Tournai to Moen Lock on the Bossuit-Kortrijk Canal

First thing this morning, at 8.30 Ian rode to the Colruyt supermarket because Lynn, his sister told us they had a special offer on Mateus rose (wine).  He came back with 9 bottles!

We left the mooring at 9.15 under very grey skies, ambled through Tournai,

 under the lift bridge

 and soon came to Henry VIII's bridge.

 Pity the last photo was right into the sun, it makes a better picture from the North without all the trees.
Not half an hour later we were into the first lock.  When I called in the lock keeper said we would be sharing the lock with a "bateau marchant" (commercial barge).  The commercial, "Rambo", went in ahead of us and as we started tying up slightly aft of him, he leaned out of his bridge and said we must move further forward because there was another boat coming in as well, but seeing the bollards were badly placed (for a 9m boat), we must just tie up alongside him.  How nice and friendly.
All a bit cheek by jowel!

We were first out of the lock and slowed to let the second commercial (an empty hotel boat, very friendly, loved Ian's Xacara marlin sweater!) pass us and he sped off into the distance.  We passed this very impressive chateau, Bellerive, I believe - must look it up. 

ABC, Ian says, Another Bloody Church

Then it got a moist and misty.

At the second lock, we had to wait a while for traffic coming in the opposite direction and the hotel boat was already long gone, so it was just us and Rambo in the second lock.  And the rain!

We turned off the Schelde River into the Bossuit-Kortijk Canal and tied up at a free mooring, in the rain, which promised all sorts of earthly delights such as water, electricity, toilets, showers, a shop

but there was nothing there except a tourist info place on the Schelde River which had closed at 12.00 ( we arrived at 12.45).
After lunch, in glorious sunshine(!), we strolled to the lock to buy a new "waterwegenvignet" (Flemish waterways licence) seeing the one we have expires at the end of Sept.  The very friendly lock keeper (Ian was delighted to be back in Flemish language territory, not only can he understand their language but they are happy to speak English) suggested we go through the lock because it is much nicer on the other side.  So we threw off the mooring lines and while we waited for the lock to be ready for us (it was full and had to be emptied: 9.5m rise by 110m long by 12m wide - that is a lot of water!) the clouds rolled back in and all the time we were in the lock it poured down on us.  We were inadequately prepared with minimal rain gear on and got a thorough soaking, even our socks and underwear were wet! 
We tied up just past the lock and the sun came out - Murphy!

Well, yes, it was more pleasant than the other side of the lock because we did not get bounced around by the big commercials on the Schelde River, but there was no tow-path and it was still just 3 in the afternoon.  An hour later we left the dock and ambled off along the canal just to see if there was a better place to stop.

 We ended up tied up for the night in the shadow of the lock gates at Sluis Moen

and there is still nothing here.  Not that I'm complaining, we expected that this would be a stop in the middle of nowhere, and it is beautiful, peaceful and calm.  So what more do you want!

A day in Tournai

Get ready for the history lesson and lots of photos!

This morning I did 2 loads of laundry (there is a laundry just 50m from our boat: €4 per load for the washer and 50c for 12 minutes in the dryer.  Total cost for 2 loads was €10) and we went grocery shopping (there is a Colruyt about 20 minutes walk from here, a Carrefour even closer, and a LIdl on the other side of the canal).

After lunch I went walk-about.  The history of this town is fascinating.   It is one of the 2 oldest towns in Belgium, established by the Romans in 50 AD (or could be BC, I can't really remember - but, hey, what difference does 100 years make after 2000!)

Then the Franks took it over in 432 AD.  By the 11th century the prosperous woolen cloth trade attracted wealthy merchants to the city and an ambitious rebuilding of the cathedral began in 1030.  Unfortunately, it is in the middle of a 20 year renovation project.  In fact the whole of the old town seems to be being rebuilt, reconstructed and renovated.  The cathedral is surrounded by scaffolding but there is a pictorial exhibition around the outside so you can see what the interior looks like.  Well, if I can't see the original I'm not going to take a photo of a photo!  Here are just a couple of pics that I liked.

The Belfry, which was chiming while I was taking this photo.

The Grande Place

During the 15th century, the city's textile trade boomed and it became an important supplier of tapestry.

The city was captured in 1513 by Henry VIII of England, but it was handed back to French rule in 1519.  While under the rule of Henry VIII, he built a castle here and fortified the Pont de Troux, a bridge across the River Scheldt which was built in 1290.  The bridge and the remains of one of the towers of his castle still exist today. The middle arch of the bridge was blown out by a bomb in 1940 and when it was reconstructed in 1946 the middle arch was widened to aid the barge traffic.

Very impressive!

Henry's tower, also under reconstruction

I loved this Art Nouveau building a came across during my wanderings, built in 1895.

Soon after I got back from my wanderings, another boat skimmed passed our hull to tie up on the dock in front of us.  Who should it be but our friend from the locks a couple of days ago, J....!  Once again, he got sideways on to the dock, banged his bow on the pontoon, no one on deck to fend off, the skipper trying to tie up and drive from an interior steering position (multi-tasking!!!), and eventually ended up 1m from our stern.  Way before that Ian went out to offer to take his lines but he said he was managing just fine!

After a fine day the rain arrived at 6pm but we are having a chicken bbq anyway!

Peruwelz to Tournai

 Another misty morning.

But at 9.00 a mobile bakery arrived at the marina with fresh, warm croissants, pains du chocolat and baguettes! we bought 2 pains de chocolat for breakfast and a baguette for lunch, and cast off the moorings at 9.15.
It wasn't long before the sun came out and chased away the tendrils of mist.  As you can see, not a breath of wind.

We had 2 locks to negotiate, the first one had a drop of 12.6m,

fortunately it has floating bollards,

and we entered onto a huge lake at Peronnes alive with Sunday morning yacht club activities, but with no wind these yachts were not exactly racing along.

The second lock at the other end of the lake was only a 5.6m drop, but exiting we ran the gauntlet of this deluge of water off the gate; thank goodness for the bimini!

We soon left the Nimy-Blaton-Peronnes Canal and turned onto the Scheldt River.  We moved along briskly with the downstream current.

 At Antoing there was this wonderful castle which dates back to the 13th century. 

 We passed a lot of other really ancient looking ruins.  Roman, Medieval?  I know I should know, but I'm not sure!

I never expected to find an industrial area interesting, but we did find these rows of huge barges tied up alongside very old quays, waiting to start loading/off-loading after the weekend interesting.

In Tournai we aimed for the Port du Plaisance, not knowing what to expect, and found this inviting dock.  And free to boot!  Electricity and water are available at coin operated stands along the dock.

After lunch we watched the F1 Grand Prix, streaming on the computer, then went for a walk  There are some really interesting old buildings so we have decided to spend a day here so I can get some cultural input (forgot to take the camera so I'll have to go back!), do some laundry and buy some fresh food.
A beautiful evening to end an enjoyable day.

Thieu to Peruwlez

We had a long day ahead of us , 37km including 2 big locks, so we set off early at 8.15,  in grey, misty, rainy conditions. 

 The first lock, Ecluse de Havré, has a 10m drop with floating bollards.  When I called them I was told we would be sharing the lock with a commercial boat and we would have to wait.  Perhaps 10 minutes later a boat appeared behind us, the lights went green and we entered the lock.  The commercial was small-ish, perhaps 50m, and tied up next to us.  They had a Dutch flag and immediately struck up a conversation in English.  Such a friendly guy.  The lock takes about 30 minutes so we found out quite a lot about him:  he bought the boat just 3 weeks ago and this is his first trip with a cargo of fertiliser, going from Maastricht to Canal du Nord in France.  He also has a pleasure Luxcruiser with which he has travelled extensively in France with his family - 4 children but only one wife(!).  His son is crewing for him.  This is his hobby and he is actually the owner/captain of a sea going cargo boat (he obviously likes collecting boats!) travelling all coast of Europe and he knows the Azores.  And he gave us some tips about where to go in France: the River Doube is highly recommended.(The conversation continued in the second lock).  I'm so sorry I didn't take photos in the locks   but we followed in their wake for quite a while:

We have done the Nimy-Blaton-Peronnes canal before, about a week ago, and it is pleasant enough but not exciting.  As we passed the entrance to the Ath-Blaton Canal, which we loved so much,

 the scenery improved and the sun even made an appearance.

 What is this great big barge doing on our side of the canal?  He appeared to be having a conversation with a woman walking her dogs on the tow path - memories of Faial!  We had to slow down almost to a halt but he did move eventually.

 We were intending to stop in the Peruwelz area but not sure where.  According to our information there is a marina, a port de plaisance, and 2 free docks.  We went into the port de plaisance in a small cut off the canal, but it is part of the marina: the same price but not close to the amenities, and while we were tied up there a barge passed with a huge surge, causing little Njord to rise and fall against the dock (not floating) by over a foot.  So we went a couple of kms further to take a look at the free docks - they were right on the canal with even less protection from passing barges.  We went back to the marina, which is also in a small cut off the canal but protected by a breakwater at the entrance so no surge from the commercials.

We were met by a very friendly man, Pascal, who took out money (€12.50/night including electricity and wi-fi, showers are €1.80) and explained where the supermarket is, and how everything works around here.

We went supermarket-ing(2 of them within 500m, Colruyt and Lidl), then took to the showers.  Wow, the best shower I have had in many years.  You pay your €1.80 and get a key to the shower, an old fashioned key that unlocks a door, not one of these card things that operates the water flow.  So, you turn the tap on and get blasted by a jet of water, as hot as you like, and for as long as you like.  My kind of shower!

Then a glass of wine and chicken bbq as the sun went down.