Paris: nothing special.

[Nomoss]

I wish we'd known about the Canal Saint-Martin when we were there. We saw only barges going into the tunnel, so assumed it was for commercial traffic. Maybe it was so in those days. We had become so wary by then of of breaking unexpected customary rules that we didn't even try to enter it. The violent reaction of some of the lock keepers, many of whom were surly, apparently poorly paid, military pensioners, to our occasional faux pas was sometimes quite unnerving, and spoilt our enjoyment of the journey at times.
We once followed a barge through a lock, operating it ourselves as the bargee and his wife ahead of us had just done. There had previously been many self-operated locks, so this didn't seem unusual. Suddenly the lock keeper returned from his lunch break, screaming and red in the face. He even took off his beret and jumped on it, shouting into my face from a few inches away that he might as well give up, as other people were taking away his job.
He calmed down when I asked him politely if he'd like a punch on the nose, but refused to let us out of the lock until we went back out and waited while he allowed someone through in the opposite direction. He must have then phoned the next lock, which was in the middle of nowhere, as we found it had closed early and was deserted. It was no great hardship, as we had a memorable bonfire and barbecue on the towpath side.

[RobertArthur]

@ Nomoss, every 10/15 years it is vidange, nettoyage et maintenance for this canal Saint-Martin.

[RobertArthur]

Nothing special, walking along the quays of the Seine. And then, suddenly, a simple but effective illustration of the great flood of Paris in 1910.

[Char]

Crikey, I hadn't realised the 1910 flood was that bad.

[RobertArthur]

Metro services interrupted.....

[Char]

Heavens, it must have taken ages to clean everything up after the water had gone back down.

[RobertArthur]

[Char]

Aren't you wonderful RobertArthur, Thanks for that I'll watch it later when I have time to concentrate properly.

[RobertArthur]

To prevent the Seine bursting its banks in Paris they decided after 1910 to construct reservoirs upstream, in the Nièvre and the Morvan. Lac du Crescent, Lac de Chaumeçon and finally in 1949 le Lac de Pannacière.

Nice lakes where the more interesting views are hiding below the surface. During maintenance works an opportunity to have a closer look, here the barrage of le Lac de Pannacière:














Department Lost & Found: a little river happy in its bed:

[RobertArthur]

From the Morvan back to a warm welcome in Paris: