events center.

On Day 5 post-Nevers we had enough of the sun fairly early. We covered only 12 km and 3 locks, but by the time we stopped we were through for the day. Dealing with full sun on a 90-degree day was not our definition of a fun cruise. Diou was a very basic stop--the quay was a bit beat up, but serviceable, but with no power or water. There was a Proximarket a short walk away, so I could pop in for a few things I needed. Otherwise, it was a place to wait out a bit of inclement weather on Saturday night.

We had a barge for company on Saturday night, otherwise, all the other boats that
stopped did so only for lunch or a quick run to the market.

Ultimately, I decided that five days in a row of cruising was enough, and I wanted a day off. It was rather cool and cloudy for most of Sunday, July 21, but it was dry enough for us to take the bikes a few kilometers down a side channel to the town of Dompierre-sur-Besbre. It has a Locaboat hire boat base, and it is probably the town where those in the surrounding area come for shopping, but as it was a Sunday, it was pretty quiet. We couldn't even find a restaurant to tempt us for lunch.

Upper: Saint Joseph Church, 19th C.
Lower: A former tithe barn, now a dwelling.

It was a short stay in the town. On the way back to CARIB we diverted to the Abbey of Sept-Fons, founded in the 12th century, for a look at the walls. After a brief scandalous period in the 17th century with some dissolute monks, the abbey redeemed itself and functioned up to the Revolution, when a number of its monks were martyred. It is again an active abbey, not open to the public except for a welcome center that sells products made by the monks.

We paid for our short cruise day on Saturday with a longer than usual cruise on Monday, June 22. Our destination was the town of Digoin, at the end of the Loire Lateral Canal and the beginning of the Canal du Centre.

We passed our friends on "Imagine" on Monday. They had turned around
and were heading back down the Loire Lateral Canal.

It took us about 5 hours to reach Digoin, and the last lock of the day was a bit "exciting," not a good thing in boating.

We were at the lock about 10 or 15 minutes prior to the 1 p.m. opening after the lunch hour. A hire boat was in front of us, and we weren't sure we would fit in the lock with them, but the eclusier waved us in. We've been in locks with 10-meter boats before, but this hire boat was 12-meters, and that extra 6+ feet made it a very tight fit. We had very little space between our bow and the hire boat, and in order to get the back gates closed, Lon had to maneuver our stern from one side of the lock to the other while the gates were closing to ensure that our tender didn't get crunched. We did it, but hope to never repeat the experience.

We had to cross another aqueduct over the Loire to enter Digoin. Above: following
 the hire boat across. Below: a park along the Loire and a side view of the 
aqueduct in the distance (built 1832-1838).

We did a pre-dinner stroll through town and saw as much as we felt we needed to see. The town is making some efforts at urban renewal--the area along the Loire was particularly nice--but it has a ways to go. It did have a nice Italian restaurant not far from the port and we were happy to have dinner there before settling in for the evening at our mooring on the port quay. 

Right: Digoin center, the 19th C church in the middle.
Left: the more modern nature of the church is reflected in the
sculptures over its entry doors.

Digoin was a busy canal town historically and is busy today with its hire boat base and pleasure craft, but we were ready to move on to the next town.

NeversLand

We arrived at the port in Nevers on Saturday, July 6, and stayed until Tuesday, July 16. We felt comfortable parking CARIB there when we left to search out Loire chateaux, and it was an interesting town to explore during the days before and after that side trip.

Nevers is the 5th largest city in Burgundy. Like the city of Tours, it also carries the French label of "City of Art and History." Nevers became a seat of religious power as early as the 5th century, and a center of temporal power under the Count of Nevers in the late 10th century. Ownership of the town passed through different families over the centuries--becoming the seat of a dukedom in the early 17th century--and was fortified during the Middle Ages, as befits a good medieval town.

Nevers as seen from the south side of the Loire River. The cathedral anchors the old town.
To the right, a more modern Nevers is apparent.

We had most of Sunday, July 7, to make our acquaintance with Nevers via a walking tour. It was rather quiet that late Sunday morning, and the town seemed a little dirty, maybe from the Saturday night before. We noticed a fair number of empty storefronts in buildings outside of what we later encountered as the two main shopping streets. Not unusual for what we've seen in many French towns, but it always seems a shame, nonetheless.

A quick stop at the Tourist Office and we were off to follow the painted "blue line" tourist route through the city.

Nevers is the seat of a Bishop, and has had a cathedral for
centuries. Saint-Cyr-Sainte-Julitte Cathedral is unusual in that
it has two choirs, one Romanesque and one Gothic. It was heavily
damaged during an Allied bombing raid in 1944.

The interior of the Gothic choir, looking toward
the barrier blocking access to the Romanesque
part of the cathedral--closed until 2025.

The Bohier Tower of the Cathedral, its
facade from the 15th and 16th centuries.
We were all set to climb it--but it was
closed as part of the renovation.

To the left, the 15th century Palais ducal. Usually open to tourists,
but on this day, it was a polling place for the local French citizens.
To the right, the Italianate-styled 19th century theater.

21st century construction on the shopping street under
the watchful eye of a 15th century clock tower.

A whimsical hat store; a quiet Sunday street.

The Porte du Croux was one of four defensive gates on the city walls during the 14th century,
and protected the pottery district. The square tower currently houses the city's Archeological
Museum. As it was the first Sunday of the month, admission was free!

The Archeological Museum had an eclectic collection of 
memorabilia, for the most part from excavations carried out
in Nevers or its environs. Small, but fascinating.

More ramparts.

Walking through the old town.

The beach in Nevers is sand along the Loire River. It was from here that the fireworks
for Bastille Day were launched.

July 7 was the last day of a week-long street theater
festival. Since this particular production depended on heavy
use of French--and not just visuals--we didn't stick around.
The topic? The sign says "Non-humans also citizens", so . . . 

Because it was Sunday, most of the churches were closed to tourist visits. We also needed a little time to get ready for our Monday departure to the Loire, so it's a good thing we had Saturday afternoon, July 13, to finish what we'd started on the 7th. 

The Jesuit Saint Pierre Church of the early 17th century contained some incredible 
frescos by Italian artists. The ceiling was partially covered because it's badly in need
of restoration. The floor contained large areas of mosaic tiles.

The 11th century St. Etienne Church. Built by the 
Cluny monks, it is one of the best-preserved Romanesque
style churches in France.

The interior of Saint Etienne has a heavy Romanesque style,
with light coming in only from relatively small windows. We had
 seen the interior briefly with artificial light the previous Sunday when
 we quickly ducked in while a service was in progress. It felt
 warm and beautiful and much less "forbidding."

An oddity in France--a church in Baroque style. The Saint
Mary Chapel is the only vestige remaining of a convent founded
in the 7th century. The exterior was restored to its original
condition in the year 2000, but the interior is essentially devoid of
ornamentation or furnishings.

Why a family of warthogs is public art in Nevers, I've no idea. But I loved it.

We also stopped by the Saint-Bernadette Sanctuary. The namesake of the sanctuary was Bernadette Soubirou who, as a 14-year-old girl living in the town of Lourdes in 1858, claimed that the Virgin Mary appeared to her in visions. Even non-Catholics like Lon and I have heard of the shrine, famous for healing, that developed in Lourdes as a result. It has been an international pilgrimage site since 1873, and with about 5 million visitors a year, is purportedly the most visited Christian shrine in the world.

Bernadette later became a nun and joined the Sisters of Charity of Nevers at their convent in Nevers. She died in 1879 of a long illness at the young age of 35. In 1909, during the process that led to her sainthood, her body was exhumed and found to be in an incredibly preserved state. Declared "incorrupt"--preserved from decomposition--it was cited as a further miracle in support of her canonization. After reinterment, she was exhumed twice more, in 1919 when sainthood was bestowed, and 1925. After the 3rd exhumation, models were made of her face and hands so that wax casts could be prepared to cover existing skin discolorations. Her body was then placed in a crystal and gold reliquary and displayed in the main church of the Nevers convent, where she remains to this day. Since 1970, the convent has been a pilgrimage center dedicated to Saint Bernadette.

Re-creation of the Lourdes grotto.

A museum is available on site (we didn't go in) and anyone
may enter the church (to the right). It appeared that the group
of people in the photo may have been intending to hold a special
service of some kind.

Fete Nationale (or "Bastille Day" to us) on Sunday, July 14, gave us a chance to "hit the trail" and cycle back to some areas that we'd had to bypass in order to keep to our "schedule" of reaching Nevers with the boat on July 6. Our primary destination of the day was the village of Apremont-sur-Allier. It's touted as a "medieval village" and is listed as "one of the most beautiful villages in France" (which is really an association membership--with certain requirements--and doesn't actually denote a winner of a beauty contest for towns.) 

Apremont was an 18-kilometer bike ride from Nevers, an easy undertaking on a mostly flat, mostly bike trail, route. On the way was a most interesting sight, the Lorrains Circular Lock, which once led into the Allier River as well as to a branch canal off the Canal lateral a la Loire. Constructed in 1835-1841 for carrying sand barges, dropping water levels in the Allier and the changing economics of sand transport put it out of business relatively quickly.

View down the lateral canal toward the entry
to the round canal. It had a very fancy lock house!

A round lock was needed because of the sharp turn required to 
navigate between the two lock exits. Horses were used to tow the 
boats through the turn.

On to clean and pristine Apremont. Flowers everywhere, Parc Floral adjacent (which we didn't pay to enter), and a lovely setting along the Allier River. The village had two restaurants, a creperie at the river and a brassiere more "downtown." Ah, yes, the car park for residents was on one end of town, leaving the main street free of parked cars and keeping the vista of all that "medievalness" plain to see.

Main street Apremont. All medieval, all the time. No cars from this perspective.

The waterfront was lovely. We ordered dessert crepes for an afternoon break. The friendly
 service and beautiful surroundings made up for the fact that they weren't homemade.

I had mixed feelings about Apremont. It certainly had its medieval bona fides: a 13th century church, a grand chateau overlooking the town, and a history as a quarry village going back centuries. Its population peaked at about 600 in 1850; today, it has somewhere around 70 residents. 

Above: the castle has been much modified since its origins in the 11th
century, but that's true of many castles in France.
Below: the village church.

And who can complain about the absence of decay? Me, I guess. As one who absolutely loves walking around old ruins that are the epitome of authentic, the planned nature of the current village doesn't sit well. Today's Apremont is the re-creation of an idealized medieval village, the brainchild of an industrialist who married into the family that owned the chateau. In the period between WWI and WWII, Eugene Scheider bought up most of the houses in the village. Buildings that didn't fit the desired esthetic were torn down. Schneider hired architects to transform what was left into an ideal of "Berry medieval" architecture, adding turrets and half-timbering and mullioned windows and tiled roofs. Many of the shutters are painted the same, bespoke color. 

The front of the church and a "perfect" medieval house.

The Brasserie du Lavoir.

It felt like Disney, perfectly able to fit into Epcot Center's international section as the exhibit for "medieval French village." Pretty, yes, but it left me feeling unsatisfied. Others will no doubt have a different perspective on things.

We were able to watch the holiday fireworks in Nevers from the back of CARIB; the accompanying music was also audible. It was a great spectacle! The following day, I made the trek to the closest grocery store to stock up, and Lon prepped the boat for departure on the 16th. Time to start moving again!