Février 2005 (1)

One thing I used to enjoy doing on Sunday mornings in winter was take our first dog, Collette, over to Noyers-sur-Cher for a walk around the end point of the Canal de Beery. Sundays are hunting days here and there used to be half a dozen or so men out in the vineyard, toting rifles and shooting at game birds and hares, by 9:00 a.m. That's just a few minutes after the sun rises on the shortest days of winter. It didn't feel safe to go out into the vineyard with the dog, so we'd drive the three or four miles over to the canal terminus and walk there, where there were no hunters.

The canal de Berry, known early on as the canal du Cher, was built between 1808 and 1840. It was — still is, I think — 320 kilometers (200 miles) long and ended at Saint-Aignan/Noyers where the Cher river itself became navigable. The canal was dug just in time for the arrival of railroads, which quickly made it obsolete. Still, it remained in use until 1945 and finally de-commissioned in 1955. There really isn't any boat traffic on the Cher river these days.

The banks of the canal and the little port that marks its terminus is a fairly atmospheric place on winter mornings. The water doesn't really flow and its surface is often glassy smooth. Reflections on the water of the trees and houses that line the canal's banks are striking. A few colorful canal boats are on display in dry dock. Sometimes there are fisherman sitting at water's edge trying to catch a fish or two for lunch. And some of the people who live near the canal keep chickens, or at least used to.

These are some photos I took on February 6, 2005. Maybe I'll take Tasha over there for a walk this coming Sunday morning, weather conditions permitting.