Post by kerouac2 on Jul 29, 2018 17:29:28 GMT
The same as in any other country, France has a number of "curiosities" that we file away in our minds with a promise that we will go and see the thing one day. I have seen a certain number of such places over the years and have made photo reports about most of them (the Ideal Palace of Facteur Cheval, the Pointe du Raz...) but I am far from having seen all of them.
Anyway, I spent the night only about ten kilometres from Briare, so I decided that I had to see the canal bridge this morning. Until 2003, it was the longest canal bridge in Europe, but it was outclassed by a new canal bridge in eastern Germany. I also read that France used to have about 100 canal bridges. I have no idea how many still remain.
So, some of you might be wondering! "What is a canal bridge?" It is a bridge that takes a canal over a river or other chasm, sort of like an aqueduct, but hey, this is for taking canal barges! Anyway, I drove to Briare this morning (which now calls itself Briare-le-canal) and found the thing without difficulty. The signs were not obvious, but driving Sunday morning when the roads are empty helps quite a bit when you can make last minute hairpin turns of even a U-turn if necessary.
I've seen a lot of photos of the canal bridge, but it is even more lovely when you see it in person.
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First it crosses over the old Briare canal which is no longer in use.
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But then you cross over the Loire for the 662 metres of the length.
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The bridge structure is entirely made from cast iron.
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