May 27-28 Tannay to Clamecy

May 27-28 Tannay to Clamecy

Joan with her bouquet

With our electrical issue hopefully repaired, we got hold of our éclusier last night and scheduled for a 9h15 passage through her écluse. We knew that tonight’s destination would be tight (very small harbor and lots of hire boats had just left, plus it’s the only real town between here and the end of our trip. We went through our morning routine and finally time to get underway - success, the engine started easily, as always, and all the gauges were where they were supposed to be. We’ll be monitoring every 10 to 15 minutes today to make sure they stay put.

Éclusier with hand crank in
one hand, remote in the other

We arrived at our first écluse to find the éclusier we had talked with and visited with waiting for us. The doors on her double écluse were set up so that she had a remote control for the far gate and she only cranked the close gate. She got the gates closed and started the water going down then started pruning the flowers in her garden. Next thing we knew she brought Joan a nice bouquet, what a wonderful treat. We again had the lock to ourselves and it was looking like a quick day. The turn before our next écluse two hire boats pulled off the beach, where they had spent the night, just in time to be ahead of us and they were big enough that all three wouldn’t fit. With uphill traffic beginning to appear and a shortage of éclusiers our day got quite a bit longer.

Moroccan lamb & fig tajine named
after the earthenware its cooked in

Arrived in Clamecy and found a few spaces still open, though the port would fill to overflowing before the evening was done. Being our first night in a long time with real restaurants and boulangeries, it was time to treat ourselves. First a short walk into the old town for a café au lait, then a walk through the old city and finally dinner out at a couscousery. The next morning it was time for croissants and fresh bread, plus it was market day.

Clamecy is an old medieval town, with a center protected area filled with timber framed houses and the collegiate church of Saint Martin a well preserved gem of Gothic art. Exploring the narrow streets and curving alleyways took most of our day. But that day did include the market and the best boulangerie of the trip, so far.

Lift bridge - Joan would get off on one side and raise the bridge,
Michael moves the boat through while Joan lowers the bridge and gets back aboard

PK Marker (Point Kilométrique) that we've talked about
marking our distance - becoming more rare on the canals

Timber framed houses - and yes they do
lean into each other as they rise above street level

Collégiale Saint Martin
built in the 12th - 16th centuries

Market day at les Halles - lots of good stuff to stock up on

As the Canal du Nivernais reaches the Yonne River valley we begin to weave back and forth.
from canal to river and back again. Here we've gone through an écluse and short segment of canal
to go around a weir on the river.