Captains of Brittany

Ah, yes, those French barge trips. Wine steward, haute cuisine, a party all the way.

That was the usual reaction from friends when we said we were going canal cruising in France. When we explained that we were renting a small boat with another couple to motor into the interior of Brittany, the reactions were less predictable: “Just where is Brittany?” or “How did you hear about this?”

Our friends Sheila and Lee Smith, English retirees settled in southwest France, are accustomed to seeing vacationers on barges along France’s rivers and canals. When my husband, Herb, casually suggested to them in a letter that we should all go on a canal cruise together, he and I envisioned a luxury barge staffed with servants and a chef.

Sheila and Lee suggested something different. They sent us a brochure showing types of small, self-piloted craft: not the big flat ungainly barges we were thinking of, but little cabin cruisers that sleep four and can pass through the narrowest of canals, past little towns. They estimated that about $1,000 per couple would cover a week’s itinerary, including boat rental, lodging, fuel and insurance (but not including our air fare from the United States). It sounded like a fun, manageable adventure for four sixtyish landlubbers.

Sheila and Lee suggested Brittany because it would be new to all of us. We chose to rent our river cruiser from the Nicols company, which oversees more than 300 boats throughout France, and pick it up at Suce-sur-Erdre, just north of Nantes. From there we would follow the Erdre River to the entrance to the Nantes-Brest Canal, an hour or two upstream. We would spend three days on the canal, cruise the Vilaine River to the town of Redon, and return the way we had come. This would leave time for a leisurely day cruise down to Nantes on the last day of our itinerary. All together, we would log about 80 miles, round trip.

We were certainly attracted to Brittany’s storied past. A region that extends northwest out of the Loire Valley, lapped by the Atlantic to the south and the English Channel to the north, Brittany stood for centuries at the crossroads of French and English rivalries. The local people, called Bretons, have Celtic roots, a dialect similar to Gaelic and distinctive local customs.

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Our adventure began last year on a crisp, sunny Sunday in mid-June. We were pleased with our diesel-powered cabin cruiser, the Angers, when we first saw it; it combined maneuverability with comfort. Motor cruisers of this design are increasingly popular as a more reasonably priced alternative to the traditional canal barge. The Angers is 30 feet long, with two double beds, two bathrooms with showers, and a roomy galley and dinette area. The boats’ boarding deck was dock level, making access relatively easy for Lee, who walks with canes and a brace as a result of a spinal injury. We fixed our own simple breakfasts and lunches on board and dined in small cafes in little towns along the way at night. For four people, the accommodations were tight, but each couple usually spent time alone off the boat each day; our friendship remained intact, despite the close quarters.

No prior boating experience was needed. A representative of the rental agency came aboard to demonstrate everything from the throttle to the toilets. Then he backed the Angers out of its slip and headed downstream. We glided through the narrow opening under a stone bridge and out onto a wide curve in the river.

Sheila and I listened attentively as the men were given hands-on lessons at the wheel. Sheila’s small gray poodle, Jolie, cowered in a corner of the galley. We followed Monsieur’s instructions, and his gestures, with rapt attention, responding: “Ah, oui!” “Bien sur!” “Entendu,” “OK!” and even “No problem!” as we caught on, or thought we did. After a half hour or so he returned to the dock, signed our temporary license, and disembarked. We were on our own.

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The Erdre is one of France’s loveliest rivers, and on the Sunday morning our voyage began it was idyllic. French families glided by us in sailboats, canoes, rowboats, kayaks and rubber rafts. We exchanged waves and smiles as we passed. Elderly couples sat on camp chairs at the river’s edge, fishing.

As the river widened into the Lac de Mazerolles, a bird sanctuary, we saw moor hens, ducks and a swan family that glided out of the reeds and lingered in our wake as we coasted. A little farther on, an egret stood motionless as a signpost in the shallows. Colonies of water lilies bobbed along the shoreline, their yellow buds just poised to open.

Beyond the Lac de Mazerolles the river narrowed again. On our left we soon spotted the entrance to the Nantes-Brest Canal and our first lock, Quiheix. Here, novice sailors are shown a training video on lock operations. Even at attended locks it is expected that boaters will assist the lock keepers, and in mid-June some locks are still unattended.

After watching the English video at Quiheix, we had a theoretical grasp of the workings of the rack and pinion mechanism that controls the floodgates and sluices. We also understood how the mooring ropes should be handled to keep the boat from knocking about in the lock. The practical test came immediately after, as the lock keeper, a patient man, monitored and assisted our maiden passage through his lock. After that it was up to us to remember the sequence of operations at the next five locks that came up in rapid succession, during the next few hours.

The Nantes-Brest Canal, now refurbished for pleasure cruising, was begun in 1811 during the Napoleonic Wars as an inland artery linking Nantes and Brest, a way to get commerce around a British blockade. It flourished as a trade artery throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Now refurbished and devoted entirely to pleasure cruising, it penetrates a land of ancient forests, stone farmhouses, medieval towns and enchanting chateaux that motorists do not see.

Sunday strollers and bicyclists along the towpath stopped to watch our lock maneuvers. Lee, our chief helmsman, would steer the Angers alongside the landing before the lock, while Herb and I would get off so we could operate the machinery onshore. While the lock filled, Sheila and Lee would keep tension in the ropes that were looped around the bollards.

Somehow I always ended up working the gate mechanism on the bank opposite the boat. This meant that after the lock was filled and the upstream gates were open, I had to dash back across the downstream gates and jump aboard the Angers before it left the lock, or else meet it at the landing a hundred yards or so beyond the lock exit. Terrific exercise, but I was grateful when Herb recruited two bicyclists, who appeared at successive locks, to operate the mechanisms on the opposite bank and spare me that last scramble.

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We became jaunty and self-confident. When a downstream landing was blocked so that we could not be put ashore before the Angers entered one of the locks, Herb climbed the iron rungs fixed to the granite blocks inside. Emerging on top, he called “Bonjour!” to a young couple on the towpath who were pushing a large stroller with a blue and white checked parasol and matching coverlet. They laughed and came over to get acquainted. Sheila and Lee, holding their ropes taut as the waters rose, chatted with the young mother. We learned that she was English and her husband French. They were wheeling 6-month-old twin boys. Jolie also had come topside to greet the other dogs onshore.

In the course of the week we would have numerous lock-side conversations about dogs, children, computers, the Internet, films, music, American history and politics. Each lock provided an opportunity for new interactions.

By the end of the first day we were tired and happy to find a mooring near the Reservoire de Bout-de-Bois, the highest point in the canal system. Spruced up, we ventured along the bank of the canal to the nearest restaurant. Closed. Nearby, in a small smoky bar, we found three young men with weathered faces and gaps in their teeth who told us there would be no dinner available anywhere on a Sunday night. Sunday is family day. They were distressed by our predicament. We told them we were fine, that we had food on the boat--soup, pate, cheese, vegetables, wine--all left over from our picnic lunch. A pity there was nowhere to buy bread, but no matter.

“Ah!” said one of the young men. He thought his wife might still have some of today’s bread. He headed out the back door of the bar. We thought he lived there until we spotted him pedaling his bicycle down the road. After 15 minutes he returned with half a crusty pain, still very fresh, which he was delighted to give to us. We shook hands and returned to the Angers, where we enjoyed our dinner and slept very well.

In addition to providing outdoor exercise, occupational skills and French language practice, the canal offered lessons in history. Near the small town of Blain we explored the grounds of the Chateau de la Groulais, first constructed by the duke of Brittany in the 12th century, 400 years before Brittany officially became part of France.

We cruised on from Blain the third day, past sleepy black and white cows and stone farmhouses with white or turquoise shutters. Patches of deep woodland remained from the ancient forests that once furnished the keels, decks and masts of France’s fighting ships, as well as material for its legends. We moored at Guenrouet for lunch on the terrace of the Relais St. Clair, which offered an excellent buffet of shellfish, pates and local specialties.

Another three hours of cruising brought us to the canal’s outlet to the Vilaine at Bellions lock. There were no locks between Guenrouet and Bellions; we were free to sunbathe and daydream.

After being on the narrow canal, it was exciting to venture onto the wide and spacious Vilaine River, which is flanked by marshlands stretching on either side to distant low hills.

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A century ago, when the river city of Redon was a crossroads of commercial waterways, the Nantes-Brest Canal followed its own course into Redon and then cut across the Vilaine River at a tricky intersection in the middle of town. Canal travelers are now diverted to the Vilaine, which is closed to most commercial shipping. Beyond Redon, recreational boaters can rejoin the canal to continue toward the medieval city of Josselin and Rohan in the heart of Brittany, or follow the Vilaine to Rennes and Dinan, near St.-Malo. Although the total distance we had covered to Redon was only about 40 miles we were content to keep our six-day voyage simple.

We found a mooring in Redon’s Grand Basin Nautique among a wide variety of vessels. Then we went wandering in the old port district just east of the yacht basin and proceeded toward the center of town. We found a newsstand that sold postcards. We selected a great many. The postcards showed the lock keepers’ cottages, with their colorful shutters and flowers, the lock machinery, the wildflowers that went by too fast for close-ups and the barnyards full of cows, goats, sheep, donkeys and chickens.

Back home now, Herb is reading about the canals that played their part in American history. As he puts down his book and gazes out toward my garden, I begin to worry. Soon a trench filled with water may appear. Then he will start assembling pieces of metal, a little rack and pinion arrangement, some hinges. . . .

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GUIDEBOOK

Brittany’s Water Ways

Getting there: Air France and AOM French Airlines fly nonstop from LAX to Paris. Advance-purchase, round-trip fares start at $475.

France’s TGV train makes a daily, three-hour run from Paris’ Gare Montparnasse to Nantes. One-way fares start at $93 for first class and $67 for second class.

Boat rentals: Rates for seven-day rentals vary by the boat’s capacity and the season. The rental cost for a boat large enough for four adults can range from $1,000 to $1,600 in March or October to $1,600 to $2,350 in July or August. Representatives in France speak English.

Nicols, Route du Puy-St-Bonnet, 49300 Cholet; from the U.S., telephone 011-33-2-41-56-4656, fax 011-33-2-41-56-4647. This company rents more than 300 motor cruisers throughout France. Departure bases in Brittany are at Suce-sur-Erdre and Rohan.

Crown Blue Line, Le Grand Bassin, BP 21 11401 Castelnaudary Cedex; tel. 011-33-4-68-94-5272. U.S. representative: Skipper Travel Services Ltd., 1500 41st Ave., Suite 8B, Capitola, CA 95010; tel. (408) 462-5333, (800) 631-1030, fax (408) 462-5178. This company rents more than 400 motor cruisers in France, England and Holland. Departure bases in Brittany at Messac and Dinan on the Vilaine River north of Redon.

Locaboat Plaisance, Quai Port au Bois, 89300 Joigny Cedex; tel. 011-33-3-86-91-7272. U.S. representative: Skipper Travel Services Ltd., (see above). Locaboat Plaisance rents more than 350 small barges in France, Holland and Germany. Departure base is in Brittany at Redon.

For more information: French Government Tourist Office, 9454 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 715, Beverly Hills, CA 90212; tel. (310) 271-6665, fax (310) 276-2835.