After 1,100 Km, 408 locks and 90 days we are back in our home base of St Jean. Our hopes of doing a grand loop that passed through Paris were dashed by canal closures, most due to insufficient water. The farthest north we got was Metz, near the Luxembourg border and our westward travel ended in Toul.
Ironically the Canal du Rhone au Rhin near Besancon was closed a few days after we passed due to high water.
We took a 15-minute train ride from our mooring in Montbeliard to spend the day in Belfort since the canal to Belfort is no longer open. We saw the famous lion of Belfort, created by the same guy that did the Statue of Liberty.
We walked around the citadel, the remains of defensive works that were designed by Lois XIV’s architect, Vaubaun.
And walked around the city looking at lots of old stuff.
We took an electric boat tour (because of course we did) that went right past Decize. Sadly, the guide failed to point out the grandeur of this fine ship.
But the highlight of our visit may have been the mayor of Metz, aka Schatzi, stopping by for an inspection. Or, as it turns out, a chunk or two of cheese. I wasn’t supposed to let him in a third time, but take a look closely at that last photo…who could resist that?
Time to head south for real ….
We may have had to turn back east when we reached Toul, but before heading south, we made a detour north to see Metz, which we’d been told was a lovely stop. It didn’t disappoint.
The main cathedral of Saint-Etiennne has stained glass by Marc Chagall and Jacques Villon … and a dragon. (We now think every cathedral should have a dragon.)
The nearby church of Saint Maximin had even arty-er stained glass by Jean Cocteau. And a lot of blue carpet.
Then there was Porte des Allemands (the Germans’ Gate), a medieval bridge castle with two 13th-century towers and this charming carving of the king at the time, mooning anyone who attempted to storm the city.
We took an electric boat tour (because of course we did) that went right past Decize. Sadly, the guide failed to point out the grandeur of this fine ship.
But the highlight of our visit may have been the mayor of Metz, aka Schatzi, stopping by for an inspection. Or, as it turns out, a chunk or two of cheese. I wasn’t supposed to let him in a third time, but take a look closely at that last photo…who could resist that?
Time to head south for real ….
Exiting our last lock of the day on the Moselle near Pompey we noticed a little penichette, also a former Locaboat, waiting to enter. Or so we thought.
We moored in Pompey and went for a walk. We were nearly back to our boat when we were approached by two women with a cute white dog. After a few awkward sentences in French we switched to English and learned that they were from the little penichette, which had gone kaputt (they were German who spoke excellent English).
They asked for help towing their boat from the lock to the Pompey dock. We said sure.
After rescuing Kathrin, her two sons and her friend, Julia we had a little celebration aboard Decize. We were soon joined by Kathrin’s husband Markus, who had seen us from a bus on the bridge as went to fetch a car. The conversation was a mix of English, German, French and even a few words of Spanish.
Four gin and tonics, two voda tonics, an Old Fashioned and (Kathrin’s first) martini later we had made some new friends.
… even a former professional headline writer could not resist that pun.
The Cathedral of St Etienne dominates Toul. And rightly so since you can climb ALL the way to the top AND you can see the actual relics which are hidden in most churches.
Up we go…
The views from the top were worth the 389 steps.
Back downstairs we toured the “Treasure Room” which consisted of mostly gold bishops’ staffs, but also a nail from the ONE TRUE CROSS. And, as all know, there were only three of those. Or maybe four.
Outside we found one more treasure, a plaque noting where Joan of Arc (Roberta’s current historical obsession) successfully repelled a marriage claim and was then free to be martyred a few years later.
Oops… we almost forgot the 18th century graffiti proving that juvenile delinquents have always walked among us.
Other stuff we saw …
While we spent the last month entertaining three groups (12 friends and family) the French canal system was busy drying up. See map below: green is good, orange is so-so, purple is bad. Since the route west to Paris is closed to us we are unable to complete our planned grand tour.
Our new plan (ha, ha, ha) is to go north to Metz and then hop a train for lunch in Luxembourg. We will then begin to retrace our route. Some of this will be fun, like the boat elevator we took to get here.
Other parts, like slogging up the Rhine, and waiting for huge boats to come along so we can go through huge locks, not so much.
The Canal de la Marne au Rhin (at least to Nancy) has surpassed our expectations for beauty.
And Nancy has been a lovely stop. The captainerie called Place Stanislaus the most beautiful square in France. It is indeed lovely and has a cool light show we managed to stay up for (it started at 10:45!).
We made it to Besançon with our dead alternator and moored at the lovely Cité des Artes (That’s our little boat at the far end).
What was supposed to be an overnight stay turned into a weeklong soujourn while we waited for our new alternator and the mechanic. As it happened we could not have proceeded in any case because the river was so high that the locks up river were closed.
So, what else to do but enjoy the town? Tuba player on the dock, Ultraviolets – best cocktail in France – at Boheme, and the Museum of Fine Arts and Archeology.
Not to mention the heavy metal festival at the end of the dock,
where we also scored this awesome drinkware but forgot to bring bananas.
And we took advantage of Besançon’s great restaurants.
Then more Ultraviolets, because Boheme has some fantastic people watching.
Roberta had plenty of time for a visit to her favorite outlet store (twice).
And Jason stocked up on his new favorite apero snack.
We both agreed that Besaonçon would be a great place to live (lot of runners here) and Roberta considered putting a mailbox on the dock. But, the mechanic showed up and the locks opened up and we were on our way.
Two hours before our first guests of the season arrived, this happened.
Decize safely in her (weedy) slip with a new transmission.
We headed south on a shakedown cruise with our guests. First stop Verdun-sur-le-Doubs at our favorite captainerie.
On to Chalon-sur-Saone, winter headquarters of Julius Caesar (he is no longer there) and a distribution point for Leffe Ruby!
Then up a little river (La Seille) where we had to do our own locking.
It was also the inaugural cruise for our latest boat upgrade – Le Moulinet
We stopped in the book town Cuisery, where Francis ordered … something.
After picking up some noir graphic novels and ghost stories we went back down the Seille to Tournus.
The French version of a unicorn…. real crackers!
After dropping off our passengers, we headed back north, with an overnight stay at the home of some friends who have retired near here. In one year they’ve transformed their backyard into a park-like oasis. Did we mention real showers? And a swimming pool? And real showers?
After a quick stop at our home port (St-Jean-de-Losne) for a final transmission check we headed north to start our grand tour. Oops… turns out we spent too much time cruising and not enough time shaking down. Enjoy these next photos of bucolic Burgundy as our alternator slowly dies.
The goal: to be cruising the inland waterways of France, a la 2024.
We made it to St. Jean de Losne … before our long-awaited gearbox. We found lots of weeds but no boat in our slip
So, only one thing to do….Apero! At La Barge.
Our first full day in France was spent getting reacquainted with our little home away from home as we tried to stroll away the jet lag.
The exterior renovations of the church seem to be complete but work continues inside.
Not pictured: our boat.
Also not pictured: our boat.
No first day in St Jean would be complete without a visit to the hardware store.
No boat here either.
But a well-timed ping from the air tags attached to our bikes, which are attached to our boat, solved the mystery.
We thought she was still in the shed, so this is good news in that we should have a place to stay when we check out of our lovely inn in two days. Won’t be the first time we’ve started the summer in the shipyard. C’est la vie…
Our Adventures 