Briare Aqueduct

After our visit to Briare we were more than ready to leave Ouzouer and transition from the Canal de Briare to the Canal lateral a la Loire. Through discussions with most of the other boaters in the halte nautique in Ouzouer, we were able to work out a schedule for departures heading south on Friday, June 28, that would get us to and through the first lock of our cruising day when it opened. The one boat that wasn't involved in the discussions decided to "jump the line" and head out at 7:30 a.m. so that they could be the first in the lock--competitive boating at its finest. It didn't impact us much; the operation of the lock was so efficient that we were only delayed by 10 minutes or so from what we had expected.

When walking by the port in Briare on Thursday we'd seen the
barge "Vindi" moored there. Boating can be a small world--that was 
the 4th time we'd encountered Guy and Ardon during our cruises:
2019 in Bescançon, 2021 on the Meuse, 2023 in Chalons-en-Champagne
and 2024 in Briare--in the port and here on the canal in passing.

The Canal de Briare meets the Canal lateral a la Loire: to the right, a lock takes one into the
last few kilometers of the Briare Canal, which dead-ends at the Old Port in Briare. To the left,
the Canal lateral a la Loire, the gateway to the Briare Aqueduct across the Loire and
the start of the 200 kilometers of the Canal lateral a la Loire.

The Loire Lateral Canal is a relatively "new" component in the canal system of France. Opening in 1838 and improved by the construction of the Pont-canal de Briare in 1896, it provided a needed east-west link that avoided the dangers of navigation on the Loire itself. 

We had a beautiful day for crossing the Loire on the Pont-canal. It's only wide enough for one boat, and not controlled by lights or gates, so boaters who want to traverse the bridge have to keep an eagle-eye out for traffic at the far end before entering.

The "coast is clear" so we approach the aqueduct.

Lon is all concentration.

Over the Loire we go.

Nearing the end of the nearly 670-meter crossing.

Still photos can't quite capture the experience, so we set up a camera on the roof of CARIB and put it into movie mode for the crossing. 

A fun crossing and in the Top 3 of our canal technology experiences. Not quite as exciting as the higher Pontcysyllte Aqueduct in Wales or as unique as the Falkirk Wheel in Scotland, but pretty cool all the same.