Never too much Champagne

We left Langres after a stay of four days. We needed a set of vee belts to drive the alternator on Matilda’s main engine to keep our batteries charged. The ones we fitted in St Jean de Losne were just the wrong size and were slipping badly. Having no luck to get the right size, Peter had to modify the alternator mountings to get the old ones to work.

For those who are interested in the machinery on Matilda, her main engine is a six cylinder Henschel diesel. With a capacity of eleven litres it idles at 700 rpm and develops 150 kw (200 HP) at a speed of 2200 revs per minute. They were used in trucks and motors for diesel powered rail cars. The original generator (Bosch) developed 25 amps at 24 volts. We have replaced this with one that generates 80 amps. The motor was made about 1955 and was fitted in a rebuild done to the boat about that time. It is not too thirsty and our recent cruise from Paris to Nancy gave us the following figures: 299 kilometres travelled in 61.3 hours using 215 litres of diesel. That is 3.49 litres an hour or .71 litres per kilometre. Not bad when pushing over 80 tonnes at an average speed (while moving) of about 7 kilometres per hour.

Henschel manufactured steam engines in the early 20^th century and exported them throughout the world. During the first and second world wars they made all types of weapons including the Panther and Tiger tanks as well as many different aircraft.This included the V1 and V2 and other rocket powered weapons. The company’s factories were the most bombed targets in the second world war. Unfortunately, today the company hardly exists with its various sections sold off to the likes of ABB, Mercedes and Bombardier.

Now, having wiped our oily hands, let's get off down the Champagne and Burgundy canal. We were now in a very old section of the canal which has been known until recently as the Marne a la Saone canal. This section from Vieville to Vitry le Francois was built around 1860 and as it serves mining and industrial areas has seen a lot of use.

Even now, the canal has a lot of commercial activity meaning it is kept in relatively good order

We passed this spot where the VNF were dredging the canal. Three full sized barges and two dredges working within 100 metres made for some interesting navigation as we worked around them. The dredges are anchored to the bottom but the barges collecting the mud moved for us.

We passed a French airforce airstrip and were fascinated by the jets taking off and landing. All very noisy but exiting to watch.

Peter watched this twin engine delta wing fighter bomber doing touch-and-go circuits at the rate of one every three minutes. It did six and we still hadn’t gone the length of the strip!

We were now off to Paris as we had some visitors joining us. Marg’s brother Peter – rapidly being known as the Serial Visitor was joining us for the fourth time. Also we were being visited by Marg’s cousin, Robert who, with a friend, Rod were visiting France to take in some wine and food tasting through the Champagne and Burgundy regions. All three would be with us through the Champagne regions along the Marne River.

We picked them up from Paris at Austerlitz, mooring Matilda in the Seine just outside the railway station. Peter arrived by taxi while Rob and Rod came by Metro from Charles de Gaulle airport.

We entertained a French couple to dinner, They were old friends of Peter M’s who lived close to the route we were taking out of Paris. Danielle and Joël were a charming couple who had many stories to tell of their experiences throughout the world.

Soon we were in Champagne country and the hills were alive with the sounds grape pickers. The harvest was starting and there were itinerant workers everywhere doing their bit for the French economy

The group on Matilda weren’t doing too badly either.

We visited a number of champagne houses along the Marne and found the smaller houses in the villages and towns most welcoming. The large houses such as Mumm and Tattinger in Reims and Castellane and Moet in Epernay are very tourist driven. We found small producers in towns like Dameray and Conde sur Marne promoted their excellent products in a far more personal way.  

Every spare patch of suitable ground is under vines.

The river is used to irrigate the vines in dry weather. This bank of pumps had over 20 diesel powered pumps to deliver water all over the hillside.

Robert and Rod left us in Epernay to continue their travels with the exploration of red wines in the Burgundy region. They were off to Beaune by train. Peter M was still with us as we pressed on toward Nancy.

There will be more to tell, so we will keep in touch