Thursday 16th July 2015 Malmy to Pont-à-Bar. 13.7kms 6 locks

Village of Hannogne-St-Martin, baking in the heat.

13.3° Sunny and hot, clouds building up later. Set off at 9.50am and winded (just enough width) by the zapping post for Malmy lock 3. Zapped, the lock filled and we went down 2.01m. The back pump was working and a young VNF man was making sure the intake was free of floating weeds. 5.9kms to the next. Below the lock on the left was a huge field full of maize, tall but still green. Yellow spikes of mullein were growing along the towpath edge (no tarmac cycle piste here, yet) and the bushes beyond were full of honeysuckle. Into a cool tree lined section, which didn’t last long before

New road under construction at Omincourt

we were surrounded with fields of ripe wheat on the left and maize and water meadows of the Bar on our right. In front were the low forested hills at St Aignan. Demented sedge warblers were singing as fast as they could in the reeds. As we passed fields of Charolais cattle the clegs (biting horseflies) arrived and we had a merry time swatting them. A buzzard was looking for lunch, sitting on a fence post, scrutinising the meadows for signs of movement. A flash of blue as a kingfisher raced past as we

Cruiser heading upriver on Meuse from Meuse lock
on Canal des Ardennes

were approaching the village of Omnicourt. A new tarmac road was being built by the canal, leading no doubt into Omnicourt. A UK-flagged cruiser was moored by the bridge where the village had planted some picnic tables. For a short while we were deafened by low flying fighter aircraft, out on training manoeuvres in the Meuse valley. A French cruiser went past heading uphill on the last bend before the tunnel at St Aignan. The zapper wouldn't work until we were almost right next to the traffic lights. A short wait while the lock at the far end of the tunnel filled and we got a green light. A lone fisherman came to watch how the lock worked as we descended another 2.26m. Round a sharp wide left hand bend and we were soon dropping down in St Aignan bottom lock, another 2.91m drop. 5.1kms to Pont-à-

Moored, eventually, at Pont-a-Bar

Bar lock. It was very hot and getting even hotter, up in the forties again. As we approached the moorings at Pont-à-Bar Services a DB went past, it looked unconverted, was tiller steered and still had masts and leeboards. A cruiser was coming up in the lock. We passed where there was a gap in the moored boats. Down the lock, 2.81m and there was a Dutch steel cruiser hovering below. The lock lights behind us were on red and the lady of the boat asked if we’d zap the post for them as we went past it, as their zapper hadn't worked. OK. The two péniches on holiday were still moored on the quay below the lock. We tried to wind beyond the last moored boat (a péniche called Advenir) but the boat was just a fraction to long. Tried again by the lock by the sloping rock walls but again that didn't work. Had to turn it back into the middle with poles as the rudder was jammed flat by the rocks – hard work in the heat. Zapped and went down Meuse lock (2.04m) twiddled round, zapped and went back up. It was 1.50pm when we landed and tied to the piled edge of the sloping grassy bank (now looking like a hayfield with dead grass like straw). Drank lots of water as we were both sweltering. Gave Mike a hand to get the bike off and he went to collect the car from Malmy. I checked to see if we had a workable Internet connection. Yes, 4G. When Mike got back he was too hot and too tired to put the bike back on the roof, he said leave it until later and that he hadn't wanted to get out of the car (aircon!). Later, when it was a bit cooler, we put the bike back on the roof – with an audience of fishermen.