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.

Wednesday 12th August 2015 Demange to Naix. 14.6kms 14 locks

Weed on bottom end gates (water weirs over gates on these locks)
Lock 2 Demange

15.8° C Hazy sunshine, getting hotter again later. Max over 38°C again. Set off through the underwater grass at 9.30am, turned right at the junction and went down lock 1 Tombois (2.98m) set for us by a man in a van. Downhill now all the way back to Condé. Chunks of weed followed us into the lock chamber, so Mike put a stern line round a bollard so he didn’t have to use the propeller to stop the boat running forward as the lock emptied. The locks were chained so as we left one lock the next one got ready for us. All the pounds were short,

So that's where all the dollies went,
they loaded up their wagons and rolled off to the Wild West?

between 500m and a kilometre with just a couple longer than that. The first section of canal down as far as Ligny twists and turns following the upper valley of the little river Ornain. A pair of cyclists stopped on the bridge over the tail end of the lock to gongoozle. Below the lock was an empty 40m long pontoon. There were rope grooves worn into the edges of the support walls on both sides of the bridge just before lock 2 Demange (2.21m). There was

A field full of sunflowers drooping in he heat

towpath haulage by tractor units on this canal and it looks like it was on both banks. We noted that there was water running over the top end gates on all of the locks and lots of the lock houses had been demolished years ago. Lock 3 Bois Molu (2.51m) still had loads of weed in it and didn't close behind us. It was a longish shady pound (1.4kms) to lock 4 Monfort (2.50m) and when we got there I had to get off in the lock mouth and go and call on the intercom as the

No mooring on the queduct

lock hadn't opened. The guy said he would do the necessary. Mike had to back off out of the lock mouth as the gates started opening. I lifted the rod and got back on the boat. On to lock 5 Abbaye d’Evaux (2.41m) where there were lots of butterflies on the blue scabious flowers on the lock sides and a red admiral landed briefly on the roof. A tractor with grass cutting gear crossed the bridge and set off down the towpath in search of grass that needed cutting. Lock

Baby catfish

6 Boèval didn’t close after we left and we thought we’d have to call VNF again but a German cruiser went past heading uphill and a VNF van went past heading downhill. When we arrived at lock 7 St Joire (2.56m) the lock was empty with the bottom gates open. We expected there to be another uphill boat but the gates closed and the lock refilled and then we went down. Mike took photos of the amazing garden ornaments at one of the houses we passed. Lock 8 Laneuville St Joire didn’t close after we left either. There were four buzzards circling above the trees by the lock, we could hear their mewing cries. A sign of the difference it makes when a lock is close to a village, lock 9 Petite Forge (2.55m) still had a

Moored at Naix-aux-Forges

beautifully maintained lock house as it was on the edge of the village of Trevenay. Lock 10 Charbonières (2.58m) alas had no lock house, just a pear tree survived from its garden. Lock 11 Trevenay (2.58m) also had a lived in lock house. I made some lunch en route to lock 12 Charmasson (2.54m) which was surrounded by empty fields backed by woods. Mike spotted catfish. Dozens of baby ones, newly hatched and all swimming together in a black ball of a shoal at the edge of the canal. Down lock 13 St Amand (2.50m) the canal water was becoming murky so there was less weed. Immediately uphill of lock 14 La Barboure there was an aqueduct over a small stream and a big sign saying no mooring there. It was the same width as the lock and directly leading on to it, so who on earth would moor there? There was a suitable quay with bollards above lock 15 Naix, so we winded and moored. Then we went to the lock and called on the intercom to say we’d stopped. Finished putting stuff away and setting up TV and solar panels, etc, then I gave Mike a hand to get the bike off and he went to collect the car from Euville. Good mooring but no Internet. We went out in the car to look at moorings on the far side of Ligny at Tronville. Looked OK. Called via Ligny to see how many boats were there, just one cruiser which might be permanent but loads of campervans. Noted that the lock was automatic, so there are more than the first 17 automated now. That was a pleasant surprise. Back home in the gathering dark. 

Tuesday 11th August 2015 Euville to Demange. 32.8kms 16 locks

Three bridges at lock 4 Sorcy

15.4°C Misty, sun soon burning through then getting hot again. Three Dutch cruisers had filled the space on the quay overnight, two of them mooring side-by-side, all heading downhill. We set off before they did at 8.50am. 3.5kms to the last four locks we would do on the canal de l’Est branch Nord as this bit of the Meuse navigation is officially called. Three bridges before lock 4 Sorcy (3m) looked quite impressive. When the lock was

Note the green band - pound above lk4
had over one metre of water missing

full we noted that the water level in the pound was over a metre down. Wonder how that happened on automatic locks? A VNF man in a van went past and zapped the next lock for us so it was ready when we got there. He also lifted the bar, but didn’t speak. Up lock 3 Sorcy (3m) and the pound above was full and very weedy. The van went past on the towpath. Lock 2 Sorcy (3m) is right next to a big factory processing chalk for industrial use, its walls were coated with the stuff making it look like snow. There was a very white railway engine that we glimpsed between buildings

No it's not snow it's layers and layers of chalk dust

but had no time to photograph. Lock 1 Troussey (3.15m) We rose ropeless as usual and our white-bearded VNF man wished us a bonne voyage as we turned right on to the canal de la Marne au Rhin, heading for the Marne valley at Vitry. First we have to climb out of the Meuse valley, up twelve automatic locks, following the little stream called the Méholle. We’d only been on this canal once before, going the opposite way in 1993 as we went south to the Midi the first time. Paused

Weir on the Meuse from the canal aqueduct crossing it

to take photos on the aqueduct over the Meuse, where there was a little weir and lots of big fish visible in the clear water. Just after we set off again a large Luxemotor hotel boat went past followed by another ex-Connoisseur hireboat cruiser, both going in the opposite direction to us. The canal followed the noisy N4 dual carriageway, at least we were on the side of the hill higher than the traffic. There was a VNF tug moored by their workshops in Void. The quay and tap were there as we

Big fish skulking in the pools below the weir on the Meuse

remembered it, only thing different was the silo now had a big green mesh fence around it. The first lock, 12 Void (2.91m) had a VNF boat in it. We went through sensors on each bank which starts the lock operation, we got red/green lights, but then nothing else happened. Pulled into the bank and slung a rope around a sign and Mike went up to the lock on foot to find out what was going on. There were three of them, two men and a woman, sitting on seats in the shade by the old lock house outbuildings eating

More fish in the baby Meuse

lunch. It was 12.20pm. Mike asked if there was a problem with the lock. The driver appeared from somewhere, started the boat engine up and lifted the rod. Mike came back to the boat and we untied and went into the lock as the VNF boat went past us, it a scaffolding structure on top of it, ready to do work under a bridge. Up the first lock, all of them are about 3m deep with very short pounds between them. Lock 11 Vacon (2.94m) had a lovely lock house, with

The chalk factory and quarry beyond it

geraniums in window boxes. Lock 10 Haut Bois (2.91m) another with an inhabited lock house. There was a VNF man in a van there who asked if we’d come from Toul, no Euville, he asked for the telecommand, which we handed over as we shan’t need it again. He asked if we were going through the tunnel, yes. OK for 4pm to 4.30pm. Merci. Lock 9 Biquiottes (2.98m) it had no house just an old lock cabin. I made lunch. Water flushed over the top end gates. Must be something coming down the

Old towpath traction engine on the quay at Void

flight. Yes, a small yacht and a German cruiser. Lock 8 Varonnes (2.92m) had another nice lock house, lived in too. There was a lot of weed in the very clear water and big fish which were swimming up towards the lock keeping pace with the boat. Lock 7 Sauvoy (2.93m) below the lock was a mooring place with bollards and picnic tables. A couple with a campervan were having lunch, they waved. More weeds and fish in the lock chamber. Again the lock house was lived in. Above the lock the canal was

Old system of detection of boats for working locks.
Radar abv lk 1 Mauvages

full of water crowfoot, great beds of it with a gap down the middle where boat traffic had pruned it. Lock 6 La Corvée (2.94m) had yet another lived in lock house. The little stream winding through the fields alongside the canal was getting smaller as we were getting higher up the valley. There was a longer pound to lock 5 St Esprit (2.91m) which was right next to the road and had no lock house. Woods on either side of the canal were getting closer. Lock 4 Grand Charme (2.98m) No house. Our man in

The English version - and -

a van returned and lifted the bar then went in the

The French version in case you found the English to be Double Dutch

cabin. Mike spotted that he was towing what he thought was a compressor on wheels behind his van. It was actually a generator and he was using it to power the lock electrics (more problems with the recent thunderstorms or a more long term failure?) He did the same with the remaining three locks, none of which had any signs of lock houses, 3 Chalède (2.93m), 2 Villeroy (2.94m) and 1 Mauvages (2.90m). At the top lock there was a strange sign board giving information about the tunnel in English on one side and French on the other. We had to read the French to understand the “English”. We were surprised at the current rules. In 1993 there was a tug which towed boats through that was electric powered and hauled itself through the tunnel at snail’s pace using a chain which lies on the bottom of the canal and is fed through the interior of the tug. The tug did the trip back and forth twice a day, mornings and afternoons. Back in 1993 we were sent through in front of the tug, it didn’t tow us, and a man on a bike went through switching lights on for us and off after we’d passed. NOW, the tug is retired, but they still have a man who rides through on his bike (Elf and Safety??) The tunnel is lit throughout with sodium lights, plus the mandatary nearest exit signs every 10m plus low level LED lights which were only on at the entrance and exit. We noted they also had emergency folding gangplanks (what for and how they would be used we have no idea). The new rule that astonished us was that passenger boats (ie hotel boats) were only allowed through with their crew on board – what happens to the guests? Also there is a maximum of six people per boat. What happens to the excess if a big hireboat wants to go through, they can carry up to twelve? There is no horse path over the top of the almost five kilometre long tunnel so they can’t walk it or bike it. They must have to book taxis. I wish we’d asked. It was 2.5kms

An old engine shed

from the lock through a long cutting to the Mauvages tunnel entrance. In the canal there was a load of long grass-like weed with a path up the middle, like boating in a swimming pool. The man was there with his bike talking on the intercom as we went into the beautifully chilly depths. He overtook us on his bike and paused for us to catch up then set off again, all the way to the far end. Despite the drought we had a few drips of water from the roof which fell on our heads every now and again. We came out of the

Inside the tunnel

tunnel at 5.15pm. The man was on the intercom again. He locked a barrier in place and got in his van and sped off along the one car wide towpath in another deep cutting. Back in the sunshine was like being in an oven after the cold interior of Mauvages. At the junction we turned left to go to the end of the feeder arm which terminates after about 3kms in Houdelaincourt. The weed was so choked up we only made it through the flood gates before deciding that discretion was the better part and reversed back to the junction where we tied up for the night by the old tunnel tug. It was 6.10pm.

A folding gangplank on the towpath in the tunnel

Mauvages tunnel

Moored by the old chain tug

Saturday 8th August 2015 Sampigny to Euville. 14.4kms 3 locks

17.9°C Overcast and much cooler first thing and although the sun was very hazy

A buzzard in flight

temperatures soared again, well into 30s. (Top outside temperature today 38.2°C) We set off at 9.45am. 1.5kms to our first lock. When we arrived at lock 7 Vadonville (2.5m) there were no lock lights on and, surprise, the zapper post didn’t work either. So we attached to a bit of piled bank by the zapper post with one of our mooring pins. We hadn’t got a phone number for Verdun, so I rang Givet and spoke to the very pleasant VNF guy at Quattre Cheminées and asked if he had the local number for this section as lock 7 at Vadonville wouldn’t work, he asked if that was on the Ardennes, no canal de l’Est branch Nord, still the Meuse, he laughed and said he would ring them for us and get someone to come out to fix it. It was 10.30am. Half an hour later Mike took a walk up to the lock to try the intercom and found a VNF man in a van on the lockside, doing a puzzle in a

Another ratty

book. All the electrics were off, he said he was waiting for the electrician - be about five minutes. OK. Mike came back to the boat just as a large Dutch cruiser arrived, going the same way as us. Mike told him the lock was out of action, but VNF were fixing it. Just then the lock emptied and we got a green light. Mike told the Dutchman to carry on into the lock and we’d follow, if there wasn’t enough room we’d back out and he could go first up the lock. Plenty of room and we had two VNF agents to chat with, the man in the van and a lady in a van that the first guy called Madame McGyver! She fixes everything he said, laughing. Told him Mike had gained that as a nickname too – MikeGyver – by our friend Gérard at Condé as he said Mike could fix (almost) anything. He asked if the boat had been built for Scottish canals, no – English – Scottish canals have bigger locks and explained about our little locks. We carried on chatting after the lock was full and the Dutchman had left. OK to just turn up at the tunnel, yes. Were the last four locks on call out,

Church spires at Euville

no all automatic now (there was a keeper in car who operated the last four when we were last here in 2006, as they were mechanised but not automatic back then). Turned out our man in a van was the bloke who was operating the lorry with a grab arm at Belleray last Wednesday. He asked how the weed was further on, we said not too bad, just a couple of pounds were weedy. Told him we’d not been on the Marne-au-Rhin since 1993. Turns out the electrics had gone off due to last night’s thunderstorms – yes, we remember VNF saying that before about automatics. Set off again at 11.40am. Three kilometres of canal, then through the flood lock on to the next river reach with an electrified railway track alongside on the right. Left the river after less than a kilometre and followed

Moored on the quay above the lock at Euville

the canal into Commercy. At lock 6 Commercy (3.0m) a German boat called Friese was just leaving the chamber going downstream. The man at the lock house was gardening, his fishing rod was leaning on the rails by the top end of the lock next to an old plastic garden chair. We went up the lock and continued on through the town of Commercy. They had added a new pontoon, there were three boats on it, a large DB, a cruiser and a new-build UK barge. The skipper of the last boat asked Mike if he thought a boat of his length could turn around at Void. Mike said yes at the canal junction. Strange question, he was moored with his bows pointing downriver, the opposite way to us and we were going to Void (on Monday, possibly, if it’s not raining). The big Dutch cruiser that we’d locked with earlier was moored on the quay by the builder’s yard. On past the river weir on

The quay above Euville lock

our left, on the last navigable reach of the Meuse, just two kilometres, then we were back on canal again. We could see the church with its twin spires in Euville for quite a way as it was in the middle of a long stretched out village. The Dutch cruiser overtook us while Mike was cooking his lunch. I said to him don’t wait for us, we’re only going slowly. He was long gone by the time we arrived at lock 5 Euville (3m). We went up and moored just above on a quay with bollards between two boats that looked like they’d been there for years. One looked like no one had been on it in years, it was filthy. Gave Mike a hand to unload the bike off the roof. As we were doing so a young man walking past with a fishing rod asked if we needed a hand, thanks for the offer but we have our own method. OK. He stood fishing from the quay for about ten minutes then wandered off again back the way he’d come. We had 3G, so we’ll be doing some more catching up on the blog later.

Friday 7th August 2015 Lacroix to Sampigny. 21kms 5 locks

TGV track - steeper than you'd think

15.5° C Very hot and sunny. Outside topped at 41.8° C hottest yet. Mike took a walk to the bakery for some bread for the freezer and came back with the nicest 400g loaves he’d had since getting back into France. The washing finished and we refilled the water tank then disconnected from the electricity. Set off at 10.25am. It took around five minutes to reach the first lock, 12 Lacroix (1.6m). Two cruisers (one Belgian one Dutch) were coming down in it, so we hovered a short while. A young student girl was on duty, her bicycle propped up against the old lock cabin. The lock house looked renovated with nice shiny roll-down shutters over all the doors and windows, but

One of the rocks called Dames des Meuse at St Mihiel

seemed empty. The girl told Mike working as a lock keeper was a Summer job for her for a month. There was a good towpath again now with a piled edge on the right. 3kms to the next lock. Under the TGV line and Mike took photos of the steep bank to the left that it climbed – you all thought railways were all dead flat or gentle grades so they looked flat. More meadows on the right and baked yellow fields on the left. As we approached lock 11 Rouvrois (2.0m) we could see another cruiser just leaving the chamber coming towards us. Another ex-Connoisseur hireboat by the looks of it, with a

Pontoon mooring at St Mihiel

strange Australian flag on the back, a green kangaroo and stars on a bright yellow background. The crew waved, but didn’t speak. Another student girl to work our last manned lock. She didn’t do ropes, she was busy shutting the gates and winding paddles down, so I lassoed a bollard myself. The lock was soon full and we were on the 7.5kms pound. There was lots of weed again on the kilometre long canal section. We passed a downhill cruiser (a very large German one) as we came on to the next river reach running into St Mihiel (pronounced San Mee’yell – our waterways guide book reckons it was a mispronunciation of St Michael, which the French pronounce as San Meek-ay’yell) The weir had been upgraded to an automatic hydraulically operated one.

A rare sight n France - trolley in the cut!

Wooded hills on the left of the river and meadows on the right. Mike tried taking photos of the seven columns of rock on the left before the town, called Les Dames de Meuse, but they were partly obscured by trees. There were allotments between the river and the road all along the foot of the cliffs. The pontoon moorings in the town were half empty with one small cruiser (looked left permanent) and a couple of large Dutch cruisers moored side-by-side. The moorings were surrounded by beautiful gardens full of shrubs and flowers. We carried on upriver to the first un-manned lock, back to zappers and lift-the-

Above lock 9 Les Koeurs

bar type DIY. The zapper post was at the beginning of a very short lock approach to lock 10 St Mihiel (2.9m). I couldn’t lift the rod it was stuck, so Mike had to come and deal with it – it was actually jammed up at the top, so he pulled it down and immediately the lock started working! Surprised it hadn’t gone “en panne”. Heavy handed crew of the last boat through no doubt, pointing no fingers at the large cruiser which had just passed us. The house alongside was occupied and Mike spotted that the siren which goes off when the bottom end gates are opening had been disconnected (I wonder why, it would drive you daft living alongside that) and the one on the top end gates was very quiet. Above the lock there was another very short pontoon at the end of a long

Moored in the shade at Sampigny

layby with bollards and a wide open space with a dirt track on it alongside the quay. 5.4kms to the next. There was a good towpath along the shady canal section. Before the bridge and floodgates leading to the next river reach there were five newish-looking signs, one after the other, they were 1, hoot; 2, beware!; 3, no meeting and passing; 4, no overtaking; 5 narrows. Somebody must have relatives that own the factory making signs! On to the next river reach. Another large cruiser went past, the crew waved and then we spotted a red ensign on the back, they were Brits. Past another automatic weir and the river was enclosed both sides with trees, no view and not even the slightest breeze – the temperature soared, it was like being in an oven. Two walkers passed us, waving, heading downriver. Two fishermen in a boat were tucked into a little side arm. Then we saw another walker, sprawled out flat on the towpath having a lunchtime siesta! There were water lily leaves all along the towpath edge until the trees thinned out and we were back into open countryside again. A big flock of lapwings took flight from the river bank as we passed them. Puzzled as to which way to take at the next junction, I got my bird scope out to look for signs and I’d just spotted the lock in the right hand channel when a friendly fishermen indicated for us. The sign board was there but was completely obscured by foliage. We went up lock 9 Les Koeurs (3.25m) which had no lock house just a smart wooden shed for a lock cabin. A short distance took us to lock 8 Han (2.7m) again no house just a wooden shed. The lock paddles at Han were not programmed to open in the right order and it blew the boat sideways off the wall next to the operating rods and then pulled hard forward causing Mike to have to reverse. Not a gentle lock for ascending ropeless. The temperature rose even more, well over 40°C and the white paint on the roof became very hot to the touch. The towpath on this section was all washed away as we went into a shallow cutting where there were steep grassy banks with a field of sunflowers above and a sandy shelf below it, the latter covered by just a few of inches of water. There were small fish swimming in these shallow bits and herons were taking advantage of that. We paused under a long bridge where a railway and the D964 road crossed the canal and I held the boat on a rope while Mike gave the rudder another small tweak with a pinch bar as the boat was still tending to want to turn ever so slightly to the right. We passed a run-off weir on our left, then there was a towpath again for a short while, then it was back to sandy shelves that were almost worn through in places – the sort of thing that causes canals to breach and empty out all their water between locks. The D964 was alongside the canal again on our right but hidden by trees. We stopped on the quay at the little town of Sampigny at 3.15pm. The boat was under trees, but we got satellite TV. No point in lifting the solar panels and Mike decided not to go back to collect the car. I’d had all the blinds closed all day to try and keep the cabin cooler, it had been 8° cooler inside than out earlier in the day. When we stopped we opened all the blinds and all the windows and doors to try and catch what breeze there was. It stayed at 32°C for ages. We’d got Internet, 3G so a bit more catching up. Then we had a wonderful thunderstorm and some rain but the temperature in the cabin by midnight had only dropped down to 27°C with the doors wide open and mossie nets in.

Thursday 6th August 2015 Haudainville to Lacroix. 21.3 kms 5 locks

Village of Ambly-sur-Meuse

13.9° C Very hot and sunny with a light breeze. Max outside 41.3° C. Set off at 9.15am, waving and shouting au’voir to the kids and their mothers at the camp by the bridge. We’ll never know where they were from, probably Rom, but they spoke very good French. A Belgian cruiser was moored under the trees just before lock 17 Haudainville (3.5m). A girl student and an older man were working the lock. He started shouting (not very politely) to back off as we approached the lock – they were flushing big clumps of weed through the lock and made sure it had all gone out of the chamber before he called us in. The little lorry with the grab arm was parked on the lockside. They closed both gates before taking our ropes for us which meant that the “feed”

Below Ambly lock

paddle that was left up shoved our bows over on to the opposite wall. We got the ropes on the bollards, eventually. He refused to put Mike’s stern rope on the rear most bollard, he said the water will push the boat back, so Mike flicked the rest of the rope over the bollard he’d asked for. Yes the boat does go back to start off with, that’s why we have a rope at the front to stop it, but then it starts to pull forward. No use telling him. As we left the man’s phone rang and someone must have asked him where he was

Old tow rope pulley on Ambly lockside

because he answered with “I was helping the girl get the weed out of the lock” Hmm. Not the lock keeper – showing off in front of the fi-fi? We left him to it. Above the lock were more huge rolls of weed ready to get sucked into the lock next time it’s refilled. 4.3kms to the next lock and loads more weed. The water was very clear and we could see lots of fish again. The D964 was right alongside the canal on the left. Under the A4 Paris motorway and a sign on the 964 said Lorraine National Park. A man and a woman were there at Dieue Aval 16 (3.0m). The guy took our ropes first then worked the

Moored on the pontoon in Lacroix

lock, the lady closed a gate and went back in the house. He left the top gates open and put feed paddles up on the bottom end gates. Very little weed in the next canal section 1.7kms to Dieue Amont 15 (2.5m) Our first lone student girl worked the lock for us (they are employed as stand-ins for holidaying lock keepers). She did it all by the book. In the little town of Dieue there was an Intermarché supermarket and on either side of the canal above the lock there were two boats moored, which looked permanent, and nine campervans under the trees along the quay. One small German cruiser, with two middle aged men on board, was waiting to go down the lock. 6.4kms to the next lock. Factories lined the bank on the left for a while. A man was sprawled out on the ground

And then there were three - and a fisherman

under the next bridge (drunk, maybe), he sat up and shouted bonjour as we went past. Immediately beyond the bridge was a very fragrant sewage works. Spotted too late for a photo, there was a great cloud of spray as a tractor was going through a tractor-sized carwash. Never seen one of those before. A bank vole went swimming across the canal, identified immediately by its auburn coloured fur. We passed a family fishing in the middle of nowhere (and since Verdun the towpath had been practically non-existent, washed away by the fast passing traffic, no fancy tarmac cycle pistes here) then we spotted their van behind them at the end of a farm track. This length of canal was nice and shady, wild and jungly, with occasional views to the right across the river valley. The lock keeper at Ambly 14 (2.7m) had a young man as an apprentice and he had taught him very well, ropes gates and then paddles in the right order and the lock was full in no time. The lock house was lovely, lots of flowers and a sign advertising honey for sale at 5€ a jar. 2.8kms to the next. The first field of sunflowers that we’d seen this year appeared on the right, the flower heads were all bent low in the heat. A Belgian-flagged former Connoisseur hireboat came towards us. He wanted the middle, I was steering – he didn’t get it. I detest it when someone aims their bows at ours expecting us to move over, I’ll give anyone half the middle – but not all of it (unless they need it - like a péniche, but we’ve seen none of them since Pont-à-Bar) Mike said the skipper didn’t look very happy. Am I bovvered? Shouldn’t be so pushy. We’d passed with several feet to spare. Yellow fields with rolls of straw and meadows baking in the sun, grass all turning to yellow. At the next and last lock of the day, Troyon 13 (2.5m) there was another young student girl to work the lock. All on her own with no help. The house was occupied and there were sun loungers outside but no one about. The girl’s car was by the old lock cabin and she had a seat outside for sunbathing or maybe studying. She spoke reasonable English to Mike when he opened a gate for her. The canal above was weedy again and the water clear so we could see fish darting. 5.4kms to the next but we were stopping before the next lock. The towpath had been built up at one time with gabions, rocks in wire cages, and one or two of them were left standing isolated on shallow shelving sandy beaches. An old man was fishing, he waved and said our boat was very quiet. Wondered how he had got there until we saw the quadbike parked behind him. Just one large French cruiser (called Daisy) was moored at the end of the long pontoon at Lacroix. We moored in front of him leaving the rest of the pontoon for other boats. (A downhill boat arrived later and moored at the far end later). Gave Mike a hand with the bike, tricky on a pontoon that is narrower than the length of our plank. Had an audience, the French couple off the boat behind us, who were sitting in seats under the trees. Mike went to collect the car from Vacherauville then we went to St Mihiel where there is a Carrefour Market and I got some bread and he bought some petrol and diesel in cans. Back on the boat, I finished off the log and did the photos, no Internet so no blogging.

Wednesday 5th August 2015 Vacherauville to Haudainville. 15kms 3 locks

Verdun railway bridge

7.9° C Sunny and hot again with lots of white clouds and a strong breeze. Mike moved the car and we set off just after nine. The first Dutchman of the day went past as we were about halfway to the first lock, which was only ten minutes away. Lock 20 Bras (3.0m) was worked for us by a very pleasant VNF man in a van. We’d decided to use fore and aft ropes on these deep locks, mainly because the keepers don’t open the paddles in any set order and usually manage to blow the boat off the wall when

The old commercial port in Verdun

we use one rope from the middle, which doesn’t happen with two ropes. 8.1kms to the next lock which is by the ramparts in Verdun. The first length of canal was very narrow due to overgrown trees and there was an appalling smell (like a maggot factory) downwind of the tall silos. Can’t be the silos, but there was some factory building alongside it that we could see as we emerged from the trees out into open country. More baked

Old gateway in Verdun

yellow fields full of rolls of straw. The heat was building up again. Another Dutch cruiser went past heading home. Into the town. There were two Australian flagged ex-Connoiseur hireboats moored in the old port. One untied and did a few circuits under the bridges and went back. The washing machine finished just in time for us to land on the end of the pontoon and refill the water tank. The pontoon was practically full and the far side wall too, but that was full of restaurant boats, a tripper and houseboats (converted DBs).

Moorings in Verdun

Through the historic town and attached to the pontoon below lock 19 Verdun (3.0m). Mike walked up to the lock cabin but the keeper was out before he reached the door. He apologised and said he hadn’t seen us and our boat was very quiet. He emptied the lock and let us in through one gate. To my surprise he had a pole long enough to reach my rope, so now swapping between hooks. I noticed some very pretty pink flowers on the lock side and I asked Mike to take a photo, which he did. Then the keeper

Below Verdun lock and weir

came to tell me they were plastic. I had already guessed that they were, as they looked like wisteria and it has purple flowers. I said my flowers in the rooftop boxes were shrivelling now due to the heat. He said they needed a little parasol. Again we had a lock keeper who was very keen on narrowboats, he said there were two that came through his lock every year but he hadn’t seen them for quite a while. We left through one gate with a beaming lock keeper watching. Into the little tunnel under the

Plastic wisteria. Verdun lock

town’s ancient ramparts and within a few minutes we were back in open countryside again. More yellow fields and rolls of straw, lots of fishermen (all good-natured and smiling as we passed) 3kms to the next lock. We could see there was a big Dutch cruiser in lock 18 Belleray (3.5m) waiting to come down. Mike looked through binoculars and could see the top end gates were open, paddles up at the bottom end and there was a lorry with a grab arm lifting weed out of the lock. We waited, they kept lifting weed out. We backed up and tied fore and aft lines to the ends of branches and waited. I made some lunch. We ate it. They were still shifting weed. Another cruiser arrived and went in the lock behind the Dutchman. Around 2pm, after two hours waiting, the two cruisers came out of the lock (the second one was a smaller Belgian cruiser) and we went up. Two VNF men were working the lock while a third was using the grab arm to pick up the last of a big pile of weed off the lock side. His lorry was full of the stuff. We left the lock at 2.30pm. As we left we spotted the two Australian boats below the lock waiting to come up. Above the lock the canal was full of the weed in great clumps.

Tunnel under the ramparts in Verdun

For the next kilometre Mike had to do a reverse every few minutes to fling the stuff off the prop. The water was very clear and we could see loads of fish, including some big ones. We stopped by the farm bridge in Haudainville at 3pm. An old man walking his dog looked on, intrigued, as we tied up. On the far side right next to the bridge there was an old van and several large tents where a bunch of kids were playing. Within minutes they were in little plastic inflatables and

Hummingbird hawk moth on my flowers

paddling around in the canal. Although they were loud they were polite. The two Australian ex-hireboats went past. Set up the dish and panels and retreated out of the blazing sunshine. Over 38°C again. Whoopee we got workable Internet. Get the blog up to date while we can!

Moored at Haudainville opposite campers

Moored at Haudainville