Wednesday 26th August 2015 Soulanges to Chepy. 15.1kms 4 locks

Lock house and church at Soulanges

11.5° C Sunny, with a light cool breeze, getting hotter again. Both cruiser and DB had gone before 9 am. We went back to turn the pole, saying bonjour to two cheery fishermen fishing right next to the gantry. It was 9.15am as we winded and went down lock 4 Soulanges. Its lock house had been extended but wasn’t lived in. Dropped down 1.55m on to the 2.3kms long pound. Surrounded by trees except for some high chalky cliffs on the right, the Marne close by but mostly out of sight on our left. We had a short wait

Ablancourt built up lock walls

while lock 5 Ablancourt filled, strange, it should have been full as it had a full paddle up for a feed which pushed the boat over as we dropped down almost 2m. The lock house had long gone, there was just a concrete lock cabin and, presumably due to flooding, the lock walls had been made higher with an upwards extension. 3.6kms to the next lock. The village of Ablancourt stretched out along the canal below the lock for quite some distance but was mostly hidden by trees. Lock 6 La Chausée had

Derelict lock house at La Chausee-sur-Marne

a lock house with bricked up doors and windows, its extension had no roof now. Next to the lock just above the top end gates there was a run off paddle with controls which housed in a secure metal mesh cage. 6.5kms to the next lock. At Omey there was a big cement works with a long loading/unloading quay with an open fronted building on the edge of the quay that had a cantilevered roof out over the water. Although there were huge builders bags of cement

Rusty engine at silo in La Chausee

stored there, there was no loading crane to put the bags into boats, plus there were no bollards along the quay now for péniches to tie to. So no more transport by water here then. As we left the buildings behind we noted there was a railway track going into the works. There was a very large winding hole before the next silo complex (maybe what the French call a gare d’eau, a waiting area for boats to load) but again all the gear for loading boats was rusted

New house at Pogny

and didn't look used. By the silos there were two old shunting engines, lots more rusty than when we last saw them. On through the village of Pogny which had a long stone quay with bollards backed by houses and parked cars. At the end beyond the quay was a very modern house, grey and square with small windows. It was starting to get very hot again as we went into a long straight section lined with trees and the sun directly behind us. At lock 7 St Germain there was another silo before the lock, modern

Moored in the layby at Chepy, panels up for sun power

buildings but no signs of any recent use by boats. Down another 2.7m with a top end paddle up full for a feed again. There was a cruiser in the far distance behind us. Two kilometres and we winded to moor at the end of an old layby with bollards at the village of Chepy. It was 12.35pm. There were more happy smiling fishers at the far end of the layby. As we were finishing tying up a cruiser we’d seen before went past, crew waving. Had some lunch and then gave Mike a hand to get the bike off and he went to collect the car from Soulanges and take it on to Condé then come back on the bike to Chepy. When Mike returned he had to leave the bike outside on the bank while it cooled down before we stored it back on the roof. It was getting much hotter again, 35°C outside during the afternoon.

Monday 24th August 2015 Brusson to Soulanges. 16.8kms 6 locks.

Pouring rain at Brusson

13.9° C. Rain, then a bright sunny spell before the wind picked up to gale force. Set off in the rain at 9.45am. A lone cyclist, who was taking photos, paused to chat with Mike in English as we passed. There was a nicely painted, extended lock house at 68 Brusson. A man came out of the house as a woman and child arrived, he mimed “what about this weather?” It poured with rain as we went along the 2.8kms pound to lock 69 Adecourt. We had a short wait while it filled and then the rain stopped. There was no house by the lock and the new lock cabin had been vandalised, no plaque and no life ring, plus they’d tried to break the window and failed (must be toughened glass). 1.8kms to lock 70 (the last on this canal) St Etienne. The sun came out as we waited for it to fill. There was a smart lived in house with a campervan outside, a new lock cabin and, something we’ve not seen in a long, long while, a disposal point for used oil, filters and oily rags. Just 2kms left of the Marne-au-Rhin canal as we headed into the town of Vitry-le-François. It felt like we were suddenly on a different planet in a timewarp. We’d come from a canal surrounded by agriculture and small villages

Vandalised lock cabinat lk 69 Adecourt

where time seems to have stood still (except for the tractors) since the Middle Ages and now we were in a modern, industrialised age going into a town that had been built in the 16th c because its previous incarnation (the nearby village now called Vitry-en-Perthois) had been flattened by invaders three times since the 10th c and François 1st had the new fortified town of Vitry-le-François built on a new site. This new town had also been flattened twice during WWII except for its 17th c church. I

Below lock 79 St Etienne. Marne-au-Rhin

took photos of its huge silos as we turned right on to the start of the canal lateral à la Marne (left was the start of the canal de la Marne à la Saône, called the d’Heuilley, pronounced dhoy’ay, by the mariniers) and renamed now by VNF as “Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne” for the tourists. A low, wide beamed cruiser flying a red ensign went past just before we came to the now stanked-off arm on the left which was once the main canal through the centre of town and

Silos at Vitry

used to be useful for moorings, lots of péniches were tied up there. We turned right and turned the hanging pole and activated the first lock, called Vitry in our book, but the lock sign said Pont du canal. We went over the last aqueduct over the river Ornain almost at its junction with the Marne as we went into the lock. The lock had opened, but the lights remained on red and green. I checked both gates, nothing stuck behind them so I called on the intercom. The lady in charge said her control board wasn’t showing a problem, try it. I lifted the rod and it worked OK. Stupid lights. No house and the lock was surrounded by green mesh fencing, stopping any access from the towpath, plus it had a set of tubular railings along the side where the lock cabin and control rods were. Mike shouted to me to come down the ladder. The one my side was by the tail end gates, so I crossed the lock to the ladder on the side of the chamber with no railings and Mike shoved the boat over so I could get back on board. There is no access above and below the locks, the VNF don’t expect anyone

Old arm into the centre of Vitry

to set foot ashore! A loaded French péniche called Lauriane from Moret-sur-Loing was waiting below to go up as we left. 1.3kms to the next. Back into the Middle Ages with the ruins of old lime kilns on the right. Lock 2 Lermite was a deep one nearly 4m deep. It was ready, only had to reopen its gates as the péniche had just come up it. Only 1.2kms to the next. Below the lock was an old arm and a lock on to the river, no longer usable as its top end gates were now missing and the other end looked as if it didn’t open anymore either. There was a limestone quarry on the right,

Ruins of lime kilns

still in use, with a beautifully restored house in front of it facing the canal. There were new factory buildings just before lock 3 Cuvrot and houses along the same bank on the right. There was an old engine shed for the towpath traction engines on the left of the lock and a VNF workshops that looked closed down on the right. We had a short wait while the shallow lock (1.5m) refilled. There was a water tap (for batellerie, working boats, the old sign on it said) on the

Old lock on to the Marne below lock 2 Lermite

lockside and the old lock house was shuttered and empty. 4.5kms to the next lock, but we would be stopping above that at the halte nautique. As we passed the moorings for the cement works of Ciment Calcia at KP6 the next loaded boat went past, Vincila, a Dutch boat from Terneuzen. It had a big playpen on top of the hold covers. A large chalky hill on the right was covered in trees and vehicles on the road that ran at its foot were hidden by trees from the canal. On our left were more trees between us and the winding river Marne. A lone jogger overtook us, running up the towpath. Not long

Moored on the quay at Soulanges

afterwards a car followed him. The wind started picking up and by the time we arrived at Soulanges it was blowing a gale. We winded and moored on the old quay with bollards at 1.45pm. Had some lunch then I gave Mike a hand to get the moped off the roof. A large cruiser was coming up the lock. I said I bet that will want to moor here with the wind now gusting very hard. It did. And it wanted the end of the quay behind us and was in danger of ripping our stern gear off with the anchor hanging beneath its shiny bows. We pulled forward and knocked a mooring pin in for the bows. The guy said he needed to be on the quay so his dog could get on and off. (The usual reason is because most of them don’t have any mooring pins!) Another cruiser came up the lock, a small German cruiser. It carried on up the canal - sideways. Battened everything down, then Mike went back to Pargny to get the car. The hotel boat called Marianne that we’d seen on the Marne-au-Rhin the day before went past heading downhill around 4pm. Not long after that a Dutch steel cruiser arrived and moored in front of us on the piling. No Internet here so the blog will have to wait a day or two.

Saturday 22nd August 2015 Pargny to abv Brusson. 10.1kms 4 locks

Pargny-sur-Saulx from the halte nautique

11.0° C Clear blue skies sunny, light breeze and hot again. Mike went to buy some bread before we got ready to move. A loaded péniche called Elvis went past heading uphill around 9.15am, then the cruiser moored in front of us overnight set off downhill as soon as the péniche had passed. Refilled our water tank and set off at ten. Just as I was reeling in the electricity cable the VNF man in a van, who had just seen the péniche through lock 63,  came to ask if we were moving and where

Sleeping fishermen by the boat at Pargny

to. Yes and most likely Bignicourt. The fishermen must have fished all night as they hadn’t put any tents up (there was a sign by the car parking area which said no camping) Two were asleep by the boat on campbeds. The rest were fishing at the downhill end of the quay when we left. They started reeling in all their long lines as we approached (they’d already “caught” Elvis!) and we triggered the sensors. Had a short wait while lock 64 Pargny filled. The lock house looked OK but hadn't been inhabited for a while. Below the lock there

Lock house at Pargny lock 64

was an empty wheat field on the left and meadows backed by forest on the right. It was 2.2kms to the next lock. Trees closed in on both sides and there was another new plantation of white poplar trees on the left just before lock 65 Etrèpy. Lots of reeds had been left along the edges of the canal for the birds and backing the piling were lots of young blackthorn trees covered in sloes. Another short wait while the lock filled. Crossed yet another little aqueduct before

Moored under the plane trees near Brusson

the lock. There was no house and the new lock cabin had lost its identity plaque. A campervan was parked where the house used to be and a man stood on the tail end bridge gongoozling. It was starting to get very weedy on the 2kms pound below lock 65. There were thick belts of trees on both sides, so no view of the land beyond them. A lone jogger ran up the towpath heading uphill. Lock 66 Bignicourt didn't work. There was a man and his lad fishing

More pictures of yesterday's buzzard in flight

by the lock. We pulled into the bank and Mike walked back to try and activate the sensors, no go. I walked on to the lock and called the man in a van via the intercom. I could barely hear him due to the noise of the water thundering over the lock gates right next to the cabin. He said OK. He was there before I got back to the boat. I asked our VNF man if there was still a quay below the lock. Yes, an ideal mooring for us he said. Moving tomorrow? No, Belgian F1 GP tomorrow, we’ll move on Monday. OK. The fisherman and his boy got in their white van and left. The quay below was lovely, just one very old small yacht there which had been abandoned years ago, its cabin doors were broken and

More pictures of yesterday's buzzard in flight

the interior had probably been gutted (unusual for France). No chance of satellite TV through the trees. Shame. We carried on down the canal, looking for a gap in the trees on our left with enough water by the bank on our right to be able to moor. The pound was 4.5kms long, one of the longest. The trees were too tall and the water too shallow until right above the next lock, 67 Ponthion, by which time we’d activated the lock by going through the sensors. We went into the lock and down. The lock house was lived in and there were two cars parked by it, but no signs of life. There was an empty péniche called Kiev below the lock heading for it as we left. Mike

More pictures of yesterday's buzzard in flight

thought about turning round and going back up the lock, but decided against it. As we got closer to the next lock at Brusson there was a grand avenue of tall plane trees (just like the Midi) on our right along the towpath and lower trees on the left. Yes! It was deep enough, so we tied temporarily to a tree and checked the TV. OK and Internet. Then knocked pins in the bank. It was 1.30pm. That was a relief, I was expecting to have to go through Vitry, it’s only 8kms from here. Lunch. Mike watched the F1 GP Belgian qualifying. A small yacht went uphill mid-afternoon then péniche Flore went past going downhill just before 5pm 

More pictures of yesterday's buzzard in flight

now empty (saw him go uphill loaded yesterday late afternoon at Pargny) so he didn't go very far up the canal to unload.

More pictures of yesterday's buzzard in flight

Friday 21st August 2015 Contrisson to Pargny-sur-Saulx. 9.72kms 7 locks

Anti-tamper sleeve over feed-paddle spindle

11.1° C Clear blue skies, fluffy white clouds later, sunny and getting warmer again (max 27°C). Untied and Mike walked back to the sensors with one of our seat boards to hold in front of them to activate the lock, it worked and the lock gates opened as the lock was already full. Reversed into the chamber of lock 57 Contrisson, passing all the dahlias again and dropping down backwards in the chamber to wind in the big winding hole below the lock. A VNF man in a van went past on

Waiting for the man in a van above lk 58 Chevol

the towpath on our right. Maize fields on the left and a shorn wheat field on the right. 1.8kms to the next, the pounds were starting to get longer at this end of the canal. The sensors didn’t activate lock 58 Chevol, so Mike reversed back past them and went through them again, it still didn't work. I phoned Bar-le-Duc. A charming young VNF man answered and said he would send someone. It was 10.10am when we stopped above the lock, it was empty, there was

Lock house at 59 Rememecourt

nothing to tie to so Mike wrapped a stern rope around a big clump of grass. At 10.45am he took a walk down to the lock and called on the intercom. He told the person who answered that the capteurs hadn’t worked for lock 58 and then he got cut off. 11.05am the VNF man in a van arrived and set the lock for us. There was a DB coming up the pound below towards the lock. The VNF guy said that Bar-le-Duc had phoned him and that he’d had the call via the intercom, but didn’t know what the problem was with the

Health & Safety notice -
what to do if someone falls in the lock

lock. We had a long chat, he said there were two loaded boats coming up and an empty. I told him that the low water levels on the VNF website had put people off coming over the Marne-au-Rhin. He said the maximum draught across the summit level at present was 1.6m, which was OK for most boats, but when it gets lower than 1.6m he said it starts to drop quickly. Let’s hope for some rain soon. The next pound was 1.6kms and dead straight. We passed the American crewed Hotel boat Maria (a very shapely Luxemotor) and said hello in passing. They were on the quay at Pargny when Mike put the car there the day before, so there should now be a space for us. There was a plantation of young white poplars on our left just above lock 59 Rememecourt. The sensors worked! A man and his little boy were fishing, seated right next to the sensors. We had a short wait while 59 filled then we went down. The canal did a fantastic wiggle through Sermaize-les-Bains, huge sweep right, under the railway bridge, then back left again. There was an old stone quay with mooring rings by a

Young buzzard in flight

derelict factory (No good for us as there would be no TV and also it was inside the sensor range of the next lock, so you’d have to call VNF to moor there). Down 60 Sermaize, which had a lock house but it didn’t look lived in. 1.5kms to the next between an empty wheat field on the right and a field of maize on the left. A short wait while 61 La Chaîne filled. It had no house and someone had pinched the disc off the new lock cabin that said 61 and the lock name. Maize both sides below the lock. A shorter pound to lock 62 l’Ajot. A Dutch cruiser called Flaneur (French word for gongoozler)

Searching for lunch

came up, just timed right for us to go in as they left. No house at the lock and an enormous field of maize on the right below the lock stretching away to the edge of a forest. 2.54kms to the next and final lock of the day. There was a long stone quay beyond the next road bridge, then trees both sides making it cool and shady. Mike took multiple shots of a bird of prey that kept perching atop the posts supporting a cable all along the canal, it flew from one post to the next, searching the ground below for anything moving. Down lock 63 Pargny and we tied to the quay in the short pound between locks 63 and 64. Made sure we could get satellite TV as there was a row of trees in the way. Got a signal over the shortest tree by backing up to the uphill end of the quay. There was a large cruiser moored at the

What wings!

other end. It was 1.30pm. Spotted that lock 63 had failed to close behind us and had two red lights on. Not long afterwards the VNF man in a van arrived to reset it. Had some lunch then started on the log and photos. A loaded péniche called Lore (not fully loaded Mike noted) went past heading uphill about 3pm. Around 4.15pm a cruiser came down the lock and moored in the gap between us and the cruiser at the far end, the moorings were now full. A group of fishermen with loads of gear and tents parked by the barriers and spread themselves out around the picnic table by our stern. A man knocked for money for

Capteurs - sensors to activate the lock (another set directly opposite -
the boats break the infrared beam between them)

mooring, 5€ including water and electricity.

Moored on the quay at Pargny

Wednesday 19th August 2015 Fains to Contrisson. 15.5kms 16 locks

Moored at Fains-les-Sources

8.5° C Sunny, cool start, heating up to the low 30s again later. Cool wind. Set off at 9.05am on a long pound (2.14kms) with houses on the left and a busy road and railway on our right. We had to wait while lock 43 Rembercourt filled. It had a lock house with extensions that was lived in and washing spread out on the fence in front of the front door. As we left the lock a girl on a VNF moped went down the towpath. Lock 44 Varney also had a lock house, but this one had a posh garden with a high clipped hedge surrounding a lawn and inflatable swimming pool at the same level as the

Lift bridge at Moussey

canal below the lock. Below the lock there were trees both sides and wide empty fields stretching to low wooded hills on our left. Just before the next lock the railway came very close to the canal again on our right. We had to wait again while lock 45 Chacolée filled. I went in to make a cuppa and some cyclists stopped to ask Mike questions, but he couldn’t hear them for the noise of the water coming over the gates behind him as the lock emptied. Our young lady on a moped came back up the towpath to check where we were – not as fast as her usual clients! Above lock 46 Moussey there was a U-shaped pontoon arrangement, but it wasn’t for mooring as there were no cleats to tie to, maybe to protect rare plants like an SSSI? There was a collection of smart new bungalows on the edge

Lift bridge and lock at Moussey

of the town. The girl on the moped was at the lock and lifted the bar before I got to it, there was a Langollen-type counterbalanced lift bridge immediately below the lock. I told her we had lots like that in the UK but not mechanised like this one (she pressed buttons in the cabin to work it) the ones we used to work had either a rope or a chain to swing on or a spindle to wind. She was impressed, especially when Mike showed her a windlass – his chrome plated one that we now use as a paperweight on top of the charts and maps. At Moussey there was a lived in lock house and the tarmac towpath changed to crushed stone. Another long pound, 1.7kms to the next. There were big maize fields on our right between the canal and the railway. Lock 47 La Doeuil had a boat in it. Had a short wait while a small German cruiser from Karlsruhe cleared the lock. More open fields on the left below the lock. The young lady on a moped went on down the towpath. It was a dragonfly and butterfly day, another Red Admiral paused on the cabin roof, but not long enough to be photographed. There was a nice house at 48 Neuville. A man was sitting in a car by the rods with the door open listening to his radio. I was invisible. Lock 49 Grand Fraicul no longer had a lock house. There was a field of maize between the canal and the railway with forest beyond it. Another short wait while lock 50 Petit Fraicul filled. No lock house and more fields of maize. Lock 51 Bois d’Ecuyer was also

Wasps nesting under the roof of new lock cabin

empty. Mike lifted the bar for a change. There was a lived in lock house as we were getting close to the town of Revigny plus there was a road next to the house which went across the canal below the lock. More maize and an enormous electricity distribution centre with masses of pylons and wires heading in many directions. Zapped the post above lock 52 Revigny, but no light flashed, maybe the bulb was broken, we continued round the bend to the lock. It was full with a red light. Hmm. Reversed back to the post and zapped it from 2m away – it worked. Above the lock there was a wooden decked quay with bollards and picnic tables (all empty) next to a VNF workshop with vans and a lorry and a moored pusher tug called Asterix. (No good for us we wouldn't have got any

Limit de stationment post

satellite TV) Down the lock, still more maize fields along the canal. Another wait while lock 53 Notre Dame de Grâce filled. No house and there were lots of wasps building mud nests under the roof of the new lock cabin and around the case for a life ring. Took photos. Wait while lock 54 Damzelle filled. No house and more wasps nests around the lock cabin. Lock 55 La Haie Herlin had a lived in extended lock house with a beautiful garden down at the level of the canal below the lock. Mike took photos of one of the remaining posts for restricting mooring before locks – limit de stationment. Under a railway bridge and there was a long quay with gantry cranes on our left with a big (working) steel works where they were cutting coiled steel sheet to various sizes. So engrossed in looking at such a rare sight we forgot to look for a zapper post on the very short pound, but the next lock, 56 Braux had red and green lights on so we guessed either the two were linked or the girl was working the lock as a péniche houseboat called Night & Day was just leaving the lock. Our young lady was at the lock collecting zappers. End of her section, she said, and all the locks now were activated by capteurs (sensors). We had a chat in English as she said she needed to improve her vocabulary. She’d had a tumble off her moped and had scratched her arms plus she had a black eye – she said she had a bigger bruise indicating her derriere. I pointed to

Moored at Contrisson

the moped on our roof, she hadn't noticed it, and said Mike knows all about riding one. She said she came off when the bike went down a big pothole. Au’voir and off on to the Vitry section. There was a British widebeam moored on the bend and we said hello to the skipper as we passed, then cursed because we’d inadvertently gone through the sensors for the next lock, 57 Contrisson, which were a long way from the lock and we’d intended to moor on the pound we were on. Oh well, see what it’s like below. We went down lock 57, found nowhere to moor as the banks were rough and full of reeds, it wasn't very far to the sensors for the next lock either, so we winded below the lock and reversed through the sensors to go back up the last lock and then had to wait as there was a small cruiser coming down. Up 57 again and knocked pins in next to the piled towpath edge above lock 57 with a great view across fields with sheep and horses and a donkey. It was 2.45pm. The girl came back to check what we were doing. All OK we would go back down 57 in the morning.

Monday 17th August 2015 Tronville to Fains. 14.6kms 15 locks

Commercial traffic does exist on the Marne-au-Rhin!

11.7° C Hazy sunshine with a cold North wind. Outside temperature was just 17°C when we set off at 9.50am. Contractors for VNF had arrived with two little lorries with grass cutting machines. The Dutch boat that had moored in front of us while we were out sight-seeing in the car yesterday afternoon had set off uphill when the locks opened at nine. Lock 28 Tronville had a lock house that had been bricked up many years ago and was now covered in vines. A VNF van went past heading downhill. Lock 29 Bohanne had no lock house and there was a huge snail on the lock

Old lock house at Tronville - covered in grapes

wall, never seen one that big before. We had to wait a short while for lock 30 Guerpont to fill. Again there was no surviving lock house. There were woods on our left and a big open field between the canal and the busy N135 road on the right. Lock 31 Silmont had a lock house that was lived in and an old lock cabin as well as a new Andersen-shelter-type modern lock cabin. Things were looking up, first there were lots and lots of ducks above lock 32 Tannois, AND it had an old lock house that was being lived in which was undergoing renovation. Spoke to the old couple, who were stood at their front porch amid piles of building materials, and said we were glad to see a lock house being

old lock cabin at Silmont lock

modernised rather than demolished. There were gongoozlers galore all around the lock, several groups came over to ask the usual questions (haven’t had any of those in a while!) while we descended in the chamber. As we left a Danish cruiser went past heading for the lock. Forested hills on the left were getting bigger and there were big empty cornfields to our right. Woods closed in on both sides as we arrived at lock 33 Maheux (no house). A longer pound (1.5kms) wound between the trees to lock 34 Grand Chalaide. Here the lock was either lived in or was being used as an

Poor wee doggie at Longeville lock

office/rest stop by the VNF. There was an old lock cabin too and kebs (long handled rakes for fetching rubbish out of the lock chamber) and boat shafts in the stand on the lockside. Amazed to meet a hotel boat coming uphill. La Nouvelle Etoile had Amercian guests on the deck sitting out and a British crew who spoke as we went past. There was a long aqueduct over the little river Ornain directly before lock 35 Longeville. Its lock house had been renovated and rented out most likely as the windows were all shuttered and there was a dog was on a chain by the door with a notice on the fence that said “Please do not feed the dog”.  On through the town of Longeville, which had a large

Aqueduct over Ornain at Longeville

centre commercial with a Leclerc hypermarket. It grew noisy as the railway line came closer to the canal as well as the road. Lock 36 Savonnières also had a modernised house which was lived in, maybe a sign that we’re getting closer to the big town of Bar-le-Duc, more houses needed. Lock 37 Popey had a lived in old lock house but with a different ambience, BBQ, chairs and tables in front of the house, which made me suspect it was lived in by VNF employees. Lock 38 Marbot also had a lived in house and a lift bridge below it that worked automatically with the lock. It also had video surveillance

Automatic liftbridge at Marbot lock

cameras, not common yet in France. On into the town, roads getting noisier. There was a second liftbridge, but as this one carried a wide main road and had two lifting decks, there was a VNF man in a cabin for bridge working alongside it. We waved to him as we went through. Passed a long empty layby with bollards next to the backs of factories and the railway. We paused at the halte nautique for water. The place was full of campervans, there was just one ex-Locaboat pénichette on the pontoons. We stopped at the quay and refilled our tank with water. A DB Luxe arrived just as we started. French flagged and with the port of Toul on its stern, it had a British crew. They wanted us to move up so they could get on the quay. It wasn’t long enough for both of us and so Mike said hang on five minutes and you can have the whole quay. They hovered in the middle then pulled into the quay as we left. Not far to lock 39 Bar-le-Duc. No house now, very noisy with an elevated road right alongside and a railway very close on the other side. An old man with one leg, sitting in a powered wheelchair, was playing his trumpet by the lock. He played the last post and stuff like that. Mike whistled La Marseillaise and then he played it for us. Bravo! We clapped. He smiled, we think he liked having an appreciative audience, if only

Our trumpet soloist at Bar-le-Duc

for a very short while. It was even noisier below the lock. The VNF offices were next to the towpath just beyond the lock.  A man came out and asked how far we were going. Mike said two more locks. OK and a man in a van left. Another long aqueduct over the Ornain lead into lock 40 Chantereines. Another lived in lock house. Lock 41 Grand Pré had a lock house that was immaculate with garden furniture and lots of potted plants, like a picture from Homes and Gardens. Wouldn't want to live there, a freight train passed over the bridge right below the lock, on level with the house – the noise!

Preserved towpath traction engine at Bar-le-Duc

We thought we were going to stop below the lock. There was a small centre commercial with an Intermarché and a Bricomarché and although there was a piled edge it was too shallow, the boat was sitting on the bottom. Just then an empty péniche came into view heading uphill. We pushed off and Mike said we’ll go down another lock. The passing boat was called Nobis and had a tender on the stern cabin with Ste Rita on its bows (seen that boat everywhere) The skipper waved as we passed. Down lock 42 Fains (another VNF lived in house) and were surprised to see Eric and Michelle, (our neighbours from Condé) on the lock side. They were off to Bar-le-Duc on their bikes. Not

Moored at Fains-les-Sources

surprised they’d done that, (their boat Paradis Blanc was moored below the lock), it’s a lovely town but the moorings are so noisy. There was a liftbridge below the lock. It didn't lift, so Eric called the VNF on the intercom for us, then they went off sight-seeing and said they’d see us later. A VNF man in a van turned up – there was already a police van by the end of the bridge and three officers watching. The tiny quay below the lock had water and electric (same prices as Bar-le-Duc, 1,10€ to stay there overnight, 6,40€ for electric and water plus 20c per person per night tourist tax) No room for us anyway, three cruisers had filled it, so we moored next to the pilings. It was 3pm. A very large boxy looking steel cruiser hotel boat (from New Zealand it said, it was for sale) arrived at 6pm. The lock lights went to red/green but the bridge didn't lift, so it moored behind us on the old layby which has sloping stones underwater.

Thursday 13th August 2015 Naix to Tronville. 15.1kms 13 locks

VNF eco(nomy) version of bank protection

18.3°C Hazy sunshine, hot and muggy. Clouding over around 2pm, thunderstorms due. (Max over 35°C again) It was already over 25°C in the cabin when we winded and set off at 9.15am continuing the journey down the canal. Mike had been to have a word with the lock controller via the intercom and lock 15 Naix (2.60m) was ready for us. (All the first seventeen locks are chained) Down the lock with water thundering over the top end gates behind us. Not long before we were at lock 16 Nantois (2.61m) passing a

Menaucourt and a new fenced path on the aqueduct

long field full of maize. A VNF team of two men and a woman, dressed in waders, were busy placing some woven hessian along the bank, with a digger and a lorry with a grab arm on the lock side ready to do some bank protection back-filling. Down lock 16 and on to lock 17 Menaucourt (2.40m). There was another short aqueduct before the lock and a fenced path had been added over the top of the hydraulics. This lock should have been the last of the automatics according to our old Navicarte canal guide. We went

A mural on a bungalow

under two bridges, rail and road, close together, with two sets of detector sensors. Next lock should be ready then. Nope. There was a telecommand post to zap and we had no zapper – the VNF collected it when we turned on to this canal. We thought we might have missed a dispenser on the last lock, so we went back, which was fun, the boat was too long to turn by lock 18, so Mike reversed to a wider bit then swung it round. It would be on one of the “long” pounds (1.5kms) Set the sensors off as we tied to the railings under the railway bridge and lock 17 got itself ready for us to go back up it. Mike walked back to the lock (nowhere to get off closer to the lock) and searched for a box. Nothing. So he called the controller. Explained we had no telecommand and he’d need

Modern lock cabin 

to reset 17. He said OK. We wondered what next? I fully expected after the man on a bike through the tunnel to have someone on a moped with a zapper doing them for us! A young man on a moped did appear as we returned to lock 18 Longeaux. He had set the lock for us but it started to close (we took too long maybe) so he had to dash into the posh new lock cabin to override it. He handed us a zapper. We had the feeling that he should have handed it to us at the last lock, but either he forgot or hadn't turned up in time. Never mind, we’re on our way again. Dropped down 18 with the lad watching. The old lock house’s doors and windows were all bricked up. There was a lock keeper and his family living in that lock house last time we were here, he worked the lock for us. The scenery was changing as the valley opened up and the pounds were straighter. We had a metalled track on our left and two cyclists went past on it. Lock 19 Givrauval (2.23m) had retained its lock house and it was lived in as there was a busy little village of the same name right by the canal. Below the lock there was a floating pontoon about 20m long for visitors to tie up. No one there. On to lock 20 Grèves (2.40m) back into open fields, the house hadn't survived. Lock 21 Gainval (2.37m) still had its house, but not sure if it was lived in. On into the town of Ligny-en-Barrois, passing the back of the Carrefour Market (there appeared to be no access from the canal, when we went shopping by car later we spotted a track) and down lock 22 Ligny (2.59m). We were busy checking out the basin where Matilda

Moored boats and campervans at Ligny

Rose moored for part of last winter and managed to miss the zapper post. We carried on to lock 23 Villeroncourt (2.62m) searching for the post. Reversed back towards the basin as a young lady on a moped arrived. Saw that the post opposite the basin was actually two in one, posts back-to-back and it was by a moored VNF tug. We’d dismissed it as being the post for going uphill. Meanwhile the girl had got the lock ready for us. She had trouble with our French. Never seen two command posts together like that. Smiles, bet she’s thinking silly old fools. I asked if they ever had commercials now. Nope and, by all accounts, precious few bateaux de plaisance either. We’d seen nothing all day. The next post was the same, two together. Down lock 24 Maulan (2.60m) with lots of water over the top end gates so Mike put a stern rope on to save keep reversing. Again there was a shuttered lock house, but not sure if it was lived in. A VNF man in a van went down the towpath and waved. Lock 25 Velaines (2.61m) wasn’t full, which we thought was strange. There was a smart house alongside it. Had a short wait while it filled and the gates opened.

Moored among the water lilies at Tronville

Water pouring over the top end gates as usual. No signs of any other boats moving. There was a family fishing by an old engine shed and the right bank was full of factories. Down lock 26 Nançois-le-Petit (2.62m) and 27 Chessard (2.60m) neither had lock houses, they’d vanished. Our chosen mooring at Tronville was just a short distance. There was a good quay with bollards just after a winding hole full of water lilies where two young boys were fishing. Winded and tied up opposite a caravan under an open fronted shed. The little boys moved their bike to the end of the quay and fished in front of the boat. A young couple turned up and went swimming in the canal by the road bridge behind us. Got the bike off and Mike hurried off to get the car before the thunderstorms arrived, we could already hear distant rumblings. He managed to get back with the car without seeing any rain. Later we saw flashes of lightening to the South and we had some rain, but not for long.