After a lovely visit in Châlons-en-Champagne, what could go wrong?
A double-red. The first time we’ve had that. A double-red means the lock is not operating. It could be due to the whole canal being closed or to a mechanical problem at that lock. Either way, it came as a big – and unwelcome – surprise. We phoned the VNF to ask what’s up. As usual, within minutes, a worker arrived to sort out the problem. And almost as quickly, the double-red disappeared.
We were nearing one of favourite mooring spots. But first we had to get through the narrow opening as we passed through a turntable bridge. Out of sight on the right, cars waiting to use the bridge. I imagine the drivers are not fans of bargees.
We tied up close to Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. Seconds after turning off the engine, we had visitors.
David and Evey – onboard their barge L’Escapade – happened to pass by on their way to Amsterdam. They are old friends. David and I were exchanging e-mails before we even met – as I was trying to find out if the barging lifestyle would suit Jeannie and me. After purchasing Aleau, we cruised together on the Burgundy Canal. (See Chapters 121-126.)
Evey’s green thumb has made L’Escapade famous amongst bargees as having the most beautiful flower arrangements.
Their visit was very short. Within minutes, they were off. Evey was booked on a flight out of Amsterdam – a long way by barge. Evey steered as David waved good-bye. We know we will meet up again.
Our mooring, with vineyards in the background, may look familiar. In the summer of 2023, we traveled up the Marne. Our plan (ie. aspiration) was to make it to Châlons-en-Champagne. But moored in the exact same spot as we are now, our engine-start batteries died. The experience – and the kindness shown to us – are described in Chapter 203.
It was time to return the French hospitality. We invited Sylvain and Catherine (who let us use their address two years earlier – and who delivered the much-needed engine-start batteries to Aleau) for dinner onboard Aleau. As they own a vineyard in the heart of Champagne country, they arrived with a bottle of Champagne – made with grapes from their vineyard. It was delicious. We’ll keep this brand in mind.
We had a lovely evening that stretched well into the night.
Mareuil-en-Aÿ is a lovely town. As it is in the heart of the Champagne region, it is not hard to find Champagne. Even the local – and tiny – convenience store is well stocked with bottles on the shelves…
And in the fridge – although by the time we got there, it was just about empty.
The streets are very pretty. At the end of just about every block, a Champagne house.
Not just at the end of streets but in the middle of the block, too.
For more than 100 kilometres along the Marne, town after town boasts their own Champagne houses. Fifteen of them in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ alone.
From Aleau, we can look across the Marne where, very soon, those grapes will be picked and brought to one of those houses.
As we continued south on the Marne, we passed vineyard after vineyard.
Tucked in amongst the vineyards, the occasional town.
More vineyards.
And another town.
The vineyards went on non-stop.
Every once in a while, another town. This is Dormans – where we’ll be stopping for the night.
It was a short walk across the bridge to Dormans – and dinner. It began with, what else…
The next morning, under a grey sky, we were again passing through locks. At least on the Marne, they are wide – and water flows parallel to the canal.
That’s in contrast to the Canal Latéral à la Marne where water flows immediately in front of the lock and across the gate. I’m still so annoyed that I had to get Aleau into those narrow locks while fighting a current from the side that I’m showing what it was like again. It was very pretty but…
As we continued on, another heron was waiting to guide us.
And guide us he did.
Our next stop – Château-Thierry.
Our friend Pete of La Belle Hélène drove down from the Netherlands to join us for a drink and spend the night before his long drive back. We spent a winter together at Arsenal in Paris and later at the shipyard in Maasbracht. It’s a joy to keep meeting up with the friends we have made while barging.
Even south of Château-Thierry, vineyards dominate the landscape.
And once again, grain elevators – although not at all like the ones in my old home in Saskatchewan.
It is so nice to see the water next to the lock flowing with us and not against us.
And to see direction signs that can be read before being almost on top of them.
These are the ones that I think are dangerous. They’re impossible to make out until the last minute.
The signs are called CEVNI signs. They are a creation of the United Nations with all European countries (Western and Eastern Europe) agreeing on their design. If you’d like to know more, I devoted a whole chapter to them a while back. See Chapter 94a.
We use more than CEVNI signs for guidance. We have a laptop loaded with a program called PC Navigo. It sits beside us whenever Jeannie or I are at the helm.
Each day, I enter our departure point and our destination. The computer plots the route and lets me know at what time we will be passing each landmark – towns, bridges, locks, etc. It is coupled with our AIS system. (See Chapter 94c.) Together, they show the route (including PK numbers – which are milage markers – in kilometres – along the canal or river) and any traffic I should watch out for. In the screen shot below, we are moving towards PK 14.8. The red line shows our projected route and the yellow line shows the path we have taken. Up ahead, just over half-a-kilometre away, is a vessel coming at us 13.1 km/h. By its speed, I know it’s a large commercial. Even on a river where we don’t have to obey the 6 km/h speed limit that is mandatory on canals, we can’t go much faster than 7 or 8 km/h. “Fatal” is coming at us – fast. I know to be prepared and give him room. Why would anyone name their ship “Fatal?” Because that’s what a crash with him would be?
We found a mooring in Meaux.
But that’s all we found. Certainly nowhere to eat. It’s still August and just about every restaurant is closed.
I hadn’t heard this word before. “Fermeture” I certainly know. “Closed” We’ve been seeing it every day.
“Estival” I had to look up. “Summer”
At least we could enjoy walking through Meaux.
We ended up having dinner on Aleau and cast off early the next morning.