Friday 10th July 2015 Bogny-sur-Meuse to Lumes. 25kms 5 locks

New 4m high sculpture Chevalier Dardennor)
 on cliffs Le Rocher de l'Hermitage at Bogny

6.6° C Sunny and warm all day, nice breeze. Several cruisers went past heading upriver while we were getting ready to leave and Mike went to the boulangerie for a loaf. We set off at 9.35am following a small DB up to Levrézy lock. Once in the chamber Mike went up the ladder to help the couple on the boat in front with their ropes, then I lifted the bar and the lock filled, lifting the level 2.4m. The lock house was occupied and there was a VNF van and several cars parked in front of it. The little DB slowly pulled away on the 6kms long

Derelict factory at Braux

reach. There was another huge gaggle of more than thirty Canada geese at Braux, it’s very noticeable that there are very few ducks or swans on the river now, the Canadas have taken over. A large factory making concrete moulded boxes, etc, was working at Braux, while on the opposite bank another factory had long ago gone to ruin with trees growing from roofless buildings. A Locaboat pénichette (hired from Pont-à-Bar) overtook us. The crew

A sad looking little boy. Mural at Montcy

were Australians and had tried to moor at Bogny earlier but there was no space, they were due back at base today. I told them to carry on into Joigny lock with the little DB. The skipper said it was very noble of us and I replied that we were in no rush (never been called that before!) There was a small landing, a short concrete quay, meant for small boats to disembark crew to work the lock. There were lots of rocks, so we went alongside it carefully and Mike hammered a mooring pin in for our fore end line and, while we waited for the lock, he changed handles on a boat shaft as the old one was very splintery. Once the two

Above Montcy lock.

boats had cleared the lock Mike zapped the post and it reset itself for us to go up. While we went up 1,72m he also assembled a new mop then cleaned the solar panels with it as they were very dusty. 9kms (which would take us about an hour and a half) to the next lock. Lots of groups of lycra-clan cyclists went whizzing past on the towpath cycle piste, the Tour de France always brings them out! At Nouzonville we saw our first buzzard of the year, circling above the hills climbing thermals to gain

New weir by Montcy lock

altitude to glide to another hunting ground. As we went into the narrow channel to the right of the island in the river at Aiglemont we heard a green woodpecker in the forest. A small cruiser was fast catching us up and, to our amazement, it went the wrong side of the island. They were lucky to get away with that as it’s supposed to be rocky and shallow, VNF’s fault as the trees had grown and obscured the keep right sign. Took a photo of the lovely old mural of a child on the end of the sports hall at Montcy. Another dozen or so Canadas with a solitary greylag goose were paddling upriver. Called the

Bridge over the river in Charleville

cruiser past so they could go into Montcy lock first. Left off the river into a short lock approach, the cruiser added ropes to bollards and I lifted the bar to activate the lock then we moved back down the chamber while the lock filled. Up another 1.76m (it looks deeper, but the water at this time of year only comes halfway up the chamber, a different beast in winter when there is flood water on the river, this river looks placid but it has its moments as we can vouch for,

Above Mezieres lock

having been stuck in floods on the Meuse several times!) The little cruiser turned right heading down a loop of the river into Charleville and the moorings at the campsite. The couple on board waved as we carried on into Mézières, another 2.22kms to the deep lock. We had to get really close to the post before the zapper worked and the light flashed to say the lock was preparing. Sometimes there is a lock keeper at Mézières lock because at 3.4m deep, but with lock walls twice that height and a severe lack of things to attach ropes to, it can be dangerous for small boats and inexperienced crews. No one on duty today, so up with the lightweight plastic blue bar and

Moored on the pontoon at Lumes.

up the water rose – and not very gently either. I wouldn’t like to climb the lock ladder under any circumstances, but today it was covered in diesel that someone had spilt making it treacherously slippy. 2.9kms to our last lock, so I made some lunch. A small cruiser-style DB went past heading downriver, therefore Romery lock was empty, so as Mike zapped the post the lock gates opened. Up 2.09m finishing off our lunch. Two more cruisers arrived below the lock as we left the top. Getting very busy. There was a long lock cut, almost 2kms, before we were back on the river. A large concrete works was sited by the end of the lock cut, it had piles of sand and gravel next to a long disused quay for boat deliveries. A VNF man in a van went over the bridge at the end of the lock cut and on up to the weir where there were several more vehicles parked at the barragiste’s (weir-keeper’s) house. Above the trees in front of us we could see the chimneys of the Citroën factory where (we believe) they still make castings. Under the Charleville-Mézières bypass (rocade) with traffic thundering over it and, after a short distance, we arrived at the pontoon moorings at Lumes. There was one DB and two large Dutch cruisers moored there, so enough room for us and a bit left over. It was 2.30pm. Getting hotter, over 30° C outside, so I pulled all the blinds down on the sunny side.