The upper reaches of the Yonne are, to tell the truth, not very exciting, though pleasant enough in the summer sunshine. We had 10 locks to negotiate, but we got away early, and up to lunchtime they were all ready and waiting for us, which meant we made speedy progress (by our standards – 9 kph!).
It is a national holiday today in France, as elsewhere, and the sun brought families out to enjoy the water:
We had planned to stop at Joigny, where we had already stayed a few years ago. Thinking about it, however, we realized that no shopping would be possible on a holiday and there was actually little point in stopping in the early afternoon, so we decided to push on to Migennes. This is where the Canal de Bourgogne meets the Yonne. All the same, Joigny certainly looks very attractive from the river:
The lock from the river to the start of the canal at Migennes is more than five metres deep, and was being operated by a charming student nurse doing a summer job. She had to wind the doors by hand – not much automation here. We are staying in the harbour attached to the hire boat base you can see in the background:
Tomorrow, after replenishing supplies, we embark on the big challenge. The Canal de Bourgogne boasts, if that is the right word, a total of 189 locks over its 242 kilometres. 113 of the locks are uphill from here, and many are manual, so we should be pretty fit by the time we get home! The canal was built between 1775 and 1834 to link the Saone and Seine valleys, and bring all that excellent Burgundian wine and other agricultural products up to the capital.
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