Jaux to Pont l'Eveque

27 kms, 3 locks, 4.25 hours

Another rainy morning, so we started out a bit later than usual at 9.30. Fortunately the rain had stopped by then but it remained cloudy and grey till the early afternoon.

At the first lock, the lock keeper instructed us to go into the “petit ecluse” (small lock) and we found ourselves in the old Freycinet gauge lock for peniches (roughly 40m x 5m).  We haven’t been in one of those for a while.

A few kilometres later we reached the confluence of the Aisne and the Oise.  

The Aisne turns towards the east, the Oise took us further north but it was not long before we left the Oise River and entered the Canal Lateral de l’Oise (the canal that runs alongside the Oise) because the river becomes too convoluted and the canal just straightens out all the twists and turns.  This is quite a narrow canal and much more pleasant than we expected.

A tiny riverside cottage being turned into a bigger double storey home

At 13.45 we turned into the small harbour at Pont l’Eveque.  We have been here twice before and it is a real joy.  It is still very much a working harbour for the “battellerie”, the professional barges, with a few pleasure cruisers moored along one wall.  It is a tiny port and we were fascinated by the manoeuvring of the barges in very constrained spaces.

Turbin reversing back through an impossibly narrow gap.

This is Comete, which watched reverse out of the dry dock then go alongside the quay (with a little help from Ian) so Turbin could reverse past them.

Turbin on the left manoeuvering past Comete

And finally Comete inches its way past the pleasure boats...

... to tie up just 3 metres from our port side

The busy and crowded little harbour

At the end of the day, more thunder and lightning with a storm headed our way