24 kms, 1
tunnel (2.3 km), 11 locks (3 up, 8 down) 5.5 hours
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| A new trick I have just discovered - the level graph of our travels today |
We started
off soon after 9.00 this morning, not long after a barge had passed us going in
the opposite direction so the first 3 locks going up to the summit were all ready
and waiting for us. Our luck ran out at
the tunnel where we had to wait for almost an hour for two barges coming from
the other end of the tunnel.
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| Not the smoothest of lock walls |
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| Approaching the tunnel at Billy-le-Grand |
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| Waiting for a green light |
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| Might as well have a cup of coffee |
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| and take a walk to the tunnel entrance, note railway car on far side |
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| At last.....our wait is almost over |
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| Entering the tunnel |
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| which is exceptionally well lit |
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| A view down the starboard side |
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| and the port side |
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| Large fans so we don't die of asphyxiation |
Although we
are in the Champagne area there are no vineyards alongside the canal, where we
have seen vast fields of cereal and rape.
The vines are grown on higher ground, such as the Monte de Reims which
we could see beyond the cereal fields.
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| Monte de Reims in the background and huge fields of something alongside the canal |
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| A very pretty canal |
Going down
the flight of 9 locks to the Marne River valley also went smoothly. We had to
wait about 10 minutes at the first lock for a barge which was coming up, and
again all the locks were readied for us as we approached so we could drive
straight in.
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| Conada kept us waiting at the top of the flight |
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| More pretty lock keepers' cottages |
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| Small locks, narrow canal, pretty surroundings |
At 2.30 we
tied up at the pontoon in Conde sur Marne, at the junction of the Canal Lateral
de la Marne.
This is a pay marina, €7
per day, but there is no office here and no one has come to collect any
money. There are electricity and water
points with a typed notice saying if you want e/w phone ….. So I suppose this marina, too, only gets
going on 1st May. Not
complaining.
I went for a
walk around the rather picturesque village.
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| The main street |
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| Town square |
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| A message on a door: Siamese cat. I am on guard. Beware |
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| 12th Century Romanesque church - locked so I couldn't go inside |
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| A fine old house that has seen better days |
This evening
the lovely yacht that passed us a few days ago arrived.
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