The Canal du Nivernais staged one of its collapses last summer. A wall at Crain was leaking badly, so navigation had to be halted. For our hotel-barge this meant a change of schedule. We would turn the boat earlier, then extend the northward end of our route into the Yonne Navigation. The Yonne Navigation! The very mention brings a frisson. Much of what follows does not apply to smaller craft; for them it is straightforward. But, for those with a barge, this singular waterway resembles more of an assault course than the river of dreams. To clarify: the River Yonne weaves in and out of the Nivernais Canal, causing little difficulty, save during flood. But northward from Auxerre, on a 106-km journey to the Seine, the route has changed its name, and the problems multiply. The main difficulty is with the locks, which are bigger. There are 26 of these, of various shapes and sizes. Several have sloping sides, arranged that way for ease of construction.
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