news from Barry and Margaret

We arrived in Montbard, which has lovely gardens alongside the canal as we entered the ville, on Wed. 18th July. There are many locks on the Bourgogne. They are hand operated, therefore we are accompanied by a lock keeper whom we help to open & close the gates. Barry has been lock counting & tells me that yesterday we went through our 300th lock, on this holiday. They are all now downhill to Paris, where we are planning to arrive on the 20th August.
July14th was Bastille Day___a public holiday, for lock keepers also. We joined the hundereds of locals at Pouilly - en - Auxois at 11p.m. to watch a fireworks display. It was very orderly with bands etc, but by 12 p.m. everyone had gone home & it was very quiet.
On the 12th July, the weather started to improve & we have had lovely sunny days. The farmers are very busy harvesting wheat, which would normally have been harvested earlier. There was a big grain depot opposite the Marina at Pouilly. Trailor loads of wheat were arriving from dawn to dusk. The stalks are also being bailed. There is also farming in this area- charolet cattle plus a few sheep.
There are extensive iron ore deposits in the Montbard area. A large industrial site (foundary) making steel tubing, run by hydro power,is across the marina from where we have our boat moored.

all down hill to Paris from here

Barry and Margaret have moved on now from Dijon, and have made it to the highest point on the canal of Burgundy (French: Canal de Bourgogne), on their way to Paris, Pouilly-en-Auxois, (featuring a tunnel that passes under the town,)

The Canal of Burgundy (French: Canal de Bourgogne) is a canal in Burgundy in central eastern France. There are two river entrances; to the north the Yonne River allows access in the town of Migennes, and in the south the Saône allows access in the town Saint-Jean-de-Losne. The construction began in 1727 and was completed in 1832. The canal connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea via the Yonne and Seine to the Saône and Rhône. Barges transport goods along the river.

The canal is 242 km long, with 209 canal locks. It passes through the departments of Burgundy, Yonne, and Côte-d'Or. The highest point of the canal is the "partition" at Pouilly-en-Auxois, which is 378 m above sea level. The lowest point is at the junction with the Yonne at 79 m above sea level.

(the tunnel)

and it is all down hill from there.

The town..

Being the 13th and 14th of July, they got to enjoy the fireworks, and celebrations that take place on Bastille day, see link for more info: Bastille day in france, and almost saw some of the tour de france or Official web site but just missed them as they happened to be inside the tunnel that passes under the town at the time the cyclists rode past!
The weather has been a lot better, sunny was the last report...

Dijon

Have been in Dijon for 3 days.

Had a wet & windy trip from St. Jean. It is still not that much better. We are wearing clothes which we would wear in Spring or Autumn.

Dijon is a lovely city, which we have always enjoyed visiting.During the next few days we will visit some of the museums, do a walking tour &visit the parks & gardens;


Link to info on Dijon