Meaux to Lagny

18kms, 3 locks, 1 tunnel, 3 very slow hours

As promised: the new galley floor

At last we are on the move again.  Yesterday, being the 1^st of May, everything was in lock down and we could not move until today. 

Today we intended to stop at a waiting quay just above a lock some 31 kms from Meaux but we could not tie up there until after the locks close at 18.00.  We set off from Meaux at 12.45 knowing we would be travelling much slower than usual.

It was cool and overcast to begin and the conditions didn’t get any better.  In fact they got worse as the rain came down just an hour after we set off.

In the lock at Meaux, looking  forward...

...and looking back we are sharing the lock with a sailing boat, minus mast

Ahhh, a swan family with cygnets

The Meaux Chalifert canal is narrow and picturesque

Exit Lock 13 (Lesches), turn sharp left and you enter the Chalifert tunnel, just 300m long

Lock Chalifert with the Marne River in the background

Wow, the first commercial barge we have seen in many days

Approaching the pontoon at Lagny.

3 hour later, as we approached the pontoon at Lagny, we decided to stop there for an hour to wait out the time until the lock at Neuilly closed.  But after we had tied up we discovered that the mooring was free and if we wished we could have electricity for €3. 

We had a very brief discussion which ran along the lines of “why don’t we stay here tonight instead of plodding along through the rain”.  It did not take long to reach a decision and so here we are.

While I was at the Tourism Office “announcing our arrival” as requested, a well-known boat arrived.  It was Narwalo who we last saw at St Jean les Deux Jumeaux about 10 days ago.  Ludo was on board with his daughter Anouk.  It was so nice to meet him again and what a pleasure to meet Anouk who, at 16, is a very intelligent, accomplished and delightful young woman. 

While underway I phoned the Arsenal Marina in Paris to ask for a place for 2 nights, and fortunately they can fit us in. Whew, what a relief! It seems it is very full at this time and they could just squeeze us in because we are so small.