We spent two weeks in Nevers. We hadn’t planned to be there that long. We were anxious to continue our journey to Paris. But we were waiting for a (relatively) nearby shipyard to tell us the part we had ordered had arrived. Finally, we got word. Aleau was cruising again.
It wasn’t long before we arrived at another Pont Canal. I find them spectacular. This time, we were crossing the Allier River on an amazing piece of engineering – built almost 200 years ago.
On the right, sandbars. On the left, way more water. The transformation was right below us.
The pont canal is almost 350 metres long – and is followed immediately by a double lock that drops nine-and-a-half metres (31 feet). I looked behind and couldn’t believe we were still dropping. And there was still one more lock to go.
Looking forward, I could see how much farther we had to drop. The two locks share the door between them, two locks but just three doors. It’s a long way down.
Once over the Pont Canal and through the double lock, we moored for the night in Marseilles-lès-Aubigny – leaving just enough room for boats to pass behind us.
The next morning, it was time for Aleau’s stern to be hauled out of the water.
I highly recommend Chantier Naval Evezard. They have a concrete ramp that extends into the canal, a hydraulically-adjustable trailer strong enough to support Aleau – and most important, the willingness to work on Aleau right away – even though our arrival date was uncertain. The parts had to arrive before anything could be done.
Using a rack of hydraulic levers, Remi Evezard, the owner, positioned the trailer under Aleau.
While he was using big, heavy equipment, it was precision work. The width and height of the trailer had to be adjusted down to the millimetre.
Supports had to be raised just so. Remi was going to be working underneath 50 tonnes of steel.
Working not just under Aleau – but in the not-so-clean water of the canal.
By lunch time, the work was done. In what still surprises me, even after all the time we have been in France, is the almost total disinterest in being paid immediately. Two characteristics we see in France that are almost non-existent in North America – the low priority they give to money and the high priority they give to trusting each other. When we asked how much we owed, we got a shrug. “I have your e-mail address. I’ll send you the bill.” We’re still waiting.
So we went back to our mooring in Marseilles-lès-Aubigny. Like so many other places we’ve been to, a bite to eat was only a stone’s throw away. Day or night.
