This is our fourth summer on the waterways of France. By and large, traffic has not been something we’ve had to worry about. Yes, twice we had to pull over to make room for a hotel barge coming the other way on the Canal de Bourgogne. But the ‘éclusiers’ at the lock warned us well in advance and suggested a wide stretch of the canal where we could pull over while the hotel barge passed. And when we turned onto the Seine at Moret-sur-Loing, we saw a few commercials. But the river was wide and it was never a problem. Life will now be different.
As we approached a lock on a Dérivation, a voice over the VHF radio warned us that a commercial was coming our way. We could see him on our AIS – and perhaps more important, he could see us on his AIS.
We came to a complete stop and hugged the bank. I have always been impressed with how professional and considerate the captains of these massive barges are. Before he reached us, he slowed to a crawl so his wake wouldn’t rock Aleau.
At the stern, his flagpole was lowered so he could fit under the low bridges. The cabin where he and his family lived had lace curtains. And on the aft-deck, his car.
We watched as he continued his journey.
Knowing we were getting into high-traffic areas, we kept our eyes glued to the laptop with its combination AIS and PC Navigo. Aleau is the red icon in the centre of the screen. We’re not really sideways. AIS has trouble figuring out which way we’re pointed when we’re stopped.
There are two vessels in front of us and one behind us. All say SOG 0. Good news. Girona is likely moored as is Infinity. Cosmao is in the lock wth us. It will leave ahead of us and with a much higher top speed, she will leave us in her wake. So far, so good.
That’s Cosmao ahead of us in the lock. While she’s way bigger than Aleau, the two of us can easily fit in this massive lock.
As we follow Cosmao out of the lock, we see barges everywhere. Two big ones are coming at us. The one on the right is waiting to come into the lock. The one the left will pass close to us as it enters the lock – and the one behind it will be doing the same thing.
When I said “close to us,” I meant “really close to us.”
Oh, no. Here comes the other one. Looking at the wash at her bow, she’s moving quickly.
You may ask why this flotilla of barges didn’t show up on the screenshot from our laptop. Simple. We were zoomed in and had just entered the lock. Traveling at more than 20 km/h, they were still quite a distance from the lock. They would have been there on the screen as the lock doors opened.
After the stress that came with all that traffic, it was nice to tie up in Moret-sur-Loing – our second time there. Space was at a premium. In fact, there were no spots left. Our good friends on Maria let us raft against them.
It was the end of the season. Some restaurants in Moret-sur-Loing were already closed. This one put up a sign saying tourists in a hurry could go to a nearby McDonald’s. Not quite the same thing.
Back on the Seine, the first lock we came to was something we hadn’t seen before – an upside-down guillotine. The gate raised from the bottom of the lock.
Once again, we were not alone.
As we cruised towards Paris, we saw many homes built to overlook the Seine. Here, one overlooks the other.
And we saw hundreds of old commercials converted into residences.
As we approached Melun, we saw a residence you wouldn’t want to call your own. It’s a prison.
This was weird. At this lock, there was an overhead mirror. We could look up and see ourselves in the reflection. I thought mirrored ceilings were only for bedrooms.
I think they saw the Canadian flag flying at our stern and swam over to greet us.
There is so much traffic on the Seine, most of the locks approaching Paris are twinned – side by side or on opposite sides of the river. Here, we watched work underway that when finished will speed things up.
From Moret-sur-Loing to Paris takes two full days. We tied up for the night at a mooring spot near the entrance to one lock – and were quickly joined by a commercial.
Delvaux is more than four times as long as Aleau. But still a lightweight compared to some of the other barges we’d be sharing the Seine with.
Delvaux didn’t stay there long. The captain’s wife had delivered their Range Rover. Within minutes, it would be onboard.
It left just in time. Moments later, this barge, actually a pusher with six “dumb barges” (no motor) lined up to enter the lock. At 86-metres, Delvaux looked large to us. The one entering the lock is 200-metres long!
We pulled way over when we saw one of these monsters coming up behind us.
And pulled back out after it passed.
