Rainy days in La Ferté sous Jouarre

Rain.  It started rainging during the night and continued on and off to varying degrees all day on Sunday.  We went to a farmer’s market in the town.  Ian was in his element because there was a collection of ancient tractors, in working order, blowing smoke rings, bouncing on their springs, making lots of smoke and noise. 

There were also pigs, goats, geese, chickens, cows, llamas and horses to admire. 

Carriage rides through the streets were on offer 

A cider apple processing machine

And cheeses, lots and lots of cheeses.  Unfortunately Ian went off to admire the tractors with the camera because I really wanted to take a pic of the cheeses.  I stood in the queue for ages waiting to be served and the young man in charge of the stall kept cutting samples of various cheeses and handing them out to those in the queue.  He also had a salami type sausage (delicious) and cured and dried fillet mignon.  Well, that was just too delicious to resist and I ended up spending €20 on cheese and fillet.  The heavens opened up just as we started to walk home.  We ducked into Chinese shop to buy an umbrella (even though we were soaked already) and, of course, when we came out the rain had stopped.  

The wind has also picked up and the temperature has fallen.  Right now (Monday) it is after midday and it just 7.5C so we are staying put – free pontoon, free electricity and a small heater to keep us cosy and warm, books to read and a strong internet signal.  What more do we need?  

Tomorrow is a holiday and the locks will all be closed so we not leave here till Wednesday.

Chateau Thierry to La Ferté sous Jouarre

40 kms,  4 locks, 4.75 hrs

Yesterday:

I went for a brisk walk early to get some exercise and my rambles just happened to take me past a bakery where I bought the obligatory baguette, and a fougasse.  We haven’t had one of those before.  It is savoury , not a sweet pastry, and a little like a pizza.  It has a thin crusty base, with herbs mixed into the dough, thin slices of cooked potato on top of that, then bacon bits and the whole lot is covered in melted cheese.  Very delicious, and a very filling breakfast.  Probably better for lunch.

We left Chateau Thierry soon after 8.00 intending to stop at Nanteuil sur Marne 24 kms downstream.  It looked like a nice village on Google earth, with a good pontoon, and it looked like a good place to spend a couple of days.  We are not sure if the locks are operating on Sundays yet; they don’t in the low season and we think high season starts on 1^st May.  

Surrounded by vineyards

Rather imposing 

Sunny but the wind was cold.  

But we got to Nanteiul to find red/white “do not enter” tape tied around the pontoon.  On closer inspection we could see that it was damaged.  

What a shame.  So we kept going.  

Many villages have these small pontoons.  They are free and often have electricity and water

There are some pretty canalside properties 

and villages on the slopes.

The scenery changed: no more vineyards, and the villages with quays or pontoons are much further apart.  Even our phone and internet signal disappeared.

40 kms downstream from Chateau Thierry we stopped at La Ferté sous Jouarre.  It took us 4 hours 45 minutes and included 4 locks.  With a 2 kms/hr current pushing us downstream we travel at about 10 kms/hr.

Approaching La Ferté sous Jouarre from upstream, the mooring is hidden behind the island on the right

Facing back upstream, the pontoons are visible

Njord is the second in line

There is a long pontoon here (well, 3 separate pontoons) but one is damaged (looks like it has been rammed by a heavy barge), one is 90% taken up with a barge (a live-aboard with no one on board, taking up 40m of a 50m pontoon and hogging 2 electricity points - selfish, thoughtless and inconsiderate) and there was just one space left on the third pontoon, only just big enough for a 9m boat to squeeze into.  It is a very pretty mooring, surrounded by trees, screened from the road, quiet and a grocery store in walking distance.  Plus there is free electricity and water.  All in all a good place to stop.  The weather forecast tells us the temperature is going to plummet, with rain, for a couple of days so we might just stay here for a bit.

Reuil to Chateau Thierry

39kms, 3 locks

After topping up with water (free) we were on our way at 9.50.  It was quite chilly last night and only 11C when we set off, breezy too.  We had no idea where we would stop this afternoon.  Our aim as we go downstream with a 2 knot current (taking our cruising speed to 10 kms/hr) is to check out all the possible stopping places, making notes, so we can make more stops when we come slowly back upstream against the current.

Surprisingly, after seeing no commercial barges yesterday, 3 passed us this morning and we saw a fourth moored up.

Again we marvelled at the vast acres of vineyards but after Dormans they seemed to disappear and nature returned.  Also, the number of villages with free pontoons with water and electricity (like we stopped at last nights) are fewer and further between.

The Marne is a big wide majestic river.  Locks 1 to 3 are in cuts, with sloping  walls and a floating pontoon, but after that the locks are on the main river against the right or left bank with a weir alongside.  Where the river is wide this does not cause any problems, but I have read accounts of difficult conditions further downstream.  We will see.

Photos from the day:

Sometimes the vineyards come all the way down to the banks op the river

Approaching Chateau Thierry

The pontoon we stopped at in Chateau Thierry

Eventually, 4 hours and 39 km after departure, we have stopped at a large town, Chateau Thierry.  No services unless you pay.  Good thing we don’t need them but at €5/night that is not exhorbitant.  We don’t particularly like big towns, they just don’t feel safe, but the next stop is another 13 or 16 or kms away, too much for one day.

Tours-sur-Marne to Reuil

26 kms, 6 locks, 1 swing bridge, 4 hours

After a quick run to the supermarket for bread, milk and fresh veg, we left Tours-sur-Marne at 10.00.  

It was delightful to be on a new waterway with new sights to see.  

We were very impressed by the the locks which are kept in tip top condition and are built with pleasure craft in mind

We passed a number of pleasure craft today, this one was Swiss

14 kms later the Canal Lateral a la Marne converged with the River Marne and we were out onto a fast flowing river - the current was running at about 2 kms in our favour. 

There are no twisty poles on this river and at the first lock on the Marne, Cumieres, I had to call on the radio for service.  Mr Lock Keeper was ever so friendly.  Once inside the lock and tied up he came out to chat and gave us a telecommande to operate the following locks, plus some additional information.  The locks on this stretch have sloping sides with a floating pontoon and the poles to operate the lock are on the pontoon, couldn’t be easier.

We marvelled at the vineyards planted into such steep hillsides and pitied the poor workers tending the vines.

Artful sculptures alongside the riverbanks at Culmieres tell the story of the grape harvest

A swan nesting

A chateau of one of the champagne barons

Vineyards cover the hillsides alongside the river valley

Only after I took the photo did I realise this is the Moet et Chandon vineyard

We were so impressed that every village seems to have a pontoon just big enough for 3 or 4 small pleasure craft (not barges) with water and electricity, all free.  We have stopped at a tiny village, Reuil, which has umpteen “wineries” but no bakery or grocery store.  We are in champagne country after all!

Njord tied up to the pontoon alongside a picnic area

A street in the village

Sillery to Tours-sur-Marne

29kms, 12 locks, 1 tunnel

Yesterday turned out to be another long day, and we really didn’t expect it to be.

We left the mooring at 7.10, having to motor back about 100m to the pole that activates the lock, to find that a barge, travelling in the same direction, had beaten us to it.  Oh no, if only we had left 5 minutes earlier!  Travelling slowly behind a barge (they only do about 5km/hr on these narrow canals, and take forever to enter and leave the locks), added an extra 3 hours to our day.  The same trip that took us 3 hours on Tuesday took 8 hours yesterday.  And of course we were travelling the same section of canal for the third time in three days.  

Fields of gold yet again 

The VNF have not yet managed to fix the leak, more pumps going today than yesterday

We waited 20 minutes at the Mont-de-Billy tunnel for the barge to get well ahead.  This is controlled by a red/green light, we had no option.

Suffice to say it was a trifle boring apart from the last 45 minutes when we finally left the Canal de l’Aisne a la Marne and turned into the Canal Lateral de la Marne.

We turned right towards Epernay on the Marne River 

Canal Lateral de la Marne

Falling petals and pollen

This is new water to us for the first time on this cruise.  Until now we have been following a route we have done before but now finally we are heading for the Marne river.

Approaching the town quay at Tours-sur-Marne

Threatening rain clouds, but it never fell

Tours-sur-Marne is a small village, which I'm sure is usually very attractive but the town square and the narrow street leading to it are undergoing major road works, so it looks a bit of a mess at the moment.

We went for a walk to look at the River Marne which runs alongside the canal.  Today we will be moving from the canal onto the river itself just north of Epernay, and Ian wanted to check out the current.

The river is moving very fast, we hope the current is not going to be as strong as this.