Narrowboat Quaintrelle: Nancy to Lutzelbourg (Or, Quaintrelle’s Ride on the Big Slide!!)

Watching boats coming up as we wait to go down

It felt really exciting to be back on the boat and moving off from Nancy on the morning of 11 June. It was a bit overcast as we left, stopping off after 10 minutes to stock up at the Auchan by the canal and get some croissants for breakfast. Once we pushed off our first day of travel continuing east would prove fairly uninteresting moving through the industrial outskirts, so we amused ourselves by playing the train game, as the line ran alongside. As a train came, we waved, hoping they’d ‘HONK!’ back – and we had a three out of three score!

Our second out of three 'Honks!!!'

It was a bit dull, like the weather.

Our first night was at the first rural spot we came to at the small town of Crevic, where the heavens opened as we moored up. It was a nice if unremarkable little spot which three days later I failed to recall at all when talking to someone about where we'd been! It was raining quite heavily the next morning, but it wasn’t cold, we were still in shorts, but we decided to stay put and catch up on our missed episodes of The Bridge before setting off. As the skies cleared, we also mopped out 2.5 buckets of rain water from the engine bay before going on our way. A short hop of 6km and 2 locks took us to the port at Einville au Jard where we took one of the last remaining moorings. The commercial boats populating our earlier travels to the West of Nancy had now been replaced by hire boats, all speeding along as if the canal is a motorway – I prefer the commercials…… A quick wander around the town, purchasing some meat from the butcher, some groceries, and cakes and bread from the baker and we were set for the evening, which involved a chat with Anna and Steve on Victoria about going up the Rhin and the amount of rain we’ve had.

Busy port at Einville

The next day we were up sharp and off quickly as although we were only covering a short distance, our destination had been noted as a popular one and we didn’t want to miss out. As we entered our first lock of the day, a hire boat appeared behind us and honked and waved, at which point we committed the cardinal sin and shut the gates on them. We had our reasons; we were going up the locks and some of them are really rough at the front where the water rushes in and we’ve had experience of being bounced about with other boats behind us and it’s not pleasant. So we felt quite bad but justified, until the lock started filling – smooth as millpond, barely a movement as we rose – gulp! Typically, at the next lock, we had to wait for the boat ahead of us rising and leave the lock and another to come down, by which time the party we’d shut the gate on had caught us up – karma……. Hoping the lock would be as smooth as the last, we shuffled as far forward as we dare and let them in behind us. The locks are 38 metres long, we are 18.5 and they were about 15, yet they were still gesticulating that another boat could’ve still got in with us – maybe a kayak….. I went to the back of the boat and explained why we didn’t want to share, and apologised but we’re just very cautious about the locks and they seemed to understand.

Not long after we pulled into the left to our mooring at the Etang du Parroy, where it remained overcast and windy for the rest of the day, much to our annoyance having stocked up on food for barbecuing. Mike needed to get some work done, so I left him to it and set off for a nice long walk up to the reservoir that gives the area its name and then onto the little town of Parroy.

The lock buildings start to take on a kind of 'Colditz' look.......

Looking across the Etang du Parroy

The architecture in this area is very different from that we've seen in other parts of France - you can tell we are close to Germany.

And as expected, there are war memorials everywhere. This was to commemorate the 5th Battalion who protected the bridge across the canal at Parroy during WWII.

Lovely mooring at Parroy, which was full by the early evening.

Tea was cooked that evening on board in the conventional way and we were quite glad of the warmth from the Heritage!

June 14^th saw the start of the World Cup in Russia and the start of summer for us, we hoped. The sky was clear, the sun was out and we headed off, so did every hire boat in a 10 mile radius it seemed. From seeing barely another boat in a week we were seeing two-three in each pound between the locks! A very popular canal, but we could see why.

Above Ecluse 9 we pulled into a little Dingly Dell mooring, pleased with ourselves to have got somewhere nice and secluded for the evening. Then a hire boat arrived and squeezed in alongside, and then another, but thankfully this one was just waiting for the lock. The other boat had just stopped for a long, late lunch and headed off again just after 4pm, by which time Mike had done some more work and I’d walked into the local town Moussey (Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay……..) for a look.

Hire boats everywhere.....

Walking past the base of this post I was amazed at the amount of bird shit on the ground and looked up to see a Stork's nest on top!

A closer look showed two young storks waiting on dinner coming home.......

Ay, Ay, Ay, Ay.......... (sorry, couldn't resist...) :)

Dingly Dell mooring :)

BARBECUE!!!!!! - Woohoo!!

We finally managed to use the barbecue for only the second time this year!

Our evening’s entertainment was pumping out the black tank (nice) and then we settled down to watch Spin, a French drama we’re watching on Channel 4 Box Sets, and just as we tucked ourselves into bed, the rain started. Ah well, better then than when we were cooking a few hours earlier.

Things on the cut were starting to get exciting!! In a couple of days we would reach the Inclined Plane at Arzviller, but before that, today we would be going up the biggest lock Quaintrelle had ever been in – Ecluse de Rechicourt, 16 metres (52.5 feet)! When we arrived the sign announced we’d have at least an hour to wait, which we were quite happy about as we had time for a coffee and a look at the lock, which is incredible. However, as I was at the top looking at the boats down below in the chamber, I realised they were at the bottom, so I hurried back down to Quaintrelle to get ready and it was well within an hour that we were given the green light to go into the lock.

We were on our own so were able to space ourselves nicely with a front and rear line on a floating bollard. Even so, it was quite feisty, and I felt quite giddy looking up so it was with some relief we reached the top and the gates opened up to let us out.

At the last lock before the big one, a group of feral cats appeared. Thankfully we had a sachet of cat food left and a large bag of dry food, which they tucked into.

More appeared on the other side, so they were catered for as well. As we left the lock, we pulled in and Mike went back and filled their water dishes which were next to the lock hut, so someone must keep an eye on them - poor wee mites :(

Waiting at the big lock; Ecluse de Rechicourt - life jackets obligatory!

Looking down from the top of the lock - it's quite high!!!

In we go......

Not the smoothest rise, but not the roughest either ;)

And at the top - where a bunch of hire boats were waiting to go down.

Our new Cheeser was pleased to be out of the deep lock!!

Hard to get lost on the canal really.......

We had hoped to moor at the strangely named town of Xouaxange as we wanted to take the train to Strasbourg the next day and we could cycle to a station from there, but on approaching it was clear the port was full (of hire boats) who all sat and watched us hover as they glugged their wine and stuffed their faces and no one offered to move up or let us come alongside or indicate if they were just there for lunch or the duration…….. So we continued on and decided the next best place to reach a station from would be Nidderviller. As is often the way, this turned out to be a good outcome. Although we had to pay for the mooring (less than advertised on the pontoon!!), the capitaine was delightful and very helpful and when we said we were hoping to cycle to Sarrebourg to catch a train the next day she said it was too busy a road and would be dangerous and offered to phone for a taxi for us. The taxi call was made with much hilarity as she clearly uses this firm regularly and Valery (on the other end) and she had a great laugh together and thus a taxi was booked for us the next morning. The other bonus of being here was that Michelle (on Kendra Erin) had recommended a local restaurant here and we managed to get booked in for dinner – and what a dinner!!!

We chose the Menu de Bouef and this was my second course, the tartare - it was delicious, a lovely meal and experience.

So, what was not meant to be happened and worked out for the best. On Saturday 16^th we were picked up by Valery at 10.20am for our train at 11am. Valery was lovely, and easy to speak French with, and told us a bit about the area and its history as we went on our way. It was only when arriving at the station and we were talking about languages that it transpired she spoke good English as well as German (her second language) and had been looking forward to practicing her English with us! I think I need to practice my French more than she needs to practice her English. She bid us a good day, left us with a card and instructions to call her when we were on the train home and she would meet us and take us back to the port.

All the way to Strasbourg we strained to see out the window, wondering if we’d get a glimpse of the Inclined Plane as the canal and railway ran across each other at several points, but no joy. It remained to be discovered the following day.

In Strasbourg we met up with Steve, Anna and Tazzie the dog from Victoria – our next door neighbours from Roanne.

Mike, Steve, Anna and Tazzie

It was really great to see them again and catch up on their news, some of which was not really what we wanted to hear. Part of our trip plan was to head south after Strasbourg and the quickest way to do this would be to go down the Canal Rhon au Rhin branch nord, then out on to the Rhine, then back into the Canal Rhon au Rhin branch Sud. Sounds easy eh? Not so unfortunately…….. The stretch of Rhin we’d be on is huge, and smack, bang right on the border of France and Germany, with both French and German river police patrolling. We know this because Steve and Anna had seen them when they drove down to have a look. There are rules for doing the Rhin, mainly, if you’re over 15 metres in length, you need to get an exemption (from having to get a german licence), which in order to get you must give the details of the pilot you have hired to take you on the river………..and have your boat inspected………. Both our boats are over 15 metres in length so this rule would apply. The thing is, we know of other boats who have just done it without researching the necessary and not getting everything in order before doing so, and they’ve not been stopped and not had any problems, but now, having asked and sent in some paperwork and spoken to various people; VNF, pilot etc. Anna and Steve reckoned they’d be on their radar if they headed out without a pilot and an exemption. So for them it was a no, and they would be turning around and heading back west to pick up the Champagne Bourgogne to take them south. For us, we could try and just slip through, but Steve reckoned with us being such an unusual boat in France that we’d probably catch the attention of the river police who might be curious to board our boat. Also, we’d spoken to some English people who had just come downstream on the Rhin who reckoned the flow at the moment was 5/6kms, which is too strong for us to go against. And if we did go, and then something happened, because we hadn’t followed the rules, we’d not be insured…….. The flow was really what nailed it for us. It would not only take us too long, but there are only a couple of stopping places on the Rhin, so we could end up doing a 12-15 hour day to reach the port and we didn’t really fancy that!!! So we will also be turning back when we reach Strasbourg to pick up the Canal des Vosges, which we also haven’t done, so it will still be new waters for us!

After an enjoyable lunch, quick look round Strasbourg, a pop into the Tourist Information and the Cathedral, we headed back for our train, phoned the lovely Valery and returned to Quaintrelle to redo our plans……… (But it does mean we'll get to go back up the Inclined Plane!!!!).

The next morning we were excited to get going as today was Inclined Plane day!! This section of canal is just glorious as the canal winds its way through a tree-lined valley and you feel like you’re up in the Swiss Mountains!

The waterway continued to be busy with Hire Boats and Mike continuing to shout at them through the window as they passed at high speed regardless. My theory is, they come off the motorway doing 130kmph, get in a boat, are told not to go faster than 8kmph and slow to 3 when passing moored boats. They have no idea what that speed or how slow that actually is. The simple thing would be to put a limiter on hire boats. Or instruct them to look back at their wash and when they see it breaking over the side, they are going too fast – simple!!

Before the slide we had a couple of tunnels to do, and in waiting for some other boats to come through from the other side ended up in a bit of a convoy.

Waiting for the green light to go

Yeah, yeah.... tunnel, shmunnel - been there, done it.......

As we approached the inclined plane, the boat in front pulled in and moored up to have a look first and we pulled into pole position to take the ride! Despite the sign saying, “Please Stay on your Boats”, us and the boat behind emptied out to go and look at the boats currently on their way up. Having seen the remains of an Inclined Plane at Foxton Locks in Northamptonshire, we were incredibly excited to actually be going on one. This one was only built in 1968 (same age as me!) and did away with locks 1-17. It really is superb – such a feat of engineering and up there with the wonders of the waterways with the Anderton Lift and Falkirk Wheel.

Soon it was our turn and the lock-keeper seemed keen to cram as many in as possible resulting in me having to fend off the hire boat with an English family on board. Thankfully however, he did a final check before we set off, didn’t like what he saw and shuffled the other two boats back a bit and retied the hire boat in a slightly different position. Then we were off!!!!

Waiting our turn

The last boat leaves having just come up and we get ready to go into the big bath!

This is a bit too close for comfort!

That's better :)

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee.................

And very soon we're at the bottom.....

And exit the big bath tub.

At the bottom of the slide we pulled onto a visitor mooring to go and have a look from the bottom. Then spotting a water tap, with no ‘Do Not Use’ sign, we pulled back and filled the tank for free before continuing onto our mooring at Lutzelbourg. Coming into Lutzelbourg is one of the most beautiful little bits of waterway and we were really taken with the little town, as were all the hire boats and it looked like we might not get a space! But we needn’t have worried, Lutzelbourg has tons of mooring space and we got in no problem. After lunch some of the hire boats moved off only to be replaced by more as the day drew to a close.

Gorgeous little lock cottage

Coming through Lutzelbourg

After a bite of late-ish lunch we headed for a walk up to the castle. I had spotted a big sign on the other side of our mooring with several circular walks through the woods lining the canal, one of which took in the chateau, so we set off.

The view from the chateau was amazing but the highlight was the unexpected beauty of the walk through the woods on the way back. It was one of the nicest walks we’ve ever done with the woods changing from light woods, to darker, to stone cliffs which reminded us of Brimham Rocks in Yorkshire. Back at the boat, we relaxed on the front deck and thought about the day; the tunnels, the lift, the scenery, the walk, the woods. It was one of the best days.

The ruined chateau above Lutzelbourg is made from the Vosges sandstone which is red.

Lovely little Lutzelbourg

By the time we opened the shutters the next morning, most of the hire boats were gone and eventually there was just us on the moorings. We had decided to stay another night and after an easy start for a Monday morning, Mike settled down to do some work and I headed off on one of the other walks. It wasn’t as spectacular as the previous day’s and I didn’t have Mike for company but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Back on board, I had to break the news to Mike that the little bar, that had showed the Germany game the previous evening, was closed on a Monday so we’d not be able to watch the England game there. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you feel about football!) we had a good internet signal and were able to watch it on the tv on the boat.