The stage from Nevers to Dôle takes in a wide variety of watercourses, landscapes and eras. From Nevers, we follow the lateral canal to the port of Digoin and the junction with the Canal du Centre.
Travel diary
The stage from Nevers to Dôle takes in a wide variety of watercourses, landscapes and eras. From Nevers, we follow the lateral canal to the port of Digoin and the junction with the Canal du Centre. Near the Canal du Centre bridge, we take a final break beside the great River Loire at the Observatoire de la Loire (fascinating insight into the local flora and fauna), before joining a modern canal where automation allows the lock keepers to look after several locks at once. From Digoin, the cycle route follows the towpath to the “sanctuary-town” of Paray-le Monial, home to Cluny monks and a popular Christian pilgrimage centre. The route continues alongside the Canal du Centre, through the industrial landscape of Montceau-les-Mines and Le Creusot. Old factories, sometimes abandoned, sometimes redeveloped, bear witness to the importance of this watercourse to the transport of coal, iron, and clay: all the materials needed to make steel and ceramics. Once past Cluny, we reach the great vineyards of Burgundy: Chassagne, Puligny, Meursault and Pommard, after which we rejoin the towpath, which is now a cycleway that continues to Chalon-sur-Saône: a new river, new countryside and magnificent villages, such as Gergy, Verdun-sur-le-Doubs and Seurre. From Saint-Jean-de-Losne, an attractive small town at the intersection of the River Saône, the Canal de Bourgogne and the Rhone-Rhine Canal, our route follows minor roads and the banks of the Rhone-Rhine Canal to Dôle.
A Greek biketourist by the canal center
Every year it welcomes artists in residence who have projects that involve working with clay.
Tourists can also visit the factory to discover how bricks and tiles are made, and to find out about the skills and lives of the hundreds of workers once employed by the factory.
The display of the artists’ works creates a dialogue between the industrial use of clay and artistic creation in this place of preservation and heritage.
This year, Fabrice Hyber has completed a project called “Fée Maison”, a two-square metre house produced from a single block of clay that required a purpose-built kiln and a whole month to fire! During the visit, my attention was attracted by a small steam locomotive with variable gauge wheels.
It was ordered by the German army in 1943 for use in the USSR (where the tracks had a wider gauge) and, having been blocked at the border, was bought at auction by the Vairet-Baudot brickworks to haul its bricks to Ciry-le-Noble.
La Briqueterie (see slideshow) www.lacommunaute.fr
A mere twenty kilometres from Chalon-sur-Saône, Verdun-sur-le-Doubs is a fabulous place at the confluence of the Doubs, the Saône and the Dheune. The old town retains its Mediaeval character and the captains of the boats and barges that moor in the small harbour still meet at the harbour master’s office in the middle of the town. As well as being a fishing centre and the capital of “La pôchouse”, a local fish dish, Verdun is a long-established crossroads that continues to provide a warm welcome to passing travellers.
On a fine late afternoon, the church bells are chiming as a dozen motorbikes rev their engines, giving off clouds of white smoke. I am a little taken aback by the din, as are several onlookers, who start photographing the spectacle. The bikes are noisy and most of the bikers are decked out in black leather . However, a couple dressed in white sit radiantly on a rather more comfortable three-wheeler: two newly-weds about to set off on a new life together. For almost half an hour, guests and tourists share the joy of this very “rock ‘n’ roll” couple, before the wedding party roars away in a cloud of white smoke! (see slideshow)