A day in La Bassée

After 2 long days we took a break today, well a break from moving but that doesn’t mean a day off, with nothing to do.  

This little pontoon, with no services, is really close to a huge supermarket (with fuel station which must have the best prices for miles around because there is always a queue to get fuel), and a laundry.  So guess what we did today!

This morning we walked to the supermarket (Intermarché) for a few essentials but being Easter weekend it was so busy, cars circulating in the carpark kind of busy, shopping trollies crashing into each other kind of busy.  No fun!

After lunch we walked up to the laundry (about 500m, I’m guessing) and I did 2 loads of laundry.  Deep joy!  But it is nice to have clean bed linen, towels and clothes. And after that we hitched the trailer up to the bike, joined the queue for fuel (which prompted a few curious stares and raised eyebrows from others in the queue) bought 40l of diesel plus some heavy groceries (milk, juice, etc)

Specially for T and N: the "bike caravan" carrying 40l of diesel plus about 7kg of groceries

Ian emptied the jerry cans of diesel into the tank and then did a second run.  So now we are fuelled, victualed and clean!

After all the business stuff was done Ian went for a bike ride.

The sign that traumatised us yesterday - no entry into the cut where we are now moored!

And here is the problem, a tree that has fallen part way across the canal - we could have got around it easily!

Here we are moored at the pontoon.  Looks really rural but there is a town just the other side of the towpath.  Great place to stop.

But the time is coming to hunker down again.  Tomorrow we will head for Douai, 30kms away, but the rain and wind are coming back again and hopefully we will arrive before the bad weather forecast for the rest of the week.