The
time was approaching when we would depart Nancy, the cruising season is
starting and we are fairly keen to stretch our legs. Before we left, our
friend Lucy (Nancy Opera) offered us some tickets to a performance of La Vie Parisienne. An operetta by Jacques
Offenbach written around 1864. It is set in Paris and is a good bit of a romp
with some nice music. The performance was an afternoon matinee at the Metz
Opera House and Lucy drove us there with her friend Genevieve. We thoroughly enjoyed the excellent performance.
We
departed our mooring in Nancy on the
24th April 2015 and after stopping at the Auchan supermarket for
some final groceries we headed out towards Chalons
en Champagne where we were planning to meet Marg’s sister, Elizabeth and her
friend, June. Our plan was to make our way quietly, through Toul and then Vitry-le-Francois. We had a few days up our sleeve so we were
taking it easy. The first night out we moored at Liverdun, (A whole two hours from Nancy). We have been
through this lovely old town on the
Moselle River a couple of times but this is the first time we have stopped.
Here
the railway crosses a loop in the river twice on beautiful old stone bridges.
The sun is catching this one as the morning mists clear.
Liverdun
is an old medieval town, known because it was the summer residence of the bishops
of Toul in the 17th century. Some of its buildings must date back to
that time. This bell was in a small church in the top of the hill but it no
longer had a tower big enough to house it.
Off
to Toul where the town square was a mass of spring flowers.
The
army who have barracks in Toul were moving about eight of these tanks, all
showing signs of recent action. The
bridge over the canal carried the load.
We
moved on to Pagny sur Marne and in our wanderings found this dear old soul
waiting for a train. Marg passed the time of day with her.
We
now had to press on to be at Chalon en
Champagne in time to meet Elizabeth
and June.
