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On May 4 we leave
Montbeliard
after a day of R&R.
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Now that we have left the valley of the Doubs the canal leads through remote areas of the Franche Compte.
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A lock and immediately after a bridge over the river Allan.
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The canal branches towards Belfort (left) and the Rhein (right).
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No, no, no .. the other way! Not the Rhône - this is where we came from.
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That is better, the Rhine
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The branch leading to Belfort.
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Green in green - very relaxing navigation the the river Allen. |
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Yet another of these low bridges. We are glad the measurements in the books match the reality!
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One of the few draw or swivel bridges.
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Another contribution to the book: Impossible navigational signs.
Someone tell me how to get by with 4.55m on the `white' side of the sign as the whole
opening is just about 5.5m wide? May be I should drive partly over the grass?
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Even the cows come rushing by to see if we fit.
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The lock at
Montreux-Chateau
- the last up lock. After that it is down ........
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Our mooring for the night right above the lock in the `bief de partage' the dividing pond.
The dividing pond is at 341.5m altitude - it took us 91 locks to climb to this
altitude from sea-level at St. Gilles
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May 5 morning - we are scheduled to be at the first lock at 9am so we start early as the dividing
pond is about 5 km long. In the background one of the many feeder basins.
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We approach the first down-hill lock at the end of the pond.
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Betty calls this the `zipper'. Each of the small triangles represent one lock.
One lock after the other down into the Alsace.
This is the map for the stretch we plan to cruise on today. The dividing pond is at
the lower end of the map. Our mooring for the night will be just 16km away, but
24 locks still lie between us and Eglingen (about 3/4 up in the map).
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One of the two lockkeepers in rain protecting gear.
Here is how it works:
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They prepare the lock
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we drive into the lock chamber
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Tie up Avanti B
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While the lockkeepers close the upper doors
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then they let the water out
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and open the lower doors
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we drive out
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The lockkeepers take their mofa drive to the next lock (less than 100 away
and the cycle starts again.
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Halfway down the flight of locks we meet our first commercial barge on the Canal Rhône au Rhin.
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Our lunch-stop for the day - the lock below Dannemarie. Seems that there is plenty of water in the
canal as the lock entrance is under water.
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24 locks today! We stop below the lock of
Eglingen
next to a Restaurant offering local Alsatian food.
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A duck family seeks shelter under the banks.
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May 6; the last stretch on the Canal. Our goal is the reach Mulhouse in the afternoon.
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While we wait for the lockkeeper to operate the draw bridge a real important event happens.
The bells at a near-by school ring for lunch break. Now the parking lot becomes busy and the bridge
fills we students heading home.
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So we wait and wait and wait .....
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... about 15 minutes later the bridge finally opens, thank god we didn't
commit the biggest crime in France - disturb the lunch-break.
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The goal is nearly reached - Mulhouse in the background.
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I guess we could not have a flag pole that is higher than what we have now!
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Another contribution to the 'impossible navigation' collection! Buoys mark the left bank of the
channel under the Mulhouse train station bridge, but there is not enough space on the right side.
So we start the turbo and jump over the buoys ....
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Ecluse 41! The last lock of the 114 locks of the Doubs and Rhône-Rhein Canal.
Somehow my count is off by 2 locks, but maybe I didn't count guard locks or double locks, but
I don't think it makes a big difference - 112 or 114 seems plenty!
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Racine - what do you think? Is
Mulhouse
nice place
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