Canals and a road

The Sologne's Canal de la Sauldre was unique - cut off from other waterways. Upstream along the Loire from Gien is the real thing. At Briare, the canal of the same name (completed as long ago as 1642) meets the river, thus joining the Loire with the Seine. On the other bank, the amazing Loire 'lateral canal' starts, following the river for about 200km, a key element of a reliable inland waterway to the Mediterranean. And, to cap it all, in 1896 the fantastic 'pont canal' or aqueduct was built across the river to join the two canals. Here is the imposing entrance and then my first view of the lateral canal as it turns towards the aqueduct, with Briare in the background. 

The aqueduct is over 600m long and some 6m wide, and until quite recently was the longest 'pont canal' in the world. The railings have the elegant top row with the circle motif of other 19th century bridges I've seen. 

See an earlier post for bridge railings on the Canal de la Sauldre. And here is a bridge on a minor road back in the Sarthe. 21st century bridge builders just give us horrendous crash barriers! 

Yesterday was another ferociously hot day. The barley is ripening but the farmers lack rain and are watering their maize and even wheat. I cooled off under the spray of a leaking pipe valve. The real spray would have been even better. 

I decided to cut away from the river and canal for a couple of days and walked for several miles on a track that had been a Roman road (one that joined the Rhone-Saone to the Loire in a pre-canal age). Or 'still is' rather than 'had been' maybe, as the cobbles were very hard on the feet!

But it led through woods thick with White Admiral butterflies at almost every step, and my passing surprised a red squirrel, a large fox, and lots of frogs which quickly jumped into puddles. And towards evening for the first time I heard a Hoopoe and saw and heard Bee-eaters, more evidence of moving south.