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