Indland.....400 metres up.....How it works....
The Ardennes: we are now up in the Ardennes, famous for hunting, pates, smoked sausages, handcrafted knives and cast iron work such as the beautiful old draw bridges shown below, built by the masters who created the Eiffel Tower and Paris metro gates.
Until now locks have been automatic, worked by a remote control (like TV) which we were given or by pulling a line as you pass it hanging out over the
canal as you approach the lock. Here the locks are very frequent (every 2 km) and older. A lockkeeper follows us along by car for 6-8 locks (often just for us - such service!)- all very friendly and cheerful . Almost no barge or pleasure traffic now late in the season so we have the waterways to ourselves. Each lock is made to just fit around a barge but even for us, it´s nail-bitingly tight on
entering. Then we hang on while it fills and we rise approx. 3.5 metres. A simple routine now. Still weird to be on Havana in the middle of mountainous country inland!
We can just squeak into the canal overnight stops (not all) due to our depth (our sign warns any
oncoming barges that we are not too manouverable) but we pass with 1 m. to spare. They are careful and slow and give us a waive..
Early morning on the Canal de la Marne a Saone near Joinville.
These are some of our favourite scenes.
It is so green and lovely here. Often we travel all day with only 1 or 2 boats that pass us. We stay at small quais in country towns, beside the locks or at picnic stops right in the country with no-one in sight.
The weather is slowly starting to change, sometimes mist in the morning, sometimes flaming sunsets or weird skies. The leaves have a tinge of
golden and autumn is later here but coming.
An evening with strange skies
Following 2 days at the lovely little town of Joinville, we are very slowly making our way towards St.Jean de Losnes (40 km SE of Dijon). Here Havana will winter in an enclosed harbour while we come home. There are still villages to enjoy (notably Chaumont and Langres-medieval walled town) but we are saving the southbound Saone and Rhone Rivers (Macon, Lyon, Avignon and Provence area) from St.Jean to Port St. Louis till May 2007.
And if you hate us by now, just remember that while it can look like this (see left), it can also look like this (see right)! 48 hrs. of torrential rain- the heater has packed up and everything is wet. The canals are full to the brim.
Could it flood? We never thought of that….but yes, Jan has a plan…
