From owner-canals@blacksheep.org Sun Aug 17 20:08:59 1997 id AB00188; Sun, 17 Aug 97 20:01:18 EDT id RAA11599; Sun, 17 Aug 1997 17:46:02 -0400 (EDT) for canals-nonews@blacksheep.org (canals@blacksheep.org) To: canals@blacksheep.org Date: Mon, 18 Aug 1997 04:59:14 GMT From: hutch@globalnet.co.uk (Richard Hutchison) Subject: Tonnerre to Tanay (France) Canal Holiday: July 97 Thanks to everyone who responded to my April request for information on the Canal de Bourgogne, Yonne and Canal du Nivernais between Tonnerre and Tannay. Special thanks to David Long, Graham Noble and Andrew Cormack. The input was very welcome and helped to make a good family holiday great. I hope the following may be of some use to anyone else considering the trip. First of all buy the Institut Geographique National Map No. 28 "Auxerre Saulieu" Serie Verte (Green Series) 1:100,000. It can be purchased in the UK or in France. This we found invaluable for planing walks and bike trips and for planning over-night stops away from busy roads and railway lines. Three other things which you may consider bringing from the UK. First is a bar-b-q, the local temperatures make cooking in the galley less than pleasant. All the good chandlers sell a model which can be attached to the guard-rail of the boat. Secondly a relatively good quality air-bed (li-lo or whatever). If you have the deck space it makes for a very good place to relax, sunbathe etc. If you are lucky enough to be travelling "en couple" then it makes an, admittedly not uncomfortable, bunk into a dream. Thirdly, if you are at all fussy about your morning cup of coffee or tea, then take your own implements, tea pot, coffee machine etc, remembering of course that their is no electricity. It is approximately 145 kilometres and 85 locks between Tannay and Tonerre (155 and 89 if you include the spur down to Vermenton) and it took us seven days starting at 15:00 hours on day one finishing at 10:00 on the last day. We visited the market at Auxerre (about three hours) and spent a full half day at Clamency. Before the trip we stayed at Hôtel Le Relais Saint-Jean (tel 03-25-73-89-90) in Troyes which although not cheap (about FFR 500 for a double room with ensuite) was in the centre of town. Troyes itself is worth a visit as are the Champagnes caves of René Jolly at Landerville (tel: 03-25-38-50-91), make sure you visit René Jolly as there is at least two Jolly establishments. We bought some excellent champagnes for FFR 69 a bottle which made for some very pleasant drinking later on the canal boat. Troyes is also famous for its factory outlets. Worth the visit if you have time but not worth a special detour. If you are driving down from Calais leave the autoroute at Chalons sur Marne and lunch at Pré Saint Alpin, 2 bis rue de L’ Abbé Lambert, Chalons sur Marne (tel: 26-70-20-26). The menu was about FFR 130 and very good value. After the canal trip we stayed at Hostellerie du Moulin des Ruats, Vallee du Cousin near Avallon (tel: 03-86-34-97-00) which I can thorough recommend. This is one of the most relaxing and pleasant hotels I have stayed in at the price. The hotel is a former mill (complete with wheel) and is totally isolated in a small valley. The staff where very friendly, although a little inexperienced and over worked, and the chef-owner was very good although it has to be said that his fish dishes were better than is meat dishes. On no account stay at the Moulin des Templiers in the same valley which although slightly cheaper is not worth the money. If you are in this area it would be criminal not to visit Vézelay (if you do not have your own transport it is worth investigating local taxi companies - in the current economic climate it is worth haggling ) and if you have your own transport Les Grottes D’Arcy are worth a visit. So to the canal trip itself. Tonnerre itself has a large, reasonably good supermarket on its outskirts. Take the D905 towards Dannemoine and it is on your left - cannot miss it. I would agree with David Long, do not rush away from Tonnerre. The washing places to which he refers are a feature of this area and well worth hunting out. Donnemoine has a café type restaurant (La Bonne Auberge FFR 55 ) in its main street. We were in picnic mode so I cannot vouch for it but it was full of locals and does feature in some of the guide books. Between Tonnerre and Tronchoy (our first stop) there is a busy railway line along the left bank, if you stay the night in this section, as you most if starting or finishing at Tonnerre, try to find some tree cover to stifle the noise. If you are planning to spend the night at St Florentin I would recommend that you stop just outside. The port is a bit of an eyesore and there appears to be some construction work in progress. We spent a very quite and peaceful night a lock 110 about 2km outside the town. There is a pleasant town square with café and the key for the church can be obtained from the tourist office. The boulangerie in town opens at five o’clock in the morning ! Migennes is a good place to stop for water and has a good supermarket within walking distance. We made our next over night stop at Gurgy which has a good jetty however it is used by the big canal boats which cater for large parties and I can image that it could become quite busy. We ate at the Restaurant de la Riviere, Place de L’Eglise (Tel 86-53-27-98). The service was less than friendly but it was cheap - less than FFR80 a head including wine. If you are near Auxerre on a Friday morning then the local market is worth a visit. From the port cross the footbridge to the west bank, up rue sous-murs, rue des boucheries and out of town along rue du temps, in all about fifteen or twenty minutes from the footbridge. Do not be put off by the clothes and other items at the entrance to the market, fight your way to the food section at the back ! Auxerre itself is very pleasant. The town has a special character. The shops are good for buying any souvenirs or presents for the folks back home and of course the Cathedral is very impressive. While we were there they were exercising the organ which was certainly different. The vine yard at Bailly is worth a visit and the well maintained jetty is another good place to take on water. Although the wine is not to my taste the wine cellar (cave) is buried several hundred meters under a mountain and is very spectacular. We decided to take the detour down the Canal d’Accolay to Vermenton which, if you have the time then Vermenton is worth a visit. Before you reach Vermenton, Host. De la Fontaine at Accolay is rumoured to be worth a visit. We lunched at the café in the main street in Vermenton. At Châtel-Censoir park the boat in the marina and climb the steps (not the road) to the church. Although it is a steep climb the view is worth it. Clamecy is one of the nicest stops on the route and well worth a visit, although the port does get busy so get there early to get a mooring. It has a good open-air swimming pool, ideal for a bit of exercise and for refreshing those parts which the on board shower cannot reach. Two recommendations for restaurants. La Vieille Rome (tel 03-86-24-47-06) in the square next to the Cathedrale is a good quality Italian restaurant with very friendly service, they also do a take away pizza service. L’ Hostellerie de la Post, 9 Place Emile-Zole (tel 86-27-01-55) is more upmarket, linen table clothes with menus of about FFR 160 to 190. Tannay has a restaurant cum bar at the edge of the canal - fairly average but useful for a cold beer after a hard day’s work. Walk up towards the town and you come across La Margelle, Hotel-Restaurant_Traiteur (tel 03-86-29-33-44). Walk further up into the village and there are a another couple of restaurants. Some general comments. My general impression was that many of the restaurants at the side of the canal were a disappointment - small, captive market. The restaurants in the larger towns or on busy roads were better value and it was often worth walking a short distance from the canal - here the Institut Geographique National Map was invaluable. The section between Tonnerre and Auxerre although very pleasant is no where near as good as the Canal du Niverais. If you need to save time, hurry between Auxerre and Tonnerre but take the Canal du Nivernais as leisurely as possible - there is a great deal to see and do. The lock gates tend to be operated by older people who have done the job for twenty or thirty years or students. The long term operators are a veritable Aladdin’s Cave of information. Even if your French is non-existent make an effort to communicate with them. They appreciate the conversation and in return can give good advice on local places of interest etc. Hope the above is of some use. Rough Route Plan: Town Locks Dist Cum Dist Tonnerre Dannemoine 2 4.3 4.3 Tronchoy 1 2.1 6.4 La Chappelle 1 5.1 11.5 Flogny 0 1.4 12.9 Percey 4 3.9 16.8 Butteaux 1 2.3 19.1 Germigny 2 3.4 22.5 Saint-Florentin 0 3.0 25.5 Brienon-sur-Armancon 4 9.6 35.1 Eson 1 2.7 37.8 Mignes 1 6.0 43.8 Bonnard 1 5.0 48.8 Bassou 0 0.0 48.8 Appoigny 3 5.0 53.8 Gurgy 0 2.8 56.6 Moneteau 1 3.3 59.9 Auxerre 4 6.5 66.4 Vaux 4 6.2 72.6 Champs-sur-Yonne 2 2.9 75.5 Vincelottes 2 4.4 79.9 Vincelles 0 0.5 80.4 Cravant (Accolay ?) 2 5.2 85.6 Bazarnes 2 1.9 87.5 Sainte-Pallaye 1 1.1 88.6 Pregilbert 0 0.9 89.5 Sery 2 3.4 92.9 Mailly-la-Ville 1 1.9 94.8 Mailly-le-Chateau 2 4.0 98.8 Merry-sur-Yonne 1 3.7 102.5 Chatel-Censoir 3 5.5 108.0 Lucy-sur-Yonne 2 6.4 114.4 Coulanges-sur-Yonne 3 3.3 117.7 Pousseaux 0 1.7 119.4 Clamecy 4 7.5 126.9 Chevroches 2 3.5 130.4 Villiers-sur-Yonne 2 5.3 135.7 Breves 2 2.3 138.0 Asnois 1 2.3 140.3 Tannay 1 3.4 143.7 Total 85