Thaone to Corre

16 Sept. Today Oupa Badie’s birthday and he would have been 87. He passed on 16 years ago and we still miss him. I can’t help wondering what he would have thought about our shenanigans!!

Trains they used to drag barges in the canals in the past

Anyway we slept overnight at a mooring in Thaon-sur-Vosges. Small harbour if you can call it that. Mooring for only two boats with a promise of water and electricity in the map book, but nothing! We didn’t really need it. We decided to stay there anyhow because we were a bit tired after 11 locks and not great weather. We experienced a few problems with locks today. These locks were all automatic and are operated by a remote control that the VNF provides one with. Somehow our remote didn’t work for the first lock that day, so we had to phone and wait for the lock keeper who came around and exchanged it for another. This of course takes time and while we wait Linqui has to be manoeuvred all the time or tied up and without mooring on the side Attie has had to hone his skippering skills to the utmost. Lock number two also had a problem, so the same procedure. In the mean time our Irish friends were behind us and that meant that they also had to wait for us. Eventually we arrived in Thaon as I said after 11 locks.

Canal viaduct over river 

For us one of the best options, overnight by a canal away from town noises



The French storing their wood for winter

Hotel de Ville

Attie watched rugby all morning and he was of course delighted that the Boks won and that Ireland beat the Aussies and on that high note we upped sails and started our next leg of the journey towards Epinal. We went through the first lock when I noticed there along side of the canal at an international school or something similar, was a market!! I do not pass markets and so there we promptly moored again (why not, we are getting so good at it!) and spent an hour or so checking things out. Bought some cheese, chutney and shallots and had a very forgettable lunch at the market.

Such unbelievably beautiful sights abound on the canals

Another rural overnight mooring

Lunch with Nick and Sandy Trotter from "Lovely Jubbly".

Peaceful evening underscored by a shepherd with his mixed flock

We also met the Trotters the first evening we arrived in Epinal and setting off the net morning to tackle all those locks they were behind us. At the last lock we decided to moore for lunch. I made a quick pasta and salad. We layed the picnic table alongside the canal and when they appeared we surprised them with a nice meal. It was a lovely and delicious lunch.

From there 5 more locks and at the last one we waited a very long time, Attie up and down again with Linqui wanting to do her own thing and but she eventually gave up and listened to the skipper. Two boats who were ahead went through the lock before us and one coming through from the other direction causing a very long delay. The lock walls were quite high, I could not reach the bollard. Attie decided to climb up the ladder, but the ladder was very loose and moved with the boat!! Dangerously so! Fortunately the friendly face of the lock keeper appeared and took the ropes from us. I was getting quite tired because the weather today was not that great with short, light rain showers in between. I do the ropes from the bow and no covering overhead, so when it rains it really is not a pleasure.

The shepherd with his mixed flock was quite something to behold. He had about 20 sheep, 10 goats and seven dogs. One of the dogs was a Border collie and was amazing. The owner gave him various orders and he knew exactly how to keep that flock together. I sat and watched him for a few hours.

The Irish couple Rosemary and Michael Wray whom we met in a lock

their widebeam narrowboat "Mabel Rose"

Petanque played in every town

Tight squeeze into Freycinet lock

First flyfisherman seen near Epinal

After this last lock we had to turn off to the left and after two precarious and quite sharp turns and a aqueduct we were on our way to Epinal. We arrived safely, yet again and moored, with the help of the marina captain, who has a gorgeous Luxe Motor (i.e. very luxurious long boat with all the trimmings. Even I looked twice and three times at this phenomenon! )

Just after we were moored and settled I was on the deck and heard this singing and there was Michael Wray, the Irishman we had met in a lock welcoming us and in a great mood, because Ireland beat the Aussies! It was hilarious. They came over for a drink and suggested that we join them for a celebratory meal at the marina restaurant which we did and we had a lovely convivial evening.

 

Attie did his income tax return today, not being able to watch the rugby this morning, because we had no signal, we were moored too close to trees on the side of the marina in Epinal. Shame but fortunately the matches were not crucial. This afternoon we took quite a long walk to visit the Old Town. We had a coffee and visited the Basilica. Not nearly as ornate as the other cathedrals we have seen, but beautiful in its simplicity. Quite dark inside, candles in a few strategic places and soft organ music in the back ground. Wonderful.

We wondered around for a while and it started raining, so we hid at an entrance to a car park and waited it out. Lovely walk back to the boat and later went over to Mike and Rosemary’s for a drink. It is so nice to meet people that you get on with so well. Rosemary is one of those women that I can just sit and talk to for hours. She is a normal, no frills, warm person with a great sense of humour. Attie and Mike hit it off as far as sport and politics are concerned, so we have a good time together. He explained the intricacies of the Irish political/ religious history while Attie related the changes that have occurred in the South African political and social environment.

Same strange Japanese exhibition we stumbled upon

Sad departure of the Wrays but we will meet up again

Attie: Our travels have been somewhat determined by the weather. As Rudi has mentioned it is really no fun being drenched or travelling when there is an arctic breeze blowing. We have delayed departures on occasion, such as in Epinal, to wait for better weather although I remain conscious of the long distance we still have to travel to get to our winter mooring before returning to South Africa in November. When the weather is sunny and quiet it is absolutely magic. We had a beautiful day yesterday and today looks very much the same and is predicted to stay this way for a few days.

A farmer transporting the milk

Water art

I think it is fitting to pay tribute to the staff of the Voies Navigables de France or VNF. This is the authority that has oversight over and manages the canal system in France. Although we understand some canals have been handed over to regional or local authorities, so far all the canals we have used have been managed by the VNF. Firstly I should say that the infrastructure that has been put in place over centuries, is remarkable. Most of France can be traversed by canal. Yesterday we went through an overgrown high-walled section of the canal des Vosges that must have been built more than a century ago and which is showing signs of its age. Spooky, narrow and could have come from a Harrison Ford movie, but still operational and a key section of the North/South thoroughfare which still carries commercial traffic, albeit only that which can fit into the Freycinet standard 39 x 5m locks that are on this canal and apparently on most of canals that were/are used for commercial traffic. Last evening we watched a 385t barge manoeuvre into the lock close to where we were moored with what seemed to be centimetres to spare! The 15 locks we passed through yesterday have all been well maintained and upgraded with new hydraulics, new lock doors, and new smooth steel edging to ensure ropes do not get tangled.

Secondly, and impressively, the staff of the VNF have been universally friendly and helpful. Always a smile and where we have had to change an itinerary had no problem with this at all. Where we needed information about a mechanic or where the next best mooring is they have been ready to assist and advise. Of course with the Rugby World Cup on the go we are also getting friendly comments due to our South African flag.

The VNF keeping the side of the canal pretty



Each old lock keeper house has it's own character. I came to the conclusion that it all depends on the wife's taste!!

Third, the system they operate is very up to date and they track the movement of boats on the canal by computer. Certain sections of the canal system, such as the part we are currently on, require that the VNF be advised the day before when one wishes to travel. There are sections of the lock system that still is operated manually, like the next 7 locks we are due to pass through today, where an official of the VNF goes each lock in the section and physically operates the cycle, closing off the entry gate and lowering the water valves, then opening the water valves on the exit gate and eventually letting one out of the lock. While some of the manual locks now have hydraulics, some still require the lock keeper to manually manipulate them. Hard work indeed and then off to the next lock in the section to wait for one and repeat the process!  

The French love their gnomes

Fontenoy le Chateau

Fontenoy le Chateau is full of these sayings from all over the world

The entire trip in France has just got better and better. The Canal des Vosges is exquisite, the forested banks opening up to more farmland and lovely peaceful vistas. The meandering canal and the many small villages along the way make the passage continuously interesting. We have wondered about the fact that we have travelled through hundreds of kilometres of densely forested areas such as in the Ardennes and that we have not seen any fauna except for two swimming creatures that we thought might be otters but following enquiries of fellow travellers might have been muskrats, two swimming snakes and a single dead wild pig that had ended up in the canal somehow. In South Africa, even in the commercial farming areas one would expect to see at least a rabbit, dassie or some kind of wildlife every so often. Here, nothing. I find this incongruous given the magnificence and remoteness of the environment. It is obviously rich and healthy in plant life, but poor in both animal and diversity of birds. We have seen many ravens, grey herons, ducks, and an expected number of birds of prey moorhens and coots but only few other birds such as swallows, LBJs we would have expected to see in this rich environment. To be precise we have surprisingly seen less than 10 kingfishers and only one white heron along the approximately 1000kms of waterway we have now travelled! The birds, except for ducks and swans, also seem more wary of humans than we are used to. Yesterday we were surprised to be able to cruise quietly past a heron without it flying away as all others have done well before we came abreast of it in the canal.

The weather has been really good to us in the second half of September, with blue skies, crisp misty mornings and lovely sunshine all day. This is certainly a change to the weather we have become used to this summer. Daily I am in awe of the privilege we have of undertaking this adventure and dream of ways to share this with good friends. Rudi and I have noted that while we can and do take hundreds of photos, which of course mostly depict the best side of our travel, the blog and the photos cannot really fully reflect or convey the gentleness of this autumn weather nor the tranquillity of a rural mooring and the quiet and darkness of night alone in the “platteland” nor the joy of meeting up with friends and visiting with them.

Niki and Jon Low, their daughter Katharine and a friends of theirs, Dave and Jack Russel Coco came from Geneva and met us in Corre. What a pleasure it was to see them again and to enjoy our adventure through their eyes. We had a magnificent steak braai on the grassed bank of the marina on Saturday evening and caught up with all the news, including notably Katharine’s wedding to Steve in Johannesburg in August. They stayed on board Saturday night, albeit with some camp style sleeping arrangements and we took a cruise down the Vosges Canal to a next town with them where we had lunch under a bridge before a taxi fetched them back to their car in Corre.

Niki & Dave

Coco

Dave loves walking and Coco did not mind at all

Jon and Dave preparing for departure



Taxi back to Corre. Very sad to see them leaving.

Ok folks that's all for now but to be continued once we are in our winter mooring, hopefully mid next week.