La Renaissance:
Day-by-Day Cruise Diary

From: A Barge Cruise in France

Tuesday: Canal de Briare

Tuesday's cruise down the Canale de la Briare involved more locks--some operated manually by lockkeepers or boaters, and others with automated controls like the one above. (With this type of device, there's no need to crank the gates open by hand--you just pull the blue lever, and an automatic mechanism takes over.)

Most recent cruise reviews:

• Costa Magica (Costa Cruises)

• MSC Poesia (MSC Cruises)

• Rotterdam (Holland America Line)

• Renaissance (European Waterways) 

Follow @durant_imboden