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The first of May was a public holiday in France and 'Lily of the Valley' day. Apart from the bakers, shops were closed but there were plenty of people selling sprigs of lily of the valley in the market square and other parts of the town. Diane could not resist buying a few sprigs for the boat. The next day, shops open, we topped up with food and filled the water tank ready for our ongoing travels. Our intention was to begin our journey on a Saturday in the hope that we could travel through a long tunnel on the Sunday when there would perhaps be less traffic. This did not quite work to plan as we found that the towing boat to take vessels through the tunnel did not function on a Sunday! After discussion with lock keepers we decided to keep moving on the Saturday through 17 climbing locks and to go through the tunnel with one commercial barge at 17.00hrs that day. The Monday morning was going to be busier.

We arrived at the 'parking area' for the tunnel in good time and chatted with the couple on the commercial barge heading for Paris. We had much clearer instructions about the organisation of being towed through than we had received during our first year of boating, including the requirement of two 30 metre ropes to attach to the boat in front. This meant that we had to join several ropes together. Having done this the bargee linked us up to his boat and we were organised. At least, we thought that we were. As the towing tug arrived and sounded his horn an empty commercial barge came into sight. He was going fast and clearly determined to go through the tunnel. Hastily we unroped and reversed with our ropes becoming a bit of a jumble, not our usual boating habits. Things were beginning to move whilst we were still trying to rope up on the newly arrived commercial barge. At first we were 'hugging' one side of the tunnel but eventually Paul kept the engine jugging very gently (not strictly permitted) and at least we had a bit more control. On our instruction sheet it indicated that if there was a problem one should give a blast of the horn. Part way through the tunnel we heard a horn and everything stopped. We have no idea what had happened but it was with great relief that a few minutes later we started to move again. After 1 hour and 50 minutes we were safely through the 5670 metre tunnel and had to keep going through a second, much shorter tunnel, under our own steam, before mooring up at Lesdins. It had been a long day of boating, nine and a half hours.

Our next boating session was much easier. The weather continued to be good and so there were plenty of cyclists, joggers, and walkers on the tow path giving us a 'thumbs up' sign in appreciation of the narrow boat. We arrived at Seraucourt on the Canal St. Quentin in time for lunch and made use of a picnic table in the port. Later in the day we were joined by a delightful French couple who lived locally. We chatted about a variety of subjects including their experiences time past of camping in the wild. At 80 years of age, the gentleman and his wife were no longer camping but looking forward to a four day 'cure' in the Alsace; a 'cure' of good white wine!

At this stage we were going down locks and had an uneventful, pleasant journey to Chauny. We have been there before and never seen a soul at the Boating Association. On this occasion it was different and there were crowds of people, possibly because a boat had just been craned into the water. We had hoped to buy diesel there but this proved to be difficult, in part because of how we were obliged to moor. We knew that at Pinon, our next stop over point, we could fill the tank although it would mean 'trolley and jerry can on the back of the bike' and a few cycle trips. This is precisely what Paul did and we could continue boating reassured that we had plenty of diesel. Whilst at Pinon we met an English bargee, one of three in France. He was carrying rice from the Carmague to Valencienes and a little behind schedule because the River Marne had been in flood and he had spent a few days not moving. As we were heading for the Marne we listened with interest but still continued with our plans. At this point we were on familiar waters, sometimes turning rods to activate locks, sometimes reliant on sensors identifying a moving boat to activate locks. We were grateful of a kind lock keeper at Reims following us through three climbing locks because the security fencing around the perimeter of locks prevented us from taking a rope from the boat on the lock side. The depth of locks prohibited roping up from the boat. After a couple of days stay at Sillery we were on the move again still climbing locks and heading towards new water for us, the river Marne. There was one hiccup en route as water was shallow at the sides of the canal and as a consequence Diane could not get off the boat to deal with ropes and the 'blue bar' to activate the lock. We enlisted the help of a young fisherman near by and he became part of our crew. Fish were not biting so it probably made his day!

After that we were soon on the Canal Lateral a la Marne and then on to the River Marne. We travelled through Cumieries and delighted in the artistic iron sculptures on the river side representing the Champagne area. We arrived at the first lock on the Marne and were asked to hold back from entering. It soon became clear, a trip boat arrived, 'Champagne Vallee' full of passengers. We followed him into the lock and had to rope up to the trip boat much to the interest and amusement of the passengers. The lock keeper issued us with a 'zapper' to control the locks and a detailed instruction sheet. The passengers on the boat and Diane had a little chat whilst in the lock and then there were waves of farewell as Idling By left the lock.

The first few locks on the Marne had sloping walls but well organised with floating pontoons in the locks. This was easy to manage and we arrived at Chateau Thierry with a good pontoon mooring by mid afternoon. There was a token fee for electricity and all possible facilities in the town a few minutes walk away. On our way to La Ferte sous Jouarre we were surprised on turning a corner on the river to see a large commercial barge tied to the pillars of a bridge. It was being used to do some extensive work to the bridge itself. After a couple of nights we moved to a larger town, Meaux, pronounce 'Mo'! On our arrival at the port we struggled a bit with the current on the river and went into the side of the pontoon a bit hard but no damage done. A gentleman appeared from a boat on the other side of the pontoon and Diane briefly greeted him, 'bonjour', but concentrating more on securing ropes and the security of the boat. Once organised the gentleman spoke again, "ye dunt 'ave to bonjour 'round 'ere". A Yorkshireman, he had lived on a boat since 1972 and had plenty of tales to tell.

Saturday morning at Meaux is market day and what a huge market! The fruit and vegetable stalls had beautiful displays of their produce and looked very appetising. It was an enjoyable experience to shop and stock up. After market shopping we went in search of 'Match' a supermarket. We obviously took a wrong turning and were lost! However, an enquiry to a friendly woman resulted in her escorting us through the town to the desired shop. There was a lot of chat on the way and once again we felt very welcome in France. The port is alongside the town and in comparison to what we had been experiencing there was little passing traffic because of the nearby barrage.

What has been interesting on the Marne and especially the Haute Seine is the amount of traffic with commercial barges. The locks are wide and long although not exceptionally deep. It does mean of course that several barges can enter a lock together. We were fortunate in many ways because although we have shared locks from time to time we have not been in a full lock. There was an occasion when we had entered a lock, the gates had closed and we expected the water levels to change. Nothing happened and the lock gates opened again. At that point we knew that we would be sharing the lock but did not know what to expect. Soon we saw two barges coupled alongside each other and so made a hasty move to reposition ourselves in the lock moving forward. At first we were surprised by the fact that the bargee was moving so far forward in the lock but then realised that there were three barges linked together with the back one pushing and negotiating the other two 'Anita and Rose'.

We are pleased to have had the experience of the Marne and the Seine although when moored the boat does bounce a bit with passing traffic. The scenery has been pleasant, lots of greenery and some wonderful willow trees on the river banks.. We have seen a lot of residential barges, one even had a stone BBQ on the bow. We have also seen some very impressive property on the banks of the river Seine, described in the guide book as 'bourgeoises'. The clear landmark of a huge Chinese restaurant at the Marne / Seine junction was something that we had been told about. It would certainly be difficult to miss. We were a little apprehensive about availability of moorings on the Haute Seine but that did not prove to be a problem. In fact we were surprised to see a good quay mooring at Melun which meant that we could stop boating during the afternoon when we had anticipated a very long day. Travelling on a Sunday on the Seine meant an added complication in manoeuvring around sail, rowers and speed boats but all in all we have had an enjoyable journey during the month of May. Presently we are at St. Mammes and here longer than anticipated because of work being carried out on a lock in the Canal de Loing but hopefully in a couple of days we will be on our way and experiencing some more new stretches of water.