Belfort Branch Canal

As we approached our first automatic lock our chart book showed a choice of routes. Either carry on over an aqueduct on the Canal Rhone au Rhin or take the branch to Belfort a 10km section of canal that was started in 1882 and never completed. Unfortunately our  chart was out of date and the canal was totally closed a few years ago. The canal actually ran over 30km and included a tunnel, it was aiming to connect to the River Saone. Our out of date guide suggests that there were recent plans to finish it off, but that looks unlikely.

Actually I quite enjoy looking at old disused canals and railways and I know that there would not be any old canals or railways to explore if they did not close. But still it is a great shame to loose these assets.

We cycled the route up to and just beyond Belfort, again a really lovely stretch of waterway and most locks seemed in reasonable condition and all the pounds full of water. In fact some stretches still had boats and some live-aboard barges that must have just been left stranded when the canal closed.

Barge sitting on the closed Belfort branch canal

We had a look round Belfort and had lunch at a good cafe called Marcel et Suzon, simple but good.

Lunch at Marcel et Suzon