Osselle (with a quick visit to Flecknoe)

From our visit to Grotte d'Osselle on Tuesday

SATURDAY 17 MAY 

After a few days in Dole we decided to leave on Saturday morning but needed to fill up with water first.  We’d already checked that we could get some at the hire boat service pontoon which was under the arch of a bridge.  The back of our boat was under an arch at the other end of the bridge.  I was going to reverse through the arch then forward to the pontoon. It started getting tricky as a péniche was moored not far behind us, so I went for the longer option of going forwards, spinning around, going through the bridge, spinning again to go forward onto the pontoon. I started making the first turn when one of the hire boat workers called out to say we could just go to one of the pontoons in the base to get water.  It would have been much easier if we’d been told to that in the first place!

Leaving Dole we passed the junction with the now disused canal Charles-Quint.  Well, it’s used but only by a long line of péniches converted to liveaboards.  These boats always fascinate us because even if only one floor is used as living accommodation, at 200 square metres they are two to three times larger than the floor area of UK terraced houses.

We were lucky we were on a straight stretch rather than on a blind bend when passing  hotel boat Daniéle .  There were no passengers on board and surmised they had been transported to Dole for the day while the crew took the boat to the hotel boat mooring in town to pick them up in the evening.

We stopped at the small village of Baverans for lunch and then had a walk around.  When investigating somewhere new we always head for the church first as that is generally where the older part of town is.  This was the case in Baverans, the church was at the far end and we walked past many smart modern villa type houses to reach it.

The road next to the church was called rue du Moulin which is a bit like a rue du Lavoir or a rue de la Fontaine, a giveaway that water is probably close by.  We investigated a field next to the road and found an overgrown and uncared for lavoir.

After leaving Baverans the scenery suddenly changed when exiting the flood lock to rejoin the river Doubs at Rochefort-sur-Nenon.  The right bank (left to us as going upstream) was lined with rocky outcrops rather than the flood plains we’d been travelling through since leaving the river Saône.

We’d been planning on stopping for the day at a mooring under the cliffs but could see a large barge was already there so would have to carry on.

We passed many summer houses with private moorings nestling under the rocks. 

After 10 km since leaving Dole we were going through the flood gates at Audelange where Karen had left the car and, yes, it was still there.  Before leaving the river again we pulled in for a while at an empty pontoon to enjoy the peace and solitude.

We stopped for the day at a place called Orchamps just before a flood lock.  As with all locks on the river, waiting moorings have been installed with notices that they should only be used when waiting to use the lock.

As the river level wasn’t raised, the flood lock wasn’t in use so we felt it would be okay to moor overnight.  Even though it was on the edge of the village it turned out to be a lovely, peaceful location.

The cycle route from Basel to Lyon runs along the canal and three cyclists stopped for a rest opposite us while we were having a drink outside.  We got chatting to them, a Brit, a Dutchman and a German girl.  They all lived in Switzerland, worked in Basel and were cycling to Lyon where they would get a train back.  The Brit, especially, was fascinated in what life was like living on an English narrowboat in Europe.

On Saturday we cruised 15 km up four locks and just saw the hotel boat on the move.

SUNDAY 18 MAY  

We needed to walk back and fetch the car from where Karen had left it by the lock in Audelange but first we had a look around Orchamps where we’d moored overnight.  There wasn’t much to report about the village other than it did have a large lavoir but, sadly, it wasn’t particularly well looked after even though the basin contained flowing water.

The other thing we did was to find a good spot to leave the car when we brought it back to Orchamps.  As it was only a five km walk back down the river to fetch the car, it didn’t take too long.  On the drive back we had a quick look around Rochefort-sur-Nenon and found yet another lavoir.

Rochefort-sur-Nenon church and war memorial

Arriving back in Orchamps we parked the car at the spot we’d picked out earlier and got ready to cruise to Ranchot, our next destination.  We only had two locks to ascend and once we were in the first we couldn’t get the gates to close behind us.  The mechanism just wouldn’t react to the use of the appropriate button on our télécommande.  Karen even tried the manual method by pulling on the blue rod set in the side of the lock but to no avail so I had to ring VNF.  The guy on the phone managed to reactivate the locking procedure and we were soon on our way.  This was the first problem we’d had with locks on this waterway and even then it wasn’t really an issue as it was sorted out remotely.

On the river Doubs

Lift bridge on a lock cut

Considering how pretty the Doubs valley is and how popular it is with tourists especially cyclists and campers we cannot believe how quiet it is boat-wise.  The other odd thing is that we’ve not seen a single distance marker on the canal yet, neither old kilometre stones nor modern metal signs.  The moorings in Ranchot were in the centre and were empty so we had no problems finding somewhere to moor.  We just had to watch out for children swimming as, despite the 'baignaide interdit' signs, they were having a whale of a time diving off the quayside.

A children’s fairground was in full swing next to the mooring and we soon found that the main street through the village was closed for a vide-grenier where residents bring out their unwanted items to sell.

We had a look around the goods on offer but soon decided we didn’t need any clothes, toys, games or old tools.  As with most of the villages we’ve stopped at recently there was a busy and pleasant looking campsite nicely located next to the river.  We've since found out that our friends Steve and Julia had used the site in their camper when they were last touring France.  Walking out of the village we went through an old railway tunnel.  A post indicated that it was built to support the iron works along the valley but I couldn’t find anything on the web later to substantiate it.

We stopped to speak to a Danish tramp who explained that his main reason for spending summers in Burgundy was because of the fruit that he could exist on.  As if to prove his point the cherry trees along the path we were on had plenty of ripe fruit and the ones we tried were lovely and sweet. 

A little further on we could see where the canal rejoined the river next to an unusual right-angled weir.  The canal or lock cut is in the foreground in the picture below, and I must say that the divide between it and the river looks quite dubious.

Back at the boat a man came to see us to pick up the overnight mooring fee as well as telling the children to stop swimming.  At 10€ it sounds a bit steep but then it includes water and electricity from 19.30 to 08.00, not that we really have any need to hook up for electricity.

On Sunday we cruised six km up two locks and saw no boats, but a hire boat did turn up later in the afternoon and moored in front of us.

MONDAY 19 MAY 

Karen used her morning run to retrieve the car from Orchamps picking me up when she arrived back in Ranchot as we were going to drive further upstream to investigate possible places where we could leave the boat for the few days we go back to the UK. We found a great spot halfway between Routelle and Osselle so started driving back to the boat. 

We stopped a few km short of Ranchot at a place called Chateauneuf, leaving the car there and walking the last few km back to the boat.  Having mentioned in Monday's report that we've yet to see a distance marker on this waterway, we came across our first.  It clearly showed that we've travelled 40 km since joining from the river Saône and still have 287 km to go before we're on the Rhine.  This rather shocked us as we thought we were only 170 km from the Rhine.  Thinking about it further we realised that the 287 km probably included a stretch of the canal at the far end that is now disused.  That stretch used to join the Rhine further north at Strasbourg but nowadays the canal finishes at the Rhine on the far side of Mulhouse.

After a mid-morning snack and coffee we cast off heading for the mooring spot we’d found earlier.  It was one of those muggy days with the sun shining through hazy clouds.  The lock cuts we went through seemed to be getting longer giving the impression that the river must be getting smaller and therefore less navigable.  We knew this wasn’t true as we know we’ve still got nearly 100 km left on the river Doubs which will take us a long way past Besançon. 

The only village we passed on the journey was Routelle and unusually for this area the bell tower on the church was plain rather than covered in the Burgundian way with varnished, coloured tiles.  The bell towers have been finished this way for 300 years and apparently there are over 700 examples to be found.

As we were going past the village we could see a man waving madly as he was walking along a cart track between the village and the river.  We immediately recognised him as our friendly Danish tramp.  We were surprised at how far he’d walked since we last saw him considering his trolley of belongings was small compared to his height so he had to really crouch over to hold the handle. 

The lock at Roset was just too deep at nearly four metres for Karen to reach the bollards with her pole.  Her limit is usually about 3.50 metres while standing on the roof providing the bollards aren’t set too far back from the lock side.  Fortunately, the lock at Roset had additional bollards built into the lock walls making it easier to get a rope around and then using a second one to attach to a bollard at the top as the lock filled.

At the following lock there were five VNF guys working on the gates and paddles but they let us go through.  Amazingly they carried on working as we transited the lock.  One of the guys was working inside the gates with no harness and there didn’t seem to be any thought of health and safety from any of them.

We moored where we were going to leave boat but soon found there was no data or phone signal on any of our French or UK phones.  We use the data signal if we want to watch streamed TV channels and real time TV to watch the occasional live sports game.

I know we can exist without such luxuries, but we really didn’t feel comfortable having no phone service so decided to move on to the next mooring with the intention of bringing the boat back in a couple of days before heading off to the UK.  We thought we would walk to the next village to see what the moorings were like before moving the boat.  As we were leaving, our Danish guy appeared and we had yet another mad conversation before saying our goodbyes.  He really was quite eccentric with very long matted grey hair topped with a Bob the Builder hat. 

It was a three km walk down to Osselle where we found that the only place we could moor was at a lock landing.  As the phone signals were fine we decided to walk back and fetch the boat.  We weren’t surprised to meet the Dane again as we left the village because he’d already told us that the lake there is good for washing in.  We walked back to the boat and moved it down to moor at the lock landing for the night.

Almost hidden from view at our lock landing mooring

On Monday we cruised 14.5 km up four locks and saw two private boats.

TUESDAY 20 MAY  

We hadn’t realised just how close we’d moored to the lock overspill the previous evening.  Whilst we love hearing the sound of running water the volume was such that it was just that bit too noisy and consequently kept us awake a lot during the night.  So that we didn’t have the same problem the following night we moved up the lock before breakfast to moor on the lock landing at the top.

Before we tied up we span the boat around so we’d be facing downstream ready for going back to where we wanted to leave the boat when we went back to Flecknoe on Thursday.  It took a while to turn the boat around as the lock cut we were in wasn’t as wide as most and we really confused an éclusier who was watching us from the lock.  He obviously thought we were coming back down and got the lock ready for us despite my frantic arm signalling trying to tell him we were turning around and mooring up.

After breakfast we went for a walk around Osselle which was typically quiet with no signs of any commerce.  The church did have one of the bell towers mentioned earlier:

It also had a lavoir that was closed to the public and used for storing council equipment.  Strangely an EV charger was positioned next to the war memorial:

We had an early lunch and then went to visit Grotte d’Osselle, which was a show cave on the other side of the Doubs.  It was a hot day so by the time we’d walked 3½ km to get there we were ready for the cool temperature in the cave.  We were incredibly impressed with our visit for many reasons, not least of which was that we were able to walk around on our own with an explanatory leaflet: tour guides have been provided at every other cave we’ve visited.  It was also very quiet and we probably only saw a dozen other people on the entire trip.  The caves were discovered in the 13^th century and so far 15 km of passages have been explored of which the show cave covers 1.2 km.  We found it amazing that the cave was opened to the public in the mid-1700s but then investigating further I found it was the landed gentry and aristocracy who were the patrons.

A bridge halfway through the trip was built in 1751 to make passage across the underground river easier for visitors:

Obviously we took lots of pictures, but I’ll just include a few here including one with Karen showing how tall the stalagmite/stalactite column was that she was standing next to:

On Tuesday we cruised 100 metres up one lock and not surprisingly passed no boats although a private river cruiser came through later in the day.

WEDNESDAY 21 MAY 

Wednesday was fetch the car and load it day.  You may think we shouldn’t have needed to load much considering we were only going away for four nights but we took the opportunity to have a good clear out.  For example, there were five five-litre containers of used engine oil that I haven’t been able to dispose of as well as countless other things including clothes we’ve never worn on the boat.  Once we sorted out the items we were taking back to the UK we moved the boat to where we were leaving it and then Karen went for a run to fetch the car. 

During her run she found another kilometre stone and also one that marked the departmental boundary between Jura and Doubs.

During the afternoon we packed the car and then went for a little drive around a couple of local villages.  In a place called Torpes we found our first octagonally shaped lavoir.  It was in an unexpected location as all the houses around it were modern.  Maybe there used to be older houses there before the modern ones or it may just be that the lavoir was built a little way out of the village as that is where the water supply was.  It is amazing to see the distances some of the women must have walked with their wooden barrows of washing.

On Wednesday we cruised 2.5 km down one lock and saw no boats on the move. 

THURSDAY 22 – MONDAY 26 MAY

An uneventful journey back to Flecknoe took us 13 hours door to door with recharge stops timed to coincide with comfort and food breaks.  The channel tunnel was very quiet with no queues to check in or at either country’s custom points.  Of course the traffic got heavier and heavier as we approached the Dartford crossing and also on the southern end of the M1 but nothing more than the usual slow crawls.  

We had a great weekend catching up with our village friends in the pub and also at Keighley’s 60^th birthday party.  We even looked after Clare and Andrew’s dog Mucky for a day so were able to join the Saturday dog walking group.

The journey back to France was as uneventful as the journey to Flecknoe on Thursday.  We were rather proud of ourselves, by coordinating our needs for comfort breaks, food stops and car charges so that all three were done at each stop.  As journey planner I was also chuffed because we arrived at the boat at the predicted time of 7pm exactly 13 hours after leaving.

With only a short break it only took a few minutes to unpack the car and then Karen moved it down to Osselle to find somewhere we could leave it for a while.  It was a lovely evening so I took the boat two km down to meet her and we stayed on the Osselle lock landing for the night.