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| Leftover from Christmas - Beaumont lock |
2.8°C Grey skies and cold north wind. 90% chance of rain forecast. Light
rain all afternoon and into the evening.
It was 9.20 am when we set off and I twisted the pole to start the descent
to the Aisne. Wez lock16 filled and a group of gongoozlers on the tail end
bridge watched every move as we worked the lock. The house looked uninhabited, but
was undergoing renovation, the exterior looked great and as there was a car and
a scooter parked outside we assumed
that work was going on in the interior. A
short pound lead to lock 15 Beaumont, turned the pole and the lock filled
slowly. At the VNF workshops there was an empty pan and a large tug moored. As
we entered the lock a VNF van and a crane lorry left, off to do more tree
cutting no doubt. I went in the cabin to make a cuppa and sat out to have a go
at doing my notes using the tablet. Had trouble using the virtual keyboard so I
swopped it for the plug-in one. Better, but being a cheapish case and built-
in
keyboard sometimes the space key didn't work. On down to l'Esperance lock 14,
twisted the pole and the lock filled. The chamber had new concrete walls and
the old house looked well-lived in with a covered swimming pool in the back
garden and loads of Christmas decorations still hanging on the front walls. On
through the sugar works, quiet, no signs of life at this time of year. Mike
took photos of the boats in the port at Sillery, not many spaces vacant there.
Another pole to turn to activate
lock 13 Sillery and more gongoozlers on the
tail end bridge. A man walking along the path by the side of the lock paused to
have a short chat. Out on to the long pound and I typed up my notes as we went
along (I usually scribble notes but have moved on to OneNote which I can link
to Word). 7.35 kms to Reims and the next lock. Boats Charles and Le Brisant
that were moored at Condé over winter were just starting to do some piling
work. There was a huge mass of graffiti on the bridge and walls before the
silos. Taifun (the boat that followed us up the locks the day before) was
waiting to load at the
first silo. Logica and Puppy were side by side and were
loaded but still under the chute, the latter had an amazingly bright lime green
and purple paint job on the bow and stern. Compaan from Rijwoude was moored
beyond the silo and Follow Me was waiting to load at the second silo. An empty called Kiev from Nancy was coming up
the pound towards us. We paused at the Reims VNF offices and I went in to get a
new VNF flag to fly from our mast. When I opened the packet back on the boat I
found
it was one of the big ones that they hand out to péniches, so we’ll have
to try again at one of the offices that still does pleasure boat licenses.
Someone in fluorescent jacket driving a VNF scooter hooted and waved as we went
past – the “jockey” (nickname here for the VNF roving lock keeper) off to
his/her lunch. A catamaran with Plymouth across its transom was moored
immediately above the first of the three locks down through the city centre of
Reims and a campervan was parked alongside it. Another pole to turn and we went
down Huon lock 12, the lock house garden
was covered with flowers, a man
walking his noisy long-haired dachshund paused to chat. The pound below was, as
usual, busy with joggers on the towpath and loads of ducks all flying off in
front of the boat. Two men were working underneath the tail end bridge using a
cherry-picker that was lashed with ropes to the wall. Another empty came up the
pound towards us, Roleta from Maasbracht. The lights on lock 11 Château d’Eau
were red and we had to wait a few minutes before it changed to red and green and
the gates re-opened. The fortified house alongside the lock was still lived in
and
had lots of children’s toys in the high walled garden. A short distance to
the last lock, 10 Fléchambault. As we dropped down the lock I made some lunch
which we ate as we set off through the city centre and it started to rain.
12.45kms to our overnight stop at Courcy. Took photos of the sports stadium,
the empty Port de Plaisance and the Palais de Congress. Mike spotted some rags
under a bridge which as we got closer appeared to be someone sleeping there.
The old fuel depot site was now occupied by caravans, most likely Gypsies.
There were a few boats moored at PUM besides St Joseph, a
retired péniche who
lives there, Apis – just loaded and closing his hold covers and Nobis who was
waiting at the far end. Mike did a slight detour through the gare d’eau (a
parallel channel where boats used to wait for loading) which is nowadays hardly
ever used and is still about 1.4m deep according to our echo-sounder. Through
the last of the outskirts of the city at La Neuvillette, a brief glimpse of the
distant hills across the fields before entering the shallow cutting leading to
Courcy. A young couple were walking two dogs and then the canal was once again
deserted except for us. At the end of the cutting, as we rounded the last bend,
we met another empty, Excelsior from Ternuezen, heading for loading at a silo
somewhere along the canal. Two cruisers were moored at the little halte
nautique (too shallow for us) and we carried on through the bridge to moor next
to an old factory where the VNF had added some new bollards. It was 3.30 pm and
we were glad to get indoors and get warm. Before long several more empty boats
had gone past.
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| Moorings at Sillery |
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| The piling gang getting ready to start work |
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| Lock house at Gare d'Eau lock Reims |
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| A signboard at Flechambault - construction of a lock |
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| Almost empty Port de Plaisance at Reims |
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| Someone sleeping rough under a bridge in Reims |
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| Palais de Congress Reims |
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| Port Colbert, Reims |
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