2004

BACK TO CALENDAR 2004

 

 

 

2.5   19 to 25 July 2004

 

This Weeks "We-think-we-are-here-map".  (Our estimated position at the END of the week.

 

 

The Map is a "thumbnail", click on it for full size whilst still connected to the web-site

 

19 July 2004,    Monday              Charly (lock) to Mont St Pére (lock)   River Marne

Warm, overcast and misty.

Dash to Village - Charly - for bread (yes it really is called Charly) - Mondays always tricky - boulangerie s  stay open on Sundays when they sell lots of sticky cakes and tarts for the younger adult members of families to buy and take to their parents, and then (the boulangerie s) take Mondays off, but there is always somebody selling bread every day of the week.   Just a question of finding her.

Wandered off up river at 10.15 - country and outlook superb with vineyards up to the skyline - or forest line in some cases.

Vineyards most aesthetically satisfying crop to look at - especially now, with the plants well grown, green and even, with sides trimmed up the rows, and the tops trimmed to a set height - exactly like our plucking tables - plant tops follow contour in an unbroken sheet of green exactly. Only thing looking terribly wrong to my eye is planting rows vertically up and down slopes in straight lines.   Total anathema to us, where it is utterly essential to line plants along the contour - changing the lining to suit contour changes without pandering to ease of management to preserve the moisture soil.

In spite of poor light camera - once the wretched thing had pulled itself to-gether and started - busy.

Stopped for 20 minutes at Nogent l'Artoud on village jetty - water and electricity but you have to get the key from the station (100 metres) between 0800 and 2000 - I think). 

French boat - Viking 26 - evocative, our first boat was Viking 23, lent us his key.   Not really necessary to water, we are only 3/4 days from filling and can last 6 days, but boat goes and feels better with the bows held down.

Everywhere neat and tidy, grass verges and banks cut short, but green, vineyards look super.

Most enjoyable run.

Picked up and towed for the last 5 kms a pair of almost hobos - probably university doctors or something - in a plastic canoe going from Paris to Strasbourg.   Didn't really like towing - kept veering off to one side and putting themselves in danger of being rolled.   However, one of them had stood in the front of their boat and thumbed a lift - difficult to refuse.

Moored up on same jetty as year before last, and 2 years before that.   Just above lock - must be said - Marne VNF are looking after their customers very well, with automatics from Charly upwards (inclusive) to Cumierres. (7 locks - new kit - and they all work!)

 

20 July 2004,    Tuesday     Mont St Pére (lock)  to Reuilly              River Marne

Very heavy windless thunderless thunderstorm of rain in the night - +/- 30 minutes of as heavy rain as we have ever seen.    Dropped bimini and went back to sleep.

Muggy and hazy at getting up time.

Checked jetty at Jaulgone - another water and electricity - bit contact Marie.

Stopped for bread dash at Dolmans, jetty at camping site/playground.   Water and electricity, but pay €8.00 Ridiculous price - jetty grassy and dried out and littered with seats.   Dolmans appears good shopping, though.

Had lunch, then, just as we moved off large green Dutch/Belgian/German Dutch Barge appeared.   Nervous he wants jetty at Reuilly that we want, but he moors up - shopping? - as we go, but re-appears almost at once behind us.  He is much faster than us, so just enjoyed the run, and forgot about him.

Reckon he stopped at Port-a-Binson - new pontoon, but couldn't see facilities, although it is a ski club.

We last saw him at Vandierres no 3 lock, (sloping sides with pontoon within, so difficult to share).   Thundered on up to Reuilly as we wanted electricity to do Web site.   Can do it on ship's electricity, but have to run engine, at some stage - boring. 

Pontoon empty, so took exactly half (+ a wee bit) and coupled up electricity, but no-body arrived to share.   

Nice park/playground etc, but quiet.   Trains a touch noisy, but since the Marne Valley is the main route from Paris to the East, all transport (even aeroplanes into Orly) have to share.

Run, as yesterday - absolutely superb, with vineyards looking their very best, river edges green, and in most lengths with their long grass cut.

Lovely day, even if the nice clean boat is now splashed with sand after last night's storm.

 

21 July 2004,    Wednesday.               Reuilly to Cumierres      River Marne

Quiet night - except for large mob of children with scooters and - in the case of the males - un-broken voices came to the park, of which the moorings are a small corner, and "played".   Not serious, and at no time we were involved, but still difficult to ignore them.

Used chance of shore side electricity to do washing.   Significance here is that our home made type is good for computers, drills, vacuum cleaners, and all the little black plug transformers, but it hasn't the strength to wind up the spin drier.

Set off at about 1000, grey, warm, windless, muggy, hazy, for Cumierres.   Got muddled yesterday - or day before - and turned over 2 or 3 pages of maps, so got to Reuilly much too quickly, so only 11kms to do to-day to reach target at Cumierres.

Up this end of the Marne River are 3 very good long pontoons, on good sites, with all facilities free.   In recent years they have been completely full in the summer months with certain Europeans who come down with large boats - really huge ones - stuffed with 3 weeks supply of food and red diesel, and spend their entire summer holiday squatting on one of the pontoons.  We had, therefore, decided to go on down to Epinay to the SM, or go straight into the canal, and think again, having assumed that there would be no change this year.

However, this year we were lucky.   Reuilly was empty, and we had it to ourselves.   Damery was full, with 2 boats suspiciously flagless with their curtains drawn.   Cumierres, on our arrival, was empty - except for gent creosoting - and the chance was too good to miss.   Occupied the rear end - favourite - no-one can supervise us going to bed.

Soon joined by young Dutch couple, who shot off up to Haute Villiers - we did it a couple of years ago - home of Moet & Chandon up - or if you are returning - down - a very steep hill.   Smoking brake block country.

Later joined by Clive and Betsy in Paula and later by a huge Belgian who breasted himself up to Paula without even asking.   Disturbed their TV alignment!   Actually, it was quite unmannerly!

Did exploratory bike ride p.m. partly to rootle around at the edge of a vineyard and see how they do it, and partly looking for a boulangerie.   15 "taste and buy champagne" establishments, but boulangerie more difficult.

Whilst rootling - potential crop looked fabulous - lots of huge bunches of miniature grapes - asked gent from van with gadget and spraying equipment in his van (it seems all labour are provided or possess a large white van - shades of the tea estates where we had to fight to upgrade the senior staff from motor bikes to little vans) what were the prospects, and like all agriculturists - very cagey - but impression of hopeful satisfaction.    They've had lots of well spaced rain, so it is probably a quantity year, rather than quality???

 

22 July 2004     Thursday              Cumierres   (River Marne) to Mareuil  (C. Lateral a la Marne)

Lovely bright fresh clear sunny morning.

Midst lots of backchat finally cleared up and separated ourselves from pontoon about 0930.

Straight out of Marne onto canal lateral a la Marne (Lateral only means a canal cut to "straighten out the journey") via tirette operated lock.    Managed to steer boat so tirette pole dragged straight through flowers and across bimini.

Stopped at Dizy - few metres past lock - to take photos of Hautevilliers and the Moet & Chandon estate and establishment  on the hill above the canal.   Lots of good time wasted!

Into Ay at 1200  - 4 kms since we started - and saw a Champion S.M.  Need gas and diesel and food.

Went down to recce, - now 12.12 and they closed at 12.15 for 2 hours for lunch.   Mad panic, but at least got empty gas bottle out, buggy down from roof, and all loaded up and trotted over and got new one.   Wretched woman would only supply for cash - she had already cashed up and cards take "too long".   The lunch hour timings in France are absolutely sacred.  

Back to boat with new bottle - buggy got heavier and heavier and sun hotter and hotter.

Decided to take advantage of good mooring, large walnut tree and nice breeze on water, and stayed for lunch and snooze, and returned to S.M. at 1430 for 3 cans diesel (up to 90 centimes a litre (63p) now and to do a  proper shop.   Not really a very good establishment - sloppy and stockless.   Champion are one of the big chains, as well.

3 cans diesel - 120 lbs give or take a hectare - is too heavy for the buggy, but managed it!

Eventually got away at 1545 hot and sweaty, but well re-stocked.

Flat out along canal at usual 3.5 kms per hour - boat, country and selves ¾ asleep.   Our bimini shade is away ahead of sliced bread.

Next town - Mareuil-sur-Ay - 1.5 kms on.   This is where I fell into the prickly hedge whilst mooring up 2 years ago and virtually destroyed it, and then unmoored and left.

Saw a bit of good canal side outside P. de P., joined onto it, cut the nettles, and tied up almost right in.   (Previous years couldn't get in here as too shallow.

Checked hedge - it still hasn't recovered and continued afternoon snooze in chairs under trees.

Dutch couple in neat little boat who were just in front of us at Cumierres turned up and moored in nettles in front.   Did another cut back operation - quite a neat mooring now!

After supper got to-gether and they extended our briefing on boating in and to Holland, until it got too dark to see maps.

A little tired after all physical haulage of gas, food, and fuel, so didn't take in as much as could have done.

3rd night running - heavy rain storm.   How civilized to do it at night.

 

23 July 2004,     Friday    Mareuil  to Vraux  (just beyond Conde sur Marne)   C. Lateral a la Marne   

Disgraceful day - total of 14 kms covered.

Left Mareuil on the late side - hot and sticky after overnight rain.

Round second corner met Bruce in Zizz.  Sails on his own, so knows everything about everybody!   Stopped there and then in middle of canal, moored Albert to the sheet piling, and moored Zizz to Albert, and settled down to coffee and gossip, whilst the Dutch and Belgium navies edged their way past us.   Had a lot of fun with Bruce last year on the Centre and Lateral, and in and around Decize, and a lot of mutual friends to be caught up on.

Duly talked ourselves dry, turned Zizz the right way round, and he went off to-wards Epinay, and we to Conde.

Into Conde about 1400, and went round to the P. de P.  2 places left on short end pontoons - all the navies that went past this morning were there - so we backed in with side wind unhelping.

Settled down to lunch, and N.B.Leander arrived from Calais, via Canal des Ardennes.   More gossip, then lunch - at last.

1530, pulled out - didn't fancy staying for remainder of day without shade (quite hot now), and night of acute crowded discomfort, plus paying port fees, so pushed off down Lat a la Marne to look for shade and bush mooring.

Found both, although had to carry out some "mooring improvement" with hedge shears.   Nettles worse than tryffids

Very comfortable evening, all by ourselves - one loaded péniche at 17.50 but then nothing else except wind to disturb our tranquility.

 

24 July 2004      Saturday.                     Vraux to Chaussée s Marne.      C. Lateral a la Marne

One of the joys - to us - of bush moorings is absence of "supervision".   In "port" boats are moored so close to each other,  or even breasted up,  that it is inevitable that every move, even going to bed if warm night and one is careless with curtains, is watched, albeit hopefully subconsciously.

Hence  a slow gentle start from a totally private bush mooring like this morning's  means a bit of cleaning, a bit of tidying up, a bit of engine checking, all done our way in our own time without a feeling that we must be highly professionally nautical.

Off at 0930 - clear, sunny, and warm.

Slow passage to Chalons-en-Champagne where we had our first automatic lock failure - rectified within a few seconds of a tel call to said lock.   The L.K. got his own back on us by making us rope up in the lock!   We meet this a few times every year - usually youngsters or students newly taught the job.  They are totally entitled to do this!  Regulations are rope up both ends and engine off - we think.   Not really practicable, but the law is the law.   We always rope up if sharing a lock (a broken throttle cable could be embarrassing) but virtually never if on our own.  

Filled with water in the lock, then off again, only to see a big gap on the plaisancier mooring jetty, and at the same time realised that we had no bread for lunch, and only 25 mins to get it before the traditional boulangerie closing time of 12.30.

Quick tie up, and bicycle dash into town.

Found Paula and crew (Clive and Betsy and Beth (dog)) were on mooring as well - too much of a hurry to look and the drill is too rigid on these occasions - one member of team holds boat by centre line whilst other puts bike ashore, assembles, ensures possession of cash and rucksack, and makes dash - asking local for directions on way if appropriate and feasible.

Lunch in shade on moorings - but traffic noise dreadful, so pulled out mid-afternoon to find one or both of the spots we liked so much autumn before last on our way back from Belgium.  

Hot - very - afternoon, with strong wind from behind.  First spot proved not as good as remembered and full of fishermen  (it is Saturday to-day) and all the bollards, seats and tables, and even the rocks heavily covered in graffiti.  but second spot fine, although shade requirements as remembered in autumn very different from high summer.  Strong wind now also a cooling wind, so not so bad.

Complicated moor up - we're only a few of metres  off the main line, and this is still péniche country, and settled in.

Thoroughly pleasant undramatic day - the country could be described as monotonous - the canal runs virtually straight from Conde to Chalons through an enormous network of gravel pits, swamps and small lakes cutting out the numerous bends in the river.   Over the years the banks have been taken over completely by trees, bush, and scrub, so the boater travels along a corridor from which he can seldom see out sideways, but if the light or his eyes are up to it, up to 7 kms ahead or behind he can see the next or last lock.  

For all that, we enjoyed it - there were just enough boats, and several commercials, to make it interesting, and, of course, this year everything is so pleasantly green, and as an added bonus, VNF have done a great job on the whole canal, from well maintained grass verges and lock areas, to the complicated lock gear that all works! 

 

25 July 2004     Sunday                      Chaussée s Marne to Soulanges         C. Lateral a la Marne

Sunny, but really cool first thing - sweatshirt weather.   First time since the Seine.

Gentle cleaning and long committee meeting as to whether we would stay put for the day - we want to get at the S.M. in Vitry to-morrow - Monday, but it is only 7 kms away and the sun is getting warmer, and we had been silly when choosing mooring spot last night.

For future reference, best mooring spot on here - it is all good, deep, good sides and lots of bollards - is as near the Vitry end as possible, right down to the canal outflow, there is a tree and some bushes that give shade for half the morning.   After that - there is no shade here at all.

Looked like being warmish to hot, so headed for Soulanges, where, with luck, we would find shade but excessively close to some picnic tables - usually occupied by the young or fishermen.

All was joy - had it to ourselves - atmosphere of an abandoned village.   All at Church?  Moored up on the exact spot we occupied 4 years less one month ago, when met up with favourite son plus motorcycle gang

This time slow lunch, slow bicycle ride up steep slow hill to Ablancourt and back along towing path (tarmac), then chairs out and dozed afternoon away.    Suspect we are getting very lazy.

The bike ride did show us once again how wide and flat the Marne valley is.   Gently rolling swells (not even hills)  of enormous field upon enormous field of cereals, with green in between.   The close up green fields were lucerne, or roots, but couldn't see further away.   Regrettably, one can see little or nothing of this from the boat.   We are too low, and both sides of the canal are lines by a corridor of trees and bush.

The silos are thick on the ground, and quite intimidating.   The older ones are on the canal, and just at the moments there are plenty of peniches moving.    The newer ones are on the railway line.   Find the arithmetic difficult, comparing water transport with rail or road.   Presumably their are political subsidies in the equation.

No young visitors to mooring - quiet except for almost continuous roar of large tractors towing huge bin trailers of grain to the silos.   Harvest is in full swing, with combines twirling across enormouse fields of grain and tractor-trailer units chasing them in a strange dance so that none of them waste a moment.   3 nights rain this week, so lots to make up..

 

 

Pictures

1, 2, and 3.   Views from River Marne

4.    Vines.

5.     Hautvillers, home of Moet & Chandon

6.     Canal Lateral a la Marne.

7.    Marne "Valley"  (Pringy)

8.    Marne Valley, Soulanges, and Albert.