Canal du centre: Genelard to Paray-le-Monial

Monday 31 July to Thursday 3 August 2017

20.5 kilometers, 7 locks, 4 hours 40 minutes (20 minute delay at lock 21).

On yet another very warm way we bade farewell to Mick and his two dogs as well as to the very pleasant Dutch couple aboard Liane, cruised through the first lock, gave a toot as we passed P’tit Bistro, stopped to check that the water was working at the little quay at Palinges (it was – we didn’t check that the electricity [two prong] was working but we had seen a boat plugged in the previous day so assumed that it was)

The small, serviced quay at Palinges

and, apart from a delay at lock 21 where Piper barge Viator was stuck until the lock was filled and the mechanism was reset, we had a most uneventful, pretty cruise to Paray-le-Monial

where the large municipal marina held only two barges, Sire du Dhuin (?) and Fairhaven which we had last seen in Verdun;

we were joined later by Blue Belle who were on our bow but soon moved away to be closer to the other Antipodeans on Fairhaven,

Paray-le-Monal, with its roots going back to the 10thC, is gorgeous and everything one could wish for in a small French town; lots of churches and ancient buildings,

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart taken from the bridge over the River Bourbince.

The cloister garden.

The Chapelains Park

The Chapel of the Visitation.

The mosiac-rich Chapel of La Colombiere

His tomb.

His bones.

The Hotel de Ville (Town Hall)

café lined streets, parks and gardens,

One of our coffee stops.

Spotless streets.

Medieval facade.

the Canal du Centre and River Bourbince bisecting it and on the periphery, large supermarkets and motor dealers.

We did much of the proposed walking tour – most of the town is closed to ‘normal’ traffic as, from mid-July to the end of August it is pilgrimage time when thousands of Catholic christians come to Paray to do what pilgrims do while on a pilgrimage. Historically, Paray-le-Monial has always been an important center for pilgrims based around the Order of the Sacred Heart and at some stage it was the biggest in France. While not being of any religious persuasion myself, it was however lovely being serenaded by gospel music during happy hour and for the hours up to bed time – the huge tent church is a stone’s throw from the quayside.

And at nine in the morning while we were having morning coffee the bands started up again…

Having decided that we would spend a third night in Paray but with temperatures hitting 34C (and somewhat hotter inside our steel home) we moved about five hundred meters downstream to where there was shade but no facilities – we had also found an old horologist in town who said that, if he could source the parts, he would repair my old, gold Omega watch for 70 Euros, something I had been quoted €250 by a watchmaker in Spain; this necessitated us having to spend two nights in our lovely, shady (and a bit noisy from passing traffic) downstream mooring.

Apart from the odd foray into town for coffee and window shopping and two trips to the big supermarkets from one of which we came away with a small microwave I also managed to get two more tyres from the bike shop opposite us – just in time as the originals on my Dutch bike had perished badly (never spray WD40 on rubber) and were about to split completely at the rim.

Paray is a special little town and well worth visiting.