Tuesday 21st September - the Rance tidal barrage - Rance cruise (Chateaubriand)
Perfect weather for our boat trip. Today was the hottest day (up t trip, but felt very hot and tired when we got back to Dinan afterwards. Roads busier, too, with more dual carriageway driving. Parked in a large, free car park on the west side of the barrage. Quite busy with camper vans / people gorping at the barrage. Constant stream of traffic on the dual carriageway across the barrage, but traffic lights at the car park so OK turning out afterwards. The Croisières Chateaubriand cruises building situated at the far end of the car park, at the Gare Maritime. Used the time before our trip to look at the barrage, Usine marémotrice.
The Rance here must have been in my memory from 1982, but when we got here, I realised the scenes in some of my dreams about the Severn Bridge, including last January, more closely resembled the Rance at the Barrage than the Severn crossing. Certainly the rocky outlooks either side of it. True it wasn't motorway, but it was certainly more pedestrian pedestrian-friendly than the Severn bridges. There was a footway on the northside, which we didn't walk along, but took the subway under the dual carriageway. Climbed up on the cliff overlooking the barrage, just as they opened the lock. The lock here, was a big step up from the typical British canal lock, with sturdy steel gates and deep basin, capable of taking sizeable boats. All the boats today were yachts with tall masts, so all the traffic had to wait (traffic lights on the barrage and near the car park) while they raised the lifting bridge. Watched the road go up in front of us, before a procession of yachts headed downstream towards the Tour Solidor, a chateau-like tower on a rocky islet connected by a stone bridge, to the west of St. Malo.
After watching the lock / bridge operations at the barrage, we went for a short along the west bank to some seats overlooking an area with saltmarsh plants. A quick sketch looking towards the barrage.
Back at the Gare Maritime, I paid the balance and collected our tickets for the boat (25 euros each, paid for by the fifty euros Mum surreptiously posted before the seniors' holiday in Suffolk). The lady at the counter spoke English and gave me a sheet with a translation of the onboard commentary; very helpful as I could only pick out odd words. It was a three hour trip, 12-33pm. Sat upstairs on the open deck. Downstairs was a restaurant, filled with a coach party. Perhaps they were a choir: during the second half of the trip, it became more lively below deck, with rounds of clapping and cheering, followed by various French sing-songs and solos towards the end.
A very restful cruise. The first half of the trip, with the commentary was faster. The one back, quiter and slower paced enabling us to enjoy the views. They got up to about Mordreuc, where the river narrowed, before they turned round. Because of the muddier / shallower nature of the Rance going upriver, how far they can go depends on the state / height of the tide. At the most co-operative tides they can get as far as La Hisse, where we were on Sunday. There seemed to plenty of water all along the bit of the river we saw.
Some of the sites along the way:
As with the Dart (another ria), various creeks, some grand houses with expansive gardens. Some comorants.
Montmarin - boatyard, manor house, remains of a tide mill.
Le Cale de Jouvente - Chateau de Jouvente, Manor of the Rance. Old coastguard house, now owned by a hot air balloon enthusiast.
La Passagere - where smugglers, deserters crossed the Rance during the French Revolution.
Islands - Chevret (Rat Island), Notre Dame (Monks Island)
Saint Suliac - village on the east bank, at the widest point of the Rance, 2.5km.
Mont Garot - 72m promintory, highest point on the Rance. Nearby Viking camp, about 1000 years old, though didn't appreciate its significance / fact it's now semi-submerged in the Rance, until seeing more about it at the Maison de la Rance later in the week.
Chateau de la Roche / Tour du Chene Vert - remains of a C13th castle, with prominent stone tower on the cliff top. Now partly a house.
Pont Chateaubriand and Pont St. Hubert - passed under two bridges in close succession, where the river narrows between two rock promintories. First one, with a large arch, carries the N176, second one a suspension bridge.
Plouer-sur-Rance - small inlet here, with one of a number former tide mills on the Rance, precursors to the barrage in harnesing tidal power. This one now appartments.
When we got back to the gite we thought we'd walk up to Dinan, but in the heat, both very sluggish up the hill. Didn't really enjoy it up the top either, so came back to the cottage and chilled out for a bit, before going out again later for a meal. Went to the Café Terrasses near the Pont Gothique. Ate outside on one of the many tables under the sun umbrellas. Had the set menu, being a bit cheaper than ordering courses separately. Then went for a stroll across the bridge, past the Maison de la Rance. Near full moon reflected in the river. Then walked up into the town, the hill much easier now. Came down a circuitous, poorly lit way, via the road winding underneath viaduct.
Think I saw Uranus through binocs (7x50). Easy to find this evening because close to Jupiter. Harder to spot than I thought due to glare from nearby nearly full Moon. Both planets at opposition today.
About the barrage
Operating since 1966, with a peak power output of 240MW, generated by twenty-four 10W turbines. Understand they can generate on the food and ebb tides. It is 750 metres long, now owned and operated by the French electricity company EDF. It took three years to build, which involved blocking the flow of the Rance completely (question was, where did they put it?). Though, I haven't seen anything anywhere to suggest that the capacity or operating efficiency of the barrage has been affected, or any dredging undertaken, it seems sediment accummultion is still an issue on the Rance. This is a big case against a Severn Barrage, certainly the behemoth Cardiff-Weston scheme, which I hope will be scuppered by forthcoming austerity measures. There must still be potentially expensive / challenging unknowns here: the geology, therefore the sediment regime, on the Rance is very different to the Severn, predominantly hard rock such as schist. The other thing is, the Rance is a relatively small estuary (the tidal bit 22km long), without any major tributaries, unlike the Severn estuary. What we saw of the Rance today, was a more friendly colour than the tidal Severn; in the main, emerald green like the sea, fairly clear, though, from what we saw of the estuary from the boat, it became increasingly muddy moving upstream, particularly above the Pont Chateaubriand and the stretch we saw below l'Ecluse Chatelier on Sunday was clearly unnavigable at low / falling tide. Before lobbiers for the Severn Barrage quote figures, too, they should note that on the Rance, the tidal range has declined from at least 8m to about 5m. The latter figure is comparable with the tidal range around around Southampton. The high tide height, up to 13.5m is still the same, but the low tide mark above the barrage is now around 7m. Gather, as well, from the boat notes, that the river no longer lives up to its name: the word Rance is derived from ranc, meaning noise. The noise came from a tidal bore wave which rushed up the river before the barrage was built.
For more, see the Wikipedia entry.
