Highs and lows in Ligny-en-Barrois

This is our second visit to Ligny-en-Barrois. It's a welcoming little town on the western edge of the Lorraine region with excellent port facilities: moorings for around 10 boats (some on a floating pontoon, some on a quay), an ablutions block and free wifi set in a park just two blocks from the main square in the centre of town. It costs just 5 euros a night and from here there is easy access to everything boaters are likely to need: a service station just metres down the road sells fuel and bottled gas, there are two supermarkets and a Lidl's discount food store, and there's a small hardware store. Unsurprisingly, it's a popular place to stop both for boaters and for those in camper vans, who share the space.

We arrived here on Friday late morning after a couple of hours of pleasant and problem-free navigating from Tronville, a village about 5km down the canal. When we arrived, there were four boats already here, which gave us a choice of spots. We chose to be to the pontoon with our stern against the quay as this gives us easy access to the shore out the back of the boat, especially when the platform on our stern and the quay are at more or less the same level. We can also lock the bikes onto the boat on the gunwales, which means they are both secure and easy to get to. For us, there is no better mooring. We were able to settle in quickly and immediately plug in to electricity and water. (Sometimes we have to wait for the harbour master to trip a master switch – and s/he may not arrive until late afternoon or evening). It wasn't long before J had the laundry under way and C was off to market to get provisions.

The first hint of trouble came in the form of an English boater, who came round from the next lock to tell another English boater in port that he was stuck in the lock and that there appeared to be water problems in the canal. A look at the side of the quay suggested that the level of the water had indeed dropped recently – by about 20cm or so – and regular checks of the depth-finder showed that it was slowly dropping further. Next thing, a Dutch boat that had been in to port for fuel and off again returned. They were unable to get through the lock and had been told by the VNF that there was a problem with the water level but that it should be sorted in 10 minutes or so. A big English barge then arrived in front of the lock and we could watch it waiting – as long as it stayed where it was we all knew that there was still a problem. Several hours later, it was still waiting and the little Dutch boat was still behind us on the pontoon. Another small Dutch barge had also arrived in port from Bar-le-Duc (downstream), leaving just one small space on the pontoon and one quayside.

Our boat is a low boat and when we are stern-on, we don't get a particularly good view of proceedings on the water. However, on Friday evening we were invited for dinner on-board River Holme. We've been sharing moorings, locks, food and drinks with Frank, the English owner, for the past week or so, ever since he allowed us to raft up (i.e. double park) to his boat in the crowded port of Pargny last Friday. His half-deck is at about the same level as our roof, so we had a splendid view from there...

At around 7pm, the normal closing time for the locks, the barge obviously gave up on the idea of getting any further that day and decided to find a place to moor (even though they were already safely rafted up to a VNF service boat opposite the port and looked to be happy there). After a couple of attempts, it found a resting place within the confines of the port against a grass bank...and that, we thought, would be that.

But no, at around 8pm, just after we'd finished our main course of Provencal rabbit with white beans (delicious!), more boats began to arrive – first of all there was a German boat, which fitted snugly into the space on the quay and then a small French boat, which was able to squeeze into the remaining space on the pontoon. It seems that they had been stranded on the canal bottom for some time during the day as the water had been emptied out of one of the stretches of canal. And even when they did get going again, it was at a painfully slow rate – with each section of the canal having to be topped up before they could proceed! Nor were they the last boats to arrive. Another French boat followed and eventually rafted up alongside our boat at our invitation – and a Dutch boat ignored Frank's offer to raft up and moored amongst the reeds beside the park, providing quite some entertainment in the process. It isn't easy to get off and secure a boat in such a position, let alone to get on and off it once you are moored. It was around 8:30pm by the time everyone was in and secure at the end of a long and trying day for many. Before we went to bed, we checked our depth-finder, as we'd been doing regularly during the day, and found that the water seemed to have returned to its original level, and since a pontoon rises and falls with the water, we didn't have to worry about adjusting our ropes.

That wasn't quite the end of the matter, though. When C got up the next day to go and get the morning baguette, she found that she could see far too much of the quay wall through the space at the stern and it was no easy matter to climb out of the boat onto shore. The water level had dropped 70 centimetres overnight!!! It wasn't too serious for us as we could still get on and off our boat – and our boat still had water underneath it, unlike some. It was a bit more of a challenge for those on boats further down the pontoon as you'll appreciate from this photo:

Needless to say the drop in water level was the source of much consternation and animated conversation. Navigation patently wouldn't be possible for several hours at best. Again, we were not affected by the blockage as we had no intention of moving on that day but others had to twiddle their thumbs and wait for the water to rise, which it eventually did. By lunchtime, those who wanted to travel upstream were finally on their way, although it seems that the first few locks upstream of here are still not working as they ought to.

The end of the pontoon - at the right height

There have been a couple of other highs and lows since we've been here. The temperature has been constantly swinging between the two, as it has been pretty much all summer so far. There's been a lot of what C describes as “Incy Wincy Spider” weather. And the people on the boat next door to ours had a bike stolen from their boat last night, which was not just a low for them but brought back memories for us of having our bikes stolen in our first season. Not the best moment for us.

It's Sunday afternoon now and we are still in Ligny. We've had our usual long Sunday lunch (a high point of every week) and are replete and mellow (seeing the world through rosé coloured spectacles). All going well, we hope to leave tomorrow. Our fingers are crossed but we are not holding our breath.

Some of our favourite things (1)

In our first year of navigating, we posted a blog entry about some of our favourite things, which you might remember. We've made a lot of changes since then and we thought we'd introduce you to some of the items on the boat - many of them that we have bought or otherwise acquired since that first year - that make our lives easier or more pleasant. There was no competition for which item would be the first to be featured.

Thanks to Liz, from de Laak, we were made aware ot the existence of such a thing as a “portable twin tub washing machine”! For two seasons we had managed with an inherited system: a hand-tumble washing gadget known as a “Wonder Washer”, a large drum for rinsing and “Thomas” (a brand name that stuck), a German spinner, which dried items within an inch of their life. This was a fine feature because the washing then dried very quickly. Sadly Thomas suddenly died – he may have shaken himself to death - and we had to come up with a new washing solution. Wringing everything by hand was NOT a concept either of us was prepared to entertain!

J had seen Liz' great little machine on board her boat and emailed her for more information. After a bit more correspondence, Liz and Brian (of the pointy tool fame) bought one on eBay in England and transported it in their car to St Jean de Losne for us. We happily paid the cost of 60 euros (or was it £60?) for this little gem.

Oh, what joy to have such a user-friendly machine on the European waterways! It save us loads of time and money in terms of not having to seek out and use laundromats. It's not unusual for French washing machines to take up to two hours to complete a cycle. It is also amusing to see the looks of disbelief and often raw envy on the faces of other boaties (yes, usually the women) who, unaware of such a fabulous appliance, stand and stare at our lovely little blue machine. They sort of carry on a conversation with us in a distracted way but can't take their eyes off the machine, which can wash one load and spin another at the same time. Space on any boat can be an issue, many men just say they have no room on their boat to store it. (Guess who does their washing!) . She who does the washing on Erewhon was ALWAYS going to find a space for this little treasure on board – in fact it was remarkably easy. - and she no longer dreads washing day! (Some amongst us thinks she even enjoys it...)

A word from M+M

One of the reasons we've been a bit irregular with our blog entries so far this year is that we have had guests on board for two and a half of the six weeks that we've been under way. It's been great having them share this experience with us and we thought we'd try and make things up here by asking them to write a post giving their perspective of our travels.

Here's what M+M had to say:

After our arrival from Paris, with two train rides from Paris to Charlesville-Mézières and then to Fumay, we were met by Catherine and took a taxi to the other side of the town where Jeanette was waiting on board to receive us. Fumay was a nice little village, and the next morning was their market day, so we explored that before we took off - and bought a couple of things.

Champagne Noël Potié, Condé-sur-Marne

Condé-sur-Marne is situated at the junction of two canals – the Canal Latéral à la Marne and the Canal de l'Aisne à la Marne. It lies between the two major centres of the champagne region, Rheims and Epernay. We have now been to – or through – it on our boat five times. The first time we were on our own; each subsequent time we have had visitors on board: Rob, M+M and Graeme (twice).

On our first visit in 2009, we were outside the premises of Champagne Noël Potié discussing whether it was okay to go in for a tasting when we really had no intention of buying when it started to rain. That made up our minds for us – we went in.... and we were met with such a warm welcome and such a generous tasting that we were really glad we did. We ended up discussing our moral dilemma with the woman who served us and she assured us that it was perfectly fine to come in and taste – otherwise how would we ever know what their champagnes were like?! Future discussions with this charming hostess …....The generosity of spirit, the size of tasting and the quality of the champagne combined with very reasonable prices meant that we did actually buy a couple of bottles for special occasions, such as the arrival of visitors or Sunday lunch. It has also made Champagne Noël Potié a compulsory stop for us any time we pass through Condé-sur-Marne during opening hours.

We have been back there with all our visitors and each time have been met with the same warm welcome and the same generosity in terms of the tastings. The two women there (the daughter of the house and her sister-in-law) know that I have already tasted my way through their range three or four times but that doesn't stop them filling my glass as full as ever. We've had lovely discussions about the wines, the family and events they run. This year's “Sandshoe Rally” around Conde-sur-Marne ended up being a “Gumboots and Umbrella Rally” instead – the weather has been a bit like that this year so far. We missed it by a day. Champagne Noël Potié has become our house(boat) champagne. This season we've enjoyed their traditional Brut with M+M after a tasting visit, we welcomed Graeme on board with their Blanc de Blancs and farewelled him with their Blanc de Noirs, and we have a bottle of their rosé in our “cellar” for another special occasion. Definitely something to look forward to...

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Noël Potié's champagnes are not available in New Zealand. That bottle of rosé may well be the last champagne of theirs that we drink but delicious memories of the wine and of the visits to their cellars will remain with us for a very long time – and if you happen to be travelling in the Champagne region one day, keep an eye out for Condé-sur-Marne. Noël Potié seems to be the only champagne house there, so I'm sure you'll find it – and do let them know that we sent you.

A mission, migration and the Meuse

Unusually, we started our 2012 season with a mission: our friends, M and M, who have holidayed with us on Erewhon three times before, would be joining us for 10 days from late May. M2 is particularly fond of bubbly wine and we have often said that we would love to travel through Champagne with them on the boat, if we could. This year it would be possible – if we didn't muck around too much en route. We arrived in Antwerp on May 14^th after a few relaxing days in London and spent our first few days shuttling between the boat and the home of our lovely friends, Winnie and Regnier. We unpacked and anti-fouled the boat in the cold and in between showers and had her in the water late on Wednesday the 16^th, as planned. We then spent a few days cleaning, organising and provisioning the boat – and one day visiting Bruges with Winnie as it would have been a sin to leave Belgium without seeing Bruges.

 If you read our 2011 blog post about our trip from Gent to Antwerp, you will understand that the Scheldt, which runs through Antwerp, is a tidal river not to be taken lightly – and because of the tides, any travel on the river needs to be carefully planned. Not only that, our departure from the Linkeroever Jachthaven, (the left bank port) where our boat had spent the winter, was also reliant on the tide. The lock that allows entry and exit from the port only opens for an hour either side of the high tide.

Jachthaven Antwerpen Linkeroever: waiting for the harbour master to give the green light

We were both more than a little apprehensive about heading out onto the Scheldt again but this time was always going to be easier than the last. We had only about 14km to travel to the start of the Scheldt – Brussels – Charleroi Canal (instead of the 83km we had travelled on it at the end of last year) and because we were travelling away from the sea we had the tide with us for longer. We left on a Sunday afternoon on a late afternoon tide, heading out of the port at just after 3.30pm. Fittingly, there was a cruise liner moored on the side of the Scheldt, just as there had been on the day of our arrival last year, although this one stayed put. Because it was a Sunday, there was no commercial traffic on the river, so we didn't have to contend with the waves or wake created as they whizzed by – a blessing. In under an hour we were at the lock and by 5pm we were moored in a picturesque spot on the side of the canal with a drink in hand, happy to have been to Antwerp on the boat, happy to have left her there for the winter and happy to be able to relax with our time on the Scheldt behind us...

In port in Brussels (in the distance)

The Scheldt – Brussels – Charleroi Canal is not a tourist canal. I'm tempted to compare it to a motorway but, in fact, it is much more akin to a main trunk line of the railways. It is there for industrial and commercial purposes and although used by the occasional pleasure craft, it is dominated by commercial barges. The industrial nature of the canal does not lend itself to lingering along the way. It does, as the name suggests, run through Brussels and although we stopped in the port there for a night, we still have no idea where the centre of the city is in relation to the port. That we were able to find a supermarket to buy some supplies seemed like a big enough achievement. The commercial nature of the canal meant that everything was in working order and, apart for the hold-up at Ronquières described in the previous post, navigating was simple and speedy. There were some pleasant stretches in terms of scenery but many which are better described as “industrial” and at best “interesting”. The passage through Charleroi at the southern end of the canal might even be the ugliest we have experienced. That said, we managed to find somewhere pleasant and safe to moor up each night and we were pleased to have experienced this other side of the waterways. We found the commercial bargees unfailingly friendly and cooperative.

After a pleasant night and day on the Sambre, we turned onto the river Meuse, which is known to Dutch-speakers at the Maas. Suddenly we found ourselves surrounded by pleasure craft and the scenery was not just pleasant but spectacularly beautiful. It reminded us a lot of the Doubs (part of the Rhine to Rhone Canal) with its meandering nature, steep sides and citadels. With the stretch of water from Namur to the French border, Belgium had saved its best until the very end. We particularly enjoyed our stay in Dinant, a lively tourist town, which proudly proclaims itself as the birthplace of Adolphe de Saxe and therefore home of his creation, the saxophone.

Namur - from the boat

The Meuse/Maas IS a major highway – part of the route that joins the low countries, especially Holland, most directly with the southern parts of France. Spring is the time when Dutch boaters, along with Belgians and Germans, head south for the better summer weather and we seemed hit peak season. It was an astonishing change! We went through the last locks in Belgium and the first lock over the French border in the company of no fewer than seven other pleasure craft. As we were the last boat into the locks, we then were held up for quite a long time while the others bought their French Waterways vignette (sticker). Initially we thought there were some other formalities to complete and lined up with all the rest. Once we realised that all that was required was the sticker, which we had bought via the internet before we left home, we were able to jump past some in the queue and leave once our side of the lock had cleared (we were in two rows of four down each side).

Heading into France

Our next stop on the Meuse was Fumay, where we had decided to stop, provision and clean before being joined by M+M. We are hoping that they will pick up the story from there. We've asked them to contribute a post for the blog to shed a different light on our adventures - and to let you know to what extent our mission was successful.

C getting up close and personal with Mr de Saxe in Dinant (He was not amused)

Worth the detour

In Michelin guides – for both restaurants and tourism – two stars are awarded for anything that is worth a detour from your planned itinerary; something worth going out of your way for. When we set off this year, we were fairly single-minded about heading south so that we could meet our friends M+M in enough time to be able to travel with them into Champagne country (M2 being a particularly dedicated drinker of the bubbly variety of wine). However, ever since we started talking of our intention to navigate in Belgium, fellow boaters have been saying that we must make a point of experiencing the Strépy-Thieu boat lift.

Had the lift at Strépy-Thieu been the only feature worth seeing, we may not have chosen to make the detour but when we found out that we could do a small loop that would also take in four much older boat lifts on the UNESCO-rated historic Centre Canal, we made the decision to cover the extra 20 kilometres to see them all.

It’s worth mentioning that we started our detour just a day after experiencing yet another of Belgium’s waterway engineering feats – the inclined plan at Ronquières. This structure is very similar to the Arzwiller inclined plane that we wrote about several years ago but with a couple of important differences. Arzwiller is on a canal that is now only used by pleasure boats, so there is very little waiting involved and there has never been enough traffic to bring into service its second tank. When you go down the inclined plane at Arzwiller, the boat is carried sideways up or down the hill; at Ronquières the tank carries you straight up the hill in the original direction of the boat. This seems to involve more water and more complex engineering. We think it may have been an earlier model.

Ronquières in on a very well-used commercial canal and when we arrived there were a lot of boats ahead of us. When we registered our arrival on the VHF, we were told that we would be in the fifth lift of the day. Eventually, we were able to work out that, at best, we would have to wait at least 6 hours. We waited for seven. Like Arzwiller, the inclined plane at Ronquières was built with two lifting tanks and like Arzwiller, only one is operational.  The difference is that at Ronquières this matters tremendously. It is of little consequence in the greater scheme of things to have pleasure boats waiting top or bottom for several hours but it seems vastly wasteful of time and resources that so many commercial barges hanging around for such a long time. We weren’t able to find out if there are any plans to get the second tank into action again but the state of it suggests that it has been out of action for a very long time.

Apart from the waiting, the actual process of going up the inclined plane is simpler than any lock from the boaties’ perspective – you drive straight into the tank as though it was a lock, tie up and the machinery does the rest. You get to enjoy the view, marvel at the engineering involved, take photos and relax. 1400m in length and 67.5m in vertical lift in 40 minutes – brilliant!

Our detour onto the Canal du Centre was even better. The historic (original) canal was replaced by a new, wide-gauge canal in the early 2000s but has been saved as a tourist route by its UNESCO World Heritage status. The first of the four boat lifts at the eastern end of the canal was constructed in 1888 and its link to the time of Eiffel is immediately obvious, as you’ll see from the photos.  At the time of its construction it was an incredible and innovative piece of engineering; it’s still pretty impressive. The three others are a bit more modern, having been constructed in the early 20^th century. Where the inclined planes are like the escalators of the boating world, these truly are straight up-and-down elevators. Each of the four covers a vertical lift (or drop, in our case) of around 16 metres and, like the inclined planes, are as easy as pie for our perspective: drive in, tie up and watch the operators do all the work… Aaaaah! An added bonus to our detour was that it took us through some very beautiful countryside.

We did have one glitch along the way (there usually is at least one). After the first lift, we arrived at a lifting bridge, which was way too low for us to pass under and there was no sign at all of anyone to operate it. We managed to ascertain from the locals that the navigation services usually just arrived to let people through; indeed they had done so for another boat less than an hour beforehand. Eventually we managed to find a phone number to ring and used our NZ mobile phone to call back to the lock we’d just passed through. They assured us that they’d contact the team involved and send them to us, and they did arrive in due course. When we arrived at the next lift, we worked out why we’d had to wait. There was another boat coming up the lift in the counter-weighted tank, so they were able to move both of us at once. We understood the rationale behind  the operation (as indeed we usually do) but it would have saved us a bit of angst if someone had thought to communicate it to us.

We passed through another lifting bridge just short of the fourth historic lifts at around 12:30pm and met with a reminder that we had entered the French part of Belgium. The man operating the lifting bridge mentioned that we would need to take a lunch break as we wouldn’t now get through the bridge until after 1pm. Stopping for lunch is an essential part of French culture, even in Belgium.  We had got out of the habit in the Flemish part… Even though we hadn’t counted on stopping, it turned out to be a blessing as the place we were forced to stop had a beautiful view back along the tree-lined canal we had been travelling on as well as a fabulous view of the new canal and the Strépy-Thieu lift that we were heading towards. We put our folding chairs out onto the grass verge and enjoyed our lunch with a view.

Once through the fourth lift and a lock to finish, we came out onto the new canal and headed towards Strépy. Having waited for 7 hours at Ronquières, we knew that we might also be in for quite a long wait here but we got into the lift in under an hour. After a small technical glitch, we were off - climbing 73.15m vertically in a large tank of water in the company of a very large barge. Impressive, awe-inspiring , amazing - and more than a little bit freaky!  It would certainly have been a shame to miss the experience and we would recommend that little circuit to any of our boating friends. It was, indeed, worth the detour.

The ups and downs of flying - with Swiss Air

Every year since we began coming to the boat, we have bought our air tickets at the Flight Centre's expo, usually opting for the cheapest deal available on flights to Europe. Up until now, this has meant 2 return trips with Korean Air via Seoul, one with Emirates via Dubai and one planned with Qantas via Melbourne and Hong Kong, which didn't take place due to the Chilean volcano saga and was replaced with a Cathay Pacific fare via the same cities. Apart from the fact that we have sworn off Qantas for life (not so much due to the cancellation but their appalling service afterwards as we tried to sort out the insurance claim), we would happily travel with any of these companies again.

At this year's expo, we were very excited to see that Swiss Air were advertising return fares to Europe for $1803 – a significant saving on recent fares – only to be equally disappointed to find out that the fares only applied to stays of under 90 days. Despite discussions with airline reps and our travel agent, we still can't quite work out the logic of this fare structure but it seems to apply to many of the special fares. Even after adding on another $500 to the fare to cover our extra length of stay, Swiss Air came in at equal cheapest with Air France. C's previous experience of the latter – backed up by discussion with our travel agent - pushed the decision in favour of Swiss. Another deciding factor was that we'd fly with Air NZ to Hong Kong without having to pay Air NZ prices – and be able to collect a few extra Air Points in the process. It's almost feels like cheating the system, somehow.

The 11.59pm departure time from Auckland to Hong Kong suited us pretty well – we had time to do all our last minute laundry at home, do a final tidy up of the house and pack our bags before the lovely Graeme came to pick us up and deliver us to the airport. Once on the plane in Auckland, we both crashed, sleeping blissfully through the serving of the first meal. (I'm never sure what to call a meal that you eat in the early hours of the morning like that!). The Air NZ seats were comfortable enough to sleep in (and certainly more comfortable than Cathay's) and we were provided with a snuggly, warm blanket rather than the usual skinny variety. On waking, the in-flight entertainment choices were sufficient, if not as extensive as those offered by Cathay and Emirates. Still, there are only so many movies you can watch on one long-haul flight. Breakfast, served a couple of hours before our 7am arrival in Hong Kong, was pretty much a standard airline breakfast – baby sausages, scrambled eggs and baked beans, with fruit salad and a roll on the side – nothing spectacular but perfectly edible.

We arrived in Hong Kong feeling relatively rested and happy enough at the prospect of a full day's exploration there before another late night departure. The Tourist Information Office in the airport wasn't open because it was too early but it was easy to find and catch the shuttle train into the centre – and a bonus to find that the return ticket is included in the single fare. The shuttle took us to a station in a multi-story shopping mall – and our first challenge was to try and find our way out, which we did eventually with the help of one of the mall's concierges.

As soon as we were outside, we wanted to turn around and go back in again – the heat and humidity were overpowering! Even though we'd changed into light summer clothes at the airport, we found the atmosphere stifling. It didn't help matters that Hong Kong was also bustling and noisy and dirty – there seemed to be construction sites and road works everywhere. It is also a city dedicated to shopping and we are not particularly dedicated shoppers, especially on the outward journey of a four and a half month trip... To cut an interminably long story short, the day became one to endure rather than enjoy as far as we were concerned. There were pleasant moments, though – we found a lovely park in Kowloon and enjoyed the shady, green coolness of it. (Had we packed our swimming togs in our cabin baggage, we could have spent the day at the pool there as well but how were we to know?) We had a lovely, leisurely lunch in an air-conditioned, Vietnamese restaurant; we took a round-the-harbour boat trip and we spent a long sime sitting with one $10 beer each in a bar overlooking the harbour, marvelling at the busy-ness of it all and blissfully protected from the heat and the noise.

And if our day in Hong Kong wasn't long enough, our departure was delayed as well. We sat on the tarmac for around an hour and a half because the Chinese authorities had decided to place a limit on the number of planes per hour that could fly over its airspace. C slept blissfully through it all; J, unfortunately, did not.

But let's back-track just a little as first impressions of the Swiss Air plane are worth a mention for it was furnished in shades of 70s brown and beige. As if that wasn't enough to convey a conservative impression, the air hostesses were also wearing brown – trouser suits with waistcoats. Mmmm. We don't think that they are aiming to be leaders of fashion. The food, service and in-flight entertainment were fine but unspectacular – almost as neutral as their politics.

Despite the delay out of Hong Kong, we arrived in Zurich with just enough time to make our connection to Heathrow – and to be thankful we'd had the foresight in Hong Kong to get our boarding passes for the Zurich-London leg (something we couldn't do in NZ as they can only allocate boarding passes for the next 2 calendar days and ours went into a third). We left Zurich as scheduled at 7am and arrived in London two hours later – at 8am, giving us another full day to get through before bedtime. We were happy to just get to and then hunker down in Calvin and Brian's lovely Crouch End home... and to see them at the end of the day. By the time we did get to bed (and it wasn't late, believe me), it was a full three days since we had last been in one. Oh, the joys of long-haul flying!

PS We are happy to note that our scheduled stay in Hong Kong on the return journey is under two hours.