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

to

Mosnac-Saint-Simeux Mooring Wall
///debility.unzip.gilding
45°37’17.5332″N, 0°1’34.9824″W

Distance travelled: 4 kilometers plus 2 locks

Another chilly morning greeted us. I was up at 5:00 am trying to figure out how the gas heater works so I could heat up the main cabin for the crew.

On board the boat Catherine & I have essentially reversed our morning wake-up times. At home she is normally up around 5:30 – 6:30 am to practice yoga & to work on her writing projects. That’s at least 1 – 2 hours before I get up.

Here on the boat I’m usually the first to get up around 5:00 – 5:30 am to boil some water for coffee & tea for the crew & to also try to generate some heat in the main cabin. After those tasks are completed I have a bit of time to work on the blog before the rest of the crew wakes up.

The boat has a propane gas heater but it requires shore power for the hot air fan to work.  There have only been a few mooring spots where shore power was available so I have resorted to boiling a large pot of water on the galley’s propane stove to help warm up the room. It’s crude but it works!

I guess if I had the right skills I could be baking baguettes & croissants in the oven. That would warm up the galley, make the boat smell amazing & give us some tasty treats for the day. Sadly, my culinary talents are pretty much limited to boiling water so I will stick to that routine & we will have to rely on the local bakers for our treats.

Photo above – I was especially motivated to get up early this morning because we were having choclatines for breakfast that the crew bought yesterday afternoon from a bakery in the village.

We only have 5 locks left to go through before we arrive back at the Nicols  charter boat base in Sireuil. We planned to go through 2 locks today & spend the night on the mooring wall at Mosnac-Saint-Simeux.

Photo above – looking back at our mooring spot at Chateauneuf-sur-Charante as we depart for Mosnac-Saint-Simeux.

Photo above –  a home beside the river on the edge of the village.

Photo above – a little bit of someone’s paradise located just a few hundred meters before we reached our first lock of the day.

Photo above – entering our first lock. Thankfully the sun was getting strong enough to warm us up.

ByPhoto above – Valerie taking in some sun while the boat is rising in the lock.

Photo above – The place where we have docked for the day is also directly in front of Pub Gabariers.

We arrived at Mosnac-Saint-Simeux around 11:30 am, so this was a very short travel time for us.

This village is very pretty but doesn’t have any amenities other than the pub.

Valerie and Catherine went for a walk through the village to see the church on the hilltop.

Photo above – morning glories and cat along the way

Photo above – kitten crossing sign – go slowly!

Photo above – the interior of the church

Photo above – amazing light pattern through the stained glass window onto the stone floor inside the church.

While the women were out walking, I noticed a really nice sports car in the parking lot & walked over to take a closer look at it.

Michel, the owner of the car & his friend Gilles came over to talk with David & I.

Photo above – this is a 1971 Renault Alpine.

Michel has owned this car for 44 years. He didn’t speak much English but his friend was quite fluent so we had a great conversation about classic cars & all the work that Michel had done to the car over the years.

They told us that there was a big classic sports rally & races in Angouleme this weekend. And, lucky for us, many of the rally cars were touring the area & would be driving on the road past where we were staying for the night.

We had lunch in the pub & it was very tasty. David & I had hamburgers & Valerie & Catherine had chicken burgers.

There was a unique snack “vending machine” close to where we were sitting. You could buy little cans of peanuts, jelly beans, olives & other snacks from it. The cafe owner told us it was very old but still worked & was restocked frequently.

Photo above – David getting some snacks from the vending machine. You find what you want to buy & then manually turn the entire top until the column of  snacks you want is lined up with a little door. Then you put in a 1 Euro coin to unlock the door!

After lunch we all had a brief rest. About 4:00 pm some sports cars started arriving in the pub’s parking lot & some of the drivers told us that there would be a few dozen classic cars coming down the adjacent road very shortly.

Photo above – David told me he used to own a car just like this. A 1972 MGB GT from 1974 to 1976.  His was aqua colour.

Photo above – Citroen CV – very classic French. I’d love a car like this.

Photo above – Porsche Speedster – Catherine wants one of these. However, this particular model of car is worth as much as a very nice boat that I would love to have. So, I guess we will have to decide.  Quite honestly, I think the value of the car would increase over time whereas the boat is likely to depreciate, so the car is a better choice.

Photo above – this would be a fun car to tour France in.

Photo above – or how about this one?

Photo above – this one is very sporty

Photo above – another!  Sadly, I have so little time & even less money to pursue these gems.

While we were watching about two dozen classic cars drove by. We were able to get a good look at each of them as they passed because they were coming up to a 90 degree corner & had to slow right down to navigate the turn.

Catherine & I walked a little further down the road to view a little basin off the main river channel that had been restored a number of years ago. Part of the infrastructure in the basin was originally designed to trap eels that the fishers would sell to locals & eat themselves.

Photo above – a view of the restored basin

Late in the afternoon we began to think about our evening meal & also about what provisions we would need to finish off our cruise on the Charente. We have to return the boat by 9:00 am on Monday morning so there isn’t much point to buying more groceries. We decided to make the best with what we have on hand & then look for a cafe if we need more.

Photo above – we started with a late afternoon chaqueterie board. If you take a close look at the photo you will see that it is a pretty meagure offering. We all had a pretty good chuckle over that & then poured ourselves another glass of wine.

Catherine & Valerie once again worked their “galley magic” & came up with additional snacks that were more than sufficient to satisfy our cravings. No one has gone hungry on this cruise!

As the sun set our minds turned once again to euchre & we played several rounds until bedtime.

Photo above – The moon was now rising & was about 3/4 of the way to being full. We had a nice view of it from our stern & enjoyed it’s reflection in the water.

I am still learning how to get the most out of the camera that comes with my new phone. Hopefully I can get some nice moon shots over the next week or two. 

Tomorrow is our last day on the boat. We just have 3 locks & a few kilometers to go to arrive at the boat charter base.

Cheers!

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!