The
Journey Down
Finally in mid August we head back to the boat. This was to be our trip to Strasbourg but the
Arzvillier Elevator (Plan Incliné) is still out of order, at least until next
year, so we will head instead for Saarbrucken.
The trip down to Toul goes well, with a lovely stop at the Chateau de
Liessies near the Belgian border north east of Cambrai and Charleville. Our
route then brings us down through Verdun and again the WW1 battle fields. The Monument to Peace at Verdun is
impressive, and for the first time we see a German soldiers’ cemetery. You don’t usually see these, and we have
often wondered what happened too to their masses of slaughtered youth.
Caught
Up in Toul
We arrive in Toul in very good time, and after
unpacking we start re-installing our repaired stern pram cover. The manufacturers were wary of a repair where
they could not visit the boat. We have a number of aspects to do ourselves, but
all in all it all fits well, and we are impressed by them (Wilsons of Kinver)
as by ourselves.
Agh! Then one
very small hitch. The holding straps,
for keeping the front flap up so that we can see out when it is raining, aren’t
there. All in all this is a very minor
issue and can easily be put right, but it is like having a car without
windscreen wipers.
Oops – We’re Missing Some Straps -
see below
They Should be Like This
We contact Wilsons first thing Tuesday morning. They are very apologetic and have put the
parts in the post straightaway that morning.
We might get them by Thursday or possibly Friday.
We have some other jobs to do so focus on them. We’ve had some water ingress in the rear
bilge while we were away. Most of this
is rain water off the tarpaulin which had stood in for the stern cover, as we
took it off. A messy couple of hours to
clean it all up, but not a major problem.
However we still seem to have more water than we had thought. With Duncan who runs the boatyard we have a
very good look all round, and identify that one of the seals on the hot water
tank has perished. So most of Tuesday is
taken fixing all that, but at least we feel we really have achieved something,
and seem finally to have cracked the ingress problem.
Although they get their walks this is not though the
best day for the dogs. But they are very
good and patient.
Waiting Patiently
Wednesday passes with a T-Cut clean and wax polish
of one of the sides to aim to restore some of the faded paintwork. It works quite well but may need a second
run. And of course there’s the other
side to do. We also inspect for all rust
spots following the water ingress problems and treat as many of these as
possible, ready for re-painting, which takes up a fair slice of Thursday too.
The weather is good, sunny and warm, so we are
reasonably enjoying the sojourn, and having plenty of snoozes in between, as
well as British workmen’s tea and coffee.
But the routine is beautifully interrupted on Thursday when a Dragon
Boat of youngsters descends to the Moselle – just a 100 metres to our right –
in all their glory.
Meanwhile A Dragon Boat Goes By
The straps don’t arrive, so Friday we mix work with
rather more walks for the dogs and a bit more tourism for ourselves. We haven’t really looked around Toul so we
give that a good priority, buy some wine (the local Toul wine is very good),
and fix an appointment with the vet for the return journey in September. We also take a drive out to the woodland at
Lucey and walk the dogs there. Another day gone. Where did it go?
Fountains (in the Centre of Toul) can even make Credit Agricole look Great
The Junction of the Marne-au-Rhin at Toul with the Gabarit Canal parallel to
the Moselle Just Behind the Boatyard
Glyn’s sister Mary rings. She is staying in Langres with Eliane whom we
visited on the last trip, and we arrange a visit the next day, and book a nice
restaurant overlooking the Moselle. The weather is still beautiful so it should
be very good. They say the food is good
too!!
Alas Saturday and the weather turns. It is pouring with rain and even worse at
Langres. We cancel lunch and apologise
to the restauranteur, but promise we will come another time. A cold morning where we just hunker down and
do some inside jobs. But great
news. The straps arrive. By the afternoon the weather improving a bit,
and we are under cover as well as, so we can fix them, and be ready to cruise
as on as we feel fit.
Finally
the Moselle
Sunday morning the weather is a bit better but still
grey and damp. We debate to move or not,
but the meteo says it may not improve further until Wednesday, so we decide to
go for it. We contact the lock-keeper
and take the lock right next to us down on to the Moselle at 10h00. We gently ease up the throttle, but there is
only one other boat (the Libertas) on the water, so we can
cruise up a bit.
Full Cruising on the Moselle
At the first lock we let the Libertas go ahead of
us. They are a nice Dutch couple going
down the Moselle to the Rhine. But in
fact we realise they won’t be allowed through the next two locks without us,
and their getting there early will make it quicker for us.
Our First Moselle Lock – at
Fontenoy-sur-Moselle
The early morning dampness starts to turn to drizzle,
and by the time we pass the second lock at Angeray it is between drizzle and
steady rain. By now a third boat – the
French-crewed Yvonne – has joined us and we let them ahead too, though they
are travelling at about the same speed as us.
We pass Liverdun looking sad under the drizzle. We will stop here on the way back, and hope
the weather will be better.
We
compose a little ditty:
En passant sur la Mosellē
Sous la bruine de la Lorrainē
Avec mes sabots.
Well,
it’s not Baudelaire and not even original, but what the heck. It’s also certainly too cold for clogs, and
we are both wearing somewhat warmer footwear.
Liverdun and the Yvonne under the Drizzle
After Liverdun we pass the third lock on the Moselle
at Pompey. The Libertas turns north
towards Trier and Koblenz, while we and the Yvonne turn east towards
Nancy, the Saar, and if it were possible Strasbourg. We are last in the line but we properly give
a long-short hoot to indicate we are turning to starboard. The Yvonne looks round to us, clearly
wondering what these idiots are trying to say!
The lock off
the river is only 3m deep but has nowhere to get ashore to fix ropes. The Yvonne skipper climbs the lock
ladder (always a tricky business) to fix his, and we scream “Pardonnez-nous,
les nôtres aussi!” He turns with a big
smile, and fixes our ropes for us.
The next lock is 6m with climbing crochets or hooks
to fix on at different levels as you go up.
They are not easy. But we laugh
together as fight the lock wall.
No more locks to Nancy. Just 9 kms of easy cruising. We gently follow the Yvonne all the way. The weather is improving, dry, and even a bit
sunny and warm now. We carefully examine
the mooring options for the return journey.
Nancy
by Sound and Illumination
We have booked for the night in the main St Georges port
at Nancy. We do not like mooring in big
cities, both for the dogs and because it usually costs a ton. But we want to see the illuminations so we
have made an exception. When we arrive
the Yvonne pulls into a pontoon mooring, but there is nothing for our
length. Linda goes ashore to the
Capitainerie. Yes he’s expecting us, yes
it’s OK, no he has nothing our length, but we can double moor against “René”
just outside the Capitainerie itself.
“René is not there but he’s a nice guy. He won’t mind. What about the dogs going across his
boat? No he won’t mind that.” This is a pleasant spot and it has a nice
“alternative society” ambiance. So for
€25 we take our double mooring.
Double Moored at Nancy
We moor up, sort ourselves out and take the dogs for
walk. For a big city centre we have to
say this is not bad for dog walking. We
get back at 18h00 French time (17h00 UK) and while Linda starts to think about
supper Glyn heads for the Cardiff City iPlayer to see how the Bluebirds are faring
against Man City. (Even here priorities
are priorities!) Before he gets it all
up his nephew Jon texts to say great first half 0-0. But when it is all up and six minutes later
it is 1-0 Man City. The game goes well
though. A brilliant equaliser and then
two slightly scrappy corner goals for a 3-1 lead. Added time is 6 minutes and scary, and Man
City pull one back, but the Bluebirds hold on for a great first victory in the
Premier League.
At the end of that Linda has supper ready. René is
now on board his boat and we briefly introduce ourselves and have a chat. He’s from Madagascar, and is eating and
shooting the breeze with a mate – what good luck, it’s our friend from the Yvonne,
so we are all relaxed together. René’s
even taken a shine to Topsy, though she is not behaving her best. He obviously likes rebels who show a bit of
spirit.
Then another walk with the dogs, and at 21h00 we
head for Stanislas Square for the Son-et Lumière. René says it is only 10 minutes but between
us and the usual discussions about port and starboard we manage it in 30. But we are in good time, even to have a beer
before the start.
Preparing for the Son-et-Lumière in Stanislas Square
The show takes up the whole of Stanislas Square, the
Hotel de Ville, the Opera House, and all the surrounding buildings. For 30 minutes it is really impressive,
though we don’t quite get all the historical allusions, and sadly our flash
can’t show how they transform the buildings to different historical periods
with the light show. This was really
worth seeing. And, as René said,
“gratuit” as well.
Sadly Our Flash Doesn’t Show the
Fantastic Illuminations
We slowly wander back to the port, but even slowly
this time it only takes 15 minutes. And
that includes finding this quaint old bank branch which we feel we have to
photo.
A Quaint Credit Agricole on the Way
Home
Well, what a day.
It’s gone midnight when our heads hit the pillows, but sleep comes very
easily.
Heading
East Along the Meurthe
Monday morning and we are off at 8h30. It is surprising how quickly the canal is out
of the urban industrial landscape and into the countryside. The next town we pass is
St-Nicolas-de-Port. Its twin towers
dominate the skyline, though getting a clean picture avoiding the overhead
lines off the railway running alongside the canal is a challenge.
The Twin Towers at
St-Nicolas-de-Port
Our first planned stop for lunch is just a little
further at Dombasle-sur-Meurthe. It is
now raining again, and although the “port” has a good inlet and many spaces it
looks and seems rough. There should be a
supermarket nearby, but given the ambiance and the weather we stay put, and
then cruise on to our overnight stop.
This is at Crevic.
It is a pastoral place, with a hotel boat already moored up there, but
not intrusively. It is easy for the
girls as they can run about as they please.
In the evening the weather is better.
We really enjoy our stay here.
A Great Way to Laze at Crevic – But
Don’t Fall In
Tuesday will be a light day, just 7 kms and 2 locks
to Einville-sur-Jard. This appeared from
the guides to be a small town. The
moorings were good, though the plug-in arrangements were too complicated to be
worthwhile (find somewhere to get tokens, then you only get 4 hours, not needed
when our batteries are already well charged). The town was pleasant enough but
the shopping was very basic. And the
post office, even though we found it on one of its days open, didn’t sell nor
could it make up worldwide stamps. This
was pleasant, but should we have shopped at Dombasle?
A Tree House for Drying Your Wood
Well, Lagarde, our next stop, should be a bigger
town. First we cross the border from the
Meurthe-et Moselle department into the Moselle.
We have also now caught up with the history we did not know. It was here at Lagarde that the border was
between France and Germany 1872-1914, when Alsace and the Moselle department
were part of Germany. And you feel here
you are in real border country, with French and German names pleasantly
inter-mixed. No-one seems to agree how
to pronounce “Einville”, but in these days everyone is relaxed. It is not an issue.
No
Flies on Us
Alas Lagarde is not a bigger town. It has even less. The port is well managed by Navig France, who also hire boats, and
they are building up a little shop, but there is nothing else. We are going to struggle to get shopping
before Sarreguemines (next Monday) but the port organised bread for us and we
could get some UHT milk. Why do we have
the same reaction to UHT milk that the French have to sliced bread!?
What also hit us here was the number of flies,
including horse flies and hornets. Glyn
got a nasty sting while we were mooring up for a cup of coffee and tea with a
friendly couple from Norwich (though Midlanders originally and – agh – Villa
fans), and Linda got one later. We both
take anti-histamines as a precaution when on the canals, so this helped absorb
the shock. But the flies were bad
here. It might not have been helped by a
small and slightly cramped stables right next to our mooring.
The mooring fee was €16 – OK once in a while, but
not cheap, but we did need a fill of water.
Horses Next to the Mooring at
Lagarde – and Horse Flies Come with Them
A short day on Thursday again just 7 kms and 3 locks
down to Port Sainte Marie. We were
thought this would be rural like Crevic, but it was quite well developed and
very pleasant. We settled in and then
noticed that the mooring fee was €18 whether you wanted water and electricity
or not. We needed neither, and were
beginning to think that this canal is rather expensive, though we moored free
(without facilities) at Crevic and Einville.
We walked the dogs and find easy moorings on the opposite bank with a
bollard and using one mooring pin, at a significant saving. Glyn cycled into the nearby village of
Moussey, but no shops or bakery there either. We were beginning to wonder whether we’d find
any shops before Sarreguemines. We should have planned for this. Though we have enough stores to survive.
A beautiful Willow at Port Sainte-Marie
– But We Moored on the Opposite Bank
Port Sainte-Marie from the Opposite
Bank
The
Rechicourt Lock
One last section then before we reached the Canal de
la Sarre or la Houillère and then down to the canalised river Sarre
(Saar). Just 6kms and 3 locks before the
deep lock at Rechicourt, at 15.4m or just over 50 foot water drop/rise this is the
deepest lock on the French canals. After
that there is only 7 kms lock-free cruising.
The weather was nice again, sunny and warm, and the countryside looked
great.
Approaching Rechicourt – the Deepest
Canal Lock in France
Inside the Lock
We had an easy run up to Rechicourt and had only a
10 minute wait before we could enter the lock.
Filling and emptying takes 30 minutes, so you can wait up to an hour. Our rise was very smooth indeed. At the top the lock-keeper took our details
and tele-commande, and we asked about access across the German border from
Sarreguemines to Saarbrucken. We said we
would like to do this, but had heard there were problems with the water
police. No problems with the police, he
says, but they may be some German canal workers on strike. German workers on strike, we laughed, surely
not, only French and British workers do that!
We reflected on the decline of industry in Britain and France, relative
costs of living, and he mused that some of the lower paid in Germany were as
poorly off as any in Britain and France.
He hoped we’d be OK getting to (and back from) Saarbrucken, and said we
might meet up on the way back.
Junction
with the Sarre (Saar)
So this section is almost at an end. The countryside now is very beautiful, with
lakes and woodland all around, cyclists and fishermen in abundance enjoying the
rural paradise. We reach the junction of
the Marne-au-Rhin and the Houillère / Sarre, and rue that alas we cannot get
through to Strasbourg this way. But
Saarbrucken and Sarreguemines will partly make up.
Sadly Strasbourg Cut Off So It has
To Be the Sarre
Will there be a shop at Houillon, our next stop
before making our way down to the Saar?
A signpost says there is. But
when we get there the harbour master says alas no, it is at Gondrexange some 5
kms away. You can do it by bike. We think about it. No, we have enough supplies to reach Sarreguemines
if pushed, and hopefully there will be something at Mittersheim tomorrow.
No bread and fishes here. Plenty of fishermen though, on the banks and
out on the lake. But it’s too warm, they
say. Nothing to oxygenate the water.
Fishing on the Lake at Gondrexange –
But Too Warm for Much Luck
So Goodbye for now to the Marne and Moselle.
Next
Episode: Of Lakes and Forests – The Beauty
and Pleasure of the Sarre
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