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Canal du Centre Gray to Fragnes: July 5th
Fragnes to Digoin: July 11th
Transfers
between Paris and the Barge
GRAY to FRAGNES
On your arrival at Merganser you will have time to
settle in and, before dinner aboard Merganser, visit Gray, a small town
with interesting historic associations. The next day we leave Gray, passing the
junction with the Canal de la Marne à la Saône at Pontailler sur
Saône where we moor for the night. Continuing our cruise we reach Auxonne.
The young Napoleon came here to the artillery school and there is an
interesting statue of him as a young man in the main square. The following
morning we continue our cruise down the River Saône reaching St.-Jean-de-Losne,
a town marking the entrance to the Canal de Bourgogne, and an important centre
of inland navigation. The river now winds gracefully past cultivated fields,
scattered villages and distant woodland, its progress occasionally interrupted
by locks, until we reach Verdun-sur-le-Doubs, a charming town situated
at the junction of the Saône and the River Doubs, where we moor for the
night. Our cruise now continues to Chalon-sur Saône, where we leave the
river to enter the Canal du Centre, cruising to the village of Fragnes
which we have time to visit before our farewell dinner aboard Merganser.
Canal du Centre
FRAGNES to DIGOIN
On arrival at Fragnes there is time to visit the village and stroll the footpath before dinner aboard Merganser. Our cruise on the Canal du Centre starts next morning and as we climb towards its summit level we see the vineyards of the Côte d'Or spread out in the distance. Passing Chagny and St. Leger sur Dheune we arrive at Monchanin, the highest point of the canal. The canal now follows the course of the River Bourbince, passing through pretty countryside flanked by distant woods, past small villages where red tiled houses cluster round the bridges and locks. At Ecuisses an old lock and a French péniche have been restored and are on view. We pass Montceau-les-Mines to arrive at the important town of Paray-le-Monial. Boasting one of the finest examples of Romanesque architecture of Cluny in the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur the town has become the centre of the worship of the Sacred Heart and an important place of pilgrimage. We visit the Basilica and the town, then cruise to Digoin, our final destination. At Digoin there is time to visit the famous aqueduct over the River Loire before our farewell dinner aboard Merganser.
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