France, On the Canal du Nivernais

I snapped this photo of a lock-keeper’s house and bicycle while on a canal trip through Burgundy. I wondered why Madame (the lock-keepers were inevitably women) kept her red bicycle alongside the canal. It turned out that she was also responsible for the next lock, perhaps a half mile away. When we were finished at this lock, she rode her bicycle alongside our boat, chatting with my family the whole way.

Photo Credit: Christopher Gould