Friday 25 April –
Chalons-en-Champagne
This blog is mainly a story in pictures.
The Marne from the Jean Jaurès Bridge
at Chalons
Working on the Chalons-sur-Marne Lock
The St Etienne Cathedral at Chalons
Wish we had a Tourist Office like
this
Le Mau in the centre of Chalons
Chalons’ Hotel de Ville
Jacaranda Tree at Relais Nautique /
Rue Jean Jaurès
The St Etienne Cathedral above the
Grand Jard
We arrived at Chalons-en-Champagne on Tuesday after
a gentle stroll up from Chepy. Damian,
the responsable for the relais nautique was really welcoming,
but we were his only customer until a couple from just south of Nantes
arrived. No-one else though. So we had a good look around the town,
several times bumping into our Nantais friends. It is a really beautiful city, but we’ll let
the photographs speak for themselves.
Damian really could not do enough for us, including
checking out the route ahead. There was
a minor hitch with the lock here, but they would get us through. But the
section north of Reims was closed, but he thought he had heard there would be
further delays. And there were. It was supposed to re-open on the 2nd
May. Now it would be the 10th.
He offered any help he could, including
contacting ports along the way. Well,
that’s canalling for you. We had a bit
of rethink on our hands, losing 8 days.
We could always take the Marne, Seine and Oise around Paris – but
actually that would take longer.
On Wednesday we decided to put it all behind us and
visit Epernay, just 20 miles away.
The Grande Maison of Moët et Chandon
building at Epernay -
The tree seemed more interesting than the building
Hotel de Ville across the street –
somewhat more imposing
The Grande Maison de Castellane
The St Martin’s Gate at Epernay
Still some impressive period
buildings at Epernay
We were actually quite disappointed by Epernay. Yes all the great Champagne houses are there,
but the architecture was very hit and miss.
Even the St Martin’s Gate had been mostly knocked down to make way for
traffic – though admittedly that was in 1916 when there may have been some more
pressing needs. We found a reasonable
café. But it was quickly clear that if
you wanted interesting Champagne finds you would have to go into the villages.
So Thursday we decided to stay a couple more days
here – now with time to kill – and did a little travelling around the villages,
but we are not Champagne buffs so really just explored. Bouzy was interesting, not just its name, but
its reputation especially for the “Bouzy Rouge”. An interesting village but the famous red
wine is fine but light. Worth tasting, but not a Burgundy! We did buy some bottles.
Linda and Girls with the Bouzy “Coq”
An old wine press at Bouzy
Today has been standard shopping and things like
that, though we did get to see the inside of the St Etienne Cathedral, which is
only open in the afternoons. The green
stained glass windows really are impressive, though sadly the colour did not
fully show in our shots.
The
impressive green-coloured rose window at St Etienne
Impressive blues in the baptismal chapel
So
many stunning windows – this on the south side of the nave
Thursday
1 May – Sillery (Communauté de Reims)
So on Saturday we set off further down the Marne,
before turning into the Aisne-a-Marne canal up to Reims and (hopefully,
eventually) north into Picardy.
The first section was along the Marne canal to
Conde-sur-Marne. Although straight and
slightly industrial on the way out of Chalons, this was a beautiful stretch of
water.
The Marne Canal from Chalons to
Condé
We had a very pleasant overnight stop, and could not
resist popping into the Potié cave just up from the mooring. Mme Potié was the most delightful hostess who
took the dogs and said “do bring them in”. Her champagne was nicely dry and
slightly fruity. To our taste certainly,
but no doubt the ambience helped - and not having to drive afterwards.
Sunday threatened rain, but it did not come till
late. We risked it and decided to do the
eight locks to the summit. As we are low
in the water, uphill on French canals is always a bit of challenge, but this
went quite easily, once we got the locks open.
Vaudemange at the summit was quite “au sauvage” but
very enjoyable for the dogs, at least until it rained. There were some lovely walks here.
Tree-lined sunshine at Vaudemange
Route to Compostella - Topsy was
threatened with a longer walk than Condé if she did not behave!
And from there we took the tunnel through to Sillery
and Reims. The Mont-de-Billy tunnel was
now short by our standards (only 2.3 kms) and well-lit. But even though we were the only boat on the
water the tunnel supervisor did not manage to spot us.
Tunnel entrance and gate house at
Vaudemange
A well-lit tunnel all the way to
Sept-Saulx
We overnighted Monday evening just beside the canal
at Sept-Saulx. The quay noted is very
industrial and best avoided, but just behind the bridge was a beautiful quiet
place to stop, where the girls could run undisturbed and only the occasional
walker stopped to say Bonjour.
From then on to here at Sillery. A nice little port / marina with most
facilities, though no washing / dryer machines or wifi. Surprisingly after we arrived two other boats
came in during the afternoon. Hans and
Elionne on the Louis Pasteur are Swiss, and bought a Snaillie boat at Chagny last year.
We would have been there at the same time. They've been doing up the boat at Corre and
then came up the Vosges, following us not far behind all the way from Toul.
The Capricorn has its home port as the
Hamble, but now based at Portsmouth with crew from Lyndhurst and Dibden Purlieu. Chris and Fawnia, Andrew and Judith were
having a nice trip across the Channel, up the Seine and Marne and then back via
Calais, until they too came to a full stop at Reims. There are other boats, all French and
unoccupied plus the Ferdinand, which is Danish and wintered here. Solway and partner will however head south
next week when they have finished de-winterising. Those of us here are all foreigners.
Sillery like Sept-Saulx has a major “Necropole
National” right next to the moorings.
These are sombre places, and you cannot ignore them. If ever you need a reason why we need a
united Europe, these give just a very simple one, in spades.
The Necropole National at Sept-Saulx
Yesterday after some chores we visited the
neighbouring vineyard villages of Verzenay and Verzy, with over 100 Champagne
producers between them, the first guarded by an old mill and a lighthouse (yes,
in the middle of land-locked Champagne) and the second topped by the most
wonderful Forêt Domainial. Here we could walk for hours with the girls
snorting and snuffling in the woods. Let
the photos speak!
The windmill at Verzenay across the
vines
The windmill closer up
The vines closer up
And even closer still
Verzenay in the valley from the Mill with the Phare in the distance
The Phare closer up
The Mill and over the village from
the Phare
Knotted Beeches at Les Vaux in the
Forêt Domainial at Verzy
Can you see the knots in this
leaf-covered beech?
Compare the size to the normal trees
Well today is a national holiday in France, even the
locks are closed. But we have ten days
before the locks north of Reims re-open.
So the next blog with photos, mainly photos, will be of Reims and its
environs. What a city to be forced to be
tourists in.
Wednesday
7 May – Courcy, north of Reims
Well, we had to stay at Sillery until today, but
tomorrow 8 May, even though a national holiday, hopefully the locks will open.
All in good humour the VNF supervisor has just said “Bien sur! J’espere.
Normalement.”
Last Thursday we had thunderstorms in the late
afternoon, and Friday was dull and wet.
But since then we’ve had very good weather with occasional rain. On Saturday we drove up here to see how the
works holding us up were progressing. We
met Claudia and Ha-Ge (Hans-Gunter) on the Gehusy. They had passed us at Vaudemange and then at
Sillery, and desperately needed to get to Holland. Claudia had to go back to Aachen to work, but
Ha-Ge would come back next week to try to move the boat. On Sunday we got to tidy up, diesel up, touch
up paintwork and all the other chores that boats demand. On Monday we got to
see Reims a little bit. We’ll let
pictures tell the rest.
A busman’s holiday – on the bus into
Reims we get joined by a class a 5-6 year olds whose teacher encourages them to
practise their English
The blue in the cathedral rose
window is just quite stunning
The cathedral inside is very large
but actually quite unfussy inside
But some of the interior work is very
special
At the east end these modern art
windows were only installed in the last half century
This side chapel is also impressive
Outside we managed to find the
laughing angel, but difficult to photo at that height and angle
The northern doorway is also
impressive
We were surprised how little else there was to see
in the centre of Reims, though we did not have time to visit the Musée des
Beaux Arts. It is a quite beautiful
city, with even the outskirts extremely presentable. The amount of white stone and concrete could
perhaps be a little more varied but it does look good.
The archbishop’s palace – the
gardens are very well set
The courtyard to the Musée de Reims
has a fascinating sculpture
Even the shops have floral walls
The Hotel de Ville still stands
resplendent
But Reims has sadly suffered much
destruction over the last century – this half maintained facade reminds you of
that
Back at Sillery the China Bird, a Widebeam like
ourselves with Martine and Diane, whom we have met previously at Gannay and St
Leger, arrives on Sunday. They too need
to make haste to Belgium where their boat is being shipped back to England for
a new owner. And we find some lovely
shady walks for the dogs.
Topsy ran through some trees and
found this lovely walk through the woods
It winds around to the river’s edge
– warm, comforting and shady
Meanwhile we also share the port
with fishermen/women, cyclists, walkers and joggers
And of course endless groups of
ducklings
Finally today we are able to head north out of
Champagne country. The passage through
Reims is quite pretty, even if the northern end is somewhat industrial. But as we set off this morning an industrial
comes right up behind us as we leave the port, and of course we have to give
him priority. He also tells he will take
the locks first tomorrow when they re-open, as is his right. After so little traffic we are then also
caught by a Danish cruiser, who wants to overtake, until he realises that we
have to stay behind the industrial in front of us. They both pull into Reims, but at least one
we will see tomorrow.
The canal in the centre of Reims –
with the Danes impatiently behind us
So here we are at Courcy, waiting.
Boats waiting at Courcy - Ha-Ge and
the Gehusy, a local resident with a
beautiful wooden boat moored permanently, us, the Capricorn, and the China
Bird further back
Hope that’s not too many pictures! From tomorrow – hopefully – the dash to
Cambrai and the Belgian border.
