Clamecy (Was that a stanking plank shelter?)

Our latest mooring - Clamecy

We had gone to bed on Tuesday at Lucy-sur-Yonne wondering if our neighbours, a pair of geese, would wake us up early in the morning.  We needn’t have worried; they had spent the night a little way downstream and didn’t stir until I went out with Buddy at nine.

Morning at Lucy-sur-Yonne

Karen went for a run first thing and I got on with starting the annual sorting out of our tax affairs; a job I hate doing every year but gives a great feeling of achievement when finished.  We set off for Clamecy after lunch by which time it had become partly cloudy and the lovely warm sun of the morning had gone.

We were really surprised when we got to the first lock and saw that it wasn’t set for us.  We quickly realised there was a boat going into the lock from above, so we hung back and waited for it to descend.   We were a little surprised, when the bottom gates opened, to see that two boats had come down the lock.

First boats we’ve seen on the move for a while

A little further on we came to our first narrow section as indicated by the sign telling us not to pass other boats for 250m and not to overtake either.  If it had felt busy, then one of us would have got off and walked ahead to check all was clear.  We didn’t bother as it had been so quiet, we also assumed the éclusier would have warned us as he would know about boat movements.

Start of the narrows

We’ve been fascinated by the occasional open tiled roof huts that we have seen every so often.  There is a small one between the narrows and no passing signs in the picture above.  Karen’s convinced they are stanking plank stores but I’m yet to be persuaded.

The narrows weren’t really that narrow but in places we wouldn’t have been able to pass a large boat coming the other way.

A wider part of the narrows

A little further on we saw a lift bridge ahead of us.  This was another surprise as, according to our waterways guide book, we were expecting flood gates, but they must have used the wrong sign in error.  For yet a further surprise, Karen was just tying up the boat to go and operate the bridge when a young lad appeared and did it for us!

Our little helper

We could only image the chaos that would be caused back home if anyone could come along and operate these bridges, especially in rush hours 😉

Leaving the lift bridge (or flood gates) at Pousseaux

Another one of those open stores by the lift bridge

About five kilometres before Clamecy we passed more cliffs similar to those at Saussois but not so impressive as they were heavily wooded.

Roches de Basseville

We were getting a little nervous approaching the lock at Basseville as the River Yonne crosses the canal at right angles just before the entrance, so you have to make allowances for the cross current to get into the lock.  We weren’t overly nervous as the water levels are relatively low at present, but it was still good to be cautious.

Before the crossroads is what is called a guard lock where you wait until the main lock is open.  When the main lock is ready you head for it at high throttle, steering into the current as you cross it, and then put the brakes on as you get into the lock.  It all went to plan and I managed to pull up in time to let Karen off and up the lock ladder.

In the guard lock waiting for the main lock gates to open

The crossroads now behind us, the river runs from right to left

On the outskirts of Clamecy we re-joined the River Yonne after going through a set of flood gates.  At the gates there was a sign warning us of rowers which was a bit worrying as it was on a blind bend and we wouldn’t have been able to see any rowing boats if they had been coming through.   

Flood gates taking us back onto the Yonne which may or may not have had rowers on it

Back on the Yonne for the last couple of km to Clamecy

At the lock that took us up to the port of Clamecy is a statue of Jean Rouvet.  He is the man accredited with the invention of floating rafts of timber down the rivers from the Morvan forests in the mid-1500s all the way to Paris.  This led to the building of the canal a few centuries later.  There is a museum about the history of the timber transporting (flottage) in the town which we hope to visit.

Jean Rouvet

The lock also had the first signs of any health & safety influence: guard rails alongside the lock as it was in the centre of a town.

   

Paul & Sue were moored on their widebeam opposite us and invited us around for drinks.  They are great dog lovers so really made Buddy feel at home with a bone and other treats.

Saturday was a day of reconnoitring Clamecy as we needed to find where we could pick up diesel, fire extinguishers, a first aid kit, a rope ladder, a couple of bikes, a French flag and an EU flag.

First, we wanted to find the tourist information office to pick up a local map.  On the way we dropped down to the river and we spotted what looked like our first pile of French stanking planks, albeit on a river 😊

  

We then walked out through the port past the WWI war memorial which was destroyed by the Germans in WW2 but has never been rebuilt.  There are some rather horrifically moving pictures of Germans celebrating on top of the remains.

At least the Tricolour proudly flies atop

We reached the tourist information office which, of course, was closed as it was Thursday.  Undeterred we looked for the cycle shop next; the guy was very helpful but didn’t sell second hand bikes which is what we were after.  He did tell us where there was a second hand shop just outside of town so we made our way up there.

We found the second hand place and, yes, they had old bikes.  We were quite tempted to buy a couple as the best and most expensive were €15!  We told the guy we needed to think about it and would probably be back on Friday.  We rather wanted to check out the prices of new bikes at the hypermarket first.  I also wanted to find out how much the real bike shop charges for inner tubes and tyres because we would want four of each to get the old bikes in working order.

The ‘antiques’ place with about 20 old bikes in the corner

Back at the cycle shop I checked the prices for new tyres and inner tubes, and we were then equipped to make an informed decision if we found cheap new bikes at the hypermarket.  In case you hadn’t read the relevant blog entry, we had had our bikes stolen from the back of the boat in the week before we left the UK and were waiting until we were in France before deciding whether to replace them or not.

On the way to the Auchan hypermarket we went through the medieval part of town which is full of lovely timber framed houses and alleyways.

 

We called in at the flottage museum to find out when it was open.  There was a sign telling us it was open by appointment only but, as the door was partly open, I popped my head around and called out.  A lovely old lady responded to my ’Monsieur?’ and she let us come in and have a look around.

It was absolutely fascinating learning about the history of timber floating and some of the old photographs from the 1800s made us realise what an enterprise it was.

The one at the bottom left was taken at Vermenton that we visited last week

There were many models and this one really brought home to us the scale of the rafts that were floated for up to 200 miles to Paris:

  

We bought a few heavy things (e.g. wine, milk and tins) from Auchan to make the main shop later in the week easier.  As expected, the new bikes were really reasonable, and we could get improved versions of the ones we had stolen for less than the settlement we received from the insurance company.  It looks like we’ll be going back to buy them in the next day or so.

On the way home we walked along the second river of Clamecy, the River Beuvron, which is a tributary of the larger Yonne.

Looking across the River Beuvron to the Collegiale Saint Martin

At a mile from the boat Auchan also seemed to be the closest place we could find to fill up our jerry cans so that will be an interesting trolley journey tomorrow.  We also found out that there is a Weldom (a DIY store) in the town so we will also go there tomorrow as they sell the fire extinguishers we need to replace ours.  We have decided it will be cheaper to replace the existing ones than faff around getting the current ones tested (in France they have to be tested every year).  It will also avoid us being grounded by the river police at an out of the way location if they find we haven’t got up to date extinguishers.

The first aid kit really needs to replaced (or most of the items in it), as we could be grounded for having items past their use by date.  Likewise, we are meant to have a rope ladder or equivalent means of getting back on the boat in case one of us falls overboard.  It sounds like paranoia but a high proportion of people like us are boarded regularly.

So, it seems we’re going to have a busy Friday in Clamecy and, as we want to visit the market which is on Saturday, we will be here another few days yet.

Our first fortnight has seen us travel 92 km through 41 locks which really is no distance at all when looking at the map of France: