News for April 2007
We did say last month that we planned to move on the 9th April but there was nothing planned in stone! We actually moved on the 15th April which was very apt as it was 2 years to the day that the boat was craned into the water at Calais. What a lot we have seen and done since then and the time has simply flown by. As in the UK, the weather has been incredibly sunny with record temperatures for the month.
At the beginning of the month there was maintenance work to be done on the engine and inspections to do in readiness for our departure. Over the month Paul has been working on the odd rust spots on the boat and touching up paint work. Our Belgian boating neighbours returned to Epinal for a couple of weeks and they were equally busy doing work on their boat ready for their departure beginning of May. We may well met up at some point as we are taking the same route.
We had some more visitors earlier in the month, friends Margaret and Alan Hopkins came for dinner en route to Italy. It was a good opportunity to catch up with each others news. We also spent a lovely afternoon with the author friend that we met whist in Epinal. Jeanne thought that she was doing something extraordinary having lunch on a small barge. She really is excellent company and we will definitely keep in touch.
Easter in Epinal was very busy. The market was a hive of activity on the Saturday morning with a parade of people dressed up in a variety of costumes working their way through stalls calling out using megaphones. Outside there were jugglers, people on unicycles and lots of spectators. It was all in aid to promote the "open doors" weekend over the Easter period of the museum 'Cite de l' Image'. The promotion certainly worked as there were crowds attending the museum over the three days. As we went in to the museum we were given picture riddles (devinettes, a new word for us) and we are still trying to work out some of them!
On the 14th April it was time to say our farewells to folks that we had got to know in the market over the winter period. We were given presents of cheese and smoked sausages and whilst at the cafe a gentleman who had drunk a 'few jars' bought us champagne. It seemed a bit strange to be sipping champagne at 11.30 in the morning. We had lunch in the restaurant at the port, La Capitainerie, and to say goodbye to people there. During the afternoon we contacted VNF to organise our departure the following day.
We set off at the appointed time retracing our steps with the intention of going through to Charmes. However, when we arrived at the first lock we chatted with the VNF personnel who explained that as it was not the height of the season and it was Sunday they did not have many people on duty. We readily agreed to spend our first overnight stay at Thaon and then meet up with a lock keeper the next day to go through to Charmes. On our way to Thaon we were using the telecommande that had been sitting in a cupboard all winter. It was with some trepidation that we started to use it wondering if it would work, happily it did. There was a problem with one lock en route. We entered the lock, lifted the blue bar and correctly the lock emptied. Unfortunately the gates did not open. There was a sufficiently significant leak of water coming into the lock to prevent the gates opening. We were some distance away from the ladder so to leave the boat to use the intercom system by the lock was not going to be easy. Fortunately there were a couple of gentlemen who were leaning on the bridge watching us. Seeking their help, they used the intercom on our behalf. Whilst we were waiting for help, which arrived very quickly, two other people arrived so we had a bit of a send off as the gates opened and we continued on our way. That afternoon at Thaon there was a petanque contest, the popular bowling game in France. We spent quite a bit of time watching the competition and chatting with passers by.
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School party at Richardmenil lock.
The next morning we left Thaon in the hope of avoiding involvement with three gravel barges that move back and forth through a few locks. The previous day we had seen one of the barges facing in the opposite direction to us so we knew that we would not meet that one. We had seen one pass us whilst we were preparing to unrope and to move on so there was a third barge somewhere! We waited for the gravel barge in front of us to enter the lock and to begin to descend before we used our telecommande to set the lock up for us. Another lesson learned. You have to wait until the whole process of locking is completed before using the telecommande. We had to reverse to the appropriate point to use the telecommande. We were fortunate because just as we used it the other gravel barge appeared around the corner, we did not want to meet him whilst we were moving backwards. After two locks we met up with a lock keeper who was a steady worker, a man of few words, who took us through nine locks to Charmes.
The mooring at Charmes is pleasant and very close to the town. It is an area that is shared with camping cars and there is a lot of coming and going. It was nice to see Charmes again, a town that has greatly suffered over the years with plague, famine and the wars. The town was badly damaged during the last war but in five years the people of Charmes had rebuilt it. We spent a few days at Charmes and made good use of a DIY shop to buy grit which was needed to touch up certain parts of the paintwork on the roof. Paul also patiently worked , gently tapping with a hammer to reshape steel hinges to put the shutter that we almost lost last year back into place. We now look complete again.
When we started boating again it was with a Norwegian family on a boat called 'Karisandria'. We later learned that their names were Erik, Laila, Elise, 14 years of age and Eivind, 10 years of age. The children had spent six months in a Norwegian school in Spain and had school work to do whilst on the boat. During locking we chatted and learned that they had been told that they could get through to Nancy in one day. We were aiming for Richardmenil which we knew was going to take six hours and from our recollection to boat to Nancy was a further six hours. Translating for Erik, Diane spoke to the lock keeper who confirmed that the family would be better staying overnight at Richardmenil. That evening we invited them to have an aperitif with us. We spent a couple of hours together and enjoyed getting to know the family. We did need to put cardigans on around 8.00pm but up until that time it had been very warm. During conversation Paul mentioned that towards the end of the boating season last year we had been having difficulties with the bow thruster and would need to arrange to have the boat out of the water to see what the problem was. Erik offered to go into the water to take a look. Sure enough the next morning there was a tap on the boat from Laila, "There is a man in the water!". It was Erik complete in wet suit and goggles. Pleased to say that we know have a bow thruster that works.
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With Elise, Eivino, Laila and Erik.
Leaving Richardmenil we were starting to boat in an area unknown. At our first lock we were met by a lock keeper who took us through under the watchful eyes of a group of school children who had been brought to look at the lock. What luck that they actually saw a boat go through as there is not that much on the move at the moment. The children were full of questions about living on a boat and what it felt like going down in locks. We had a cheery au revoir and some goodbyes from them. Our journey continued passing through two fairly deep locks, over 7 metres. Both locks were very gentle with each one taking 10 minutes to empty. We were beginning to see evidence of commercial barges again but only saw one on the move. Soon we were negotiating four locks to arrive at Toul. We were climbing in these locks, harder work than going down. The style of the locks changed which created some problems in roping up and the filling of the locks were a bit more vicious than the deep locks. We were not aware of the change of style and so had not organised ourselves in the way that we normally would to overcome the difficulties experienced with a narrowboat being low down in the locks. Nevertheless we arrived safely at the port which is very pleasantly situated near the citadel and there is a view in the distance of a spectacular cathedral which was built over a period of 300 years. The town has a good selection of shops and in keeping with so many other French towns has some lovely fountains. The town is within easy walking distance of the port, another advantage. It has been a comfortable mooring. We will soon be moving on again and we do have a period of climbing so we will be organising ourselves accordingly. We do not know what is ahead of us, it is a route that we have not boated before so no doubt there will be more adventures ahead.
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Toul skyline.