Sunday, 11th July 2010, Langres
Eliza B
Ron & Elizabeth HOWARD
Wed 14 Jul 2010 18:11
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Position: 47: 52.881
N 5: 20.397 E
On Saturday, 10th, we reached Langres. This
is almost halfway along the Canal de la Marne a la Saone (which is now enjoying
its new and sexy name of "Canal Entre Champagne et Bourgogne"). We left the
Canal Lateral de la Marne at Vitry-le-Francois and joined this canal to take us
220 kms in a south-east direction to join the River Saone.
  After passing Chalons en Champagne and reaching
Vitry-le-Francois), the scenery changed from viticulture on chalky steep-sided
hills to a mix of arable farming and rolling woodland. We walked
into Vitry-le-Francois and discovered some ald buildings which were built using
the 'champagne-brickwork' style - a mix of brickwork and limestone
blacks.
  This canal is less wide and more shallow than the
previous one but we still get barges creeping past early in the morning before
we have started. Last Saturday we got trapped following a laden barge
which dragged its way along the bottom of the canal stirring up the mud and
weeds and moving about 1 knot (just over 1 mile per hour). We stopped a
few times to give him time to get ahead but it was a very long and tedious
day. The
present canal is a contour canal which means it wanders round the
countryside with an average of 2 kms between locks. The previous canal had
locks about 4 to 5 kms apart joined by a straight canal between
locks. Since the canal is not very wide, when we meet a commercial
peniche we have to slow down and move over and hope we do not run out of water
and get stuck on a mud-bank.
 We also have to contend with lifting bridges and,
on one occasion, the canal waterlevel dropping by half a metre overnight.
Fortunately we were not too badly stuck in the mud where we had moored overnight
and we managed to get off with the help of another 'plaisantier'.
  The first four locks were automated - as previously
described - and we were able to handle them with no problems. When we
reached the limits of the lock-automation programme (the fifth lock on this
canal), we were allocated out own eclusier to get us through the locks.
These were normally young students equipped with a moped, crash-hat and
life-jacket who prepared the lock for us, saw us safely through and then
returned the lock to its 'resting state' and then rushed past us along the
tow-path on their moped in order to get the next lock ready for
us. We had to advise them what time we wished to start, how far we
wished to travel each day and then they were there ready to greet us the next
morning (or the day after if we were taking a rest day). They were very
cooperative and cheerful and we kept them in good humour by throwing them a can
of coke from the fridge from time to time.
On Wednesday, 7th, we arrived at a Halte Nautique -
a sort of waterways layby with mooring posts, water supplies and electicity - at
Chaumont and discovered we were in time for a free concert that evening
followed by a film. Stage, seats and a giant screen were erected and
a singer and backing group entertained the locals for about 90 minutes.
Afterwards, they showed "Looking for Eric" the film about Eric Cantona
by Ken Loach. Unfortunately it was in French (surprise, surprise) so we gave up and went to
bed.  So far we have done about 69 locks on this
canal and we are nearly at the summit. So far on this trip all the locks have
been upstream. We have another 2 uphill locks tomorrow and then we pass
through a 4.8 km tunnel and then it's all 'downhill' from there. Literally
so, since all the locks are downhill and the two big rivers - the Saone and
the Rhone - are both flowing down to the Rhone and Mediterranean sea.
Within the next few days we will be passing though
the Langres plateau which boasts the source of 4 great rivers: the Marne, the
Meuse, the Aube and the Seine (although this actually rises in the Cote d'Or but
geologically belongs to the Langres plateau). Langres also boasts its own
smelly cheese - a yellow coated smallround cheese which tastes like a blend of
camembert and chevre. The local wine is only VdT but very drinkable.
Undoubtedly, as we reach the Saone, the quality and price of the wines will
increase.
Today, we walked up the hill (about 3 kms) to the
very pretty town of Langres. It is a very pretty, small fortified city built on
a rocky outcrop which dominates the Langres plain. It is considered to be
in the top 50 towns in France. It has imposing defensive walls
encircling the outside and has a 16th century artillery tower, with walls 7
metres thick, from where it controlled a large part of the surrounding
countryside. Apart from the normal ravages of time, it has not suffered
any significant damage and is very interesting and picturesque.
  It is the birthplace of Denis Diderot (1713), an
Enlightenment philospher and the creator of the first encyclopedia.
Another famous person was Jeanne Mance (1606) who was a joint founder of
Montreal and founded the main hospital there. The memorial site, and final
resting place of the great general is not far away in
Colombey-Deux-Eglises.
  The weather hs continued to be unbearable hot and
sunny and we have taken to short dips in the canal followed by a cool
shower. When we got back from our long walk into Langres, we enjoyed a
real thunder storm for about an hour and that reduced the temperature
considerably. We are living on salads and chilled wine.
 Our plan is to complete the second half of this
canal (about another 45 locks) in the next few days and then join the River
Saone, which we are told is very beautiful, for a short trip to
St. Jean-de-Losne (which is just south of Dijon) where we plan to leave the boat
while we return home on 28th July for the month of
August.
With best wishes, Ron & Elizabeth.
Ron & Elizabeth HOWARD
Eliza B, Moody 36
+ 44 7768 816 579
+ 33 (0)6 11 66 79 08
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