The few days before our departure on our next adventure were quite busy. Rhos and Bill arrived and overlapped with Pam and Geoff for one night. They slept in the fo’c’sle cabin which met with their approval. Next evening we also had a visit from Bob and his partner Nye. Bob has a boat at Lakes Entrance, Victoria and when the time is right, intends to make a change and join the European barging community. Our friendly Frenchman Thomas, also joined us for a meal the evening before our departure, concluding quite a busy few days.
Our plan was to go east up the Marne au Rhin canal to Gondrexange, turn north into the Houilleres de la Sarre canal to Sarreguemines. Then into the Sarre River to the Moselle River at Konz, turn left and follow the Moselle back to Nancy. Simple!
We had already followed the Marne au Rhin to Gondrexange with Pam and Geoff so it was exiting to change direction and head to Sarreguemines.
We are getting close to Germany and even the eclusier’s cottages have a slightly different look.
A little further on and we came across a modern (less than 100 years old) reminder of France’s need to protect itself from invaders. We believe this pillbox protecting the canal was part of the Maginot line, built after the first world war.
We spent two nights at Saareguemines as the town has a big history in mining and the production of crockery. After a heavy day of sightseeing we relaxed with another of Marg’s wonderful meals.
Next morning, before departure, Marg set off on her bike for some last minute purchases at the local supermarket. We met her at the next ecluse which was where the canal joined the Sarre River. The Sarre changes to the Saar now we are heading for Germany. We have France on the left bank and Germany on the right.
On the Saar and Moselle Rivers we were in waters along with some very big freight barges. The ecluses are equally large and we shared one with a relatively small barge - it was only 110 meters long and 12 wide. The Saar is a beautiful river and winds its way through some very attractive country.
The hills everywhere were covered with large areas of vines as the region produces some of the world’s best white wines.
And the large freight barges seemed to get bigger.
We stopped at Saarburg and found some interesting historic detail in the watercourse that runs through the centre of the old town. The photo above reminds us about the real size of Matilda.
The stream here is diverted around the side of the old mill, driving four water wheels.
Bill is a good photographer who is keen on photographing birdlife. He has cameras and lenses that are way beyond Peter’s ability to use. He tried to explain how easy it is, but as Dave and Rob know, photography is not Peter’s strongest point! Maybe it was too late this evening, or maybe something else! It is all Peter can do to press the auto button on our point-and-shoot job.
The Saar joins the Moselle at Konz and we turned upstream on the Moselle headed back towards France. We stopped at Remich where we had Germany on the east bank and Luxembourg on the west. We moored and decided to take in the sites of Luxembourg.
The tourists in William’s Square with William II, King of the Netherlands and the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.
The tunnel network under the old fortifications were vast considering about 90% were destroyed to comply with the Treaty of London of 1867.
How is this for a bendy bus! 3 bodies and 4 sets of wheels.
We spent a couple of days exploring the city of Luxembourg as it was only a 40 minute bus ride from our mooring at Remich. The city is remarkably clean and very go-ahead. There are many new buildings and the feeling that the City was very alive. Bill and Rhos left us here taking a train to Paris, then London where they spent time with relatives and then back to Melbourne.
They met our next visitors in London. They had dinner with Steve and Allison who, next morning followed the reverse route and joined us that afternoon in Remich.
There will be more to talk of, so till then – keep in touch.
