France Canal: Part 1

Our boat at a marina on the Yonne River, France

I’ve just returned from 3 weeks of travel. I boated, flew, trained, taxied and drove to Beaverton, Oregon, then to the UK (just London) and France (Paris and then Burgundy-by-boat). This travel was about the journey as well as the destinations because it was a haul to go from rural, to urban, to rural and back. Rinse and repeat. My personal saying since retirement is, “so far, retirement is just logistics.” 

All in all, with the sad exception of losing our sweet doggie, Maggie, on the first night of the trip, it was a fantastic trip that was full of pleasant surprises and new discoveries.

PORTLAND

To efficiently travel from Decourcy Island, you need to take a seaplane to Vancouver airport. This time of year, it means departing from Nanaimo(1). Mike boated us on a 30-minute speed ride in calm waters in our RIB(2) to Nanaimo. There, Mike kissed Maggie and I goodbye and we took a seaplane to the Vancouver seaplane dock. Then we taxied to Vancouver airport and flew to Portland. Karen rushed Maggie and me to the vet, where within a matter of hours we lost our special and loving dog. I’m so grateful for Karen’s support. 

After rushing through Portland earlier this year, I finally got to spend unhurried time with my family in the area. Karen took me to verdant Hoyt Arboretum. This must have been the best time of year to see it. The beautiful weather brought Crayola “Leaf Green” new growth, blooming dogwoods and rhododendrons at every turn.

Another highlight for me was a visit to the Maritime Museum in Astoria. The rigorous Coast Guard training and the historical challenges of the dangerous sand bar at the enormous mouth of the Columbia River were well-explained and, frankly, entertaining.(3)

During this week I expected to get an email from our French canal boat rental agency, Le Boat, with logistics and a confirmation. However, they surprised me with the news that a lock just south of our planned starting point was broken. We had signed up for a one-way trip from the small city of Auxerre to Tannay. Now we would have to start from Tanney and end at Tannay. Okay, so this was a little disappointing and I dreaded having to relay it to the crew. 

The crew consisted of we 3 couples. We were: Alison and Tim, ex-neighbors from Decourcy Island, repeat french canal boaters, and conversational French speakers. And, Margaret and Sean, friends from college days. And Mike and I were couple number 3.They buoyed me with being so flexible and having good attitudes. It really made life easier planning the trip. Also, everyone was a boater. 

LONDON 

Mike and I met up in Vancouver airport and we endured the first few days of jet lag in London. After a long evening of flying, we were impressed with the digitally efficient customs at Heathrow Airport.(4)

Outside our London hotel. The flags are still up celebrating the crowning of King Charles.

We met up with Margaret and Sean and over dinner, caught up and talked about our plans for our one great day in London together. Alison and Tim would drive from their flat outside London, meeting us at the Le Boat rental marina in France.

We discovered the perfect London afternoon outing: renting a small electric boat on the Regent Canal. We picked out delectable picnic lunches at a Marks & Spencer food store and for 3 peaceful hours, we offered queenly waves to passersby (5) as we silently floated past apartments and businesses, and through Regent Park. 

Picnic in an electric boat on Regent Canal, London.

Gorgeous scenery of the Regent Canal.

Colorful liveaboard canal boats in Regent Canal.

Here, we spotted our first graceful white swans of the trip. Being from California, we had only seen these in fairytales. Yes, we saw baby ducks this time of year, including an “ugly” swan duckling! Regent Park is also a mini mecca for geese, ducks and…monkeys! The canal skirts the enormous Monkey Valley habitat at the Regent Zoo.

We also passed barge homes, tied up in small clusters. After we regretfully returned the boat, Mike got friendly with one barger and finagled a tour. Walking from bow to stern, it has a salon with a kitchen. It’s about the same size as our galley on our tug, Unwine’d. A narrow hall encloses the bathroom and then opens up to a queen-sized bed. The skipper pilots the boat from a stern cockpit and uses a rudder, instead of a wheel. That's it. A fairly tight, floating RV.

We toured this live-aboard boat in London.

PARIS 

Around dinner time, the French boat rental agent sent an urgent email: “The lock South of Tannay has collapsed...your boat is south of Tannay in Decize...You must start at Decize and return there.” My thought: “I spent hours selecting the route and making sure it would work for our crew. What is that part of the canal like South of Tannay?” We did a little research via our cell phones and saw there were campgrounds along the waterway and a couple of villages. No wineries or Renassiance towns. 

The crew admitted that any cruise would be what they needed; a relaxing float. However, we decided to push the rental agency to find us another boat in another canal, relying on Alison and Tim’s coordination via calls in French, and our pointed emails with the rental agency. There are many canals in France with boat rentals.

In the meantime, we headed to France. When we got to Gare du Nord(6) we decided to look into train tickets to Tannay (the plan was to meet the Le Boat staff, first in Tannay) for the next day. That's when the real trouble started. The online booking system would not accept our booking. Neither would the ticket kiosk in Gare du Nord. We finally inquired with real Fench humans and learned that this was one of the busiest travel weekends in France! It was the three-day weekend that marks the beginning of summer. All trains were booked. 

Plan B: rent a car. Again, desperate search via cell phone. The car rental agent at Gare du Nord said apologetically, “We have no cars. Try the airports. And if you find any car available, book it fast.” After desperate clicking and swiping, we booked a car for a week that could hold us and our mountain of luggage. This was better, we told ourselves, “We won't have to drag luggage around and since we don't know where we are going tomorrow, we can be flexible!” Margaret said, “France drives on the right, right?”

Mike enjoys late night street food in the Right Bank, Paris.

The next morning we were relieved to learn that a boat was available in Migennes, albeit a slightly smaller boat. Another desperate cell phone search revealed a number of Renaissance towns, but no wineries. Practically in unison, we exclaimed, “We'll take it!”

Map of the 3 Le Boat locations (see red dots). There wasn’t much to do near Decize.

In the morning we schlepped our luggage to the Orly airport via train, and at the car rental we were pleasantly surprised to spy, waiting for us, a fairly roomy, new SUV. The perfect chariot to Migennes. Sean, our solid chauffeur. 

In rental car. Notice no view out the back due to perfectly engineered, stacked suitcases.

We had never been to the countryside in France and we were delighted to stare out the windows at quaint villages with very old stone homes. This area of France had farm after farm with green, softly rolling hills of wheat and rye. We spotted the apparently famous Charolais white cows. 

Typical view on drive from Paris to Migennes.

THE FLOAT BEGINS

Finally, we pulled into little Migennes, nestled against the Yonne canal(7). Laid out before us was the Le Boat fleet, all lined up. We checked in with the Le Boat staff and she directed us to our home for the next 7 days. All our anxiety about the quality and size of the boat alleviated with our first step into the rear cockpit. We were immediately pleased with its newness, cleanliness, and efficient layout. It was like being at a boat show. 

Here's the stern area. You can also see the rental bikes.

As we made our way to the “Lido” deck we saw Alison and Tim drive up. Waves, hugs, and kisses as we felt happy to be reunited and for Alison and Tim to meet Margaret and Sean for the first time. Surely, we appreciated the effort from the whole crew to get to that very moment to begin the float. We were in the Yonne River, and ready to see new country from the deck of a purpose-built canal boat in Burgundy, France.

FOOTNOTES FOR FUN FACT FANS

(1)Nanaimo is a large town North of Decourcy Island with a population of 100,000. It's got a Costco, big supermarkets, and a university. It has a large population of retirees who have migrated west. It’s a major harbor of Vancouver Island.

(2) RIB=rigid inflatable boat. We’ve been using this boat for about 15 years just at Decourcy Island. We store it on a trailer when we are not there. We plan to tow it behind us as we go to Alaska. It goes about 25 MPH versus about 8 MPH on the Nordic Tug.

(3) Only 18 petty officers a year are accepted into the elite Coast Guard training program in Astoria. The danger of the Columbia River opening to the Pacific Ocean is caused by a relatively shallow area, a sand bar. When a tidal current runs opposite of a high wind over the bar, it can create very high, 20-40 ft. steep waves. Like most boaters in the Bay Area, Mike and I have experienced this effect too, but on the sub-five foot scale. We try to avoid it.

(4) If you have nothing to declare, you queue up and just scan your passport and look at a camera lens for a facial scan. Then the gate opens and you pass on through without any human interface. 

(5) The Regent Canal, just like the Burgundy Canal and others in Europe, was built in the 1800s, or prior, to efficiently move commercial goods. Horses clomped along paths that line the canals, pulling the barges full of wine barrels, or whatever. These canals were outmoded by trains. Now, most canal traffic is comprised of commercial tour boats, private owners or renters like us. Pedestrians and bicyclists still use the paths. Government organizations maintain the canals for recreational use. 

(6) We took the Eurostar train which travels through the Chunnel. Our train was completely booked. Passengers go through security much like you do in an airport. You keep your luggage with you on the train. Gare du Nord the busiest train station in Europe. The superstructure is a romantic step back to the Beaux-Arts era of the 1800s. The rest is fairly modern.

(7) The Yonne River runs through the Yonne Valley, which is the northwest part of the Burgundy region. Sometimes we piloted in the river, while other times we were diverted to the Yonne canal.