Mantoche (adjusting to river life)

Mornings in Mantoche

On Sunday we thought we’d walk down the river to the lock where there's a footbridge across the weir alongside.  Doing that meant we would be able to cross the river and walk back up the other side opposite our mooring at Mantoche.  It was unusual to have a footbridge across a weir as normally river crossings are few and far between especially when the rivers are still wide.  The weir looked relatively new so maybe the bridge was built when the weir was replaced.  Looking at old photographs of the village later I came across one from 1928 that showed the previous weir but without a footbridge.

Try as we might, we couldn’t find anywhere where we could clearly see across to the village as the trees were so thick and grew so close to the water’s edge.

We struck lucky on the nature front as we saw our first kingfisher for what seems weeks.  What is usually a daily occurrence was non-existent on a large part of the canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne so there was at least one advantage for moving onto a river.  We also found a nice patch of pyramid orchids with a few marbled white butterflies enjoying the purple colour.

Pyramid orchid

We also spotted a fresh marbled fritillary which is the first species of fritillary we’ve seen this year.  There are eight different species of fritillary found in the UK while 32 can be found in France which makes identification a lot harder.

Marbled fritillary…

…and its giveaway underside

Other than us and the two other British boats, all the other boats left during the morning.  A few stopped by for lunch, but none stayed overnight.  As the town of Gray isn’t much further upstream most holidaymakers would make for there especially now the bars and restaurants are open.

Just the three of us

For the third afternoon in a row, we did very little other than all gathering for drinks in the shade of the tree by our boat for a couple of hours.  A lot of boating stories were told but we were always sensible and went our separate ways for dinner.

Considering how small the village it’s surprising that there are two chateaux in Mantoche.  One is on the northern edge of town and is run as a hotel but the one, overlooking our mooring, is still in private hands.

Our view of the 18th century riverside châteaux in Mantoche

Paul & Sue and Stuart & Vicky were leaving on Monday morning but before they left, they gave us a guided tour of their boats.  Both couples had Piper boats that we see a lot of over here but have never seen around one.  They are made in Stoke-on-Trent but are very popular in Europe as most of them are too wide for the UK canals other than those who want to spend their time on the Thames or the Trent.  Stuart also kindly let me have a drive of Victoria before they finally set off.

All on our own – the towers guard the château gardens

It was another quiet day at the mooring with the occasional boat stopping for a break, but most went straight by.  A group of Swiss men pulled up next to us for lunch on a large hire boat.  They were very interested in finding out about hiring narrowboats in the UK and also regaled me with lots of stories.  They were on a reunion as they’d all holidayed together on a boat from the same hire base 15 years previously but hadn’t met up as a full group again since.

With the continuing heat it was a case of early morning and evening walks with Buddy.  Karen came back from her morning run and said she’d seen marbled white butterflies in a patch near some flood gates. Buddy and I went to have a look, but they were all too skittish to land let alone give any observational or photo opportunities. 

I did find a lesser purple emperor which was exciting.  In the UK its cousin, the purple emperor has been regarded as His Majesty for centuries as it is so large and the iridescent colouring of the male is particularly striking when caught in the right light. There is very little visual difference between the species I saw and the one found in the UK other than the lesser has an orange ringed spot on the forewing.

Male lesser purple emperor with the extra spot on the forewing…
…and this shot just catches a bit of the famous purple sheen

Openings high up in the walls of two of the houses in Mantoche caught my eye while walking back through the village:

No caption required

Built in 1610 for/by (?) Claude Gillon

Near those two houses was an even older one, built in 1564 according to the date on the apex of the doorway. 


The only person I saw during my walk around the village was a council worker who appeared to be strimming the roadside gutters.  I say appeared as there didn’t seem to be any vegetation growing anywhere near the gutters.  When he saw me looking at the house, he turned off his machine and came over to explain about the ‘vielle maison’.  He was most eager to tell me what the date was above the doorway and to make sure that I realised it was 456 years old although how he knew it wasn’t 457, I don’t know.  Anyway, he was very pleased that he could give me this information and when he was convinced I’d understood him, he carried back on with his strimming.

During the afternoon I made a prototype flyscreen for the largest windows on the boat.  I know it’s not finished and needs trimming and smartening up with nicely seamed edging, but I proved it will do the job.  At least we can now remove the glass from the main windows during the hot weather.

Unfinished but working flyscreen

While looking at old pictures I found one taken in 1908 that claimed to be of the mairie.  This seemed strange as the current mairie looks to be an old building and sits at right angles to the claimant.  Looking closer at the old mairie, one stone door lintel has MAIRIE inscribed in it and the other has ECOLE following the tradition of using the same building for two purposes.  The date 1838 is inscribed under the eaves so it’s not really that old.

The old mairie, now an épicerie cum bistro

The new mairie to the left although it looks to be a similar age

I spent Tuesday morning scouting out the next few moorings upriver and checking the internet reception.  We were also looking for somewhere to leave the boat for a long weekend at the beginning of July as we’re planning on driving down to Barcelona to see our daughter, Catherine.  The port at Savoyeux had been recommended so I headed there first but even though it was a large port I was surprised to see it practically full.  Thinking about it I shouldn't have been surprised as people are still finding it difficult to come to France to visit their boats which were all cruisers on short pontoons so totally unsuitable for a steel narrowboat to squeeze in.

I went into the captainerie just to check what the situation was and the girl at the desk said she didn’t think there would be room for us.  After a short discussion she went to get the capitaine who asked me if we minded mooring against a Dutch barge.  As we wouldn’t be staying onboard I said that would be fine and he made a quick phone call.  He then said we had to go down to the other end of the port, where the plastic boats finished, to see Bob.  Bob turned out to be a Brit who lived on a large Dutch barge permanently moored there and had a narrowboat moored alongside it.  He was happy for us to moor alongside his narrowboat, but I was a bit concerned about getting Buddy on and off.  I said I’d take it anyway as they didn’t need a deposit and if somewhere better comes up I can ring up and cancel.

The trip wasn’t entirely fruitless as I found some lavoirs and also two good mooring spots that had a decent internet signal.  Many of the lavoirs in the département of Haute-Saône seem to be built with arched colonnades, here are two from my Tuesday trip:

The lavoirs at Montureux-et-Pratigny and Rigny

One of the lavoirs was closed to the public but had some sort of exhibition going on:

The lavoir at Autet was a grand affair with two large washing basins and an added convenient convenience :

The water was flowing under the bowl

As I was out, I thought I’d make a trip to a DIY store as I drove back through Gray.  I've lost count of the times that I've forgotten that bricos close for a couple of hours at lunchtime.  Something in my head had suggested that I call at the brico at the start of the journey but I'd ignored it and turned up at lunchtime instead.  I think I'll just walk to the brico when we're moored at Gray later this week. 

A couple of hire boats moored up during the afternoon; a family of Germans and a group of five retired Belgian guys.  Of course, the Belgians had impeccable English and asked if they could share our shade.  We ended up sitting outside all afternoon exchanging stories.  After months of no socialising on the canals we're finally adjusting to socialising on the river and having to share our space.  Even less was done on Wednesday as the temperature was further into the 30s.  Boats, mainly rentals, came and went all day and, to ring the changes, our afternoon and evening acquaintances were Swiss.  



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 comments:

Don said...

Mantoche is one of our favorite spots. Lazing in the shade, swimming in the river ummmm. Good news! US is now on the green list and we'll be arriving France July 6. I don't know how far from Briare we'll get (much maintenance no visa) but we'll have a car so who knows maybe we'll see you.

Neil & Karen Payne said...

That's so good you can get over unlike our Antipodean friends. Yes, maintenance must be an issue when the boat is left unattended. We do hope you do get out cruising though. Enjoy whatever you do. Neil & Karen