tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-98569482012-02-16T05:59:29.548-08:00An outsider's view of living on a barge in France. So this is all about canals, rivers, locks and of course wine. Working on the barges, crew and lock keepers.Bargerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17195569287473918040noreply@blogger.comBlogger161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856948.post-10620426279414955962008-10-29T17:15:00.000-07:002008-10-29T17:25:55.010-07:00

Time is going by very quickly, so I have to catch up and explain what has been going on.First of all my bother in law has finally taken the step and is now the proud owner of his own barge which will be called The Duke.He'll begin cruising in 2009 and has a great cruise concept. I'll keep you informed and post more details very soon.A good friend of mine "Emma" is now blogging and has much to

Bargerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17195569287473918040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856948.post-79847110702254005652007-04-02T15:44:00.000-07:002007-04-03T01:17:55.807-07:00

I've seen this happen before, but this time I was really surprised. Here's the story but no names as I'm sure the affair is not finished.Somebody contacted me to ask for help and advice in building a hotel barge. I willingly agreed as this subject really interest me. I've been messing around with hotel barges for most of my life.So after quite a few telephone calls about serious subjects such

Bargerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17195569287473918040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856948.post-1170842119012332862007-02-07T01:47:00.000-08:002007-02-07T16:10:39.773-08:00

We've been hearing reports that the Canal du Midi may be closed to all traffic for this season, or at the best only open to boats with a very shallow depth 60-80 cm !!!This is very bad news for all.The hotel barges will have to change their routes and programs.All on the river Rhone and Saône ?Some of them will may decide to cruise up to the Burgundy or the Centre.As for the self drive, I heard

Bargerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17195569287473918040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856948.post-1167473538514095372006-12-30T02:05:00.000-08:002006-12-30T04:34:00.613-08:00

Living on a boat offers many magical moments.When I have time to relax my favourite spot is in the wheel house. A bird's eye panoramic view. It's like sitting in a tree with a dominate 360 angle look-out over the surroundings. You can watch people passing by on the tow path, fish jumping and basically have a very agreeable time.So as to not waste these precious hours posted in the wheel house,

Bargerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17195569287473918040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856948.post-1162741533249013912006-11-05T07:42:00.000-08:002006-11-05T07:45:33.260-08:00

The canals and barging should be a hot topic for all of us. They're now telling us that the world is warming up. The motorways and roads are jammed with trucks and cars driving in all directions, burning our precious fossil fuels at an alarming rate.So why do they not take a closer look at the old fashioned canals and rivers as a method of reducing heat and C02 emissions?There are already

Bargerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17195569287473918040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856948.post-1141400214433981352006-03-03T06:53:00.000-08:002006-03-03T07:45:31.263-08:00

A 38 metre hotel barge has just arrived for the dry dock at Saint Jean, she cruised down from Dijon after spending winter in the city's port.Once the dry dock is ready, the barge enters and is moored in place with ropes keeping the boat in the ideal postion, whilst a diver places 8 steel "chairs" underneath the barge in line with the water tight compartments. Slowly the water is emptied and the

Bargerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17195569287473918040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856948.post-1139505915271092042006-02-09T09:23:00.000-08:002006-02-14T12:20:33.576-08:00

There are some interesting views of the Burgundy Canal using Google Earth.This link give a great view of the canal entrance at Saint Jean de Losne, with the basin and dry dock.This link shows a 38 metre barge heading upstream.This one shows a couple of smaller boats in lock 64.For the moment only the southern part of canal after is available in HiRes images, from lock 63 down to Saint Jean de

Bargerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17195569287473918040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856948.post-1137766985314949872006-01-20T06:04:00.000-08:002006-11-24T14:46:17.266-08:00

I've been driving along the Ouche valley almost every day for the last few months, there are many pounds between the locks which are empty of water. Some of the locks are being repaired, which is a valid reason for emptying the water, but I'm surprised to see other stretches which have been empty for weeks, apparently for no reason.I've walked around the reservoir of Chazilly which is extremely

Bargerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17195569287473918040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856948.post-1123318495498856662005-08-06T01:39:00.000-07:002005-11-24T00:38:41.016-08:00

The canal has really changed.Before each lock house was occupied by a lock keeper, who would pass the barges through, occasionally helping out the neighbouring lock keeper as well.Well that is no longer the case. There is obviously a new policy to reduce the number of lock keepers on the canal. Today they are equipped with VHF radios and are mobile with Vespa scooters.When you present your barge

Bargerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17195569287473918040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856948.post-1114607373847302452005-04-27T05:56:00.000-07:002005-08-06T01:38:47.786-07:00

Great to be on the barge and moving again.I've cruised 24 locks upstream from Dijon, all the lock keepers seemed happy to be back at their stations and turning the handles. It's pleasant to have some small talk with them about how the winter went and what has happened. Quite often comparing how much wood each other had to burn to keep the house warm; what work has and hasn't been done on the

Bargerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17195569287473918040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856948.post-1110827159677276472005-03-14T10:56:00.000-08:002005-03-14T11:05:59.680-08:00

More than two months of snow...Everything was black and white, I've spent the last few weeks trying to keep the boat warm. I've burnt almost every peice of wood that I could find. Today the temperature climbed upto 11°C !!! Spring is here, it really is. The last few weeks have been very frustrating. Now I can make plans about getting evrrything ship shape. I must sand down the wheel house and but

Bargerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17195569287473918040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856948.post-1109532678043193092005-02-27T11:23:00.000-08:002005-02-27T11:33:37.210-08:00

Freezing, can't do work on the barge. I'm even heating the engine room...As it's been so cold I decided to begin to look for work for the up and coming season on the hotel barges.Fantastic luck, I found a vacancy on a nice looking barge.I saw the owner last Friday and he took me on straight away. I've known him for a few years, but I've been working with his competition for the past seasons. His

Bargerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17195569287473918040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856948.post-1106687702720773132005-01-25T13:04:00.000-08:002005-01-25T13:49:14.806-08:00

It began to snow Sunday late afternoon, the temperature has really dropped, Monday snowed in, too risky to try drive anywhere. So pilled as much wood as possible into the stove. The canal is now frozen over, I can almost walk across. Anyhow the towpath is very quite, very few people walking of cycling since Sunday. I've just checked the thermometer, it's now -12°c outside. The forecast said it

Bargerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17195569287473918040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856948.post-1106171228399593912005-01-19T13:26:00.000-08:002005-01-21T06:28:28.976-08:00

Generally the canal has closed in mid November and reopens at the end of March. Here are the main reasons. The water supply becomes low. During the Summer the barge traffic consume the water supply which is stocked in the main reservoirs. This water supply is accumulated during the winter period. There is much less boat traffic during the winter, maintaining all the lock keeprs at their

Bargerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17195569287473918040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856948.post-1104430675269329172004-12-30T10:15:00.000-08:002005-01-25T13:51:40.230-08:00

My barge was built in the 1920's, she's called "Vieux reve" which means the "Old dream". She is a "Luxe motor", type of boat. With a length of 30 metres (thats just a bit more than a 100 feet), 5 metres wide, the keel draws 1.10 metres on the stern, and 50 cm at the bow, there is just one lower deck, a large sun deck, the original crew quaters at the stern, the barge offers much space. There are

Bargerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17195569287473918040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9856948.post-1104429198653417302004-12-30T09:45:00.000-08:002004-12-30T10:13:49.693-08:00

I think I'll start this with the intention of sharing some of my barging experience and the passion I have developed for the canals over the last 20 years. Just to situate you, I'm in France, in the region of Burgundy, on what is called the Canal of Burgundy, I've been living and working on a barge for quite a few years. I guess like many other people, I decided to "throw" it all away and get out

Bargerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17195569287473918040noreply@blogger.com0