We left Montereau, the site of Napoleon’s last big victory against the allied Austrian forces in the catchily named “War of the Sixth Coalition.” (Theyhad a heck of time, but this was the war that eventually ended with Napoleon in exile on Elba. Of course he later escaped – which resulted in the “War of the Seventh Coalition,’ but that’s another story). They have a big statue of Napoleon on the bridge with the famous quote “Don’t worry my friends, the cannon ball that can kill be has not yet been made!”
Another battle in the war occurred the day before at Moret-Sur-Loing (where we are currently) as the French attempted to delay the advancing coalition forces. A cannon ball remains in one of the medieval doors into the city.
We arrived here yesterday (it was highly recommended by a cruising couple we met a few weeks ago) and plan to lay over a day. This will also give us a chance to defrost our freezer which is a major project, before we start south on a new canal, Canal du Loing.
Turns out the Loing is not always a gentle as we see it today. Talking to the harbor master, she said it flooded last June and completely destroyed the office and marina which has since been rebuilt.
Moret is a lovely medieval town with a 12th century church (though, to be honest, pretty much every town has an incredible medieval church or two) and still has two of the original town wall gateways.
But clearly everyone is not excited about our arrival……
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