On Wednesday, Laurie and I took a day to take a bike ride on the Canal de Bourgogne. Laurie found a place in town to rent bikes (20 euros each for the day), and we made our way from the bike store to the canal, which runs on the periphery of Dijon.

The Canal de Bourgogne connects the Yonne River, which flows in to the Seine, with the Saône, which joins the Rhône. Thus the canal facilitates navigation between the English Channel and the Mediterranean. (The hills of central Burgundy create the continental divide between the English Channel (Seine), Atlantic (Loire) and Mediterranean (Rhône)).

Like our C & O canal from Washington to Cumberland, the Canal de Bourgogne never lived up to its promise, in part because its completion was followed closely by the construction of railroads, which could move goods more efficiently and at less expense. Unlike our C & O, the Canal de Bourgogne still carries boat traffic through its many locks. The boats no longer carry goods between commercial centers. Today, the boats are carrying vacationers. On the tow path are bicyclists and walkers.

At least some of the 189 locks are still operated by real people, and Laurie and I stopped to watch a couple of boats go through the locks. I tried my hand at closing a lock after a boat went through. After finishing with one boat, the lock operators hop on their motorcycles and ride to the next lock, to help the same boat go through. I’m not sure how many locks each attendant is responsible for or how the lock operators are paid. My guess is the job is seasonal.

At nearly every lock is a charming lock house for the attendants.

For the first time on this trip, it rained, and Laurie and I had to find shelter from a couple of thunderstorms that passed through. Alas, my vision of a nice cafe every five kilometers or so was just a mirage. We found no restaurant in our turnaround town, about 25 – 30 km from Dijon.

It was a beautiful ride on the well-maintained paved towpath. Between the shade and the rain, it was nice not to be hot for a day.