2001
  BACK TO CALENDAR 2001
 
 
Hover cursor over map or pictures, and title and size (in bytes)  appears in little window below the cursor. 
Click on them, whilst still connected to the www, to download  full size - 40Kbs to 95K
This Weeks "We're Still Here" Map  (IT'S THE SAME AS LAST WEEK'S.)
were_still_here_map_19_aug_2001.jpg (43906 bytes)
(The Map is a "thumbnail", same as the pictures - click on it for full size when connected to www.)
 
 
 
 
Last week closed upon elderly English Narrow Boaters in English Narrow Boat in North East of France wondering what the hell to do next, when the canal was stated to be breached at a spot that completely cut them off from the rest of the French waterways system.  
1130_xouxange_moorings_1_km_east_of_breach.jpg (69613 bytes)
We commented that the decision to stay at the bottom of the Arzviller plain was probably one of the best we ever made.   Here is a picture of where we would have moored that night if we hadn't felt idle and stayed below the plain.  The water depth is about 1".
 
 
 
August 12        Sunday
Arzviller to Hesse
 
Although we know the canal is breached, we still do not have any confirmation as to where, how badly, future prognosis, or indeed if it really is breached.  (However, see photos below!)
 
Spent entire day based in the basin at the foot of Arzviller "inclined Plain", listening to and - regrettably - passing on rumours.
 
The trouble on these occasions is one keeps asking questions the answers to which are both unpleasant and perfectly well known, until finally a favorable - but incorrect - answer is received, where-upon one locks on to it, believes it implicitly, and passes it on - however nonsensical and unrealistic it may be.
 
The general consensus is that the canal will be closed for 2 to 5 weeks! But exactly where, and this is important - there is a junction just "up canal", and we want to take the northern arm into Germany, Luxembourg, etc - is not known.
The inclined plain - have to call it that, French is "plain incliné" - was stated yesterday by officialdom to be completely closed from to-morrow.
 
Water level in it’s pound - the summit pound - is a good 2 foot below normal, but they are getting round that temporarily by pumping water into the plane’s caisson, so raising it’s level to match the pound at the bottom.
They are running the odd trip boat, and 2 or 3 hire boats have been "evacuated" out of the summit pound.
 
It is a Sunday, so unable to ring officialdom, or get an answer from workers on the equipment, as they are all students on Sundays, and know nothing.
They however, do swear blind that the plain will, in fact, continue working to-morrow and beyond!
 
Decided to hell with it - we’ll go up to Hesse, find the bloody breach, photograph it ourselves, and try to have a word with someone actually there!
If we get trapped above the plane - too bad!  We’ll make a fuss, or something.
Set off after lunch, and met the full force of Saturday changeover hire boats coming down (the summit pound, therefore, is obviously open as far as the hire base at Hesse).
 
There were some 30 boats awaiting the inclined plain (it can manage 3 - 5 boats at a time on a 50 + minute turnaround). Most of them were hire boats, but there were a number of private escapees as well.
They - the boats - were scattered all over the canal, largely unmoored, crews swimming (ugh) in their safety rings, fishing, sleeping, - etc etc.
Half of them should have gone to the Nancy side, but Hesse - the base - can only send them this way, so we got full force
Went past very gently with orange beacon and sympathy flashing!
Stopped at Crown Blue Line Hire base, to look for info, but Sunday afternoon after Saturday turn-around - only 1 lad present, and he hadn’t a clue.
 
Vaguely suggested he should sell us some diesel (actually asked - in our fluent, idiomatic, and grammatically correct French if he would buy some diesel) as he was filling a hire boat, but price some 20% over the odds, so gave it a miss.
Tied up for night on canalside in pleasant spot in shade, plenty of depth for us, and secure in the knowledge that nothing would or could bounce us off our pins. (There was no-where to go in front of us - or so we are told!)
 
 
August 13 Monday
Hesse back to Arzviller
 
Set off from our pleasant rural mooring just west of Hess for Xouxange, where we duly found gent wielding a 1119_barrage_digger_plus_sign.jpg (66538 bytes) sledge hammer whilst standing in bucket of a fore-end digger being raised on high knocking a home made sign reading "barrage" into the canal bank.
The canal was planked off below the bridge rather adequately - water level on our side being now1120_planked_off.jpg (50082 bytes) only 6" below full level, far side being dry except for about 1" leak water in bottom of canal bed.
Moored up in the shade just short of Xouxange bridge - having winded (!) - de-barked bikes and set off along towing path.
Found hole - not a breach as such - after only about 1 km along.
 
1133_xouxange_breach_from_opposite_bank.jpg (69808 bytes)Photographs show all. Hole appears to have occurred where water had run alongside under below-canal-culvert, washing out soil supporting concrete trench.
Admired, photographed, quick gossip with workers - who didn’t really want to gossip, then back to boat.
Back along canal - although this is the umpteenth time we’ve gone this way, it is very nice, interesting, not boring, and we still enjoy it.
and so down again to below the Arzviller basin.
 
 
August 14 Tuesday
Arzviller to Saverne
 
Down lock chain to Savern - doing a foot born run for bread in Lutzelbourg while S. navigated lock. We have to get on with it on these occasions, as being an automatic chain, one has to be present when next lock becomes available, and make use of it, or drop out of chain, informing L.K. on the blower - and ask, again on the blower - to rejoin. Cerfuffle!
 
Met Chat Marine - 28m barge we breasted up to at Saverne last week.
Quick gossip.
Next lock on found one of their super new big strong heavy plastic rubber fenders afloat in lock. Knew it was theirs - recognised new black rope, and newness of fender.
 
Met Jeoff and Val + "boys" on way up - more mid-canal gossip with boats going every which way.
 
Into Savern, moored up on cross piece at head of finger moorings, but not very nice - the fingers wobble alarmingly under unsteady feet.
Ffr 50 per night - ouch - £5.00.
 
 
August 15 Wednesday
Saverne
 
Public Holiday
Spent day watching a hire boat occupying our "favourite" spot in P. de P. on the quay, nearest to the willow trees.
Much too hot to move - just blobbed all day in tree shade,
The hire boat "in our place" is going to have to move sometime, and we want to be by when he does before some other scheming private boat bags it.
 
Finally, when it did move, took it’s place.
Mooring fee still £5.00 per day! Still ouch!!!
How long will we have to go on paying that - it is high for France at the best of times, and to have to pay that when entrapped seems a bit unjust.
 
 
August 16 Thursday
Saverne
Still very hot.
 
Found a large bricolage so able to replenish much needed loo chemical.
 
Spent most of day gossiping with Ann & Jim of Vryheid - a "Roanne" boat.
Bought and decanted or stored 6 jerrycans of diesel, assisted by ast port capitaine with his car.
Still have capacity for 1.5 cans more, but as there seems little chance of using it for some weeks to come, not much point in buying it.
 
Took disc of photos of breach into VNF (waterways) office - Saverne is a sort of district office.
They were extremely suspicious, and doubtful - we just thought that they would be interested.
Possibly an indication of something deeper. Several more canals - particularly the Centre and the other 3 up to the St Mammés and the Seine, are to be closed this winter for the first time in history. Even to commercials.
 
The individual attitude - normally and with very few exceptions friendly and helpful over the whole system, has, since the beginning of this breach episode been markedly unhelpful and obstructive, (yes, they do have a lot on their plate on these occasions, but it only needed 1 person to spend 20 mins getting us all to-gether and giving a quick verbal briefing), but no - it has been  "do not worry us", "it’s none of your business anyway", "I cannot help you", "ring this other number", then "ring another number", until after 5 calls one is told to ring the first number, and "even if we did know anything we would not tell you anyway", culminating in an almost triumphantly secretive slipping into the system’s "chomages" (stoppages) list of a little handwritten addendum stating that this section of the canal will be closed to navigation until the 20th September. 
However - that is France, and if we don't like it we can always go back to England!    Heaven forbid, nothing would induce us to do that, we like it far too much here, and have really no right to complain.
 
4 separate hire companies - 3 of them big countrywide organisations - have boats caught on the wrong side of the breach, but seem unable to twist VNF' s arms for more information and more speed, so it appears there is not a lot we can do.
 
To add insult to injury, 1 of their (VNF' s) PR girls arrived to persuade us to partake of the tourist opportunities based on the canal. Since a lot of them were beyond the breach, singularly fatuous piece of disorganised PR.
Politely told her so - but as she was only a hewer of wood and drawer of water, hardly effective, but she wrote it down!
 
 
August 17 Friday
Saverne
 
Much shopping! It is incredibly money consuming being moored up!
Cool, and slightly misty.
Richard and Linda of Vetrowen - lovely Dutch barge against whom I moored in Strasbourg on arrival, persuaded us to go to the restaurant below Haut Barr - way above Saverne, then climb up last 2 kms on foot to the chateau.
Marvelous piece of organisation. Richard and Jim pushed our bikes up for us, to the restaurant, whilst the chef came down in his car and drove us up.
Very nice relaxed and tasty lunch.1148_us_over_alsace.jpg (46752 bytes)
 
Left bikes locked at restaurant, and walked up to Chateau, marvelously historic place with superb views - over the canal, one way, and Germany, the other.   As an added bonus, visited a preserved mechanical semaphore type telegraph station from the last century.
One of those things the French seem to do so well, with so little fuss. Beautifully preserved, restored, working properly, and presented with full history in 3 languages, and enthusiastic and knowledgably guide speaking English.
 
 
August 18 Saturday
Savern
 
Went down, on the railway, with Richard and Belinda to Mulhouse and Colmar, ostensibly to inspect possible winter moorings for Vetrowen - they live on throughout the year, so quite important to find a nice spot, and cheap.
They had a cheapo group ticket for 5 persons, which, after a good deal of huffing and puffing, issued forth from a ticket machine - the departure time was before the office opened.
 
Although it was meant to use credit - etc - cards, it didn’t so had to risk the change machine, and obtain a total of 16 Ffr10 coins. (They are the same size and value as a UK £1.00 coin, but much nicer and prettier)
 
Having fed all this lot in, out came a ticket, which was duly composted, and off we went!
French trains are super - they are comfortable, clean, very fast (ours was rated as a 200 km/h class, and it went at that speed), and leave and arrive on time. They don’t seem to break down, either!
 
At Mulhouse met Dick and Eileen from Etoile du Soit, the Sagar boat we had last seen in the basin at the foot of the Arzviller inclined plain, and who had left in a huff when they heard that no work had been done in the first week after the breach whilst VNF looked for contractors. I seem to remember that I was doubtful of their ability to breast the Rhine.
 
They had managed easily - including towing another boat that broke down on the river - well done them.
The basin looked pretty horrid - small, evil, and not very secure!
Looked around town - nice - and visited museum of fabric printing.
 
Then up line to Colmar. We were wilting, and took taxi to Info bureau and town centre. Richard and 'Lindar walked out to P. de P. - very expensive and in nasty part of town although good security around port.
We did the tourist thing in the middle of town - really fabulous medieval town - including the "petit train touristique" and ice creams. Shared it with about 10 coach loads of Americans with plastic name badges.
Back home after beer and sandwiches outside Strasbourg station in the cool of the early evening.
A memorable, if exhausting, trip - and good fun.