Day 6 - Rest Day in Briare

Briare is best known for its Pont Canal, in other words a "Bridge Canal," or aquaduct. The concept was to connect the Loire & Seine River valleys. It was an ambitious idea, and took 40 years of engineering and construction to complete. 

Full of rich decorations, the bridge was the work of Gustav Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame) and Maximilien de Béthune, the Duke of Sully, who served as King Henry IV’s first minister. The Duke of Sully is credited with having the grand idea that such a thing was possible

"In the 17th century Paris was booming and its population were hungry. A canal linking the food-bowl of France with a growing metropolis would cut the food shortages Paris was experiencing, and would also both provide the local area with employment and the King with taxes," courtesy of the Pont Canal website. 

I liked this explanation from the same website:

"It all began in 1605 with the drilling of the “Loyre en Seine canal” which would become the Briare canal. Then we add the Canal Latéral à La Loire which comes down from Digoin. But to go from one to the other you have to cross the Loire in its bed, which is dangerous and impossible in the event of flood or low water. This is why it was decided in 1896 to build the Canal Bridge, which allows the river to be crossed in complete safety, as well as a new branch of the Loire Lateral Canal called the “new canal."

The construction required digging fifteen reservoir ponds and their supply channels, and building numerous stone locks. Add to that the bridges, levees, towpaths & weirs. Just think of undertaking this sort of project, requiring 12,000 or so workers, all with 17th Century technology not quite at your fingertips!

While there are over a hundred Canal bridges throughout France, the Port Canal is the oldest, and it's one of France's top five historic sites. 

Briare itself is a very charming town on the banks of the Loire between Orléans and Sancerre, and a mecca for French tourism. It has fourteen bridges and seven locks, and is perfect for strolling or cycling.