Climb
to the Summit
So Saturday morning we give the dogs a good walk and
then deliver the car to the warden’s office at the campsite. A Dutch boat the Esox wants to go first so
we agree and give them 20 minutes’ start.
We say that we will moor at Tréveray but there is also
Naix-aux-Forges. They will look to see
which they prefer.
There are 12 locks and 13 kms to Tréveray. Linda
again is on the bicycle between locks, ready to take the ropes from below. It is a very warm day. She has water but by the time we reach
Tréveray just after 13h00 she is very hot and exhausted.
A student lock-keeper takes our details as we leave
Ligny, then a few locks later she pops by to check we are OK. She is very keen to do a good job. Born and raised in Ligny she is now a student
in NSW, but doesn’t have a work or permanent visa. She is applying for one with her Australian
boyfriend, but it is a slow process she says.
And it’s the same whether you are married or not.
As we ascend we can see the top of the hills before
us, now interestingly populated with wind turbines. They do not jar though in this wide open
landscape.
The Summit of Wind Turbines – old and
new technology together
At Tréveray we meet up with the Esox, and exchange names
but alas do not write them down. All our
dogs from both boats are allowed to run and play together. Then we are joined by a German couple who
have to get to Hamburg (with boat) in a couple of weeks, so they will be off
first tomorrow. The Esox will linger a day
longer here, while we will move on later in the morning.
German, Dutch, British moored in a
row at Tréveray
Oucheka’s
Walks
In the morning we find some long walks for the
dogs. We meet an ex-water worker who
lives three locks on and walks his dog Oucheka 10 kms every morning. We share a fair bit of the walk together and
Oucheka – only 10 months old - quickly puts Topsy in her place. We wave and chat to other residents and
walkers as if we’d lived here for years.
Oucheka and his servant descending
from the hills above Tréveray
And so we set off for the summit. It is very warm again, but there is some
breeze, and the shade from the avenues of beech trees helps a lot.
Avenues of Beech Help Keep Cool on
the Final Rise to the Summit
We pass Oucheka’s home. He said we would recognise it by the donkeys.
Oucheka’s Home in the Hills Above the
Locks
Dreaming
of Barley Water (or Something Else)
But it is getting warmer. Linda spots the beautiful field of barley
behind one of the locks, but says it only makes he think of the beer she could
do with!
Brilliant Acres of Barley
Sweltering – Dreaming of those Barley
Products
We finally reach the last uphill lock. We hand in our tele-commande, and book to
take the tunnel at 09h15 tomorrow morning.
Absolutely no problem, he says.
The last lock has a beautiful boatful of flowers to greet you to the
summit.
A Boat Full of Flowers Greet You at
the Summit
And then, 100 metres further on you have to turn
left. The directional signs only give
you one option.
Only One Option at the Summit (Unless
You Turn Around Of Course)
If you do turn round you get a beautiful view of the
lock and the hills behind.
The Last Lock Set in Its Hills
We moor up behind the old dead electric tug, clearly
gone to the haven in the sky.
One Former Electric Tug Finding its
own Nirvana
The water is clear – you can see the vegetation
below. We take the girls for a good walk
and then they are free to wander as they like.
A peaceful, idyllic afternoon.
You Can See the Water Vegetation at
the Bottom of the Canal
At 18h15 we hear some slight stirring and another
boat is coming up from the lock. Then we
realise this is a commercial boat. He
will have priority in the morning going through the tunnel, and that could
cause us a problem as we have a rendezvous at Void at 15h00, and if we cannot
go until the 13h30 passage we won’t make it.
Barging
In
The barge moors smack in front of us, but out from
the old tug, making it very clear he is going to take first passage in the
morning. We let him settle, then go up
to have a chat. There is a whole family
on board, mum and two girls as well as skipper.
He is relaxed and easy. Yes, he
is off first thing in the morning as he has to get Nancy. No, we will not be able to follow him into
the tunnel, only one boat is allowed at a time.
You will have to speak to Bar-le-Duc in the morning, he advises.
Taking Precedence – Industrial Barge
at the Summit
There is nothing we can do until morning. We give the dogs an early walk and then ring
Bar-le-Duc at 08h30. They are helpful
and considerate. They thought the barge
would have arrived in time to go through last night. They are very sorry. He is right about industrial barges only
allowed through as single boats. They
give out a lot of fumes and with the ventilation system it is best not to have
other boats in the tunnel at the same time.
Pleasure craft can go 2 or 3 together.
But yes, we will be able to go in the morning. As soon as he has cleared the tunnel they
will let us in at this end. He is
preparing to leave. We ask what time he
expects to get to Void. Oh, about 14h00
he says, not earlier. And of course we
can’t overtake him even if we catch up with him after the tunnel. Oh well.
We’ll have to see how it goes.
We prepare
the boat for the tunnel. Although we
could easily leave our back canopy up we prefer to take it down. Glyn cycles up to the entry to the tunnel (a
good 1 km in itself) to see if the VNF agent is there. The girls run after him. This is really good exercise for them. Unfortunately the VNF man coming in his van
behind is only half amused, the other half irritated that the dogs aren’t on leads. But he is not too bad. We get told they will call us as soon as we
can go through.
At 09h45 we get a wave to get ready and proceed up
to the tunnel entrance. A red light but
a hand wave to come forward and we have a good conversation. He is waiting to
hear the barge has cleared the other end, and then we can go. And we get the “all clear” at 10h15.
Waiting at the Tunnel Entrance
And then we’re on our way. The tunnel is well lit and we can make steady
progress. We take just the hour to clear
the 5kms.
A well lit tunnel, but good to see
light at the end
The
Scenery Changes
Now it’s downhill all the way. 12 locks to Void where we will moor the
night, but so easy for us compared to going uphill. The hillsides here though look more barren
and rocky, whereas the other side was wooded and green.
A slightly more barren aspect on the
Mauvage side of the tunnel
We are proceeding well, but at lock 10 we have
caught up with the barge. It is already
13h30 and we will struggle to make Void by 15h00. We ring the taxi company and they are happy
to re-arrange for 15h30.
The taxi service and we are back with the car at
Void before 17h00. We pick up the girls
and meander down the canal to look at further moorings at Pagny-sur-Meuse and
Lay-St-Remy. We are now in the Meuse
valley as she flows north through Belgium to the Netherlands (the Maas as in Maastricht) before crossing
once again to the Moselle.
Both moorings are very good and rural, though set at
the edge of villages. No water and
electricity but very pleasant indeed. We
return to Void for a quiet evening and night.
We are moored against the VNF office.
We can use their water, and yes, they are happy if we park the car in
their yard.
It is peaceful, though the church opposite continues
ringing the hour all through King Alfred’s hours of night silence. Nevertheless, we awake in the morning, open
the curtains, and there is one the most beautiful water reflections you could
hope to see with sore eyes.
Morning reflections at
Pagny-sur-Meuse
Tourists
for a Day
Today we are going to have a tourist day. No cruising. After a sprightly dog walk and
lazy breakfast we amble into town to find the post office. Then we go off to visit two local towns about
5-6 miles away.
The first – Commercy (also on the Canal de
Meuse) – is advertised as having the summer palace of a former King of Poland,
now converted into the Town Hall. We
joke as we drive along that it will be either a very impressive Town Hall, or a
very disappointing palace. See for
yourself which!
The Town Hall at Commercy
And the gates before the horse parade.
The Entry Gates to the Town Hall
And the Avenue leading to the Horse Parade
This King Stanislaw, famous also for the Stanislas
Square in Nancy (we naughtily call him Staszek) was alas first a Swedish then a
French protected claimant to the Polish throne after the break up of the
Poland-Lithuanian Federation, and was never really the effective king of
Poland. But his daughter married Louis
XV and when finally he was deprived of the Polish throne he was made Duc du
Lorraine et de Bar (there we are, the Bar
again), hence the local connection. He
was an ancestor of both Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. How much bad luck can one man have? Well more!
It could be argued that his weakness and folly also led to the partition
of Poland which took place only a few years after his death (though 30 years
after his last claim to be king).
Anyway, after wandering around and having a lovely
cup of coffee in the town square (horse parade) with the dogs at our feet we
then head to other side of Void and Vaucouleurs. More history as this was the town where Joan
of Arc had her dreams and persuaded the local lord that she had a mission to
save France for the King and Dauphin.
And it was from here that she left on her fateful journey in 1429. It was worth a visit, but they have not
particularly protected this heritage.
The
“Porte de France” from which Joan of Arc Marched Out to save the Kingdom
But somehow it was touching little town, and more
modern aspects made us think of a little town in England.
Vaucouleurs – Beautiful Flowers in
the Street
Vaucouleurs – the local Ironmonger
But there was more to see:
The Joan of Arc Tree at Vaucouleurs
View Over the Town and Valley from
the Porte de France
After a morning of tourism we thought we should do
something boat-wise so later in the afternoon we drove down to Toul, and popped
into Lorraine Marine where we to moor and then leave the boat. Duncan Flack, the owner, had more boats in
than he expected and though he could shuffle around we all realised that
mooring and getting on and off with the dogs would be a bit problematic, so we
would hang back on the country moorings, and only come into the boatyard to
leave her there while we were back in England.
We discussed the various little jobs needing attention, so it was
successful from that aspect. It many
ways this was a better outcome. Toul
would be having firework displays over the weekend (12-14 July) and the dogs
would be very discomfited during those.
We popped into the port at Toul (Port de France) and
booked a mooring for the next Monday. We
had to check out though where there was enough space for an 18m30 boat. We found one at 20 metres, though it would be
fun doing the mooring.
Crossing
the Meuse
So Tuesday we cruised the whole of 12 kms and no
locks and moored up at Pagny-sur-Meuse, doing little else except sus out where
to get shopping, diesel and gas cylinders.
We cross the Meuse river itself but are still just
in the Meuse department.
The Pont canal over the Meuse at
Troussey
Glyn cycles back by road to get the car. The canal meanders a lot here and the road is
half the distance, though you have to use the towpath part of the way as no-one
(in their right mind) would cycle on the RN 4 from Void. Or was he just avoiding
having to cycle over the Pont Canal!
And the River Meuse Below the
Aqueduct
Wednesday was a work day. First we filled up with diesel. With jerry cans from the local garage this
always takes a while. But we only took
140 litres, though probably could have squeezed in another 20. We are pleased with how economical the engine
has been, especially as we have switched off in almost all locks for the whole
period, so there has been no idling time.
After that Linda does the inside scrubbing and cleaning, while Glyn does
some sanding and repainting on the outside.
Some days have to be like this on a boat.
The crew meanwhile just look on. It was lazy, very
warm day. At least one member of the
crew thought it was cooler in the car under the trees for her afternoon nap.
I’m Quite Happy here, Thank You –
Moored at Pagny in the Shade
Mechanical
Failure – Strasbourg Cut Off from France
The two British boats who were moored overnight move
on down to Toul, and we are joined by a Dutch colleague. We discuss our various journeys and
destinations. Ah! You are going to Strasbourg, he says. “Have you heard that the St. Louis /
Arzvillier Inclined Plane developed mechanical problems and is out of
action. It may be out of action for some
time. Getting to Strasbourg from here
this year may be a problem.”
We look on the VNF website. He is definitely right and it looks like it
may be out of action until end September or even December. We will need to make further enquiries. This “lift” for boats (you descend inside a
lock which is lowered like an enormous bath tub) has replaced 17 locks and is
45m downhill. If it is out action we
will have to rethink our August / September cruising.
Tourists
Again?
Enough of that for now. Thursday we have a quiet morning with the
girls, and finish off some jobs. For the
afternoon we are going to leave the girls in the cool of the boat, and be
tourists again, taking the train into Nancy.
Nancy is quite an industrial city, but attractive as
well. The Stanislas Square is
impressive. We visit the Quais Sainte
Catherine and Saint Georges and note that mooring at St George should be
OK. We take some lunch at the excellent
and economical Cafe Opera, and then visit the Musée de l’Ecole de Nancy for a brilliant exhibition of Art Nouveau with which even Glyn is
impressed. Unfortunately we have
forgotten how to turn the flash off on the camera so cannot really take
pictures. (We finally work it out when
back on the boat.)
Stanislas Square in Nancy – Wide and
Open
Amazing Gilt at the Portals to the
Square
And Even More Finery in the Arches (Toul
7)
Art Nouveau showing Miners at Work
Then back to the girls. We have spent two hours walking on concrete
and one hour in a museum. We are very
hot, but in the boat with the air and breeze from the canal they are
beautifully cool. But they want to run
around outside and we are enjoying the cool air.
A
Slow, Easy Day
Friday we move the boat just a few more kilometres
down to Lay St Remy. Finally we cross
into Meurthe-et-Moselle (dare we say Lorraine proper as opposed to Bar!) We have to take another tunnel on Monday to
get into the Moselle valley. We need to
forewarn the lock-keepers so Glyn decides to take the dogs to try to find a
footpath to speak to them personally.
The towpath
is very rough and then disappears completely.
He sees a path over the hill and tries that. He bumps into a forester more surprised to
see him than he is to see the forester, who says there is way over, not too
far. They climb and climb. It is hot, dry, rocky, no shade and no water. Topsy doesn’t want to go on but they keep
trying. They start to descend but it
seems endless. The church bells chime
midday. “Mad dogs and Englishmen” come
to mind, but the dogs aren’t mad (yet) and Glyn is less than half an
Englishman. Eventually they decide to
turn back. Linda wonders where they have
been. We all consult the map and we find
that the path they were walking goes on into Foug village, and not the other
end of the tunnel. But they’ve certainly
had a good walk, and after lunch all anyone wants is an afternoon sleep.
In the evening the L’Heritage comes in and
moors alongside. We help moor up, and
then Ian, Jenny and Owen from Co. Durham have a coffee, beer and tea with us,
according to preference. They are in a
share and hoping to get to Chaumont by the end of the month when American
partners will take over. We discuss
mooring options and also opportunities in Toul when we go through. And later we have drinks and nibbles together
on the lawn in the shade before all we go back to eat
.
Fete
Nationale
And gosh, it’s already July 14th. It’s very quiet here. The L’Heritage sets off. We discuss flagging up, but there is no-one
to see us and it is a lot of work putting them up and then getting them
down. Gosh, we are getting lazy. But we salute the Republic in our way.
Glyn sets off for a walk with the dogs in the
morning, and, delightfully, discovers a beautiful round walk along the canal,
through woodland, through marshes but with walkways erect to get you over the
worst marshland, and then through beautiful open farmland and finally the small
quiet village in which we are moored.
Misty Marshes at Lay St Remy
What’s This Contraption
Shaded Woods for an Afternoon Walk
The rest of morning is spent – ahem – keeping cool
and blogging.
The 15th we pass the Foug tunnel and head
down Toul. We have been warned that the lock keeper at Foug can be difficult but we telephone ahead before we leave and
he is easy. No need to book, he says,
I’ll see you when you get here. A
German cruiser nudges ahead and we take the tunnel and go into the lock
together. Glyn is wary of the bolted bollard
at the back of the lock as it is a deepish lock and the ropes can be trapped by
the bolts, making it impossible to get them off. He waves to the lockkeeper who says, before
Glyn can speak, best not to us that bollard, and they agree a diagonal moor
would be best. This also keeps us clear
of the fairly large sill at the back of the lock, which we have enquired
about. The lockkeeper smiles. “I’m glad some people are alert” he
says. "So many come up the Meuse and this
is the first downhill lock they’ve used for ages. They get so stroppy when you remind them to
be careful about the sill and the bollard!" Is this why they think he’s stroppy, when he’s only trying to help?
We lock all the way with the German cruiser to
Toul. They are easy and helpful locking
companions, but they are going straight on to Nancy. We wave a goodbye as we turn into the
beautiful port at Toul.
The Port de France at Toul
Flowers Bedeck the Road at the Port
de France
The mooring we expected is full and we are told by
another boat owner to moor in a corner which is less than ideal. When the harbour master’s deputy arrives he
explains his problem and we look at various alternatives, but as it is only one
night it seems best to stay where we are. We find some temporary solutions to
steady the boat at her mooring.
Overnight youngsters and a family are having a good
evening just along from the boat. This
is all very pleasant until it gets dark and they are still there, some of the
teenagers more than a little happy, and younger kids messing with our
electrical cable. We suggest it’s time
they left, and after some gentle and then more robust exchanges they move away
and finally go home.. It’s good they can
enjoy their own town as long as we can achieve mutual respect.
Toul itself is a beautiful town, walled and
surrounded by defensive mounds, with the Moselle along one side. The cathedral is more than interesting, with
a beautiful cloister.
The Front Facade at Toul Cathedral
The Cloister Gardens at Toul
Don’t Pick the Flowers with this Guy
Overhead
Any way next day we slip down early to the boat yard
two locks away. The lockkeeper is our
friend from yesterday. Ah! Yes. You are only going down to the boat yard he
says, not yet to the Moselle. We have friendly exchange and he also sets the
lift bridges to open for us.
By midday we have unloaded from boat to car,
discussed the few works needed with Duncan who runs the boat yard, and are on
our way home, with an overnight stay at Remilly-Allicourt, would you believe
it, on the Canal de Meuse. The girls get
an evening walk along the canal which is still very warm. An excellent meal, an early walk with the
dogs, and then we are off to Bleriot-Plage before an early morning shuttle on
the car train to England.
Courtyard Dining at Remilly-Allicourt
The drive now takes us right through WW1 country,
which is clearly gearing up somewhat for 2014.
Nevertheless the number of cemeteries and war graves you see brings to
mind what an horrendous war that was, and how uncaring it was about loss of
life.
Bleriot-Plage is pleasant enough though more
difficult to find walks for the dogs. We
walk through the dunes which sadly have people who are clearly bivouacking
overnight in them, some for choice no doubt, but others clearly for need. So the journey home brings us down to earth.
It makes us appreciate how lucky we are.
So next the Moselle – and then where?? Alas not
Strasbourg which will remain cut off until next year. Maybe the Sarre (Saar).
No comments:
Post a Comment