Yesterday we arrived at Schepenkring in Roermond, a yacht broker with a small dock, and a huge yard where they have a section for boats for sale and another for winter storage.  Gosh, we got such a good reception and were made to feel so welcome.  Rolf Kroos and his daughter Stephanie own the boatyard and both of them have been so easy to deal with.  We are tied up on one of their pontoons, we can do any maintenance/cleaning required (lots), and they just happened to have a big, almost 1cubic metre, box on a pallet, left behind by an earlier client who bought boat here recently, that they have given to us.  Gosh, we couldn't have asked for more.

We have give them exclusive rights for 6 months to sell our boat. It is taken out of the water, the bottom is pressure washed, and moved to a display area where there is walkway at water level height so prospective buyers can examine the boat both above and below water level.

Highly recommended to anyone wanting to sell or buy a boat, or looking for winter storage.

Many days without wifi

Since we  left France we have been restricted in our use of wifi data.  In France it was virtually unlimited (over 200 gigs per month and never used anywhere near that) but now we are severely limited.  Basically, it has rained for days, dark, grey, cloudy, miserable, but not too cold.

The Meuse is spectacular

We are back in the the territory of commercial barges

Huy

Further down river from Namur it becomes more and more industrial

We crossed the border into Belgium, stopped at Dinant, Namur and Huy, and today we crossed the border into The Netherlands.  Tomorrow we should arrive in Roermond, our final destination, where we will put the boat up for sale.  So just one more day of cruising.  We have spent 9 happy years cruising the canals but the time has come to move to other adventures.

 May 6th and 7th Chateau Regnault - Revin - Givet

We are wending our way along the Meuse River through the magnificent Ardennes forests.  It was coronation day yesterday, and we took the laptop onto the aftdeck so we could watch all the pomp and ceremony as we cruised along.

Grey and cloudy

But still beautiful

And we see lots of swans

This 38m barge was not keen to move over and give us room

Selfish canal hogger, it was a really tight squeeze

Today, it rained, all day, non-stop, varying between drizzle and downpour.  But it was not windy or cold, it just messed up my pic ops.  The scenery is stunning but in low light and through a sheet of rain, the pics didn't show up so well.   We have stopped in Givet for the night, our last stop in France.  We will cross the border into Belgium early tomorrow.

Leaving Revin via a short tunnel into a 90 degree bend

This a slate mining area from way back in the mists of time.  This is an old minehead on a hillside

Our last tunnel

A modern slate quarry, not nearly as attractive as the old mineheads over the shafts deep into the hillside

Entering Givet

May 5th

Lumes to Chateau Regnault

25 kms, 5 locks, 3.5 hours

Hot last night, 18C at 11pm, but thank goodness it cooled down overnight.  Today dawned bright and sunny but by mid-morning it was overcast and showery.  We are travelling through the Ardennes forest region, beautiful.

Flood levels marked on a pole at a lock.  The earliest dates from  1391, then 1933 and 1955.  Way over the level of the lock.

May 3rd 

Duns-sur-Meuse to Mouzon

It was a beautiful day today, summer is on it's way.  We left Duns-sur-Meuse at 8.15 in brilliant sunshine, if somewhat chilly at 6C, but it warmed up quickly and we had shed all the winter layers by mid-day.

Early morning on the Meuse

A few hours later, and not much weed to complain about, we noticed a lot of paragliders on the horizon.  We got closer and closer until we were right underneath them.

This chap landed on the wrong side of the canal and we gave him a ride across to join up with his buddies, saving a very long trip for someone to pick him up by car

We spent half an hour watching the paragliders, just drifting in a wide section of the Meuse river, and still arrived at the Port de Plaisance in Mouzon at 13:30, 5.25 hours to do 38 kms and 6 locks.  Going downstream on a big river we have a strong current in our favour.

Mouzon is a delightful small town.  Lots of ancient buildings, which somehow survived two world wars, a huge abbey which dates from the 11th century, and 2 boulangeries.

The lovely port

April 30th to May 2nd

Saint Mihiel-Verdun-Dun sur Meuse

Sunday 30th

We have arrived in Verdun.  Lots of weed again but the lockie tells us it is better from here on.   When we are on the river sections there is a lot of current in our favour and no weed and after today the river sections get longer and longer and the canal sections are much shorter, just where the locks are.  Nice weather now, definitely more like spring.  Public holiday tomorrow and locks are closed so we will spend 2 nights here.  Last time we were here I walked all over the old town, amazing.  

Very thick weed

Entering Verdun, a tunnel under the old city walls

May 1st, a day in Verdun

Porte Chaussee date from 1380, one of the original gates into the old city

The portcullis is still there

Our boat, second from the right, tied up in front of the Quay de Londres, with the cathedral in the background

For me the best bit was the crypt.  It dates from at least 1135 but was destroyed in the 18th century.  After the WW1 when work began on the reconstruction of the cathedral the crypt was discovered and  eventually restored.

Part of the earliest 12th century construction with a magnificent organ

The narrow steep streets connecting the cathedral to the simple people of the port area are a delight

May 2nd, Verdun to Dun-sur-Meuse

Having booked the lock for 9.30 (we are in a section of locks that are not automated and require the assistance of lock keepers), we set of bright and early, a little misty but with the promise of a fine day ahead.  We arrived in good time, but no lockies.  15 minutes later 2 arrived, in no particular hurry, and said there is another boat coming.  At 10.00 it finally arrived.  We shared the next 9 locks together, but at least they knew what they were doing and move in and out of locks like a hot knife through butter.  We have stopped in the same place this afternoon an discovered that they too are heading for the Roermond area in Holland to put their boat up for sale.  We still had sections with really bad weed problems, hopefully that will improve tomorrow.

This lock has sloping sides and floating pontoon which slides up and down on rails

 April 28th and 29th

Toul-Pagny-Saint Mihiel

After spending a very pleasant couple of days in Toul with Jaqui and Clive, from Tweede Zoe, we set off yesterday under leaden skies and flurries of drizzle.  It stayed that way till an hour after we tied up in Pagny, and then the sun came out.

This morning we set off at 8.30, cloudy again and rather misty until mid morning, at least it was dry.  But it was stressful cruising today. The canalised sections of the river, where the locks are located, are full of weed which blocks the engine cooling inlet and fouls the propeller. Twice we could not stop when entering a lock and I had to get a rope onto a bollard pdq to stop the boat. Ian had to clean the inlet every few kms. Not exactly pleasure cruising.  And then the toilet inlet valve got blocked too.  The French waterways are not what they used to be.  Thank goodness we had a few good years before the invasion of "plantes aquatiques".

A grey misty morning

The first lock onto the canalised Meuse.  Not sure about the monstrous cement factory beyond

Lock exit, high bridge, low bridge and another high bridge.

Thick weed ahead

Other areas were relatively clear of weed

Ian's gadget for cleaning the weed off the engine cooling inlet

The stuff of nightmares