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Monday 1st August
This morning Jane, Paul, Kev and I went to visit the caves and the local village. We bought some bubbly and some of the aperitif wine which we had so enjoyed the previous night. We headed off at about 11.30am to the first lock only to find that it was closed. It is very frustrating here because the lock keepers have lunch between 12 and 1 and the locks don’t work! However I had prepared some cheese on toast for our lunch and I was able to put that in the oven quickly. I say quickly however the oven is not quick and it took 30 minutes to toast the bread sufficiently to say it was a toasted sandwich. It was very tasty though and we all enjoyed it. By this time the lock keeper was opening the gates and we were off. We had about 7 locks to get through which takes at least 3 hours so we were anxious to move. This part of the canal was really lovely with trees hanging over the water and beautiful countryside on either side. Our plan was to do a short detour to a small harbour we had been told about where there is lots of mooring and so we made a sharp left turn and motored about 4 kilometres up the canal, through two more locks and arrived at our destination. There were lots of boats there and we had limited options but Kevin very cleverly backed into a space and we tied up stern first – this is a new experience for us. Later on the boat next to us moved off so we were able to drag our boat (Flechumbault) around so it was sideways onto the quai – much easier for us to get on and off. We headed up into the village (35 degrees) to find a supermarket and get supplies for tea – bloody hell it was hot! The supermarket was on the far side of the village so t’was a long walk for us all – particularly the boys as they had to carry the beer and the water. Chicken and salad and of course baguette and the usual wines and beers. We were parked up in this large harbour and there were lots of boats of all descriptions. There was power and water available so we hooked up to the power and charged up phones and computers. Only one 230 volt plug so it took a little while to get all of the instruments charged up. No Wifi on the trip for the past few days and when I asked about it from the harbourmaster he told me that sometimes they have Wifi and sometimes they don’t, with all of the typical gestures – or that’s what I thought he said!! We were all tired out from the walking and the hot, hot sun but at least the sun had dipped down behind the trees.
Tuesday 2nd August
We got up this morning about 7.30am and Paul and I set off on the bikes to go into the village to go to the boulangerie for hot bread and nice pastries. We wanted to get away as soon as the lock keepers were open at 9.00am and missed by 15 minutes but that was ok. We wanted to get as far as Mailly-la-Ville which is a 12km/8 lock stint. Out of the harbour at Vermenton and onto the canal – first boat – pole position and when we got to the first lock it was closed and another boat was coming in the other direction. A 20 minute wait in the canal – all the while adjusting the direction that the boat is headed – sometimes a little bit of forward throttle and then a little reverse or visa versa. We got into these two locks and were going downstream – it is so easy to go in this direction. I pull into the lock and Paul on the stern and Jane or Jan up in the bow just step off onto the quai with the ropes and put them around the bollard and step back onto the boat and hold the boat steady. Far cry from being below the level of the quai by anything up to 3.0m and trying to throw the rope around the bollard.
We got through the first lock with a young lady lock keeper (very nice) and onto the second lock – another wait. Third lock still more of the same waiting and a grumpy guy who must have had a late night. This lock was a deep lock, 2.1m and he decided to open the sluices quickly and boy did that put a bit of pressure on us. The water rose quickly and rolled down to the gates behind us and then the wave returned and the boat surfed forward at a great rate. I had to throw the motor into reverse to stop us crashing into the gates ahead of us. Jan and Jane yelled. Paul nearly fell in and dropped the rope. All the while the guy just stood and looked. New experience!! After that we changed the way in which we tied off – just in case.
A couple of locks more and we made it through the second one by 5 minutes – lunchtime for us and the lock keepers. We tied up to the bank a couple of hundred metres from the next lock and lunch consisted of fresh baguette, tomato, cucumber, salami, salmon or chicken - all the while across the canal from us was a farmer who was baling hay. Cyclists biked passed us going in both directions – one even yelling New Zealanders yeh!! We have a black flag with the silver fern and the words New Zealand on our stern and regular NZ flag bunting from the bow to the roof of the stearing house – very colourful!
Jan and Jane walked up to the next canal and chatted to the young girl there and got her to open the lock for us in preference to the boat coming from upstream. Full marks to them as we didn’t have to stop and Paul and I just handed the ropes off to J&J. One more lock and we steamed into the basin at Mailly-la-Ville – tied up to the pontoon and got ready to take the bikes for a jaunt to the town of Mailly-le-Chateau. Paul and I lifted the bikes off the roof of the boat and I gave a couple to Jane and Jan who walked them off the pontoon and up the gangway. The third and forth bikes I got off the roof and stood them on the pontoon on the bike stands. Paul was locking up the boat so I started to walk off the pontoon only to turn around and see the rocking motion rock the bike off the stand and tip it into the canal beside the boat!! Bloody funny. We laughed anyway and the look on Paul’s face was so funny. Lucky that we could see the bike 6 feet down and even luckier we had a boat hook to pull it out. Of all of the bike seats Pauls was the only one that could even be sat on as the others were so hot.
Off we set along the road to Mailly-le-Chateau – not too busy and not too wide either. Hell it was hot – what about Mad Dogs and Englishmen!! Only 4 kms to the village but when we got there we were at the bottom of the hill and the Chateau was at the top. Jannie said to me that she really didn’t think she could bike up there. We locked the bikes up and went up the steepest, roughest track – good call Jan. Got to the top and sweat pouring off us all. What a great view. We wandered around the village – saw the church ( needs a clean), looked for a place to have a beer. The restaurant was open from 12 until 2.30 – now it was 3.00pm so out of luck again. We asked a few locals for beers and were given directions – au gauche au droit au droit and we got back to the grand view area where we had been?? Down the steps we went and undid the bikes and off we set along the bike path beside the canal. We hadn’t gone too far and my leaders direction was challenged by Jane – we are going the wrong way!! Both the girls need to do a 101 in direction finding. We eventually got back to the boat via a tuck shop where we stopped for a beer and frites. Coming up out of this park area there was this small steep slope that we had to go up. Jannie made it easily – Jane didn’t and instead of just putting her foot down decided to give all of the audience the full fall over land on the butt – a galant young Frenchman rushed to her aid.
Back at the boat – hot as!! Cooling off is hard to do.
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