Clamecy

 Clamecy is the main city of the region.  It has a medieval core, a large cathedral, a wonderful Saturday morning market, a delightful little cafe for a 5pm refreshment, several boulangeries and most everything one wants.  

We are tied up at the haut nautique and it is a short walk to everything.  Sometimes  uphill and winding route through the medieval streets. We have enjoyed walking and seeing the views from different angles.  

This is the center of the reason the Nivernais canal was built.  When Paris ran out of wood for fires, heat, cooking, then the Morvan forest nearby was a resource for the city on the Seine.  The canal was built to float  millions of logs down to the Seine over the years.  The debate was as to how big to make the canal, and the riverboat people won out in making the canal big enough for barges.  They would make a log boom type of raft and in the Spring let go of water behind dams built and float the logs all the way to Paris. 

Clamecy celebrates this past resource, which was replaced by coal.  It ran until the early 1900s.  Now, France relies a lot on nuclear power. 

There is a good museum that details the flottage of logs, as well as the career of Romain Rolland, a local author, and Loupot, a local poster artist of reknown.  Also a great display of Roman ruins that includes an Astrology wheel that predicted the auspicious times to proceed.

Saturday market produce, even had chanterelles!

Saturday Market held in a beautiful building.

Clamecy is a beautiful place which we will return to many times this trip.  It is an excellent spot to restock the boat and enjoy a "big city" with a small town feel.