Nogent sur Marne to Cumieres (Or, Champagne – Here We Come!!!)

Where are you all coming from???!!!

Despite being tired after our long emotional day on Monday 7^th, we were up sharp, filled with water and away just before 9am the following morning.  As we had to do a bit of catching up and had done the River Marne last year, we decided to do a few long days, and as the sun was out, it was a pleasure to be boating.  However, our early start and good humour ground to halt as we approached the first lock of the day and pulled in to let the commercial barge that had come up behind us, pass and go up the lock first.  In France commercial barges have priority and on some busy waterways you can wait for over an hour if one is coming, as they’ll make you wait so it can go through the lock first.  As he past us, the marinier on board gave a wave of acknowledgement and headed into the lock.  Then a tiny cruiser entered the lock from above and came down, and on them exiting and seeing the light go green, we pushed off and moved towards the lock, only for the light to go red, at which point I turned around and saw another commercial behind us in the distance.  The lock keeper (who had not responded to my VHF call) came out of his hut and told us we’d have to wait.  It’s the rules, but it was annoying as we could have been up the lock and away before he even arrived.  So we turned around and moved back to let the Commercial through and couldn’t believe it when as the lock was emptying for us to go up, I looked over my shoulder and saw a huge gravel barge barging up the river.  Mike was all for going, so I hung off the quayside, but the barge just kept coming and was clearly taking the lock.

Finally after he was gone, we were allowed up, only to catch him up as we’d gone onto a section of canal running alongside the river, a deviation, and his draft was such he could only crawl along.  Give him his due, at a wider section Mrs Mariniere came out and waved us past, which we did gratefully as we didn’t really fancy doing the next 10km at tick-over……

 

There are lots of rowing clubs along the Marne, it really reminds us of the Thames in places.

We arrived at the next lock to see the second commercial in front going in and up and radio-ed the lock-keeper – no response…….  So we hung back and waited but when the commercial left the lock above us, the gates remained open and the lock didn’t start preparing for us to go up next.  We pulled over onto the side and Mike went up for a look to see if there was a boat waiting to come down, but there wasn’t, and the lock-keeper had vanished as well.  Mike went into his hut and could see us clearly on his screen via the cameras looking down the canal, so he must’ve seen us waiting as he put the commercial up.  Mike shouted and hung around, but it was deserted.  So we waited.  We waited 40 minutes, at which point the big gravel barge appeared around the corner behind us and miraculously the lockie appeared and the lock began to prepare.  But bless the gravel barge, he hung way back and made his intention clear that we should go up first, so we got a green light and were finally underway again.  It was annoying because the lock-keeper clearly had decided that he would put the gravel barge up before us and we’d have to wait, despite the fact he had more than enough time to put us through first and then have the lock ready for the gravel barge 40 minutes later, so technically, he held up the gravel barge unnecessarily.

 

Exiting the tunnel de Chalifert you pass under a bridge carrying the TGV line - there WAS a train passing over!

And at the lock just past the tunnel, surprise, surprise, we had to wait for a commercial coming down!

The last time we’d been on this stretch of water we had seen a couple of commercial barges but not the amount we were seeing today and we wondered if they were all catching up from the stoppage we’d had on the Seine. 

One in front and one coming towards us....... "Gasp!!!" :D

Anyway, the two hold-ups made our long day even longer and it was nearly 6pm when we pulled in to the port at Meaux, to discover that the port had suffered flood damage over the winter and they were only now getting around to repairing it.  So whilst we managed to get onto a pontoon, there was no way to get off the pontoon onto land – they’d removed the wooden quay the pontoons attach to.  We needed a couple of things from the supermarket – a well-deserved ice-cream being one – so we got our plank off the roof and used that – although it was a bit tricky getting back onto the pontoon again as there was nothing to hold on to – yikes!!!

The lack of access also meant we didn’t really socialise with the first two pleasure boats we’d seen for days, Kokoro (with Steve and Pay-Chen onboard, who we’d met when we wintered in Auxerre), and Archangel, a pretty barge with the most beautiful flower boxes I’ve seen.  We ended up just shouting across to them!  As they had arrived before the quay was lifted, the workers had left their pontoon connected, but I’m not sure for how long………

We allowed ourselves a little bit of a lie-in the next morning and left just before 10am, looking forward to a cruise on the quiet river in the sunshine.  We had intended to leave earlier and reach Mery-sur-Marne by lunchtime, to take advantage of the fantastic restaurant, Quai de Brunes, but having checked, realised it was closed on a Wednesday, so we’d just go past and not need the two-hour pause in our cruising day.  Last year we saw no commercial traffic on the river after Meaux, but on our way to La Ferte sous Jouarre (Still sounds like they named the place Fart!) we saw four commercial barges on the move and more passed us after we moored.  Having spent a few nights in La Ferte last year, we did a top-up at the Carrefour supermarket, filled with water and were off sharp the following morning.

Cute treehouse as we leave Meaux

This is the site of an inclined plain that used to take boats from the Marne onto the Canal de L'Ourqe that we cruised last year.

Last year after Meaux, we saw no commercials at all on the Marne.  This time we're seeing at least 3-4 every day.

It was a stressful departure as we were at the lowest we’d ever been on diesel with the tank showing just below a quarter full.  Now, if the gauge is correct, this wouldn’t have been a problem, but we’re just not sure quite how accurate the gauge is, as our water one still shows two bars full when the tank is dry!  Slightly concerned, we had decanted some red diesel from our front tank (which the gauge for has jacked in completely and is showing no reading, but we’re not too worried as we filled it before leaving Roanne and we’re only using it for cooking in the evening).  As usual, our little pump, operated by the drill, and which is fantastic when it works, was doing its usual intermittent thing but we eventually managed to sook out about 5 litres.  We refrained from putting it in the propulsion tank though, as it’s illegal to use red diesel for propulsion in France and although we’ve never been stopped and checked, we knew that knowing our luck, today would be the day.

The Marne had a bit of a flow on it, and I was a nervous wreck, not made to feel any better as Mike ran through the drill of what we’d do if the engine cut out (anchor launched, top up with the red diesel, head for the side – having probably not been able to get the anchor back up and having to cut it and leave it on the bottom……).  So as we got held up at the first lock by a commercial ahead of us, I was almost having a meltdown at the thought of all the diesel we were wasting sitting there.  Once up the lock, we pulled into the side and had another go at decanting some red out of the front tank, much to the amusement of the next commercial of the day heading down the lock, but gave up with a dribble when the motor began to smoke…….  I insisted that we put in the red diesel we had which would give us another 6 or so kilometres out of the 20 we had left to do and to where we could get diesel.

For some reason, doing this pacified my racing pulse somewhat, and the rest of the journey was slightly calmer as the flow eased on the river as moved away from the lock and weir.  However, it was still with some relief that four hours later, we pulled into the lock at Charly and moored on the quai above for the night.  For us, Charly signals the start of the champagne region, the vines start to come into view and it was where we did our first tasting and buying last year.  But for the moment, all we wanted was diesel, so it was off on the first of four trips to the Super U 200metres away to fill the tank and then refill the two jerry cans as spare – we didn’t want another day like today!!!

View from a porthole at Charly - vines, lovely vines!

We had intended to do a big shop but the supermarket itself was closed as it was a public holiday (again!) in France.  They have a few in the month of May; 1^st May is labour day and everything including a lot of the locks are closed, 8^th May is victory in Europe day, and extra special this year as it is the centenary, 10^th May is Ascension, 21^st May is Pentecost.  There’s then a break until 14^th July followed by Assumption a month later on 15^th August.  1 November (All Saints Day) is next then 11^th November, Armistice and lastly Christmas Day and New Years day.  Not that you needed to know this but it’s got it clear in my head now!

Mike had a teleconference for work as I did the last petrol run and having checked if the restaurant next to the mooring was open and finding it wasn’t (holiday), we cooked the tea and settled in for the night.

After a leisurely browse around the Super U in the morning, we had a lovely cruise the next day taking us all the way to Chateau Thierry, winding our way through the beautiful countryside in glorious sunshine – shorts weather all round!  On arrival we couldn’t get on to the high wall quay, so ended up on the pontoon mooring for 5euros 44 for the night.  It was a glorious day, so we packed a picnic and headed off to the American war memorial on the hills above the town.  When we visited last year it was being restored and was fenced off, but even then it was still hugely impressive and we were keen to see it in its full glory, but it’s also just a great place to visit.  It’s so peaceful and offers great views and just has a special feel to it.  We weren’t disappointed.  This time, not only was all the fencing gone allowing us to see it properly, the visitor centre was open which has a small exhibition explaining the events of WWI in this area and the involvements of the American troops.  It’s very well done and the story told well so you come away understanding what had happened and what might have happened had the allies not had the support of the US troops at that point.  There are some fantastically sad photographs of the devastation of the small towns and villages in the area, and one which sticks to mind of red cross nurses assisting troops at a train station, and written on one of the train doors is, “It’s a long way to Chateau Thierry.”

WWI memorial to the US Troops

Mike's delicious Greek chicken pie he made for tea

After a full English breakfast the following morning it wasn’t such a long way to Dormans; 24km and 4 locks to be precise.  We moored at the same spot at the campsite as last year and settled down to get on with some work on the boat.  Around teatime there was an amazing thunder storm with heavy rain that must have lasted the best part of an hour.  Fortunately the rain had stopped by the time we were heading out for a most marvellous dinner at Sylvian Suty.

The amazing Chariot de Fromage!

After more rain overnight everything felt a bit damp and cold, so first thing on Sunday morning we lit the fire!  Unbelievable that we had had shorts on for the previous ten days or so.  It was another quiet day on the Marne seeing no other boats on the move, not even the usual 3 or 4 commercial barges we’ve been seeing – they must take the weekend off!  We pootled along taking turns to warm up in the boat and after 11km and 2 locks reached our evening’s accommodation, the pontoon at Port-a-Binson.  After getting the French couple on their little cruiser sitting in the middle of the pontoon to shuffle up, we moored up and took shelter as the heavens opened again.  As we sat a commercial barge and then a hotel boat passed by but all else was still.  With the rain abating an hour or so later, we got our jackets on and headed off up the hill to Chatillon-sur-Marne.  We had seen the town from the river last year, with the big statue of Pope Urbain II looking out over the valley, but hadn’t stopped to explore, so this was a new mooring and new town to visit for us.  It was quite a climb and with it being Sunday the town was closed when we got there, all apart from the tourist information office, which was open and had the most gorgeous cat welcoming any tourists!  The cat’s human confirmed our worst fears – all the champagne houses were closed, so there’d be no tasting, but he gave us a leaflet with the history of the statue and we went to take in the views.

 

Some very unusual and very noisy pets in the lock garden.

Pope Urbain II surveys the Marne Valley

Even with crap weather the views are spectacular

Back at the boat, the French had moved on (must have been something we said….) and we only just closed the door when the rain started again and stayed on for most of the evening.

It was still raining when we woke up, big, wet drops everywhere, but on a plus side, it was washing all the dust and crap off Quaintrelle!  We hadn’t bothered plugging into the power the previous night, but as our solar was now rendered useless by the weather and we weren’t going to move in such weather, I dashed out and hooked us up.  Mike meanwhile got the fire lit again……….

The rain eventually eased off and we filled with water and prepared to push off, unable to see the surrounding countryside as it was coated in mist – just as well we saw it last year then!

 

Last year we moored at the town of Reuil and went off along the towpath in search of the Teddy Garden.  It was nowhere to be found but we saw a fenced off area that looked like it had been something.  This year the teddies are back, if you look closely :)

A picture to show it's not all shorts n sunshine on board Quaintrelle ;)

We just did a short hop of 13km and 2 locks (2 and ½ hours) to Cumieres with no rain but surrounded by grey and at times very black looking clouds.  A forecast 5pm deluge came to nothing as we walked up the champagne house, Phillipe Martin and enjoyed our first tasting session of the year.  The champagne was delicious and the trainee receptionist spoke very good English explaining about the house’s history and the different kinds of champagne they make.  We had four generous samples and settled on buying a few bottles of their Rose and one of their Blanc de Blancs which is made with 100% chardonnay.

We were now back on track with our schedule to get to Nancy for the end of May, but unfortunately I’m still running slightly behind with the blog!!!

Germigny-l’Eveque – Dormant (Or, ‘Is that the Champagne Region I See Ahead??’)

Vines and Grain galore at Dormant

Our original plan back in April, for this section of our travels, was to leave Paris, head back up the Yonne and then turn down the Loing, Canal du Briare and Lateral de la Loire, then back along the Centre, out onto the Saone and retrace our steps up to St Jean de Losne but rather then turn onto the Bourgogne, keep going and take the Champagne Bourgogne canal onto the Marne, and back to Paris before heading back down the Loing or Nivernais to our winter mooring off the Centre at Roanne.  However, we realised that this was incredibly ambitious for the time left of the season and didn’t leave any wiggle room should we want to stop off anywhere, or take some time off the boat for a road trip or trip back to the UK.  So we came out of Paris and straight onto the Marne to go the other way than initially planned and keep the Loing, Briare and Lateral de la Loire for next year.  It’s been the right decision as we have been able to pootle along, spend a couple of nights at nice places and are just chilling out and taking our time – which is what it’s all about after all.  And there is so much to see and do!!!  I had no idea the the Marne was one of the main battle sites of WWI and there are many memorials and cemeteries to visit, and of course, we’ve reached the champagne region so we’re doing tastings as we go – well, would be rude not to!! 

Anyway, enough of my blethers, here’s a glimpse of what we’ve been up to!

Friday 29^th was another short hop to our next mooring at Mary sur Marne, where we had tried to eat at Le Quai de Brunes restaurant when moored on the Ourcq.  We knew there was just the one 15 metre pontoon so we set off early hoping to get there before anyone else and hopefully secure a table for lunch at the restaurant.  The gods were with us and we smugly tied up, booked a table and then set about washing our rather dirty girl before having a lovely lunch with a couple of small glasses of rose wine to wash it down.  The restaurant is very popular with locals and we very quickly realised that they didn’t need and weren’t that bothered with tourists as we were left for ages before they brought menus and again before they took our orders.  Every other table was given tap water, and offered an aperitif – not us, but the food was really good when it came, so we let them off with their poor service to us.

The next morning was sunny and we set off for St Jean les Deux Jumeaux, seeing very few other boats on the move despite it being the weekend.  At lock 10 we were given a remote control and instruction sheet for the next 7 seven locks, which are automatic, but unmanned, so you operate them yourselves remotely from the boat – exciting!  The mooring at St Jean was empty and was a pontoon behind a little island, so really quiet and very cute.  We liked it so much we stayed two nights there, enjoying sitting in the sun reading our books and only saw two or three boats on the move.  There wasn’t much to the town; a baker which provided pudding for Saturday night and an large empty car park which we noted as a good surface to get the Ninebot out…….

There are still one or two working barges on the Marne

My first realisation of the Marne's importance during both World Wars; there was a plaque on this bridge that said it was destroyed on 12 June 1940 and recontructed 13 November 1940. It's the main line into Paris.

Lovely quiet mooring at St Jean Les Deux Jumeaux

Monday took us another 10kms and 0 locks to La Ferte sous Jouarre where again the pontoon moorings were behind a little island, sheltering you from the traffic.  It was a longer pontoon with a few boats moored, including Luv from Northern Ireland, with Paul and Elaine on board.  The moorings were free as was the water and electricity so we plugged in and got the washing machine going before heading to the LeaderPrice supermarket, which was a bit of a disappointment.  The town itself was very nice though and we were next to another empty car park for more Ninebotting.  We were getting so close to going solo on it……

 

Pretty Mayor's Office in the square at La Ferte sous Jouarre

Deep concentration......

Bit of a wobble.......

And she's off!!

The overnight rain hung around on Tuesday morning but the afternoon was hot and humid and got hotter as the day went on.  We took a walk to the WWI memorial which was very impressive, not least because it was to commemorate 3888 UK soldiers whose graves are unknown.  They landed in August 1914 and between then and October 2014 fought at Mons, Le Cateaut and on the Marne and the Aisne.  It was really odd to see local regiments and their men from Scotland and York listed on this huge monument in this little French town – quite moving.

 

Each of the four outer pillars are carved with the crests for England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

When we got back we had another go on the Ninebot and I managed this:

 

On Wednesday we started to spot vines as we headed into Champagne territory.  Again, there were few boats around and the Marne simply seems to ooze the chill factor, inviting you to take your time on the tranquil waters and enjoy the views.

We finally had the chance to use our remote control on the locks and all thankfully went smoothly.  In fact, it was much easier and much less stress as you can take your time roping up, not having to rush as the lock keepers champ at the bit to get you in and up and out as quickly as possible.  It was a longer day for us covering 24kms and 3 locks and we reached Charly mid-afternoon.  We walked into town and managed to sniff our way straight to the first champagne house to see what was on offer.   

The owner, Denis Roberts, was in the middle of packing for a trip to Belgium the next day, to have a stand at a conference/food and drink festival there, but shifted his boxes out of the way and introduced us to three of his champagnes.  His family have been making champagne since 1755, so they know their stuff and he is now passing on his knowledge to his sons and daughters with their own brand of the family champagne.  We bought a couple of bottles and headed back to the boat via the big, new Super U to top up on groceries and where we noticed their diesel was only 1 euro 16.  So a trip back with the jerry cans and the boat was fuelled up too.  As we were unpacking the shopping, another boat came up the lock behind us and Paul and Carol on Triona, whom we’d met in Paris, appeared.  Paul was busy studying his canal book and Carol was sorting their ropes so they almost went past, but Mike honked our horn and when they saw us they decided to reverse and moor up behind us for the night, having done over 70kms already that day!!

The sun was still out and we had a lovely big grass bank to sit on, so we took along a bottle of champagne and joined them for a drink, then we had some wine, then some more wine, then the brandy and port came out……  We ended up doing a pot luck dinner as we’d both made dinner but put everything on the table and had a taste of each others’.  It was good to catch up with them but we were pretty rough the next morning, and whilst they set off just after 9am, we battened down the hatches, watching the day get windier and windier and realising the gusts were 61km per hour, decided we probably shouldn’t move anyway…… 

Thankfully the wind had dropped the next morning, Friday 4 August, and we set off for the town of Chateau Thierry, arriving just before lunch mooring on the stone quayside which annoyingly had a sloping wall just under the water, so we had to sit out a bit and jump off the roof onto the side.  We popped into the Tourist Information, then did the French thing and had a nice lunch at Le Saint Jean restaurant.  We then had a look around the town, got some bits and pieces from the supermarket and then had drinks with Paul and Elaine on Luv, back at the mooring, as they’d leap-frogged us the previous day.

The next morning, we headed off out of the town on foot to visit the WWI memorial overlooking the town, a gift from the USA to commemorate the US soldiers who were key to the liberation of the town on 18 July 1918.  You can see the monument from miles around, surrounded by the woods that gave the soldiers cover coming into the town.  It was fenced off for renovation, but as it was the weekend, no one was around, so we squeezed through a wee gap in the fence to get a closer look (and better photo!).   

We then sat and chilled in the sunlit silence for an hour and then continued our walk back down to the edge of town and the house of Champagne Pannier.  There, there was a tour of the caves in English at 2pm, so we joined another family to learn the history of the caves and the champagne and do a tasting at the end.  The caves were fascinating, carved out back in the day to build the Chateau in the town and then used as shelter by the soldiers during the war and now full of champagne!

The tastings were generous and we duly bought a couple of bottles of pink for the cellar.  After a wee rest back at the boat, we headed out early evening to walk to the Chateau, now ruins, but impressive nonetheless and then picked up a kebab for tea on the way home

Lovely views of Chateau Thierry and the Marne valley from the old castle ruins.

One of the castle gates, not quite so ruined!

Mike getting a handful in the castle's herb garden....

We left Chateau Thierry in hot sunshine and had a lovely cruise for a couple of hours to our next mooring at Joulgone – we really are enjoying the Marne very much, the countryside is just beautiful and there are vines for miles.  There we practised the Ninebot again a couple of times, both now managing to ride it without holding on to each other for support, but still with quite a bit of wobbling.

Not a bad spot for a glass of wine and a good book

Monday 7^th saw us on another short pootle to Dormant where our, leave early, arrive first policy worked again and the pontoon was empty when we got there at lunchtime.  The mooring was on a campsite, with open parkland next to the moorings and the caravans and tents further along hidden behind hedges.  It was well kept, had good facilities, so not surprising that there was a charge, but 9euros a night including water and electricity seemed reasonable.  We went for a walk around the town, much of which was shut as it was Monday, but the kebab shop was open, so Mike had a kebab for lunch and I ordered a salad.  The town has a chateau and impressive War memorial, so we headed towards that to enjoy our lunch in the chateau gardens in the shade.  The chateau itself is not open to the public, but houses the Tourist Information, so you got to see the entrance and one room!  But the gardens are free and just lovely and the war memorial and exhibitions within are all free too.  It was so impressive and their little ‘Marne Visages’ exhibition brought a tear to my eye reading the accounts of some of the French soldiers who died.

 

Nice approach to Dormant

Mooring with a view

The Chateau at Dormant within its beautiful gardens

The war memorial overlooks the town and was built after the First World War but now commemorates all the wars.

Beautiful interior which also houses a wee museum off to the side, where you can see items they've dug up and are still finding today.

View from the top of the tower.

We had spotted a L’Eclerc supermarket from the chateau gardens so topped up on supplies on the way back to the boat and as we crossed the bridge back to our mooring saw a dutch barge approaching.  They slowed up as if to moor, but by now Paul and Elaine had arrived and there was no room on the pontoon.  There was another barge moored on a stone quay next to the pontoon, but someone else was already alongside them as well, so I shouted over that they were welcome to come alongside us.  And so we met Trevor and Alison and Levi and Sacha the staffies on board Denieel (I think, I can’t remember exactly the name of their boat).  In this massive country, with hundreds and hundreds of miles of rivers and canals, we manage to bump into someone who moored their boat at Weedon!!!  What was funnier was that it was a white cruiser and whenever we were at Weedon I would comment that “That poor cruiser’s still sitting there – do you think anyone ever takes it out??”  Apart from the one time I realised with great excitement that it was facing the other way so must have been out……..  They have shares in Denieel so only travel on her six weeks a year and they still have the white cruiser, Swallow, in the UK, but have now moved her from Weedon so they can explore a different area.

They invited us over for a drink in the evening, after we’d done some more Ninebot practice on the tarmacked cycle route alongside our mooring and during which I did a good two or three minutes on my own and feel I’ve now mastered “the straight line”, which duly turned into several drinks and them sharing the curries that Mike had made that afternoon, which would have lasted us a week had they not shared them.  It was a lovely evening and nice to also share stories of Weedon and Daventry as they still live in the area.  We were amused to find that the pub in Badby that we’d stayed at whilst waiting on Quaintrelle being finished has just been taken over by Merlin, the bar man from tv's First Dates, who has renovated it and has trained all the staff in cocktail making!!!  Despite a late night and the promise of rain, we will be continuing our cruise though champagne country in the morning.

Family of swans visiting for a late evening snack.