Cruising from Montceau-les-Mines to Roanne, France

Standing on the deck of Rabelo looking downriver, as we cruise the Canal du Centre that crosses over the Loire River.

Early morning walks are magical.  The air is crisp, the feeling peaceful, and it seems that the world is just waking up with you.  Tying up in Dignoine was a treat.  We went to sleep listening to the cows mooing in the fields just next to the canal.  As we passed from daylight into evening we watched as the clouds lit up in vibrant pinks reflecting on the canal.  There were lights shining on the chateau in the distance making it glow in the advancing dark.  When we embarked on our early morning walk the mist was rising off the grey-green pastures.  We were up early because the roosters were making such a din before the sun came up. 

We had hoped to take some of our friends to visit the Digoine Chateau, but discovered limited visiting hours on weekends only.  If you are ever in the area, check the hours and if you have the opportunity take their tour.

Digoine Chateau

View from our mooring looking up at the Digoine Chateau.

Early evening pink clouds reflecting in the canal.

Peaceful morning on the Canal du Centre.

Mists rising over the fields with the Charolais cows calmly eating their breakfast. 

Charolaise cows contentedly grazing.

We didn't have the heart to tell these beauties that we might meet up again one day for dinner. 

Digoine Chateau...another angle.

 The Pont Canal (bridge) was built between 1834-1838 allowing barges to cross over the Loire River. It is 243 meters long.

Rabelo crossing over the Loire River.

Captain Nathalie with me on Rabelo as we cross over the Loire River looking upstream.

                                      

Barging can provide excitement in many forms.  We pushed hard cruising from Montceau Les Mines to Roanne.  That meant putting in 3 very long days and cruising for a total of 5 days.  We covered a distance of 67.5 miles in that time.  We managed to go aground a few times.  How can that happen you might wonder?  After all, we've spent enough time cruising that we would know what we are doing.  But there are extenuating circumstances...sometimes.  1)  The water can be too shallow in areas.  2)  The driver may get distracted (or not be paying close attention), or 3) In the process of moving over to avoid touching another barge, we get caught in the shallows.  No matter how it happens getting stuck isn't a good thing.  Sometimes the VNF (the organization responsible for keeping the canals in working condition) miss maintaining a few areas.  Here the vegetation needed taming.  Some of you may remember the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland.  We encountered our own jungle.

Rabelo struggling through the jungle encroaching on our waterway.

It's a jungle out there.

 There are all types of locks throughout Europe.  France has a variety of styles of locks that come in different lengths, widths, and depths.  They are also in various states of repair.

Entering this lock was like trying to maneuver up a raging river.

This lock was extremely deep with a tremendous amount of water leaking through the lock doors.  Our deck was awash with water.

With locks this deep we can't reach the bollard to tie up.  The lock keeper drops a rope with a hook which we put our line through.  They can then pull our line up and hopefully safely tie us up.

It's a tight fit in these locks.

Nathalie tried her hand at cooking a Reblechon Tart with handmade crust.  It was delicious!