Bonjour nos amis!
We have passed through 261 locks, 4 long and scary tunnels, and motored over 695 kilometers in a boat that goes slower than a bicycle on the tow path, and I have not written once in this blog! I feel badly because I had wanted to keep up with the blog once we started our journey in France, if only to have writing practice and to keep me thinking! I am going to try to be more consistent in the future. I would like to make an entry for each region that we voyage through. So far there have been three, so I will try to back track and describe them, too.
In my defense, we have been busy even though this seems like a lazy and relaxing life. We have had plenty of visitors, and that has been a lot of fun, and plus we have been very busy going through locks every day, sometimes a chain of 20 to 30 per day!
Les Ardennes
The first region we entered when we crossed the border of Belgium into France was the Ardennes. It was June 1st when we crossed into Givet France and we bought our vingnette which entitles us to use the French waterways, and we were given a remote to open the locks on the Meuse River. We had never visited this region before, and we found that it was lovely, The beautiful meandering Meuse River surrounded on both sides by heavily wooded mountains, and edged with a wonderful Voie Verte, or bike trail. We ended up spending a lot of time here, too, since we were here during the flooding of the rivers in the northeast and east of France. At Givet where we entered France the heavy rain had already started so the current was strong when we would try to enter the locks. We used a remote to open the locks, but sometimes we had to wait with the heavy current of the overflowing Meuse buffeting our poor boat all around. It was difficult to moor at a pier for the night in the current too. It pushed us away or rammed us into the pier and scratched our boat. The third day of struggling into the locks, we were stuck behind a Dutch couple who were at the top of a lock and it wouldn’t open for them. The Dutchman tried to speak to us using semaphore! That was a first! We called the VNF (Voies Navigables de France) in charge of the canals and someone came to reset the lock. The lock keeper told us that the waterways and locks were now closed to navigation because of the flooding and we had to moor in the next port.
We ended up in the port of Revin, a beautiful port with a very welcoming and helpful “Capitaine”, and all the amenities. We were very lucky to be stuck in such a port, and not one of the tiny ports with no comforts like we had visited along the way. However, the city itself had very little to offer. Most of it’s cafes and restaurants had closed. There were a few grocery stores, though and a local train station. (Although the trains were on strike the first two weeks that we were stuck in Revin) The surrounding countryside of the Ardennes was breathtaking however, and we loved riding our bikes along the Meuse river with the steep mountains on either side of us. We ended up being blocked in Revin for three weeks and if we hadn’t had to stay there that long, we would never have been able to get to know the beauty of the Ardennes. There were other benefits of being stuck there for three weeks, too. We got to know all of the people in the neighboring boats very well, and they were an interesting, international group, with some from Australia, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, and France. There were 16 boats in all stuck at the port, and we had fun getting together to watch the Eurocup soccer matches when France played, and to play Petanque tournaments. We all helped each other when it came time to attach large stakes to the boats to keep them from climbing onto the pier as the water in the river rose.
We have passed through 261 locks, 4 long and scary tunnels, and motored over 695 kilometers in a boat that goes slower than a bicycle on the tow path, and I have not written once in this blog! I feel badly because I had wanted to keep up with the blog once we started our journey in France, if only to have writing practice and to keep me thinking! I am going to try to be more consistent in the future. I would like to make an entry for each region that we voyage through. So far there have been three, so I will try to back track and describe them, too.
In my defense, we have been busy even though this seems like a lazy and relaxing life. We have had plenty of visitors, and that has been a lot of fun, and plus we have been very busy going through locks every day, sometimes a chain of 20 to 30 per day!
Les Ardennes
The first region we entered when we crossed the border of Belgium into France was the Ardennes. It was June 1st when we crossed into Givet France and we bought our vingnette which entitles us to use the French waterways, and we were given a remote to open the locks on the Meuse River. We had never visited this region before, and we found that it was lovely, The beautiful meandering Meuse River surrounded on both sides by heavily wooded mountains, and edged with a wonderful Voie Verte, or bike trail. We ended up spending a lot of time here, too, since we were here during the flooding of the rivers in the northeast and east of France. At Givet where we entered France the heavy rain had already started so the current was strong when we would try to enter the locks. We used a remote to open the locks, but sometimes we had to wait with the heavy current of the overflowing Meuse buffeting our poor boat all around. It was difficult to moor at a pier for the night in the current too. It pushed us away or rammed us into the pier and scratched our boat. The third day of struggling into the locks, we were stuck behind a Dutch couple who were at the top of a lock and it wouldn’t open for them. The Dutchman tried to speak to us using semaphore! That was a first! We called the VNF (Voies Navigables de France) in charge of the canals and someone came to reset the lock. The lock keeper told us that the waterways and locks were now closed to navigation because of the flooding and we had to moor in the next port.
We ended up in the port of Revin, a beautiful port with a very welcoming and helpful “Capitaine”, and all the amenities. We were very lucky to be stuck in such a port, and not one of the tiny ports with no comforts like we had visited along the way. However, the city itself had very little to offer. Most of it’s cafes and restaurants had closed. There were a few grocery stores, though and a local train station. (Although the trains were on strike the first two weeks that we were stuck in Revin) The surrounding countryside of the Ardennes was breathtaking however, and we loved riding our bikes along the Meuse river with the steep mountains on either side of us. We ended up being blocked in Revin for three weeks and if we hadn’t had to stay there that long, we would never have been able to get to know the beauty of the Ardennes. There were other benefits of being stuck there for three weeks, too. We got to know all of the people in the neighboring boats very well, and they were an interesting, international group, with some from Australia, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, and France. There were 16 boats in all stuck at the port, and we had fun getting together to watch the Eurocup soccer matches when France played, and to play Petanque tournaments. We all helped each other when it came time to attach large stakes to the boats to keep them from climbing onto the pier as the water in the river rose.
One of the funny things that happened to us while at Revin was that I was interviewed on the local French TV news channel on what it was like to be stuck there for three weeks. I had nothing but good things to say! ;) Another highlight was our dinner at a old farm house converted into a restaurant that served Ardennes specialties of wild game, and the famous Tome des Ardennes cheese. The owner of the restaurant came to pick us up at the port and drove us to the restaurant up the winding hills to the top of the mountain above Revin. His son was the chef and was the one to drive us home. That was a memorable evening!
When it was time to say good bye and continue our trip after three weeks, all of the port’s employees came to send us off, and it was bittersweet to leave them and the friends we had made among the other boat owners. We will definitely return to Revin and the Ardennes some day, and before being stranded there we had never even thought to spend time there.
When it was time to say good bye and continue our trip after three weeks, all of the port’s employees came to send us off, and it was bittersweet to leave them and the friends we had made among the other boat owners. We will definitely return to Revin and the Ardennes some day, and before being stranded there we had never even thought to spend time there.
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Great champagne but plenty of locks and tunnels!
Canal Entre Champagne et Bourgogne
Champagne
We had a few visitors while we were in the Ardennes, our friends John and Josianne from Belgium and my cousin Mark Zatchsky and his wife Daniela. Mark and his wife left with us as we continued on our journey down the Meuse River. We went through a chain of 26 locks in one day with Mark and Daniela helping us. After this busy day the locks were no longer remote. Instead we were followed by young student workers for the VNF, Voies Navigables de France. Most locks used to be manned by VNF employees and a lot of them lived in the quaint old lock houses, but due to cutbacks in funding, many are remotely controlled by the boats, or a young person is hired for the summer to man several locks and follow along on their motorbikes. At the end of the day they would always ask what time you were starting the next day, and they would be there at the lock to meet you. Such service! It was much nicer to have a lock keeper follow us because we didn’t have to worry about the gate not opening, or being stuck in a lock.
Our son, Alec and his girlfriend, Brittany joined us the day that Mark and Daniela left to return to Germany, and we continued to the canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne. For this canal we were given another remote to operate the lock and open the doors. We had to wait sometimes and call the VNF to help, but they were usually very responsive. It was great having Alec and Brittany on board. That way I wasn’t the only deck hand to tie up in the locks or to moor us in the evening at the ports! We usually traveled 20 kilometers a day, and passed through 10 to 12 locks for about 6 to 8 hours, and had lunch while Chris was driving. This canal system stays open for lunch, and we were trying to catch up for the time that we lost when we were stuck in the Ardennes due to flooding. Also, our son wanted to make it to Dijon to see a little of Burgundy with us, so we went further than we usually would each day, but with their help it wasn't too bad. Alec and Brittany enjoyed manning the lines, and driving the boat.
Besides the 150 or so locks we went through in the Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne, we also went through three tunnels, one four kilometers long which took 45 minutes. One was very poorly lit and we had to use our cell phones to see how close we were to the tunnel walls, and it had an unexpected turn in the middle, when we did hit the wall. The others have been well lit and wider, still a little scary though!
We stayed in some nice ports, such as Sillery near the city of Reims where we visited champagne caves and the beautiful cathedral of Reims, Another nice port after Sillery was Chalon en Champagne, which was on a beautiful park near the city's cathedral with brand new piers to moor your boat, and a new capitainerie with showers. In Joinville we moored in front of the Hotel Vinaigerie which had a nice restaurant, and let us use the showers in the hotel. We also moored at a few ports that were not so nice on the Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne . The capitainerie at Francois le Vitré was nice and helpful, but the port was filled with underwater weeds. Chaumont had work being done on the roads and was very dusty and messy. The mooring there was expensive compared to the others along the canal. The beautiful medieval city of Langres had no capitainerie, but electricity was turned on three times a day for one hour to charge your boat. ( a little different)
After Langres we continued onto Dijon and went through so much weed that Chris had to stop the boat several times because it would overheat since grass and weed had clogged up the water cooling system. Good thing he is a handy guy, or we would have been stuck alongside the canal for a while waiting for a mechanic to come!
Dijon is the last stop at the end of the Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne, and our first city in Bourgogne or Burgundy, which I will post about next time.
It has been a great adventure so far, and I will continue soon with a description of our time in Burgundy. We have already been in Burgundy for about 5 weeks and it has been our favorite region so far!
À bientôt!
Liz and Chris
After Langres we continued onto Dijon and went through so much weed that Chris had to stop the boat several times because it would overheat since grass and weed had clogged up the water cooling system. Good thing he is a handy guy, or we would have been stuck alongside the canal for a while waiting for a mechanic to come!
Dijon is the last stop at the end of the Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne, and our first city in Bourgogne or Burgundy, which I will post about next time.
It has been a great adventure so far, and I will continue soon with a description of our time in Burgundy. We have already been in Burgundy for about 5 weeks and it has been our favorite region so far!
À bientôt!
Liz and Chris