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| Peniche Varia above lock 5 Forge. Canal du Centre |
Grey, damp and chilly after overnight rain, brightening up mid-afternoon then thunder and more rain. Mike went on foot to the bakery for a loaf (1,10€) and then we refilled the water tank, which was still over half full as I hadn’t yet done any washing. Mike went to ask the VNF if we could have water and he passed the hose back to me through the fence. We set off at 9.45 a.m. and ran along the 4kms summit pound past the canal reservoir on our right. An elderly couple were walking the path around the lake, they waved as we passed. Past the new café opposite the old one on the bend and into the cutting. A jogger went past. Lots of sections of the stone retaining walls in the cutting had started to collapse and were in need of repair. There was a large patch of white and purple violets on the right bank, then we saw an animal scuttle up the slope. I thought it was a badger as it was dark grey, Mike thought it was a hare, he said it had long ears.
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| Old disused lock alongside the new lock 6 La Motte. Canal du Centre |
The first five locks were called collectively Les Sept Ecluses (The Seven Locks) still, although two locks had been removed by building three deep ones. Lock 1 Mediterrannée (2.80m) was ready with gates open and two green lights. Stepped off and pulled the cord on the left hand side then went in the cabin to make tea and toast. A short pound lead to lock 2 Charmois (5.18m). A VNF gang were on the lockside, two men were jet washing the lockside, two were painting and a fifth bloke must be our lock keeper. He asked Mike where we were going, St Julien, and asked if we were continuing straight there, yes. They cheered as I took the tea and toast out on the back of the boat. Sorry two metres to late, the lock was half empty! Down the short pound we could see lock 3 Fourneau (5.18m) was getting ready with red and green locks. The gates opened as we went down the pound towards it. The house alongside the lock had a plaque which said it was lock 5’s lockhouse. Another short pound and we were at lock 4 Ravin (5.18m). Above the lock the other VNF gang were unloading soil from a small lorry and a man with a shovel was smoothing over the soil they’d backfilled the old piling with. As we dropped down the lock we could hear the little kids in the schoolyard opposite screaming and yelling as they ran around the playground. It was 11.00 a.m. The gates took ages to open but they did eventually and we set off on the longer pound to lock 5 Forge (2.63m). We had a red light – there was an empty péniche coming up in the lock! Varia from Amsterdam went past and the crew waved. We had a green light so we went in and dropped down. The road alongside was noisy with lots of heavy lorries passing and dogs barking all around.
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| Mooring at St Julien-sur-Dheune. Canal du Centre |
Ran down to lock 6 La Motte (5.19m) and saw we had red lights again. The lock emptied and the bottom end gates opened – then the lights went off. It was 11.30 a.m. Looks like an enforced dinner break. So much for going all the way to St Julien! Three locks short! I slung our centre rope around the one remaining bollard on the old quay by the canal museum and Mike switched the engine off. He decided to walk the 5kms back to Montchanin to get the car. Mike returned and parked the car by lock 6 at 1.15 p.m. He said narrowboat Oxford Blue was coming down. We finished lunch just before the VNF man in a car arrived and we said we’d hang on for the other narrowboat. Mike left the car to collect when we were tied up at St Julien. We shared the last three locks with Oxford Blue. Went into lock 6 side-by-side (haven’t done that in a long time) and chatted as we went down. I asked how their engine was now and they said they’d had a new gearbox and the engine had been overheating, but they’d fixed that this morning. Ran down the pound side by side to Lock 7, Rocher (2.50m) and carried on chatting. On down the short pound to lock 8 L’Abbaye (5.13m) and dropped down. They were continuing down to St Ledger as they wanted electric so we followed them out of the lock. As we rounded the bend to the road bridge at St Julien a DB appeared and a great cloud of blue smoke went up as it went hard astern (there was ample room to pass under the bridge) and someone gave a single flap of a blue flag but we went round the bows of Doriance, while they sorted themselves out. Winded and moored on the empty quay at 2.45 p.m. Another gritty quay!
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