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| 15 kms, 5 locks |
Today was
supposed to be a lot better than yesterday, weatherwise. Well, it wasn’t raining – and that’s about
the best I can say. It was so heavily overcast that it was still dark at 6.30
(when I normally get up) and when we left the pontoon at Pagny it was 7.9
degrees C. And there was the lightest of
breezes, but enough to make it even more chilly. Oh well, so what, put on another pair of
socks.
First off I
went for a walk, just because I felt like some exercise, into the little
village of Pagny-sur-Meuse. There is not
much to it, but it is a typical little
French village with a church, a boulangerie/epicerie and a bar/café/restaurant
which opened at 8.00
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| A view from the bridge - yes, it was as cold as it looks |
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| 8th May -VE day - an important holiday in France, everything was closed today |
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| A village street leading to the imposing church |
We left at
8.55 (yep, it was 7.9C) and by the time we arrived at Commercy 3 hr and 45 mins
later the temperature had climbed to ….. 9.6C.
And it was still overcast.
Despite the
chilly conditions it was a lovely cruise to Commercy along the Meuse
River. It is unexpectedly narrow, and
pretty, and green.
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| This enormous cement factory is visible for miles |
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| Three bridges for the price of one - from the lock there are 3 bridges in quick succession: one high, one low and another high |
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| Very cold looking fishermen - hardy souls |
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| Euville, from across the fields, it looks like an interesting town |
Commercy is
quite a big town, and has a lot of history behind it from the 9th century. What we see today dates from about the 15th
century and later. And it is well worth
seeing. So much so that Ian and I went
for a walk without the camera - and when we got back to the boat I grabbed the
camera and went back all over again!
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| Flour mills from the 18th century (not the ugly modern building in the background) |
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| The flour mill from the other side |
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| A wash house, built in 1854 |
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| A small entry gate to the city square, within the main city gates |
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| Another imposing building built by Duke Stanislas - this was one of his hunting lodges! |
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| A Rennaisance man -perfect symmetry - and the long avenue disappears over the horizon |
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| An amazing piece of sculpture over the stables |
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| The 15th century church |
There are some really narrow and interesting little streets
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| and an art nouveau shop front on the main square |
Next to the halte fluvial there is a dedicated parking area for camper vans, with services
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| The pontoon at the Halte Fluviale de Commercy, with the castle in the background |
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