Sunday
31st August
Montbard
to Ravieres
11
locks, 19km, 5¾ hrs
We
left Montbard just before 9am to get to the first lock of the day for 9am. We had an easy trip; all the lock keepers
were quick and efficient. It started off
chilly and grey but cleared to be a lovely sunny day. We had lunch in lock 72, we shared it with a
hireboat. They were most put out when
the lock keeper started to work the lock at 12.55pm, as they hadn’t finished
their lunch, and they tried asking him to wait…..he didn’t!!! We arrived at Ravieres at 2.45pm and there
was lots of mooring space at Ravieres.
The downstream end of the quay looks like its been smartened up for
hotel boats. Quite a few hire boats
arrived later in the afternoon from Montbard, and the moorings soon filled up.
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| Beautiful scenery The clouds cleared to become a lovely warm day |
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| Ravieres.....hotel barge quay |
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| Road into Ravieres |
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| Lots of space at Ravieres |
Raveires
to Ancy-le-Franc
5
locks 8.5km 1½ hrs
We
had a very short trip today and we were moored up by 11.30am. We had a walk around the town, the chateau
was closed as it was Monday, we don’t mind as we will be travelling back this
way next year so we will have something different to do. It’s a nice mooring at Ancy-le-Franc, with free
water and electric. The spaces were soon filled up with hire boats. The mooring
says two spaces of 25m needed to left for hotel barges. As we were just tying up a hotel barge
arrived coming through the bridge next to the mooring….I thought….uh oh! “We’ll
have to move”, but luckily it didn’t stop and it motored on past. Kev walked up to the lock we had just been
through to check if any hotel barges were expected, he was told no they weren’t
today so we could stay where we were which was good. We walked back to lock 79 for a nice lunch at
the hotel.
We
enjoyed looking at the stars in the evening, as there were no streetlights
nearby. No shooting stars, but a
satellite was spotted.
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| These three hire boats all came out of one lock, it must have been a tight squeeze |
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| Ancy-le-Franc The Chateau was closed as it was a Monday |
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| A lovely quiet mooring at Ancy-le-Franc |
Ancy-le-Franc
to Tanlay
9
locks 19km and 6½ hrs (inc 1 hour for lunch)
We
left Ancy at 8.40am to arrive at the first lock just before 9am as instructed
by the lock keeper yesterday. There was
no one to be seen, so we floated around for about 15 minutes and at last a lock keeper
arrived and we were off. Not many locks
to negotiate today. We had lunch moored
up in a very nice lock, ecluse 87. There were loads of colourful flowers, and
humorous statues/sculptures everywhere.
We
arrived in Tanlay at around 2.30pm. There
is a sign on the quay that states that 2 x 25m needs to be left for hotel
barges. So we walked to the next lock to
ask the lock keeper when the next hotel barge is expected, it’s not until
Friday afternoon, and only one. We will
be staying here for a few days as we have some great friends, Rob and Jo coming
to stay the weekend with us, arriving Thursday.
If we do stay here on Friday, we can always move over the other side of
the canal, as there is a quay over there too, but no electric and water as we
have here. We had a walk around the small town, the chateau is closed on Tuesdays, there is a butchers who also run a small supermarket, a well stocked hardware shop, a boulangerie and a few small restaurants.
In the evening we ate in the restaurant at
the port; it’s a pizzeria and creperie.
It’s a booming little business with tourists and the locals.
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| We met this hotel barge in a nice wide spot just before a lock |
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| Lock 87, a very pretty lock A nice place to be for lunch |
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| Lunch break |
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| Behind the lock keepers cottage at lock 87 there is a stream with penguins, polar bear and a crocodile! |
Wednesday 3rd September
Tanlay-a day in port
It was a washing, cleaning the boat and odd jobs day today. It was lovely sunny again today, with a stiff breeze. We’ve been so lucky with the weather. It’s been the busiest day so far for hire boat traffic, compared to before Montbard. Quite a few boats have stopped for a couple of hours to visit the chateau here in Tanlay and then have carried on their journey. It’s been quite blustery today, so some of the skippers on the hire boats have struggled handling the boats. Fun to watch!
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| Early evening at Tanlay, the hire boats have moved on |
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| A clean boat! |
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