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.