Thursday 27 July 2017

Paris to Germigny-l’Eveque - The Calm of the Marne and the Lost Socket Set :(



The Marne masquerading as The Thames
Our Guide Fluvial for the Marne (the French Nicholson’s) had advised that we should give three hours’ notice of arrival at the first lock taking us from the Seine to the Marne.  As it’s an automatic lock and operated by a full-time eclusier we didn’t see why we had to and decided just to arrive at the lock and radio ahead as we approached.  The guide said VHF 20 was the channel we should use, so as we drew closer I called the lock.  Silence.  We weren’t worried though as the little cruiser that had overtaken us at great speed leaving us rolling in its wake was waiting – they must have been waiting a while – shame…..  There was no response on the radio so with the lock light turning green having brought another boat down, we headed in with the little cruiser and roped on.  It was another awkward lock with climbing bollards rather than rising, so we would have to manually move the front rope up as we rose from one bollard to the next.  As we were in gear and pushing against the front rope to keep into the side, this meant going into neutral for a moment to loosen the rope to get it off one bollard and onto the next, then quickly getting back in gear before the wash of the lock pushes us too much.  Thankfully the lock was gentle and we rose up easily with no trauma.  At the second lock, which wasn’t much further on, we realised why we’d had radio silence.  The book said VHF 20, but the signs at the lock said VHF 22……..  between locks for ship to ship coms was VHF 69.  Having successfully navigated up two locks without using the radio, we decided that we probably didn’t really need to as they would see us coming, but it’s useful to know if you have to wait for another boat coming down and stuff.  There was still a bit of commercial traffic on this section of the Marne, but as we came out of the second lock, we found ourselves magically transported to Henley on Thames – or at least, that’s what it looked and felt like!
Leaving the second lock on the Marne and all is quiet....

Sharing the river
Rowers and paddle boarders galore!
We continued on through another couple of locks and a tunnel, without using the radio except to listen, and moored up for the evening at Neuilly sur Marne where, with it being Sunday, the French were out in full force along the riverside and there seemed to be a great hullaballoo going on through the trees.  After mooring up, we went for a quick explore and found that Neuilly Plage was on, on the other side of the island we were moored on, and it was heaving.  Like in Paris, a ‘beach’ had been set up with sand, deckchairs, petanque, ice cream, inflatable swimming pool and the French were loving it.  We headed off for a quieter stroll through the park on the island.  There were a couple of groups of men remaining when we returned and they stayed late into the night drinking and talking, and whilst I (the light sleeper) nodded off easily, Mike ‘sleeps like a log through anything’ Queenan was kept awake by their chat. 
Nice little mooring at Neuilly sur Marne
The next day we pushed off late morning with our target being Lagny sur Marne, where we would spend a couple of nights as we had some time to kill.  We arrived at lunchtime and squeezed into a space on the pontoon and after some lunch and trying to stay cool on the boat, headed out into the late afternoon sun, which was still hot, and had a look around the town and did some shopping at the local Monoprix.  I was really keen to go for a run but it was really, really hot and muggy, so we lazed around some more, had some dinner and then got the Ninebot out to play for a while.  As we packed it away, just after 9pm, I decided it was cool enough to go for a 20 minute trot, so headed off up the riverbank.
 
Nice mooring at Lagny sur Marne
Always happy to see a Super Furry!
The next day we had a lie in, late breakfast and then caught up on chores.  There’s always something to be done on the boat and the shower pump had been playing up a bit so I decided to give it a thorough clean out – it was disgusting!  Mike was keen to touch up some of the paintwork, but it was too hot so he decided he's have to leave it til later in the day.  We went for a walk over the other side of the river to Thorigny sur Marne to see if the Fanprix supermarket there would have some of our missing items but we were out of luck.  It appears we’re in a section of France where they don’t drink Syrop de Pamplemousse Rose……  In the evening we went for a stroll along the river to look at some of the posh houses which prompted a discussion on what we are looking for in a house in France.  We have started the search in earnest as it’s been mooted that anyone who lives in France before Brexit in March 2019, will likely have certain rights reserved for health care and pension for example, so I have been scouring the Gironde for a suitable property and we have some lined up to view hopefully later this month.

Wednesday was just a short hop to the town of Meaux, where we have been before via the Canal de l’Ourcq and it was a pleasant cruise with a couple of locks and a tunnel.  The commercial traffic was few and far between now but we did pass one barge getting filled with grain.

Another well-lit, wide, straight French tunnel
A long straight cutting to Meaux
Grain barge getting filled up
This motorway bridge looked really familiar - we had passed under it on the Ourcq, as it spans the whole valley.
 We had contacted the Port de Plaisance at Meaux a while back to book a space for a week as we were heading back to the UK for the Deer Shed Festival, but it’s a strange arrangement there.  The port is managed by the Tourist Office and whilst they were happy to say yes that’s fine to come for the week, they were unable to actually reserve a space for us, so we were relieved to pull in and see there was plenty of space.  Our relief was shortlived however as we tried to hook up and found the electricity points weren’t working on our pontoon.  Another pontoon had the power and water point all wrapped up and not working so boats from there had hooked onto the one working power point meaning there was no space for our plug, but our two cables joined together wouldn’t have reached anyway……  We headed up to the tourist office to ask them about it and the very nice but slightly ditsy girls didn’t remember us, were very sorry that the power wasn’t working but it had been reported to ‘Services’ a few days back but they had no idea when it would be fixed.  We really needed to hook up while we were away in case the weather was bad and our solar didn’t have enough juice for the batteries, so we were relieved (again!) when one of the girls advised that one of the boats on pontoon 4 (which had working power and water) was leaving in the morning and we could take their spot.  We asked when we should pay and they said someone would come round and collect the fees, or we could come to the office and pay at the end of our stay – they didn’t seem that bothered about it to be honest, but the next day we did have a little slip on the boat saying how much we should pay, 4 euros 50, but only if you use electric or water, which we didn’t the first day, so it was free.  That sorted we picked up a few bits and pieces at the supermarket, then headed to the station to see if we could catch a taxi to the cheese museum, that the lovely lock keeper at Varreddes had told us about.  There were no taxis so we took the opportunity to check the bus to Charles de Gaulle airport for the next day and headed back to the boat.  There were buses to the cheese museum but it was too late by now, so it would have to wait. 

The next day, Thursday 20th, we had a lovely lunch at L’Authentique restaurant for a second time then caught the bus to Charles de Gaulle airport, which was a revelation in that it’s an hourly service, takes 40 minutes direct and cost 2 euros!!  Bargain.  So, any boaters collecting friends and family from Charles de Gaulle airport – Meaux is a great place to do it from!

A smooth flight and car collect from Edinburgh Airport and we were eating curry at my mum’s by 8pm, also meeting her guest, Tania, from Belarus.  Tania is chaperon to six Belarusan children who were brought to Dalgety Bay for a month via the charity Chernobyl Children Lifeline.  My mum and dad got involved in this charity after dad retired in 1996, with dad taking the role of chairman for a few years for the local branch of the charity.  The charity was started after the Chernobyl disaster and would bring children to the UK to stay with families here for a month and they would get eye tests, dental checks, new shoes and clothes.  A month in our clean air eating uncontaminated food could extend their lifespan by four or five years.  The children were tiny little scraps, it was quite heartbreaking, but the work done by the charity was amazing and you could see the improvement in the kids in the few short weeks.  Mum’s role has always been ‘The Shop’, for which she collects and sorts new and good quality second hand clothes, jewellery, shoes and the children’s first stop when they arrive is to go ‘shopping’ down at the church hall.  Mum also hosts the leader for two weeks of the month, so hence Tania was with her.  Sadly they are the last chapter of the charity in Fife and I believe the Edinburgh one is now closed as well, and it looks like the Fife chapter will not last much longer.  The problem is getting families to host the children for two weeks or a month.  It’s a huge commitment and quite hard work and sadly not many people are volunteering.  Mum’s lot only had 6 children this year as that was all the families they could get to take children – they used to get 12-14.

It was a flying visit to my mum’s and on Friday we packed the camping gear and set of for the Deer Shed Festival in Yorkshire.
Relaxing with a wine before the evening's entertainment
A typically British-Summertime-Sky
Yes!  The reason we're here - The Fannies!!  Saw them at their first festival of this tour and now at the last.
Mike moshed-down to Arab Strap but they were too loud for me.....
...so I went off an had some chocolate orange brownie and ice cream instead :)

What had been grass turned to mud - with friends Stewart and Debbie
Sunday Headliners: The Divine Comedy, and they were divine.
I don’t think we’re cut out for camping.  The ten minute wait in a queue to go for a wee in the morning after I got up was unbearable, never mind the mud, cold and rain………  The music was fab though, really excellent line-up.

A night of drunkenness with Dave and Melissa at Pocklington where we were joined by Mike’s first love Fran, and his long-suffering wife Sally, followed and then on Monday it was back in the car and up to Fife, via Whitby where we called in on Mike’s Uncle Ron.  It was miserable, cold and wet when we set off but as we headed further north and into Scotland, the skies were blue and the temperature had soared from 12 to 20 degrees!!  Bizarre!

On Tuesday whilst I packed the dry camping stuff away, Mike went for his eye test and then it was back to the airport and homeward bound.

Unusually, we both bleeped at security and had to be x-rayed, but even more unusually Mike’s bag was pulled aside.  As frequent travellers we know the rules and are always well prepared, so wondered what it was. “You’ve got two roll-on deodorants in there,” the chap said.  “No I haven’t.  I’ve never used a roll-on in my life,” replied Mike.  The roll-on deodorants proved to be the two tubs of Smoked Paprika we were bringing back as we can’t find it in France.  So, you have to ask, how good is their equipment that shows up two tubs of powder as roll-on deodorants????  As the chap was looking for the offending items he pulled out a little plastic box and asked what it was, “It’s a mini-socket set,” one that we’d bought in the UK as it was £60 cheaper to do so than buy it France.  “Ah.  You can’t take that through, it’s on the banned list.”  Mike disagreed and explained that we’d taken small tools through before, the last time when we went through Leeds, we had a spanner in the bag!  They took Mike to a computer and showed him the list which mentioned, tools, which may be considered a risk……..  Mike pointed out he’d be more able to knock someone out with his laptop than the tiny sockets, but they weren’t having it.  He’d need to check his bag in if he wanted to take it.  This was at 12.40pm and our flight was 1.25pm, but the chap called the desk, they said they’d take the bag and they both headed off.

At 1.25pm a pale face appeared through the bus door just before it closed and pulled off to the waiting plane – Mike had made it, just, but the socket set hadn’t.  By the time he’d got back to check-in, navigated the broken self-service machines, found someone to speak to, they told him baggage check was shut.  He was fast-tracked back through security, decided to dump the three inch handle from the socket set, but was pulled aside and told he couldn’t take the little metal, ¼ inch (and smaller!) circular sockets on the plane.  So he dumped them out on their desk, kept the plastic case and then had to run to the gate which, typically, was the furthest away it could be – and all because of one person’s interpretation of what tools are a risk….  We weren’t happy.

Back at Meaux, it was warm and dry, although it had been raining which meant the plants were happy, and although it was Tuesday, we decided we needed a glass of wine.

The next morning we were up sharp and got the bus to the cheese museum.
 
Cheeeeeeeeese Gromit!!!  Brie de Meaux AOC

After tasting, you gotta buy!

We then went to pay our mooring fees, decided to stay another night and enjoyed a new drama on the BBC iPlayer after dinner.

This morning we set off under heavy skies on a lockless cruise along the tranquil river, and after only getting half on a pontoon at Poincy have settled on an unusual wall mooring a bit further on under a ruined bridge at the little town of Germingny-l’Eveque.  It’s nice to be back on board and underway again.
Lovely little treehouse - think we might need something bigger though.....
Moored under the ruined bridge at Germigny l'Eveque


Sunday 16 July 2017

Where Else Would You Want to Spend Bastille Day?




Mike didn’t sleep as well on the night of Wednesday 12th July at Villette as he had half an ear open for kids running on the roof again, but all was quiet and I slept like a log.  We had an easy start on Thursday with the usual confusion trying to radio the lock keepers to seek passage.  I radioed Ecluse Temple, which controls the flight through Saint Martin during July and August.  I got a reply from Ecluse Flandres saying I had to call Ecluse Temple.  I said I thought I had called them (on VHF 20), and slightly confused we pushed off anyway soon reaching the lift bridge into the Villette basin.  We hung about for the red light to change, and as the bridge lifted Mike started to head through.  As our nose came towards the bridge a voice boomed over the loudspeaker, “Attendez! Attendez!!”  Although we had clearance under the bridge, it wasn’t fully lifted and the light hadn’t changed to green for go.  Naughty Mike!!  At the other end of the basin we reached the first pair of locks and tried calling Ecluse Temple on VHF 20 again, as the sign on the lock said.  Again, Flanders replied saying we had to call Temple.  We’d realised, ‘appelez’ meant they wanted us to call by phone but we’d looked in our books and the only phone number given (and on the sign at the lock!) was for Flandres, so I said to the guy I didn’t have a phone number, I’d looked in my book but didn’t find one – all in French too!  Flandres then replied in English, ‘Okay, I’ll open the lock for you……’ ????????  I thanked him and we waited for the green light, entered the lock and started our descent.  He took our name, and then must have gone off to phone Temple to tell them we were on our way. 
Heading for the lift bridge on red!
Villette Basin
The Paris Plage set up at Villette for the summer with sand and beach huts included :)
Back down the Saint Martin

There was another message from Flandres all in French as we came out of the second pair of locks, the only part of which I understood was ‘go in on the green light’.  We only ever go in on a green light anyway, but as we went in could see some action in the chamber below.  There was a boat in it coming up.  So the message must have been, there is a boat coming up the next lock, but you can go down and swap chambers half way.  We didn’t get shouted at over the tannoy or anything, so we must have done the right thing, but it’s the first time we’ve ever seen the lock keepers do anything as risky as have two boats pass each other in a staircase lock…….

All too soon we were at the bottom of the flight and I returned the key for the Ourcq locks at the little control hut.  There were three guys in there, waiting on phone calls to navigate the flight when there is no advertised phone number to call them……..hmmmmmmm.
Looking up the Bastille's bottom again!
And back to Bassin D'Arsenal
Plaques showing the flood levels over the years in the Arsenal basin
Returning to Arsenal felt quite nice and we radioed the office, and were told to take space 134, which we had just reached, so we moored up and Mike went off to dispose of our used oil, having done a change a few days before, check us in at the office and collect a parcel they’d taken in for us.  He took ages to come back because he bumped into Paul and Carol from Birmingham who had arrived the day before.  Once he came back, we had some lunch and headed out with our target being to go up the Eiffel Tower.  We took the Velib city bikes and managed to get so far but then started to come across road closures and police and armed guards.  We had been following a couple of young German girls who looked like they knew where they were going, so once diverted we continued and catching them up at some traffic lights asked if they were going to the tower, which they were, and they were following a French couple they thought were going the same way.  We got closer to the tower and dumped the bikes at a Velib station and walked through the park to the tower.  At the foot of the tower it was all fenced off and an orchestra was practising which could only mean one thing – the Donald was in town, and not our feathered friend the Duck.  We tried to get around the tower to the other side but had to go a long way round, so Mike stopped and asked a young policeman if the tower was open.  ‘No, it’s closed today. ‘  Mike then asked if Donald Trump was there and the policeman smiled and said, “Maybe.  I don’t know.  It could be him.”  He wasn’t sure if the monument would be open the following day, Friday but it was most definitely closed all day today.  It was a bit disappointing to go all that way and then not get up the tower, especially when it was someone like the Donald that had spoiled it for me.  But it gave Mike opportunity to voice his little ditty, “Donald Trump, did a dump behind the kitchen door.  Ivana Trump cleaned it up and then he did some more.”  It’s supposed to be Donald Duck laid some muck, but I think the Trump version works rather well.

We strolled back along the river and around 5.30pm decided to treat ourselves to a wee glass of wine in one of the boat bars that line the Seine.  As we drank, there was a flurry of police and armed guard activity on the water and a grey reinforced boat went past, pulled up on the other side, where the occupants exited and were whisked away in a fleet of ominous looking black cars – the Donald again…….
Closed, but the orchestra were very good
You can never have too many pictures of this bridge.....
The Donald's less salubrious river transport
Back at the Arsenal, as we started thinking about dinner, Paul and Carol and Ollie the dog came by to say hello, and after chatting for some time, we arranged to meet up at theirs’ after dinner for a drink.  We got there at 9pm and staggered home just after 12, after a really lovely evening with them, exchanging stories and plans. 

The next morning, slightly woolly-headed, we got up early and away by 8.30am on the Velib bikes to get to the Champs Elysee for the Bastille Day parade.  Again we hit roadblocks fairly early on and abandoned the bikes to complete the detour on foot.  By the time we got there, the crowds were already thick and we weren’t going to be able to see anything more than the peaks of some caps and flag poles going past, so we found a patch of grass to sit on and wait.  Some people were obviously seasoned parade attenders and had brought small sets of step ladders with them or stools to stand on, others were climbing any bench, tree or fence available, but for those of us remaining standing only on our own two feet, you weren’t going to see much at all.

We managed to see Macron pass between heads, a tiny figure in the distance, waving and about half an hour later as we lay on the grass, there was a mighty roar and the French equivalent of the Red Arrows did a fly past.  We didn’t have the camera ready, but quickly got it out and managed to catch some of the other planes going past.
We're probably not going to see much from here.....
Unless we look up!!! :)


Shortly after that we headed off to wander back into town and as the parade ended could see various elements heading off out of the city centre, but we seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and had either passed the place they were or they were on the other side of the river.  Until we turned onto a bridge to cross back over the Seine and in the distance on the other side I could see some horses……
Woohoooo - front row view as they head back to their stable.
There were several flurries of helicopters going home

We continued wandering back to Arsenal where I had a wee siesta and we had an early dinner as Paul had popped by to say we were to lock down on to the Seine at 7.15pm.  We had talked about taking Quaintrelle up the Seine for the Bastille Day fireworks on Friday night, but decided it would be too busy and rough and she would roll around even more than she did on the Wash last year.  Our friends Jane and Billy on WB Lazybones had done it last year and said it was the most amazing experience, so as Paul and Carol had been thinking about it, we convinced them (it didn’t take much to be fair) that they should go out and they would take us with them – wooo hoooo!!!  We were getting quite excited about the evening and that only increased as we locked down with Paul and Carol on yacht Triona and headed up to find a good spot to watch the fireworks.
Mike clocks up some sailing hours at the helm
A HUUUUUUGE and very ugly hotel boat
Negotiating with the Greeks to come alongside.  The young girls were very funny and would blow kisses and dance at young men passing on the tour boats :)
Not a bad view for the evening's event
Glass of a little something while we wait anyone??

About to start.....






And then it was time to drive home - past that bridge again ;)



We had to wait for the lock to get back into Arsenal as there were a few boats all going up, and just as we were about to get a green light to go, a passenger boat came across the radio, “Bateux Prioritaire S’il vous plait.”  Yes, even though they were empty and just heading home for the night, the passenger boats still get priority apparently, so we had another half hour to wait while they went up and the lock was emptied again for us.  It was quite a nerve-wracking climb in the lock as control decided to get the four of us waiting in together and we ended up pressed quite tightly against the wall of the lock and our fenders on the other side tangled with the large cruiser next to us, but with four of us all keeping watch at various positions we managed it and finally got moored back up just before 2am.  I was ready for bed, but when Paul suggested a night-cap, it seemed like the perfect end to the most wonderful night – what an experience, we’ll never forget it.

It was 11am when we stirred the next morning and after a quick dash to Monoprix for bacon we had our usual weekend breakfast before slowly getting our act together and heading out to site see, with today’s target being Montmarte and the Sacre Couer.  We started off walking, stopping for a lovely lunch around 2pm then picked up a couple of bikes to continue on.  As is often the way for us on bikes we soon found ourselves in the very dodgy area around Gard du Nord and too worried to stop and check directions until it felt safer when we decided to abandon the trip realising we’d have to go back through the dodgy bit again.  We found a station to leave the bikes and headed off for the nearest Metro and made our way back to Arsenal where we chilled out for a couple of hours before Paul and Carol came round for some dinner.  Having had a couple of heavy nights, we were all quite tired and we had an early start the next day, so it was very civilised and we were tucked up in bed by midnight.

I bounced out of bed at 7.40am on Sunday and Mike was not far behind me as we readied to leave Arsenal and head down the lock at 8.30am.  We had spoken with the staff at Arsenal about taking Quaintrelle up to the Eiffel Tower and they said if we went first thing it would be fine as none of the big trip boats start til around 10am, so the water shouldn’t be choppy.  We were a little late leaving and just made the green light at Saint Michelle which is timed and changed to red at 8.50am.  It was a gorgeous morning and on the way up we only passed one commercial barge, which created little wake.
Calm waters at 8.50am



Passing the stunning Musee d'Orsay

Morning ladies!!
This old girl was also taking advantage of the stillness being moved back to her mooring.
The newer bridges also have some handsome keepers
Quaintrelle and the Eiffel Tower

A quick turnabout and we're on our way back

Thankfully the Bateau Mouches are all still in bed
Don't look now Mike but we're being followed - as the clock drew close to 10am, more traffic began to appear

As we left Paris and the tourist boats behind the waters were getting a bit busier, though the worst wake we rolled around in was caused by a tiny, private little cruiser that sped past us regardless.  Half an hour later we reached the junction and took a left onto the calmer waters of the Marne – and…… breeeeeaaaaath…………….. The Seine has been a real adventure, very special, but we were both looking forward to coming off her and back to tranquillity again.
Passing the Josephine Baker Swimming Pool - yes, that's right, this is a swimming pool!
Approaching the junction of the Seine and Marne where there is a huge Chinese restaurant and hotel
Leaving the industrial Seine behind we turn onto the Marne