It seemed that we were stuck in Mouzon for a very long
time but it was really only three weeks and two days. Probably as it was our
fault, the delay seemed never ending. We made good use of the time as even
though the weather was not good for outside work, we started to repaint the
deck and prepare some wooden windows for varnishing.
The weather did get the better of us though and we generally
decided that winter had arrived and
there would be little or no further work on Matilda till the spring.
The eleventh of November is a very important day for
France and it was a something of a privilege to be present at the Mouzon war
memorial as the local veterans and citizens paid their respects to those lost
in the Great War.
We left Mouzon on Friday 16th November getting
away at 0800 hrs. The weather was cold and very misty but we were determined to
make Nancy as soon as we could. We planned a five day trip.
The trees are now bare except for the pompoms of mistletoe
that are now very obvious.
The first night out was spent at a public wharf at
Consenvoye – after 55 kilometres and 10 locks and travelling for nine and a
quarter hours.
In the morning –Saturday, the local fishermen were lined
up to take our spot when we left. We are not fishing oriented and were amazed
at the gear these fellows have. Right down to electronic alarms on the rods if
a fish dares to touch the bait.
We pressed on and passed through some very historic
country. Verdun was one spot we will come back to with its significant place in
France’s history.
Keeping up the pace, we travelled through a part of the
Canal de l’ Est that is all manually controlled. We had some great eclusiers
who were very helpful in assisting us to travel quickly. They always appreciate
some assistance.
Four ecluses from the top of the climb we found these
three bridges, the lower one is a railway line.
Around the corner is a huge limestone quarry and a cement
plant. Everything has a thick coating of the fine white dust as this picture
shows.
Next day we started at 0900 hours in a heavy fog. The ecluses were now on automatic and we came down the 12 to Toul in reasonable time,
arriving at 12.15. As Nancy would be
a six hour trip we decided to spend the night and get there tomorrow.
We arrived and moored in Nancy mid afternoon Tuesday 20th. Pretty much in the
same spot as we were last year and it all seems familiar. Now, we will settle
the boat for winter and get ready for our return to Australia for Christmas.
There will be more to tell then so we will keep in touch.
