Cruising the Canals of France: Dole, Dijon and the Canal de Burgogne

Cruising the canals and rivers of France is not your typical bareboat yacht charter. Once you decide where and how you want to cruise, there are few things to worry about other than learning to manage the locks. There are no sails to tweak, no electronics to monitor, no dinghies and outboards to keep track of, no seasickness, and very little real navigation because you can hardly get lost. And although the speeds may be comparable, life on a sailboat at six knots seems infinitely faster than life on a canal at five.

Initially, our cruise was to be a one-way tour from the charming town of Dole in eastern France, up the river Saone to Port-sur-Saone some 80 miles and 60 locks away. We arrived on Pentecost which is the feast that commemorates the Descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles, 50 days after the Resurrection of Christ. (I had to Google that.) To our surprise, Dole, in the Franche-Comte region, turned out to be more than just another town of 25,000 locals. We spent a day wandering the old town with its grand basilica and the detailed Louis Pasteur museum. Bands, street performers and small impromptu parades surrounded us into the evening when we stopped in a cozy restaurant on the romantic river walk. Over the door, a picture of two cats, one white and one black, sat on the moon with their tails entwined—letting us know that this was the creperie La Demi Lune (Half Moon). After a lovely dinner, we went down to the river and were treated to a lengthy fireworks show, the result of which we witnessed the next morning with small burn marks in the gelcoat of our boat.

We chose the self-drive option and chartered a four-cabin, two-head boat from Nicols, which has a base at the port de plaisance (marina) in Dole. By taking command of our very own small river barge, we got to set the itinerary, do the provisioning and figure out the locks on our own.

Unfortunately, we arrived in mid-May of the coldest and wettest spring Europe had experience in 40 years, and were stopped on the first day at the last lock on the Rhone au Rhin just before entering the Saone. Everything north was flooded, which meant we wouldn't be able to clear the bridges and tunnels. A bit of sweet-talking with the lock-keeper led him to let us pass onto the Saone with the promise that we’d head south into the Canal de Burgogne to Dijon, which was still open. And so our itinerary changed in a moment—but the relaxed mood was already settling in.

Maneuvering through the first lock in Dole was a small victory. Two rental boats or one large barge hotel can fit into a lock at a time. A successful first try led to high-fiving all around as if we had just crossed an ocean. Little did we realize that 40 locks later, we’d dread standing on deck in the rain, managing the lines in yet another lock.

We tied up to stone steps in St. Jean-de-Losne on our first evening. Metal rings drilled into the steps provided us with a way to secure ourselves, and there was evidence of a way to get electricity and water although no one ever came down to visit us. So we headed into town for dinner. The village has small basilica and so started my odyssey to visit and photograph every church, crypt and cathedral available on the trip.

The next morning, we turned into a lock that had a large sign announcing it as the entry to the Canal de Burgogne, where we spent the next day and a half traveling through a rolling lazy countryside with lots of locks. It became more interesting as we reached locks that were staffed by lock-keepers, which meant there was an open and close time for the day and after seven o’clock, there was little to do but pound stakes into the bank, tie up, and talk late into the night.

The lock-keepers often maintained more than one lock, so they would jump on their mopeds and race from one to the other to meet us as we trundled in. Although better prepared for the weather, they were standing out there with us so we befriended them with cups of tea and coffee. In turn, they allowed us to help open the gates and generally behave like children at a carnival.

Throughout most of the trip to Dijon, we were followed by a beautiful barge hotel named Caprice. Aboard were 20 people from Chicago, celebrating a 50th birthday. Since we locked through before them, we were often met by their group out on bicycles. A barge hotel is fairly all-inclusive, and they were having a luxury experience with a van that took them on excursions, gourmet meals prepared by a chef, and daily wine tastings. Later, in Dijon, we managed to talk our way aboard one evening and were welcomed with glasses of wine. They seemed impressed with the way we were doing the charter, which included driving, finding our own food, and managing the locks. In short, they thought we were brave—and we decided not to disabuse them of that notion, although our only courage was dealing with the weather at every lock while they were ensconced in a warm cabin with endless food and drink.

Dijon was a welcome change as we piled off the boat and headed into a beautiful city that has managed to mix its medieval character with modern amenities. Cafes and hideaway restaurants are on every corner, and Dijon even sports its own mini Arc de Triomphe called the Guillaume Gate. Dijon has several churches including the Notre Dame de Dijon, St. Michel, and the Dijon cathedral, below which the 1,000 year old crypt of St. Benignus is open to visitors. The fine arts museum is housed in the Palace of the Dukes, which looks out onto the spectacular Liberation Square with two rows of fountains that are accented at night with changing colored lights.

One morning we visited Les Halles, an indoor-outdoor market serving everything from flowers and handicrafts to every kind of cheese, pate, and produce imaginable. Everything looked delicious—although the skinned rabbits included heads and blind eyeballs, a bit disturbing to we visiting Americans who aren't used to their food resembling something cute and cuddly. Since we were in Dijon, a visit to the Maille mustard shop was a must. This establishment has been in business since 1747 and offers a mustard tasting with dozens of interesting concoctions, including champagne and raspberry mixes.