Bar-le-Duc to Treveray

28 kms, 28 locks, 1 lift bridge

Neither of us slept well last night,  we are not used to the sounds of the city!

Yesterday we discovered that the locks on this canal only open at 9.00 for pleasure craft but at 7.00 for commercials, i.e. they open at 9.00 because we haven’t seen any commercials.

We left the marina at 8.45 expecting to wait at the lock about 1 km away but found there was a lift bridge just a couple of hundred metres away around a corner.  And there we sat until 9.00.  

After that we made good time with our telecommande, until at lock 26 only one gate opened and the other remained stubbornly in the shut position. Oh dear, call the surveillance centre: “D’accord, madame, j’arrive” ( “yes, I’m on my way”).  Well, it took half an hour for him to arrive, but within 2 minutes the gate started to open. Hoorray!

The surroundings changed a lot along our travels today, from extensive fields to rolling tree-clad hills with little villages and lovely farms, for the most part immaculately kept.  The canal wound around, inside and out, revealing new visitas every few moments.  Lovely.

It is 8 degrees, why are they wearing shorts 

And there were a couple of surprises

We were having such fun we just kept going.  We intended to stop at Naix-aux-Forges but it was still quite early as we got near there and when we met a lock keeper a couple of locks before I asked where we could stop after that.  Treveray he said, just 5 kms and 4 locks further, about an hour.  OK, deal done.  When we arrived here we discovered that the quay wall is angled, not ideal for a small pleasure cruiser. These are walls designed for big barges.  But close up to the lock the wall was less angled and here we sit.

I walked into the village, partly for some exercise, partly to see what was there, and also to boost the local economy.  Well, the exercise was good, there is not much there, and I spent the grand total of 5 euros.   I did discover that there is a river running through the village that has trout, only fly fishing is allowed and they have to be put back, “No-Kill”. It is a sleepy little village but not without charm.