Leaving Nancy

Monday 14/05/2012 - Casting off - Nancy to Dombasle 

This morning it was time to hit the road so to speak.  We were leaving Nancy for a trip along the canals heading toward Luxembourg.   After breakfast Marg and Peter did all things nautical and very soon after we were reversing out of the port at Nancy and beginning our adventure on the Canal de la Marne-au-Rhin.

It was a fine and sunny morning and we had a wonderful time learning about how things worked (but staying out of the way during the first day) and just enjoying the experience of our first ever canal trip.  The trains running along beside the canal were a colourful blur as they passed us during the day.

The Pont Canal was an interesting sight as the canal becomes a bridge crossing the river below.

 The lochs were an amazing experience and during the day we passed through 
         4 of  them before green banking for the night at Dombasle. 

 Once moored Marg and Pete had some work to do so sent us off the explore the village.  It was quite a large town and had a lovely old church but an interesting factor is that there were no shops open.  

They close each afternoon and we saw many signs saying reopen at 5.30pm. A couple of  hours later we arrived back at Matilda and soon after we're enjoying cheese and a drink before dinner.  What a way to spend a day.  We loved it. 

After dinner we were all struggling to stay awake so a reasonably early night was had by all and we were looking forward to the day ahead.

Tuesday 15/05/2012 - Dombazle to Bauzemont

A quick start this morning and very soon we were on our way again, sailing gently upriver. This morning the weather was a bit cooler and we were getting a shower every now and then.  We passed through 12 locks today and saw very few other boats until later in the day.  

After watching Marg do all the hard work of tying up in the lochs, I decided that it was time I learned to help a bit and so after a few rope throwing lessons I got to try my skills at the next few lochs.  I still have a long way to go to be as good as Marg but I did manage to tie us up a few times and look forward to tomorrow.  While I tried to learn Bill had fun with the camera and the Tern that followed us along all day was the ideal subject.

Traveling much further today we noticed the scenery changed constantly and enjoyed seeing the French countryside as we passed by.  The weather deteriorated from lunchtime on and around 4.00pm we decided we had gone far enough and found a bank with a bollard to settle for the night. 

 We had a little walk to the small village of Bauzemont but apart from two Aubergs which were both closed we could see nothing else.  Coming back to Matilda was a good decision as once onboard it started to rain for real so we decided that somewhere in the world the sun was over the yardarm so drinks all round were called for.   It was so cold the Marg had lit the fire earlier and with the doors shut we were toasty warm for the rest of the night.

Again we had a lovely evening enjoying Marg's wonderful French cooking, a nice red wine and we all watched 'the rushes' - Bill's photo's of the day - before declaring that another early night was just what we all needed.

More tomorrow from further upriver.....

Wednesday 16/05/2012 - Bauzemont to Diane-Capelle

What a wonderful day we have had.  We woke up, had breakfast and got going nice and early only to find ourselves in a queue for the first loch we came too.  Two very large commercial barges were waiting to go through and no red lights were showing so we did not have any idea of what was happening.  Bill and Marg got off and had a walk to the loch but came back none the wiser so we just had to wait.  

Within 30 mins the eclusier had arrived and sorted things out and the first freighter moved through.  There is not much room in the lochs when they move in.  We were 3rd in line and a smaller boat behind us came in with us giving us a look at how the lochs work for multiple boats.  The smaller boat then stayed with us all morning and shared the next few lochs. 

We continued on enjoying the scenery through two more lochs until we came to the huge new loch, Rechicourt, which has been made to bypass 6 previous lochs. It is 15.7 metres deep and needs 3,800 cubic metres of water to fill it. Peter filled us in with the facts but whatever the stats it is truly amazing to come across it after all the previous lochs we have passed through.

This was something you just had to see to believe and as we approached it looked like we were coming to a huge dam wall which I suppose is just what it was.  The smaller boat came into the loch with us and we were both raised to the top in 30 mins. 

 Once on top of the hill we had been slowly climbing we had a few kilometers of lovely waterways before stopping for lunch at the side of a forest.

On the move again after lunch we continued on till we came to a fork in the canal and here we left the Canal de la Marne Au Rhin and turned into the Canal des Houilleres de la Sarre.  We travelled on through the first loch at Gondrexange and not long after called it a day and moored beside a lovely lake for the night. 

 With sun shining in through the enclosed back patio we had a nice warm finish to a very chilly day.  Drinks, nibbles and a lovely dinner finished another wonderful day on a French canal.

See you tomorrow.....