Villages and Towns on the Saône, Seille and Canal-du-Centre

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Cruising the waterways of France is not just about the villages you visit. At the slow speed of a boat you have time to view and ponder the way the country is being farmed and managed, to check out the local wildlife and to observe, up close, the range of activities that occur on, or on the banks of, the waterway. In France, to make it easier for you to see the landscape they have canals - or at least one canal - that sits nice and high and from which you often have a good view of the surrounding countryside. The two rivers we travelled along were also pretty good in this respect, unlike some in other parts of the world that have high banks and low water, thus providing just occasional glimpses of the scenery.

There is time on a boat to view and to contemplate, read or play music. Not having anyone on board from the Northern Hemisphere - there was one in our group but he was on the other boat - we were able to debate the species of trees and shrubs that grew along the banks; and when we occasionally recognised something it was often because it is a weed in our country.

We gave quite a lot of consideration to the cattle breeds - mainly Charolais but it was surprising to us how many others were being farmed in this area. Wiki was of considerable help. There were birds - swans, ducks, herons, finches and the occasional blue-jay or raven - but perhaps not as many as we had expected. There was also a lot of corn/maize being farmed, most of it apparently ready for harvest or recently harvested. And it was dry. Not nearly as bad as Australia but still dry.

There were many people fishing. Some appeared not to be having much success but we did see a large fish landed. As with fishers the world over, the process seemed to be more important than the product. Many took the opportunity to take in the sun, some going to much greater effort than others to maximise skin exposure, to our occasional surprise.

We made it to Cuisery on our first night out. This village is on the Seille and was about 5 or 6 hours cruising from Mâcon. Cuisery has a a very good mooring at a reasonable price that includes use of very good ablution facilities - they were handy as a supplement to the facilities on the boats.

It was Sunday in Cuisery. Just about everything was closed. It is only a small village but attractive and clearly keen to welcome visitors. The village is noted for its book shops and book festivals and most of one street housed just book shops - and one bar. This bar was the only one open in town and we felt it only right that we should recognise and support this gesture of welcome. A search for a different way back to the boat found a path that had been created through a wooded area and along a creek to take us back. A nice touch on the part of the village.

Cuisery was also notable for us because the restaurant and bar at the mooring and camping area provided most of us with an excellent meal. Possibly one of the best we have had in France which, given that we have been feeding well, is high praise. Our expectations possibly weren't high but they were well and truly exceeded.

Louhans is a substantial market town and a step up from a village with a population of over 6,000. It is renowned for its famous poultry market that takes place every Monday morning. We were only in time to see the evidence of the market, but we did see some of the blue legged Bresse fowls and we also had the chance to taste the meat. To be there in time for the market would have required an early start from our mooring at Cuisery. We were on holiday and early rising has to be kept under control.

The town is the capital of Burgundy Bresse and is also famous for its arches. The town has preserved 157 arches along 400 metres of its main street, constructed during Spanish occupation in the 15th century. We walked down this lovely shaded arcade on a hot day and wondered why every town hadn't done the same. Spain does do hot weather well. Louhans also has a church with an impressive roof covered with varnished tiles.

Louhans is at the end of the easily navigable part of the Seille River so it was the place where we turned and headed back to the Saône.

Loisy is a small village with a population of under 600 that has an impressive Château up on a hill near the town. For us, the main attraction of Loisy was that it was a good boat mooring and that the people in charge of the mooring organised excellent baguettes and croissants first thing in the morning.

La Truchère is also a small village, about half the size of Loisy, close the junction of the Seille and the Saone Rivers. We didn't moor overnight here and simply dropped in for a while on our way past.

Tournus is a major town on the Saône with a population in excess of 6,000. In 2013 there were 4 restaurants with a Michelin star. The town attracts the large tour boats to moor here at some times of the year and a significant part of its economy apparently relies on tourism. The town has other industries including the production of cookware and white goods.

For us the mooring arrangement was just adequate and neither power nor water was available. There is only a limited mooring for craft such as ours, with the bulk of the space allocated for the large tour barges. Clearly, that is where the money is made. We did walk around the town and enjoyed its sights, patronised at least one of its bars and a couple of its restaurants - none with a Michelin star. And that may very well be why mooring preference is for the large tour boats.

Fragnes is on the Canal-du-Centre. It is a village of a little over 1,000. For us the key ingredients were an excellent mooring that was close to an excellent restaurant. Plenty of power and water was available, it was a pleasant and green environment and, while there were two large tour boats tied up, there was plenty of room and good mooring for the lesser vessels.

Chagny is another larger town of around 6,000 people, also on the Canal du Centre. Tourism is one of the major industries here and the relationship with the wine region is close. Some of our party weren't over wine by any means but we did find a craft brewery trying to make a go of it and gave it some custom. The product was perfectly acceptable. They produce a blonde, an amber and a white. We have found a lot of French-produced beer a little sweet for our taste. This brewery BAB, with its beers labelled l'Audacieuse, and its slogan 'beer in the country of wine', is producing good beer that is a bit heavier with the hops and has no hint of a sweet cloying after-taste. On the smaller boat we carried away a few to go on with, even though we had just one day left on the boat. It all worked out.

Chagny seems to be a town that welcomes tourists. There is a facility for the large tour boats to tie up and an excellent, secure mooring for leisure craft like us. It is a good town for a long walk with enough to see and do. There are plenty of restaurants, one a Michelin 3 star that is quite famous. We did try to book for one run by the same people who run Maison Lameloise but were told it was ''not possible'. Unfortunately, we didn't follow up and, when we walked past the place on our way back from a forgettable meal in another place, we found the one we had checked earlier only lightly patronised. We should have checked again.

The Château de Santenay was not a mooring. We had to moor on the Canal du Centre and walk a couple of kilometres to get to the Château, which is at the edge of the village. The lady in charge was very gracious and kindly agreed to provide a tour and tasting for our group of 12. It was an interesting tour with information about the wine in that area and about the way that the wine is marketed and controlled in the region. Good wines too.

Saint-Léger-sur-Dheune was the place where we handed back the boats. We arrived in time for a special dinner to celebrate the end of the cruise at a good restaurant with the hardest working, and possibly most efficient, wait staff - singular - I have ever seen. We did walk through the town but only to find coffee and croissants the next morning and then to find the railway station where we camped for a couple of hours until the train to Lyon arrived to take us away.

There is not a lot to do in St Léger on a Saturday morning. Some found a jam making, and selling, exhibition. Really rather good and very interesting just in case you are wafting through St Léger. It was in an old tile factory on the way out of town. Always worth pulling up, if you have a leisurely schedule, in the small towns for their shows, exhibitions, fetes and markets. Not always great and interesting but those ones outweigh the 'meh'.

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Comments

[Home and Away]

Cruising the canals of Europe are a wonderful way to see the country side.
We rented a 3 bedroom barge in the Netherlands for a week and utterly enjoyed the experience as we saw old Holland, and not the newer suburbs. I'm enjoying your blogs.

[D MJ Binkley]

Slow travel
This trip sounds amazing. The beauty along the canals is staggering.