BACK TO CALENDAR 2000

 

August 28                                    Monday

Vitry-le-Françoise to Pargny-sur-Sauix. (canal de la Marne au Rhine).

Wet night followed by cool wet misty morning.

Absolutely no sign of life from lock - although supposed to be manual.

Set off hopefully at 0930, and lo and behold, lock opened!

As this is our 1st real person hands on operated lock since the Loing 3 months (?) ago, we were nervous, but relieved.

Pleasant fat L.K. saw us through, sold us a couple of cucumbers, took our used engine oil off us, and was generally pleasant helpful.

Second lock waited 40 odd minutes for our "handler" (bloke who rides along the tow path acting as itinerant L.K. in these parts) to arrive - idle student.

Then had a very pleasant slow days run along the "new" canal.

Wide canal - met 1 boat (English cruiser) all day.

Country very flat, pleasant big country but small farming and fenceless fields. Plenty of bucolic interest, and very good looking.

Charollais cattle again - nice after the enormous grain lands in Champagne.

Stopped for lunch to suit travelling L.K. at 12 - sat in shade on tow path, then on till about 14.30.

Nice halte here - linear - with 2 German boats on it, but plenty of room for Albert.

Managed to fill rest of day without difficulty - paint rubbing strakes, charge off up village (bikes) for bread and just to look, domestic chores, fiddle about - busy, busy, busy.

Have been conscious of the damage caused by the "tempêt" of last Christmas - France’s own private tornado. Everywhere we have been there have been obvious signs such as broken roofs and felled individual trees and even on occasion whole woods. Here has been the worst yet. Probably as we have - this year - been in the more populated areas - clearing up has received higher priority, but even so the visible damage is horrific, and where - most places - they have not been able to clear up properly secondary bush has taken over during the summer, and it looks as though it will take at least a generation - in time - and vast sums of money to clear up properly - and meantime timber extraction will be incredibly difficult, and will get more difficult each year. Twice now we have seen big yards with cut trees stacked up over large areas with irrigation sprinklers keeping them wet. There is too much lumber for any saw mill to handle, or any selling organisation to handle, even if there was a market.

Round here there has been some patchy clearing - but the sights are fantastic - whole copses felled and looking like spillikins, except for the line of trees round the outside which were presumably stronger - trees not just felled but twisted off 20 feet from the ground - trees left at an angle of 45 degrees - young plantations of poplars next door to ruined plantations not touched. Spooky, glad we weren’t here, and don’t have to clear up. Believe there are big developments in production of m.d.f. and chipboard.

 

August 29                                         Tuesday

Pargny-sur-Sauix to Fains les Sources. (canal de la Marne au Rhine).

This was the second day of our 4 day in total run up and back over the first 40 kms or so of the Canal de la Marne au Rhine, and the first full day of manual locks, the system that is common to this and the canal to the Sâone

The system is necessarily very rigid. They have a long canal with almost 100 locks, with very little traffic to justify individually manned locks.

So, one has to announce one’s departure time exactly, and be at that lock at that time.

One is very soon asked for one’s destination, as well, by travelling L.K.s who probably knock off when they have delivered their last boat, so are very interested, and keen that boats do not over do it.

Regrettably, spontaneity over start time, stop time and place for lunch, and stop time and place for overnight stops is not possible.

We gave as our stop time and place an advertised halte nautique at Fains le Sources, about 30 locks up.

The L.K. duly delivered us through the last lock before it, about 2 kms back and left us to it.

We rounded the last bend before the halte to find the area was the centre of an urban conurbation of the tower block variety, the whole canal - including the halte - was taken over by fishermen, the halte itself was swarming with small boys, was filthy with litter, and was surrounded by the very large local chapter of the "ride noisy motorised velos with the exhausts vandalised" brigade.

Thrown in for luck were 3 roads, 1 a trunk road, a lift bridge, and the main Paris Strasbourg rly line, all within 40 metres.

Clearly there could be question of mooring up at all, let alone for a night stop.

U Turned immediately, looking for a suitable spot in the pound back to the last lock.

Nothing even remotely suitable - water depth at canal side alone precluded mooring.

The system being what it is, the L.K. had gone home (as customary taking paddle handles with her) - having showered us with shiny tourist literature - so we had no way of getting out of the offending pound. One can’t help feeling, that whilst, as boaters, we are all grown up, said L.K. - as tourist promoter - must have known the situation, and should have taken steps - either through VNF hierarchy to clean up and make safe the halte, or have warned us as to what we were letting ourselves in for.

Phoned "control" - whose number we had fortuitously got from L.K. - on mobile with no signal - our luck was in - and were able to insist on return of L.K. - but "limited" to 1 lock only.

Duly descended back down the permitted one lock - after waiting 45 minutes - and found expected and not unreasonable - but in normal circumstances unlikely to be acceptable - mooring, out of range of fishermen and other vile bodies, but still very much within earshot of railway and roads. A great deal better than nothing, and better than originally intended site.

Disturbed - but bearable - night!

Countryside:- rural to clean industrial. Climbing steadily from open agricultural small farm plains to wooded hills.

Very early on in trip past enormous - immaculately clean - factory making galv sheet. (so we were told - we just saw hundreds of big rolls of steel, and pigs of what could have been zinc or manganese or magnesium store over several acres outside and enormous mobile cranes under roof extensions.

The interest, to us, is that some of the steel stock was delivered by peniche (most of it round here seems to go on special adapted trucks in special trains) that, when they (the peniches) had unloaded, had to reverse through 2 locks and the intervening pound to turn round in the nearest winding hole.

We came up to a lock to find one reversing out of it! Startling!

Traffic very sparse, in whole day met 5 peniches - including the 2 going backwards - and 1 private boat!

 

August 30                                     Wednesday

Fains les Sources to Pargny-sur-Sauix. (canal de la Marne au Rhine).

Noisy night with rly, but could have been worse.

Back down over yesterday’s trip.

L.K. arrived 0915, and system of travelling L.K.s on scooters handing us over to each other worked flawlessly - albeit inhibitingly.

Even lunch break worked fine, coincidentally found a nice spot with deep water mooring.

As suspected, views - yesterday’s "backward" views that one never actually looks back at - were fine, but not a lot of sun, whilst we kept cool, meant colours somewhat muted.

Back into moorings at Pargny by 1600.

 

August 31                                         Thursday

Pargny to Vitry-en-Francois. Canal de la Marne au Rhine and canal de la Marne a la Sâone.

Got up to strange yellow light and heavy rain storm.

Rain of short duration, and weather improved steadily throughout day.

Had booked passage out at 10.00, so unsurprised when L.K. arrived 0915 to ask us if we wanted to go, and what time we were moving!

In fact, typical piece of French enigma - he had a peniche coming up our start lock, and the question really was " we have a full lock, would you like to go down it first, as I am about to empty it to bring the peniche up, and if you go now, you will get a flying start to your day, and incidentally I will be saved the work of 1 complete locking!"

Still had bread to buy, water to top up, and diesel to transfer, so couldn’t take him up on it, and duly did chores.

Got into lock about 10.15, which was fine by us.

Very pleasant run down to the bottom of the canal - only about 7 locks to do through flat peaceful agricultural river valley land. Everything ridiculously green for time of year - wet summer. However, both temperatures and trees autumnal.

Had a good giggle in last lock - waited for a medium sized cruiser to join us from behind. Indicated all the signs of lack of familiarity with French canals, or indeed any kind of inland waterways boating - excessive tying up when going down hill, excessive fiddling with ropes, dropped rope ends ensuring tied-up boat became untied requiring instant rescue by L.K., excessive kafuffle when buying tomatoes of L.K., loud orders, etc, etc, etc. Very faded red ensign, however. Passed in front of us after we got out of lock trying to discuss son-in-law who was fitting out his boat "with Bill Fisher". (Another way of name dropping - moored up in Newbury Marina!).

Back into Vitry-le-Francois. Confirmed opinion already held - rather ordinary industrial town, several silos canalside, 2 or 3 ex fuel bunker sites - now a sea of rusting pumps and tanks - slightly seedy looking workshop places for peniches - and anyone else that wants to get boat repairs done, and rows of peniches moored up everywhere, either waiting repairs, or work.

Vitry used to be the site of one of the Bourses, a sort of clearing house, where loads and boats were brought to-gether. The building is still there as part of the VNF offices.

Decided to stay over on the same mooring as we turned our noises up at earlier in the week, and do S.M., and if poss a couple of jerricans of diesel. Managed the former - the idea of going back to Epinay was to do big shop for these canals, but got arithmetic dead wrong - it is 11 days since Epinay, and, in fact, far from being stocked up for visitors, had eaten a lot of the stores.

Met the crew of the boat that made us giggle in a patronising way in lock. They have been boating since 1982, been to every - including Scandahoovian - country, by sea where there are no canals, and fly the oldest tattiest most faded red ensign we have seen yet. Writes for boating magazines. Still don’t understand behaviour in lock! But just shows that you can never be sure of whom you are meeting, and can never judge on short acquaintance of 1 lock.

Arranged with hum to share a small shipment of diesel - but didn’t work. Between us we only needed 150 litres, and no one prepared to bring that amount round.

Broke out bikes, went on recce to find S.M. - right through evening rush hour, but either French road junctions are better laid out, it is easier driving on the right (have given up all thought of converting locals to left hand drive) or everyone is just a touch more forgiving and polite to 2 elderly doppies on wheeled pogo sticks, or we have just got brassier necks.

Anyway, no problem, and did 2 trips with bike trailer to bring in stores - including another cheap offer on beer, of which we now have enough to last until Roanne - maybe.

It appears we each have a private paranoia on stores - beer and bread, and demi-sel butter. Multiple choice answer on which is which.

Usual G&Ts in full public view on tow path.

This is an indication of the different styles of boating, - cruisers, barges, other people, etc, all do their living after boating i.e. evening drinking, lunch picnics, entertaining, in their wheel houses, whereas we live entirely outside the boat on the canal side. Rugged!! Also, of course, in inclement weather they turn on their windscreen wipers - we cower under a brolley.

Quiet - dead quiet - night, although in town.

 

Sept 1                                             Friday

Vitry-le-Francois to Orcante. (Canal de la Marne a la Sôane)

Current project is going to Roanne (home for the winter - sob sob sob) via the Sôane, via the canals (properly canaux) du Centre to the de Roanne a Digoin .

Breakfast in rain - heavy and prolonged.

Most of day’s run in rain and strong wind.

Lack of ability to hear above noise of rain, engine, overflowing lock gates led to confusion over intentions with over verbose L.K. who insisted on speaking English, although it was worse than our French.

Signs of "tempêt" damage even greater here - lines of twisted and knotted pines along canal side dropped in droves - unable to photograph due to poor light in foul weather.

Eventually travelling lock keeper dropped us at halte only 7 locks and 13 kms out from Vitry. Don’t blame him in some ways - he was totally underdressed for weather, but he kept nattering at us when we were trying to maneuver boat in high wind and rain.

Made pact that, as this has happened before - Montargis in particular - we would refuse to converse with people from cockpit of boat whilst lock is filling or emptying, or we are maneuvering, concentration on part of steerer is vital!

Found halte at Orcante - very neat and tidy - room for 2 boats, with peniche moored up just outside boundary.

1 boat already in residence, occupying only electric point. (We were moored up next to this chap in Challons-en-Champagne, a very nice guy, French - unusual - he is broken down, poor sod, so we agreed that the greatest troubles in this world came from boats, lawn mowers, and wives)

Couldn’t find water point.

Price fr 40.00

Ridiculous price - suspect a con.

Waited till rain had stopped after lunch, then recced ahead on bicycle. Found perfectly adequate canalside mooring next to bridge to village, in sun - it was now very cold - on revets. Same facilities - i.e. none, but increased comfort, and scenically vast improvement.

Broke out bikes and lit off for village to suss bread outlet.

Village totally charming, and partly very old indeed - half timbered house, and super church built before days of damp courses. Nothing in Navicarte, (loves to bleat on about ancient churches), but which ignores this stretch completely.

Got bread - will go and get fresh to-morrow as well - just for fun.

 

Sept 2                                             Saturday

Orcante to St Dizier. (Canal de la Marne à la Sôane)

What a day - it was blowing when we got up, and the wind increased steadily as we had breakfast - then it started raining - good solid heavy driving rain.

No question of biking for bread - get it in St Dizier.

Arranged for and expected L.K. at 10.00. He arrived at 10.20, with loud impertinent peeps on his velo horn.

Not amused - no fun hanging about in driving rain and wind for errant L.K. and then get peeped at.

Told him so - also that we had been told very firmly indeed by VNF that if we said we would be at a certain spot at a certain hour we must be there, and that the same must apply to VNF employees.

Same idiot as yesterday - mobile fast moving mouth in a slow working youth on a motor velo.

Got on better after our committee meeting - but soon lost him to down coming English motor sailor - huge and blowing every which where in wind. Good luck, to them.

Progressed to St Dizier in streaming thunderstorm rain and high wind.

Rain stopped every now and again, but always re-started at each lock.

Entered P. de P. at St Dizier - scruffy little jetties based on run down "chantier naval".

One of about 4 mooring up places shown on Navicarte, so biked through town quickly to look at others - cannot just wander from one to next looking at them in the boat, as it involves going through "Manuel" locks - locks that need an L.K.

Bike ride fun - even found VNF office next to main town quai (and next to video shop) where the VNF lad - a different one - was happy to lend us a very long extension for electricity from his store room.

However, decided that P. de P. was best - quietest, (St Dizier is known for it’s iron foundries), easy electricity and security fence, and we were so hungry, by now, couldn’t care less so even at fr45 per night we would be better off staying put).

In fact, virtually no sign of industry in our many later rides around - except once, quite unexceptionable - and town centre really quite nice and floral.

Our particular suburb appears to be entirely residential, shops and small business.

Rain stopped at mid-day, and we settled in - no other boats except a laid up yacht and quite a lot of bits and pieces on bank side, as well as a shop, and an old crane - small and rusty, but still apparently working. Place really very small, but with standard toilet and shower block.

Don’t understand how proprietor makes enough to live on - but think local tourism must help out.

Went shopping/exploration in afternoon - reasonably successfully and enjoyably. We seem to be just off the main street for this part of town, which is full of all the things a main street should be full of - bread, banks, alimentations, etc.

As is our custom we managed to "loose" the afternoon and evening doing nothing very much both busily and enjoyably, reading e-mails from most intelligent M.D.

Talking of e-mails - all e-mails to Sunsail are being ..............................

----- The following addresses had transient non-fatal errors -----
<andyhow@sunsail.com>

----- Transcript of session follows -----
<andyhow@sunsail.com>... Deferred: Connection reset by mailhost.sunsail.com.
Warning: message still undelivered after 4 hours
Will keep trying until message is 1 week, 3 days old

ouch!!

 

Sept 3                                                 

St Dizier. (Canal de la Marne à la Sôane)

Expecting Jules, etc.

Day of local chores.

Went exploring/light food shopping down main street. Absolutely humming with traffic and all shops - including banks - open.

Dirty great queues in boulangeries - do they know something we don’t - e.g. French bakers strike and blockade of Brit boaters?

Lunch in transient sun near, but not under, huge tree in rather ordinary gravelly area of so-called P. de P.

Snoozed and read afternoon and early evening away.

By the way - throughout this log we have used "local" distance tables.

Hence the conversion factor for kms to miles is 6. Multiply the Kms by 6, and take the common-sense answer. e.g. 40 kms X 6 = 240 - stupid answer, so must be 24 miles. It is. The other way - miles to km, divide, but you won’t remember, so just use common-sense again - a mile is a bit under 2 kms, and a km is just over half a mile. Do the arithmetic - roughly - in your head first - and the most likely answer is the right one.

EXAMPLE 1.  Speed limit sign reads 70 in a circle. This means 70 kms per hour (70 km/h).  Multiply by 6 for m.p.h.  Speed limit is 42 M.P.H. on your speedometer. (If you had divided by 6, you get an answer of 110 m.p.h. (or 11 m.p.h.), both of which are damn silly answers, so the 42 has to be right),

EXAMPLE 2.  Speed limit sign reads 40 in a red circle. This means 40 km/h. Multiply by 6.  Speed limit is 24 m.p.h, on your speedometer.

Anyway, having confused everyone - including ourselves - on with the log -

Jules and Roch duly arrived in France on a mill pond calm sea - filthy weather here.

Tel call just after dark - where are we and you.

Further tel call "we in St Dizier, now what?" - S charged out onto roads of St Dizier with torch, self remained at "control" in boat and was able to guide visitors to torch wielding, air traffic controller type, well built beetle at street corner with some skilful map-reading.

Much joy - except study of post - have the French, with their usual enigmatic cunning - exported all the trees felled during the 1999 Christmas hurricane to U.K. for conversion into paper pulp to have damn silly letters written on to be sent to us? We get and demand, virtually everything, electronically, but still confirmation and bank and credit card statements (we told them we didn’t want them) are still sent uswards.