Jarnac Mooring Wall
///grained.defies.cannily
45°40’45.8436″N, 0°10’43.5828″W

to

Chateauneuf-sur-Charente Mooring Wall
///intervention.arched.observes
45°36’6.0264″N, 0°3’5.1768″W

The crew woke up at 7:00 am this morning. Today is “turn-around” day for us. We could probably travel further down the river for one more day but then we would feel pressure on the return journey in order to have the boat back at its base in Sireuil by 9:00 on Monday morning.

Photo above – a very chilly morning on the Charente River. The outside temperature was about 7 degrees C.

Photo above – when I said the crew got up at 7:00 am I should have said that SOME of the crew got up then.

Valerie was lounging comfortably in her bed with a hot cup of coffee that David had fixed for her. When Catherine got up & saw the vacant space in the nice warm bed in our neighbour’s cabin she jumped in beside Valerie & started calling for me to bring her a hot cup of tea!

It reminded them of sharing a tent in Algonquin park except no one brought them morning coffee – they had to get it for themselves!

I can understand the desire to stay under the covers because without any heat on the boat it was just as cold inside as it was outside. All we could do was bundle up in warm clothes & drink hot tea & coffee until the sun warmed things up.  Such is life on a small boat.

Back to our travel plans for the day…

Our goal for the day was to travel from Jarnac to Chateauneuf-sur-Charente. This is a distance of approximately 17 kilometers & going through 5 locks with about 2-4  km in-between each lock.

On our trip from Sireuil to Jarnac we were travelling downstream on the Charente River so we dropped down in each lock we passed through. For the return journey we will be going upstream & each lock we pass through will raise us up between 1 – 2 meters.

Photo above – the first lock in Jarnac is beside the Courvoisier Distillery & warehouse. It was tempting to try to get a barrel of Cognac to take with us but at a weight of 500 kilograms each we would have had trouble handling it.

Photo above – with David at the helm he & Valerie are settling in nicely to the boating lifestyle. David spent the day at the helm & I helped out with the locks. He is proving to be a very competent skipper & can easily handle a much larger boat (Valerie, I have “set the hook”, now it’s time for you to reel him in!).

I’ve already got Valerie looking at various boat brokerage websites for a suitable yacht. It’s amazing what is available “out there” for not much more than the price of a new car! And I’m telling Valerie that based on my 30 years of boating experience, buying the right boat can be a sound investment! 

For some reason Catherine & David are not convinced of my logic. Oh well, it’s fun & costs nothing to dream & fantasize. Plus there’s always that potential winning number lottery ticket that could buy a very nice yacht!

Photo above – as we travelled upstream we went past some pretty nice looking places!  This particular property on the riverside – Maison Brillet – has a nice vineyard & winery that people can tour by appointment. I expect we will see several more of these places while we are here in France.

Photo above – one of several arched bridges that we passed under today. Normally it is safe to pass under one of the middle arches but we must avoid going under the ones closer to shore as the water there is usually too shallow for the boats to get through.

Photo above – Catherine straightening up the bow lines as we exit a lock.

Photo above – we are catching up to another boat in front of us as they are approaching the next lock.

Photo above – passing by a Roman era bridge over a small side channel on the river.

While we were passing through the various locks we met a German couple headed towards Jarnac. They have been on the Charente River before & were telling us that they planned to get to Saintes – another 50 kms! – before they were going to turn around. The skipper was a man on a mission!

We also went through a few locks with a couple from the Channel Islands. They were also experienced boaters but, like us, they were much more laid-back with their river travel plans.

We arrived at Chateauneuf-sur-Charante around 1:30 in the afternoon. We had made great progress today & now it was time to relax & enjoy the community & the warm sunshine.

We had a light snack & then David & Valerie & Catherine went for a short walk into the town commercial area. I stayed behind to rest & work on the blog.

The crew returned within an hour with provisions for dinner tonight & for our breakfast the next morning – fresh choclatines (essentially a croissant filled with chocolate).  I could get used to having one of these for breakfast each morning!

Photo above – the view across the river from our mooring spot. It turned out to be a glorious day. Sunny & about 22 degrees C.

Photo above – while we were relaxing in the sun a small armada of canoes paddled by, with each canoe carrying one or more dogs. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves – especially the dogs!

We finished our day with a nice bowl of soup & chicken salad prepared by Valerie & David, followed by another few hands of euchre. Catherine & I were beginning to understand what we should be doing but she proved to be a much better player than me. Oh well, hopefully I will do better tomorrow.

All things considered, Friday the 13th turned out to be a great day for our crew.

Our travels for the next few days will be fairly relaxed, with only 3 locks on Saturday & 2 locks on Sunday. This will give us more time to get off the boat & explore our next two stops.

Cheers!

Jarnac Mooring Wall
///grained.defies.cannily
45°40’45.8436″N, 0°10’43.5828″W

Last evening we decided that we would leave the boat in Jarnac on Friday & take a cab to Cognac. It would take us about 4 hours & 3 locks to get to Cognac on the boat but only 20 minutes by car! While we are having a lot of fun on the boat we don’t want it to dominate our visit to this part of France.

We took an Uber ride to Cognac & started our tour of the city on the riverbank in front of the Hennessy Distillery.

Photo above – Hennessy Distillery in Cognac

It would have been interesting to take a tour through Hennessy but we had already booked a tour in the afternoon through Courvoisier & that was enough Cognac in one day!

After a short walk along the riverbank we began to pass through one of the historic districts of the city.

Photo above – a street leading up from the river towards the historic center of the city. It wasn’t a steep incline but walking on all those cobblestones did not make it easy.

Photo above – stores were just starting to open as we walked through the beginning of the commercial area.

Photo above – we walked through the public market in Cognac. Vendors were just starting to set up their stalls for the afternoon market. The building design & construction is very similar to the market in Angouleme.

Photo above – Cognac Hotel DeVille. It is located in a very large & beautifully manicured park.

Cognac City Hall was just a few minutes walk from the historic commercial district. From there we wandered through an even older part of the city.

It seemed like the buildings got older on every street that took us closer to the river.

Photo above – it would have been fun to have stopped for a coffee & some lunch at this place but it wasn’t opening for a few more hours.

Photo above – this fortification is almost on the riverbank & appears to be part of a much larger castle that is surrounded by scaffolding & safety screen.

Photo above – the Charente River in Cognac with the Hennessy Distillery in the distance on the left bank.

We spent about 5 hours exploring the historic districts of Cognac & then took an Uber back to Jarnac.

Back aboard the boat we had a light snack & a brief rest before heading off on another much-anticipated  adventure – a tour of the Courvoisier Distillery!

Our tour began at 3:30 with a very nice young woman named Gaelle. There were only 6 people on the tour so we had lots of opportunities to ask questions & get more information.

Gaelle began the tour by explaining the origins of Cognac & how the original distiller managed to get his product to become a favourite of Emperor Napoleon. Naming his best quality Cognac after the Emperor may also have had something to do with his business success!

Cognac is made from a special blend of double distilled, unaged wine made with ugniblanc grapes which are specially grown for making Cognac. The initial wine from these grapes is virtually undrinkable but it is ideally suited to making Cognac. Each batch that is distilled produces 3 distinct Eau de Vie (water of life) – basically the beginning, the middle & the end of each distilling batch. These products are then separated & blended later on in the process to create the Cognac.

The photo above shows examples of the different Eau de Vies that are blended in recipes to create the various types & qualities of Cognac.

Photo above – the barrels of various Eau de Vies are stored in warehouses where their aging process is carefully monitored. As each batch/barrel arrives at its desired quality it is blended with other barrels to end up with the particular type of Cognac the Master Blender wants.

Up to 40 types of Eau de Vies are blended to make cognac. We saw some barrels in this warehouse that were labeled as early as 1986. Each barrel weighs up to 450 kgs. Our tour guide explained that once Cognac ages 30-40 years there is really no benefit to further aging.

They make 20 million bottles of Cognac per year which makes Courvoisier the fourth largest producer in France. Hennessy produces half of all of France’s total.

Gaelle had a lot more to tell us but it’s time to cut to the chase… the tasting!

We were treated to 3 drinks with Cognac – the first was a cocktail called Airmail, which is made with Cognac VS,   orange tea, honey, triple sec & verjus. It was delicious!  Next were samples of VSOP & XO.

This was a fantastic tour & well worth the 20 Euros it cost each of us. I could go on & on for quite a while longer but I think you get the idea. 

After the tour was over we went back to the boat for a brief rest. Then Catherine & Valerie & David headed off to the local laundromat while I stayed on the boat to fill the water tank & hook up to shore power.

This was all a bit of a comedown from sipping premier Cognac but we managed to salvage the evening with dinner out at a local Bistro.

I’ll end this posting with a photo of the Cognac that was not on the tasting list – 3,000 Euros a bottle!

Cheers!

Travel from Saint Simon to Jarnac

Saint Simon Mooring Wall
///chewy.lifestyle.defeat
45°38’55.2372″N, 0°4’36.5988″W

to

Jarnac Mooring Wall
///grained.defies.cannily
45°40’45.8436″N, 0°10’43.5828″W

Four locks & 11 kilometers travelled.

We woke up this morning to dark clouds & rain. We could see this in the forecast a few days ago & decided we would figure out what to do when the weather arrived.

It rained fairly heavy until about 9:30 & then it let up so we cast off & headed for Jarnac. Our new friends from Germany were departing at the same time.  We followed them towards the lock at Juac, the first of four locks we would pass through today. 

Our journey on the Charente River from Sireuil to Jarnac is downstream so each lock we pass through takes us down approximately 1 to 2 meters. When we return to Sireuil we will be going “up” the river.

The rain started again shortly after we got underway but it wasn’t very hard & didn’t cause any problems with handling or navigating the boat.

However, there was only one windshield wiper on the boat & it didn’t do a very effective job. So, in-between rain showers, one of our crew was “volunteered” to go forward & clean the windows to help the skipper see where we were going. She did an excellent job!

This was the beginning of our 3rd day on the boat. We have been through several locks & have established a bit of a routine when going through the locks.

Our normal lock routine is I drive the boat, Catherine & Valerie take turns staying on board & helping me with the lines & helping David with operating the lock gates & filling & draining the locks.

Opening & closing the lock gates takes a fair bit of physical effort. Each gate has a large wheel that is connected to a gear mechanism that opens or closes the gate – depending upon which way you turn the wheel.

In the photo above you can see David operating the large wheel to open one of the four gates that are in each lock. The smaller wheel in the left of the picture is used to open & close a small door near the bottom of each gate. This door lets water in or out of the lock – depending upon whether you want to fill or empty the lock.

In the photo above you can see Catherine operating the smaller wheel –  the one that opens & closes the door on the lock gate – to fill or drain the lock, depending upon which way you are headed.

All of the locks on the route we are travelling are manually operated so the crew gets a pretty good workout. There’s a bit less work if more than one boat is going through the lock at the same time because the crew from each boat will usually lend a hand.

Back in Canada on the Rideau Canal & on the Trent-Severn Waterway all of the locks are operated by Parks Canada staff. The only thing the boaters have to do is stay on board their own boat & handle the lines to keep their boat steady while the lock is being filled or drained.

This was also our experience on the Canal du Midi last year. All the locks on that system are operated by the canal authority. It’s easy to get spoiled when someone else is doing all that hard work for you.

We arrived in Jarnac around 2:00pm. Thankfully the rain appeared to be finished for the day. It was a bit confusing after leaving the lock.

We were also distracted by the Courvoisier Cognac distillery immediately beside the boating channel (photo above)  – wondering if they were giving away free samples!

The initial channel exiting the lock at Jarnac is very narrow. There are shallow sand bars on port & starboard sides for about 100 meters & the current is fairly strong. We finally managed to find a place to moor for the day about 500 meters from the lock.

It had been a long time since breakfast so Catherine & Valerie fixed a lunch of hot soup & crackers supplemented with some excellent cheese & sausage that we had purchased in Chateauneuf-sur-Charante.

After lunch we all had a brief rest & then went for a walk to explore part of the city.

David & I walked back towards the lock to check out the Courvoisier distillery. They give tours daily so we signed up for a tour tomorrow afternoon.

This should be an interesting tour & it includes tasting of three different types of Cognac. We’re really looking forward to that!

The weather today ended much better than when we started. We were treated to a pink sky – hopefully the sailor’s mantra “red sky at night, sailor’s delight” will hold true.

Photo above – sunset on the Charente River in Jarnac across the bow of our boat.

Cheers!

Ecluse de Mosnac
///consultancy.unplayable.investigate
45°37’36.5484″N, 0°1’21.3204″W

We had a comfortable night just in front of the lock across the river from the village of Mosnac-Saint-Simeux.

We are starting to really notice how early the sun sets and how late it rises the next day.

Photo above – our overnight mooring spot.

Photo above – the weir beside the lock.

Photo above – Catherine & David tend the lock gates.

There are 15 locks on this section of the Charente River. Only one is operated by   the French river authority. The rest all have to be operated by the boaters.

When there are 4 or more people on board the usual routine is for 2 people to stay onshore to operate the locks and 2 stay onboard the boat to maneuver the boat in & out of the lock & & to handle the boat lines while in the lock.

Photo above – Valerie checks our status while managing the forward line.

Travelling on the Charente presents endless opportunities for photos. The riverbanks are heavily treed on both sides in between the villages.

Photo above – passing by Mosnac-Saint-Simeux.

Photo above – the church in Mosnac -Saint-Simeux high on the hill above the Charente. 

Photo above – Valerie & Catherine take a well deserved break on the aft deck while we are travelling in-between the locks.

We arrived at the town of Chateauneuf-sur-Charente around 11:30. This community has a farmer’s market so we thought we would stop for a while & go shopping for some more provisions.

Unfortunately the farmers market was closed but there were a few vendors open in a little mall so we picked up some fruit & vegetables at one, cooked chicken at the meat vendor & cheese at another. They all had a great selection & it was fun trying to explain to them what we wanted to buy.

Photo above – the fruit & vegetable stand owners were very patient with our limited French & they got a kick out of us using Google Translate for more detailed information. Notice the artichoke as big as your head!

Photo above – there were so many different types of cheese that we had a hard time deciding what to buy.

After we finished shopping at the market we stopped at a nearby boulangerie for some pre-made baguette sandwiches & to peruse the baked goods. It was really hard to leave that store!

We made a final stop at a Carrefour market for some less exotic, but still important supplies – including pasta, potato chips, paper towel & bottled water.

Photo above – Valerie perusing the household supply section. A less glamorous but still very important task.

After we got back to the boat we enjoyed our baguettes & then cast off for our next destination.

Saint Simon Mooring Wall
///chewy.lifestyle.defeat
45°38’55.2372″N, 0°4’36.5988″W

Photo above – the village of Saint Simon rises above our mooring wall along the riverbank.

The weather was warming up nicely when we stopped for the day. Another charter boat was approaching the mooring wall so David & I offered to take their lines.

This was a group of 4 seniors from Mainz, Germany. They didn’t speak much English but with lots of pointing & other gestures we managed to communicate the essentials with each other.

After their boat was securely tied up they told us that they were out of water in their tank but their hose was not long enough to reach the municipal water connection on the mooring wall.

I offered to loan them our hose so the 2 could be combined. That worked nicely. They were so happy to have our help that they gave us 2 bottles of their favourite German wine. I told them that was not necessary but very much appreciated.

When I got back to our boat I remembered that we had a small bottle of Crown Royal that I had purchased at the Duty Free in Toronto airport. I gave this (unopened) bottle to our new friends & they were very happy.

Meanwhile, back at the boat, Valerie was helping me expand readership of the blog. She was sharing links to the blog with her family & friends. With any luck I may have almost 25 subscribers by the end of the day!  Way to go Valerie!

We thought we would explore the village before dinner. David & I went in search of a small store to buy some beer but the only vendor in the village was a small pub. We went inside & started to ask the bartender in bad French if we could get a couple of drafts. He responded  “how about we do this in English”? I commented that he had a British accent that & he said that he moved to France from Oxford, England about 30 years ago.

Photo above – Valerie enjoying the hospitality of La P’tite Gabarre.

Photo above – a few more patrons of the pub.

By the time we got back to the boat we were ready for dinner. David volunteered to put the essentials together.

With all hands on deck we were ready to eat in no time flat!

And speaking of decks, after dinner Valerie & David decide to take on the ultimate challenge – to teach Catherine & I how to play euchre.

Valerie & David showed great patience with our inexperience. We had a lot of fun & hopefully by the time we have to return the boat to Sireuil Catherine & I might even understand what we should be doing.

Cheers!

Nicols Boat Charter Sireuil
///stun.healing.lameness
45°36’20.8692″N, 0°1’30.6804″E

Today was the big day.  We picked up our boat from the Nicols Charter company depot in the village of Sireuil on the Charente River.

Our first task for the day before leaving Angouleme was to go to a nearby grocery store and pick up provisions for our journey.

The boat has a well equipped galley so we plan to have a mixture of preparing meals on board & eating at local restaurants & cafes along the way.

After picking up all of the items on our shopping list we hired a taxi for our 25 minute journey from Angouleme to Sireuil.

We started planning this trip many months ago & it was exciting to finally see our boat.

Our boat is a Nicols 1000 Sedan. It’s about 34 feet long with a spacious dining & galley area on the main level & 3 sleeping cabins & 2 bathrooms below deck. It’s pretty compact but comfortable.

The Nicols staff were very efficient at checking us in. They gave us a tour & tutorial of the systems on the boat and then took us & 2 other charter boats to the first lock.

Our route on the Charente River takes us from Sireuil to Saint Savinien, a distance of about 98 kilometers & a total of 15 locks that we have to operate ourselves. We have to return the boat to Sireuil in 7 days so we aren’t sure how far we will get before we have to turn around.

We have decided that we will take our time & stop at interesting places along the way. If we only go 30 or 40 kilometers before we have to turn around that will be fine. The map below shows the first segment of our journey.

It was almost 4:00pm when we left the Nicols depot. We made it through 2 locks & arrived at the 3rd lock at 6:00pm. This looked like a good place to stop & spend the night.

Ecluse de Mosnac (Mosnac Lock – the 3rd lock on our route)
///consultancy.unplayable.investigate
45°37’36.5484″N, 0°1’21.3204″W

Catherine & Valerie prepared a great meal of pasta & salad supported by some excellent local wines.

After dinner David & I cleaned up the dishes while Catherine & Valerie laid out plans for the next day.

Tomorrow we will pass through 3 locks to get to our next destination, the village of ….

Cheers!