April 28th and 29th

Toul-Pagny-Saint Mihiel

After spending a very pleasant couple of days in Toul with Jaqui and Clive, from Tweede Zoe, we set off yesterday under leaden skies and flurries of drizzle.  It stayed that way till an hour after we tied up in Pagny, and then the sun came out.

This morning we set off at 8.30, cloudy again and rather misty until mid morning, at least it was dry.  But it was stressful cruising today. The canalised sections of the river, where the locks are located, are full of weed which blocks the engine cooling inlet and fouls the propeller. Twice we could not stop when entering a lock and I had to get a rope onto a bollard pdq to stop the boat. Ian had to clean the inlet every few kms. Not exactly pleasure cruising.  And then the toilet inlet valve got blocked too.  The French waterways are not what they used to be.  Thank goodness we had a few good years before the invasion of "plantes aquatiques".

A grey misty morning

The first lock onto the canalised Meuse.  Not sure about the monstrous cement factory beyond

Lock exit, high bridge, low bridge and another high bridge.

Thick weed ahead

Other areas were relatively clear of weed

Ian's gadget for cleaning the weed off the engine cooling inlet

The stuff of nightmares

Void to Toul

Oh my days, it was cold this morning, 0.7 at when I got up, 1.5 when I went to the boulangerie, and 2C when we set off at 8am.

Approaching the aqueduct across the Meuse river

A man taking his 2 goats and 2 sheep for a walk. Yes, really

After 16 kms we traversed the Canal de Foug

Entering the Tunnel de Foug

Travelling in tandem with another cruiser, they are following us into the tunnel

It warmed up before long and there was no wind so it was really pleasant day apart from the ever persistent problem with weed.  

  A JCB  in  lock, trying to get remove the weed. Farting against thunder.

At 2.30 we arrived in Toul, just 30 minutes before our friends Jaqui and Clive.  We have finally, after 5 years, managed to meet up with them.  We have known each other since 1978 in Cape Town when we were both preparing to take part in the Cape to Rio race (except that year it went to Uruguay).  We were all living in the Caribbean at the same time but on different islands an.  Say  met up 3 or 4 times a year.  Then we were both in the UK at the same time but in different counties and got together 4 or 5 times a year.  And we both ended up settling on the same island in the Azores 30 years ago.  They bought their canal cruiser in Holland a few years after we did, when we already in Belgium and working our way south.  So it has taken all this time, when we are moving back north and they are beginning to explore France, for our paths to cross.  Well, it was a very good evening. Say no more 

Naix-aux-Forges to Demange

Not such a good day today.  Cold (7C at 9am, 9C at 13.30), windy and showery.  Not great cruising weather and we intended to do a long day.  This morning we were just 15 kms from the summit of this canal, with an almost 5km long tunnel at the top, and then 12 locks in very quick succession going down the other side with nowhere to stop in between.  So if you go through the tunnel you just have to keep going to the bottom.  About 5 hours.  We should have got there about 16.45 but we got stuck in a lock again and this time it took 2 phone calls and 50 mins before a lock keeper arrived.  So we changed our plans and stopped just before the tunnel.  We might just have got through the last lock by 18.00 when the locks close for the night, but if we didn't there is nowhere suitable for us to tie up.  And seeing it was already cold and miserable we didn't feel like travelling till so late. 

Huge fields of rape and big black rain clouds

Bar le Duc to Naix-aux-Forges

24 kms, 23, or 24 locks, and 2 lift bridges

 Nice day today.  We were travelling at our own speed after spending 2 days either behind a commercial barge or sharing locks with a second boat.  A sunny morning turned into a rainy afternoon, and the locks came thick and fast, 23 locks in 24 kms, well that turned out to be 24 locks seeing we had to one of them twice. You see, we entered a lock, going uphill, it filled and the gates opened but there was a huge tree trunk across the exit. Ian got off the boat and pulled it out the way but by then the gates had closed with out boat still inside. I phoned for help and they reset the lock but it emptied again and we had to reverse out, go back in and wait for the lock to fill all over again and second time round we got out in time.  Different, a bit confusing, but quite funny in the end.

Porno gnomes

A huge church in a tiny village

Pargny-sur-Saulx to Bar-le-Duc

28 kms, 25 locks and 2 lift bridges, 9 hours

An unintended long day today.  Sure enough the commercial barge set off at 7am when the locks open, but again, he was seconds too late and a barge coming downstream got priority, so he only got through the lock right ahead of us at 7.30.  Not wanting to have the same problem that we had yesterday, we set off at 9.30 together with the German cruiser.  Well, they also slowed us down.  They travel fast enough between locks but take forever to manoeuvre into the lock, tie up - always a bit of a pantomime with wifey running backwards and forwards between the aft and fore decks trying to control both lines while hubby sits with his fingers on the bow thruster.  Very frustrating.  I asked in one lock where they were stopping tonight and the wife had no idea "my husband will decide". Gees, that would lead to mutiny on our boat.  No matter what, we wanted to travel further than them today so that we will not have to spend another frustrating day behind them.  They stopped at the port we were aiming for today so we just kept on going, a whole lot faster on our own, and tied up at Bar le Duc, 9 hours after leaving Pargny.  Oh and it rained most of the day, not too cold though.

The church at Pargny

The halte at Pargny

A very old locomotive that use to haul the barges along the canal, with a steel cut out of a barge on the canalside

April 21st

Vitry-le-François to Pargny 

19 kms, 7 locks, more than 6 hours

It should have been a short day today.  

Our saloon full of boxes

A sad sight just outside the port, an abandoned British boat, post Brexit probably 

We set off soon after 9.00, sunny, calm and a positively balmy 9C, but at the very first lock we got stuck.  The lower gates opened (we are now going uphill), the lock filled, and nothing, the top gates did not open.  We didn't have a phone number for this canal so I climbed off and pressed the "emergency" button that every lock has to put you in contact with Central control point.  It worked but I am vertically challenged, i.e short, and the loud speaker was way up high and I battled to hear what the very polite gentleman was trying to tell me.  But, he got the gist, and 30 minutes later he, himself, arrived, to help us out.  The first thing he said is "You speak very good French".  Blow me down, I was gobsmacked.  

As we approached the second lock we saw another pleasure cruiser ahead of us, waiting for a big commercial barge to exit the lock.  From then on we shared the locks with the German cruiser but both of us had to slow up for the commercial, fully laden.  They are huge, and cumbersome, and slow.  They travel at 4km per hour and we at 8 km per hour.  Plus they take forever to slow down, manoeuvre in and out of locks, and speed up again.  But if it wasn't for them these canals would not exist so we just have deal with it.  The biggest problem is that they churn up the weed into small fragments that block engine cooler inlet and the toilet. An hour or so later there was quay where we could tie up and just wait for a couple of hours till he had got far enough ahead of us.  

The barge ahead of us

Pretty canal

A very tight fit, no wonder they take so much time to enter and exit the locks

We have stopped in a lovely halte nautique between 2 locks just 400m apart, with water and electricity but you do have to pay for the privilege, and there are two, yes two, bakeries in the village. There was already another pleasure boat tied up here, a small traditional barge, now a private pleasure cruiser.  Late in the afternoon I saw a commercial barge come through the the lower lock and then heard the church bells chiming for 7pm when the locks close.  Sure enough the upper lock lights went out and he was trapped.  Nowhere for a big barge to tie up.  But the smaller pleasure barge called him alongside to tie and here he is just a few metres astern of us

The bad news is he will be leaving at 7 in the morning and we can't go through the locks till 9, so an hour or so later we will catch up with him and have the same problem we had today.  I guess we will not make it our intended destination tomorrow.

April 20th

Orconte to Vitry-le-François 

13 kms, 6 locks

Just a short hop today, should have taken less than 3 hours but it was almost 4 hours after leaving Orconte before we tied up in Vitry.  The problem was weed, lots and lots of weed

At one of the locks it was so thick that the lock gates could not open.  The VNF had a little digger there hauling bucket loads of weed out.  The lock lights showed red/green as we approached because the lock was filling, but then they switched all the lights off and we just had to hover until they got enough weed out to open the gates.  

At the last lock of the day, and the last lock on this canal, we had to hand back our telecommand, which I did by posting it through a slot in a big metal box.  But then the lock gates on the uphill side would not close and the red alarm light came on, lock out of order.  About 30 minutes later a lockie arrived to open boxes and press switches but even that took forever.  Finally he got it going and 40 minutes after arriving in the lock it started emptying.

More weedy conditions in Vitry

We had a mission in Vitry, to go to a large Bricorama (DIY store) next to the canal to look for large receptacles to send stuff back home when we pack it up at the end of this cruise.  We will be putting the boat up for sale and need to strip it of all the personal bits and pieces, clothing, bedding, tools, etc, that we have accumulated over the last 9 years.  We discovered big strong 120 litre plastic containers marked down to half price, just 20 euros each.  We bought 4.  Now our saloon looks a warehouse.

 April 18th and 19th, from 

Joinville to Chamouilley

24 Kms, 11 locks and 5 lift bridges

Not much to say about our travels today.  It was sunny and warm, all the locks and lift bridges worked, it was pretty and a commercial barge passed us.  Most interesting thing is we are getting close to and airforce base and we have see (and heard) lots going over us yesterday and today.  These are the old Mirages that are mostly used for training and we are wondering if they are training Ukrainian pilots.

Chamouilley to Orconte

Today we travelled past the Airforce base.  4 jets had taken off about an hour before and they came back in to land as we went past.  They were Rafale jets, not Mirages.  Made my day.  Apart from that, a commercial barge came past us late yesterday evening and we passed a couple of pleasure boats today.  The canals are not busy yet.  We have stopped near a village called Orconte, near Vitry-le-Francois, which is at the end of the Canal entre Champagne and Bourgogne.  We have really enjoyed this canal, even though it was our third choice of route it has turned out well.

The barge passing us late yesterday

A road lift bridge and a rail turning bridge

St Dizier-Robinson airforce base

Rafale jets flying over us

A memorial to two pilots who were killed here in 1971

One of the jets coming in to land, very difficult to get a good picture

An update at last Fouolain to Joinville

I have been remiss for a few days and missed out on a couple of updates

April 15th Foulain to Chaumont

Short day today because it rained and rained, less than 4 hours.  Going down in the locks is easy, we don't bother to tie up, just hover in the middle, so we don't go out in the rain.

We expected to find a washing machine/dryer at our destination port in Chaumont but the washing machine at the Capitainerie was out of order, so I had to do some washing on board by hand, running out of undies 🙄.  This is another another port where we have to pay, 11 euros for the night including electricity, not too bad.  I think we are going to be paying for quite a few stops from now on till we reach the end of this canal.  Not many pics because it was pouring with rain most of the day, sun's out now though

Grey skies, mist over the hills

An aqueduct over the Marne river

April 16th, Chaumont to Froncles

Gee, it was cold today, 6C at 9.00 which didn't seem too bad, but it never got above 7 and there was a cold Northerly wind.  We made good time with our telecommand to control the locks until we got stuck in one when the gates wouldn't open and had to call for assistance.  But the lockie was there promptly and we were soon on our way again.  We have stopped in a village called Froncles, which has 2 boulangeries.  We haven't seen a bakery since Fragnes, a week ago, and we have run out of frozen bread. But most importantly, this little port has electricity (so we switched on the big fan heater asap) and a washing machine and dryer.  For the grand total of 15 euros we get the boat mooring, unlimited electricity, washer and dryer, and water, which we didn't use because we still have plenty in our tanks.

Another tunnel but only 300m long

Apparently it is one of the very few double width tunnels so barges can pass through in both directions at the same time

Exiting a lock and passing a lift bridge

A lovely old village

April 17th Froncles to Joinville

First thing this morning I went to the boulangerie.  Well, this was an eye opener for me.  They must have had 20 different kinds of baguettes.  I'm partial to a baguette and can tell the difference between a supermarket baguette, a baguette froment and a baguette traditional, but 20 different kinds? Anyway, I bought a Petrisane, nice, very nice, but just like a traditional 🤷‍♀️

We left about 9.15, much warmer than yesterday, and at the lock we discovered that there was a barge already going down, so going in the same direction as us.  Cruising behind a barge is a slow and frustrating business because they manoeuvre in and out of locks so much slower than we do, because they are so much bigger and heavier.  So we hung back and travelled a bit slower than usual.  They were already tied up at the halte nautique in Joinville when we arrived and immediately came over to apologise for holding us up.  What nice people.  

There is a Lidl about 200m from the boat so trotted off to buy some fresh sliced bread for the freezer (seeing I couldn't get any this morning), and a couple of other essentials, like wine and broccoli.

An old watermill on the Marne river

Oh dear

Hidden amongst that lot are these gems

The confluence of the Marne and one of it's tributaries at an aqueduct

Getting brighter