A post went missing: Goodbye Canal Des Vosges, Hello Petite Saône – Fontenoy le Chateau to Corre.

9 – 11 June 2017.

22.3 kilometers, 12 locks, 1 swing bridge

Friday 9 June: Fontenoy le Chateau to PK141.4. 16.2 kilometers, 8 locks, 1 swing bridge.

Our navigation guide recommended a visit to the glass factory at Passavant-la-Rochère so in showery, cool weather we departed Fontenoy

and set off south through pretty countryside,

eventually exiting the Des Voges ‘department’ and entering the Franche-Comté region where we tied up at a quarter to one at a long wall with adequately spaced bollards in the middle of nowhere – lovely!

On Saturday the weather had improved into a magnificent day so the bikes were off-loaded and we set of for Passavant-la-Rochère and the glass factory about four kilometres away – but there is always a catch, isn’t there! Passavant-la-Rochère is actually two towns; Passavant is the one four kilometres from our mooring and Rochère is the one another two kilometres further on – thank goodness my laziness had prompted me to take the eBike as the route was pretty hilly. Passavant is a pretty little town but with not much to offer apart from a tiny ‘tabac’, an interesting square, an imposing but locked church and some medieval and 18thC buildings.

Passavant

Tour de France country.

The glass blowing at Rochère is nothing to write home about but they make low quality glassware and were exporting it to Japan, Georgia and China according to the stacked pallets in the yard. The salesroom holds mainly cheap, mass production pieces but there were some good quality crystalline items for sale – we bought two Martini glasses.

The tiny village nearby is delightful.

On a whim we decided not to stop at Elle on our way back but to have a quick look at the town of Corre which was five kilometres in the other direction. There is not much to Corre at all (apparently it was a hub for the French Resistance in WWII) apart from the huge marina so it was back to Elle but this time along the tow-path which starts just out of town and does not extend to the marina – quicker and more comfortable.

Our view across the canal.

Sunday 11 June 2017: PK141.4 to Corre. 7 kilometers, 4 locks.

Leaving at quarter to nine so that we could get to the Intermarche in Corre before it closed at midday, we cruised leisurely past Demangevelle, the signpost for which is almost bigger than the town itself,

Demangeville

past the invisible long mooring wall as shown in the Fluviacarte just before Corre; just after the big bridge is a small marina, followed by the municipal mooring (rusted shuttering)

The small marina.

Quai Payant!

then it was into our last lock on the Canal Des Voges where we handed back our telecommand and when the doors opened we were ejected into the part river, part canal, Petite Saône. After a sharp right turn we arrived at the very smart, short-term visitors pontoon of the very large marina.

Visitors pontoon, Corre

The main marina.

Shopping done, we headed off to the restaurant which overlooks the moorings, the most memorable part of which was sympathising with a couple of tables over slow service – one couple had not even had their drinks order taken after fifty minutes! It’s crazy – the French really ‘do’ Sunday lunch so having one chef, one server and one ‘other’ doing the drinks, helping in the kitchen and helping with service in a 50 seater restaurant is just not going to work.

The rushed staff.

Back aboard we had a quick chat with a British couple on their smart and fairly new Linsson 40 Aura before retiring to our books and eventually to bed.