With mostly no bike lanes and many busy roads, what an interesting bike ride it was to Chantilly. Encircled by water on one side, and high wall on the other, the Chantilly Chateau landscape was most picturesque (quite expensive to enter, Bob and I made the decision to enjoy from the outside, as Versaille near Paris […]
Prior to departure, Bob wanted to check out his theory of the engine issues being caused by the muffler and therein found the problem: something he had never thought would occur. The water and exhaust box lives at the bottom of a sump in the lazarette, and it was down there that Bob had crawl. Fortunately, […]
Situated on a hillside overlooking the Somme Valley, the township of Peronne was once well fortified. Throughout history, Peronne found itself at the centre of devastating squirmishes, and sadly, all that remains today is the Porte de Bretagne. Walking through the town, the visitor will find sign and pictures telling stories from history past. This […]
First thing this morning, Bob went through all of the engine system checking for blockages and found nought. This left only one other scenario causing the engine to cut out: the muffler. Believing new parts would be required to solve the problem, we continued on our way, taking care to keep the revs below 2000. […]
With the issues we had experienced to date and a reasonably tight schedule to make it down to Paris that could go pear shaped should further issues occur, intending further trips down this way, the decision was made to only have a quick look around Douai. It’s a city with in excess of two millenia […]
Recent rains had commenced the process of flushing away the green algae and the gates at the lock were overflowing. It was a pleasant 30km or so motor along a waterway lined with a mix of forestation, farms, animals, and an occasional industrial site. Constructed in 1885, the boat lift was the work of British […]
Morning upon us, it was time. Time, that is, to deal with clearing the prop! By using a knife attached to one of our metal poles, Bob was most relieved when he managed to avoid a dive overboard into the murky brown waters. After some serious carving, he eventually pulled up a long piece of […]
A distance of thirty kilometres travelled on this morning found us in Metz, a town with 3,500 years of history. Each invasion that took place saw alterations of one kind or another, and sadly much of the visual history had vanished into the annals of time. Metz, the Township Commencing life as a small Celtic […]
A late 11:30am start and an easy run: except for the water hose of the engine popping off a few times. The third saw black smoke steaming from you know whose ears. It turned out to be the result of shards from the old impeller blocking the exit, which in turn created pressure build up that […]
As towns went, Nancy was par for the course. Its main name to fame being its centrality and a place to hire a car for our upcoming trip into southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland. A short trip today took us to La Rochere and the oldest glass producing factory in the world: La Rochere Glass […]
Chill, chill, bone – aching, numbing ice biting chill. White upon the breath, chill deep into the lungs, nowhere warmth! Where had the summer heat gone this year? Add to the mix, rain, rain and more rain! Wet to the bone, we at last arrived at the junction where we would enter Embranchment du Nancy. […]
Entering the locks continually caused issues as the fenders rose upon connecting with, then proceeding to run along the walls. This in turn meant the hull was no longer protected and Gratis new paintwork was damaged. Today we experimented with the fenders by lowering them until they sat horizontally upon the water rather than vertically […]
An early start – as starts went, that was when locks didn’t open until 9am – on a grey drizzly day, yet not that cool: a change pleasant change to the heat of the sun beating down. The numbering system recommencing at ‘one’, the downward journey upon the Golbey Stair case – 15 locks one […]
Waiting for the lock keepers to arrive at work, I had time for a play with my macro lens in this idyllic setting. So spectacularly different to the so popular Midi which is known for its towns, castles and Cassoulet. This trip through the Vosges Mountains was truly one for the nature lover: the […]
Countryside was much like that of previous days and Corre being a plain overnight stopover, there were no photos this day. This was an easy morning with just three locks to contend with and an afternoon for relaxing in Corre. Despite being described as 1.80+ metres in depth, there were spots where the river was […]
The Canal crosses the Vosges Mountain range which peaks at 1424m and stretches almost two hundred kilometres: from the German border in the north, to the French town of Belfort in the south. Soft rounded peaks kissing the sky, more than fifty percent of its landscape is covered by numerous species of tree. Meadowland, icy […]
Awaking to frost on the windows and wading birds just outside, a much more relaxed day, with the decision to reside at Port – sur – Saone for the night. More exquisite sights, riverbank reconstruction underway. Another lock or two. A narrow channel led us into Tunnel de St Albin. Once passed through and […]
Last evening, we discovered a discrepancy in the operational hours of the locks on the Petite Saone. It turned out that the book was incorrect, with the hours instead being from 09:00 to 19:00 – two hours less than those on the Midi/Garonne (08:00 – 20:00) and five hours shorter than the Rhone/Saône á grand […]
Except for passing through three locks, it was a 90km non – stop day. The time was spent enjoying the passing countryside. The river becomes ever slower. Today the water was like a millpond, with the flow only showing slightly on the bends. Gratis motored along at 1800 – 1900rpm doing between 8 and 11km […]
What an interesting town this was: not large and so much history! The decision was made to visit two places that appeared most worthwhile: Musee Nicephore Niepce and Musee Denon. Named for the man who is considered the father of photography, the first housed displays on the history of photography. Born in 1765, it was […]
