Rogny-Les-Sept_Ecluses, La Bussière, Ouzouer-sur-Trézée 16-20 May 2023 The Canal du Briare was the first watershed canal built in France - that is one that links two valleys rather than following a river. Rogny-Les-Sept-Ecluses was the last town we stayed in going up hill, and it was there that the canal started to no longer follow the Loing River. Ouzouer-sur-Trézée is the first town on the way down the other side and was our next stop after Rogny. Château de La Bussière We set out from Chatillion-Coligny for Rogny-Les-Sept-Ecluses aiming to get the first lock at 9am. All went quite smoothly with the locks ready for us when we arrived. We were there in less than 3 hours. We took the bikes out to have a look around the town. Our first point of call was to the hairdresser where we made an appointment for us each to get a haircut that afternoon. Then it was up the hill to the church. My electric bike handled the very steep hill without problem, but Howard had to do it without assistance. We also headed over to the Sept Ecluses (the 7 locks). The 7 locks were part of the original canal first opened in 1642. They were eventually replaced by the larger freycinet locks now in use. Although there is a long quay, it was completely full after we and another boat moored there. There were three large hotel boats there. When we went to the hairdresser we were amazed at how quickly she cut our hair. Two haircuts in 20 minutes. And we are very happy with the results too. On Wednesday we decided to go to the Chateau de La Bussière which was only about 10kms away. As usual we started out following google maps, but it tried to take us down what looked like a private farm track so we found an alternate route which may have been a bit longer. The chateau has some big stables etc. which house a convention centre. They were just finishing their lunch break when we arrived. The castle itself was built in a lake. We were able to view part of the inside of the chateau. The castle had a collection of fishing memorabilia which of course Howard was interested in, and was one of the main reasons we went. And finally there was the gardens. By this point my feet were getting quite sore so we just had a look from a distance. We had a quick look around the village and then set off back home using a different route. This time we were heading into a headwind, so Howard had plenty of good excercise. It was a successful day and we were pleased that we had gone. Thursday was a public holiday for Ascension Day and we had decided to stay in Rogny for that extra day. We had another cycle around the town and went to the local restaurant for lunch. We started on the terrace, but it was too cold for me, so we moved inside. But I found that quite cold too. Friday morning we headed out to catch the first lock at 9am. We decided to try a time lapse as we had 6 locks quite close together. After the 6 locks we had about 5 kms before the first down hill lock. At the top there were some lovely lakes. As we reached the top lock we saw on our AIS another boat approaching from the other side, and we had to wait for him before we were able to go through. The VNF (the french waterways management authority) had decided to limit the hours for the downhill locks to try and limit water usage, and we had hoped to be able to get through the 6 locks to Ouzouer-sur-Trézée before 12 noon when down hill traffic was stopped. However at 11:40 after we had only gone through 2 locks, a VNF reprepsentative told us we had to stop and wait until 3:30 before we continued. We were able to moor on the lock waiting pontoon. We decided that we would cycle down to Ouzouer-sur-Trézée where we planned to spend the night. When we returned we had lunch and I read my book in the sun on the back deck while Howard had a nap. We did watch 2 more boat pass us going up hill. And finally, after many discussions with the VNF guy, we were able to continue at 3:40, and reached Ouzouer-sur-Trézée ay 4:50m. There we moored on the quay, near a boat called Paradoxe. We met the American owners Deborah and Bob for a quick chat before we settled in for a quiet night. On Saturday I had a restful day and Howard did a few jobs and went fishing in the afternoon. We left Ouzouer on Sunday morning.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWe are sharing stories about and travels on our barge Moondance. Archives
August 2023
|