The Canal du Nivernais became an important source of wood for heating and construction of homes in Paris as far back as the early 1500's. At that time an enterprising Parisian came up with a scheme for harvesting the wood from the Morvan forest and transporting it 200 kilometers to Paris by water.
Early on before the canals existed the wood would be thrown into the Yonne river and floated down to Paris during rainy season. Then the wood was assembled into rafts and driven to Paris.
As it turned out there was a special exhibition of two "flottage en bois" traveling from Clamecy to Paris at the same time (and roughly the same speed!) as our boat. The people on board were dressed in period costume and a mini festival took place in each town as the exhibition passed through.
It wasn't until about 1740 when the construction of the canal began and was finished in the 1800s when it linked the Seine to the Loire. Today it is used only for recreational traffic.
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