OCTOBER
2 - 30 Oct - 2004
In the past four weeks we have had a very busy time, entertaining three sets of guests, travelling from Cambrai in the north of France, down through Champagne, on to Paris and back to Champagne at Reims. On the 2nd of October we found ourselves with a couple of days free before our next guest, American Steve Beierlein arrived on the 6th. Time to do the washing, clean the boat, even do a bit of remedial painting of the rubbing strakes on both sides as they had received a few grazes.
We arrived at the small port of Sillery, just out of Reims, for this rest period and found the port all but deserted but the power and water still operating. Many small ports close down completely after August so we were pleased to have the services, but found to our dismay that the port had been fenced and there was no way out for the scooter. We planned to use the little Peugeot, 49cc motor scooter to get back into Reims and out to a couple of the nearby tourist attractions. However, one boat still in the port was owned and operated by a small rental company and the manager was preparing it for clients. We inquired about the gate and he happily produced a key for us with instruction to just leave it in a nearby letterbox before we left. There they go again, the French being nice.
During the next day or two we noticed small aeroplanes passing overhead, obviously in their landing patterns - there must be an airport nearby with training facilities I thought! Once I established that fact I decided to visit the same to check out if a flight was possible. I did and it was. On the Monday therefore I scootered over, arranged the details and with a female flight instructor, walked to the designated Cessna 152. She advised that she had externally pre-flighted the aircraft and indicated the left (command) seat for me. I took the hint and after arranging the seat and harness began the engine and systems pre-flight checklist.
I was somewhat surprised therefore when, half way through, she leaned over me and switched the engine start key on. I hurriedly completed the first checks as she told me to taxi and radioed the tower. We had not gone more than 50 metres when we both heard an almighty bang from the front of the aircraft and I stood on the brakes and cut the engine. We de-planed to find the tow hitch had not been detached to the front undercarriage and while taxiing had obviously bounced up into the path of the propellor. During the next 30 minutes as instructors and management remonstrated and sucked teeth, I, left somewhat on my own, wandered off to find the missing two parts of the tow hitch, located some 50 metres from the impact point and directly in line with the club rooms on their spectator lawn. I=m glad it was not the weekend as kids had been playing there on Sunday.
A short while later they gave me my money back and suggested a flight would not be occurring that day. I left. I should have obeyed my instincts to stop the whole performance when my pre-flight was aborted... next time I will not be lulled and overruled by a supposedly experienced senior pilot.
With the few days spare I finally had the chance to get into Paris to pick up my repaired video camera. We had left it there some months earlier. A half hour by scooter into Reims, one and a half hours train to Paris, an hour to get the Metro and walk to the repair office and then the repeat on the way back - almost a whole day for such a simple task.
It was at this time that on my way back to Sillery from Reims I stopped at Kiwi, Ted Blomfield=s 24m Luxemotor barge in Reims to find that he had just had the misfortune to have dropped his scooter in the canal as his crane cable had given way. Fortunately the skipper of the commercial moored nearby rushed to his aid and it was rescued. Shortly after I arrived, Alain, the restauranteur who owns a boat under conversion just behind Ted=s, arrived to assist with the drying out and re-starting of the waterlogged Vespa. As a result, we all had to go to Alain=s restaurant on the Wednesday night following, before attending a Mozart Requiem concert at the St Remi Basilica. He specialises in seafood, especially oysters. The seven of us ordered a large plate of huge oysters followed by a range of seafood main courses. French oysters are truly sumptuous, big, succulent and full of fresh sea water flavour.
But I digress. Having completed my trip to Paris it was time to get the boat back to Reims for Steve=s arrival on the Wednesday and to arrange for him to be collected from the airport by the local limo / bus service. That all worked and he arrived late on the Wednesday afternoon, in time for the abovementioned oyster binge and Mozart concert.
The next day was planned as a tourist day in Reims for Steve, so we found our way to the now very familiar Piper Heidsieck Champagne cellars, and for a walk through town before lunch. We planned to depart immediately after lunch to Tours sur Marne, away from the noise and confusion of the city.
We had no sooner caste off all but the bow line when the remote engine gear / throttle control in the wheelhouse broke down. I found myself in mid channel with no gear selection available. We therefore had to pull the boat back into the mooring using the only line we still had on. Inspection of the remote revealed a sealed system with no user serviceable parts within. Typical.
A new Vetus remote control was required - but from where, and how long would this all take ? I got on the phone to Vetus Holland - they gave me numbers for Vetus France - but at Toulon on the Mediterranean, somewhat further away than Marseilles. This was not looking good. I got on the Vetus website and established the identity of the part required and rang Toulon, was passed to an English speaking (sort of) assistant who established they had no parts available. Ah, but their subsidiary did and perhaps could get it to Vitry le Francois (65km from Reims) the next day, if the chantier there would fax an order to them that day. I made a call to the chantier (workshop) and was assured the manager would immediately order the part. From there I had to operate on trust as I hired a car for the next day and 24 hours later, drove to Vitry.
As we arrived (the others having come for the ride) the manager welcomed us with the good news that he had received a part, but was it the correct one ? A quick tearing open of the wrapping revealed a brand new single lever operating control and we were back on the road to Reims. Within half an hour of our return, the control was installed and checked. We could leave the next morning.
On to Tours sur Marne where I had arranged a Champagne tasting at local small producer L=Amiable, and as usual, we bought almost the complete output of their cellars to place under the guest bed. During that day and indeed the next few, Steve, after due instruction, displayed some skill on the wheel, getting us into and out of locks without panic and through the canals smoothly.
A night=s stop canalside at Pinon as three commercials had taken our normal place (there is a supermarket right next to the small port - very popular with the wives), then onto Jussy for a long walk up hill to the chateau at Courcy le Chateau. On this occasion everything at Courcy was open so visiting the towers and the grounds of the ruined fortress was easily undertaken.
We continued that afternoon in order to arrive at the Riqueval tunnel just 40 minutes before towing time, just enough time to charge up the hill to the Musee de Touage. This small museum is actually inside one of the old electric tugs that operated the towing service through the 6 kilometre tunnel until the 60s. It was built in 1902 and was replaced by the current tug in 1912 ! The interior is restored to >as it was= condition with mannequins and motors, photos and displays, all showing the workings of the boat and the tunnel through time.
The Riqueval tunnel, initiated by Napoleon I, is the only one still operating an electric tow system. The tugs were introduced to replace the horse powered rope tow after steam engines were banned. They were rather good at asphyxiating barges crews.
From Riqueval to Cambrai is a day=s travel but we had travelled some distance the night before and we arrived at our new home port at 1.00pm. We had discussed Steve=s onward plans and sugested that it would be foolish of him to come to France for the first time and not spend a day in Paris. We therefore arranged a night at the Hotel St Jacques on the left bank near the Sorbonne and a full day of tourist activities for him to indulge in. So, the next morning the taxi arrived bright and early (wish I could have said the same of the weather) and off to the Gare de Cambrai for his transfer to Paris. Another happy camper satisfied with his time on the French canals..
Again we had only a short while before the arrival of our next guests, the inimitable Admiral Ian Palmer and Lady Helen who arrived at half past washing the next day, ready for a cruise to Belgium, then a couple of days on the St Quentin canal (from whence we had just come), followed by a day trip to the WWI museums in Peronne and Compiegne.
The day they arrived, so did the circus. At 10.30 that night we heard the loud sounds of many trucks, caravans and other conveyances descending on port park. The next morning all hell broke loose as they fought us for our water supply, plugged into our electricity and blocked in cars. They also poured their effluent into the canal and left enormous amounts or rubbish and wreckage when they departed 3 days later - again in the middle of the night. The water fight is worth mentioning.
For some reason the town council decrees that the port gets its water turned on at the only tap on Mondays and Thursdays from 9.00am until 5.00pm. That requires us to combine all our hoses to stretch the water supply to each boat in order to top up tanks. We were of course waiting for our Monday supply when the circus workers installed their own fittings to our tap, cutting us off. We reversed the procedure, inciting the wife of the operator to riot. She screamed for him and he duly arrived with a couple of heavies, but was unable to move us from our sentry positions. He was also totally unwilling to listen to our advice that after we had finished he could have access - for his animals (yeah right !). At one point he actually threatened to hit me but backed off after I didn=t flinch or melt in front of him and an uneasy truce reigned for some hours. Their later effort to again interrupt our supply was frustrated by the captain of the port until we had indeed finished. It was then agreed to leave the water supply on for the duration of their stay. An uneasy peace broke out.
The first day of the Palmer=s cruise was taken entering Belgium and carrying away some 1,000 litres of fuel. Diesel bought in Belgium is half the price of the same product in France so it is worth a day=s trip there and back to fill empty tanks. We accomplished the task despite being caught behind a very slow commercial barge for much of the morning. After filling the tank we returned to France overnight in the hope that we could take a small canal to the city of Douai the next morning. After breakfast we carefully entered the canal and were stopped cold at the first lock after scraping through what seemed more and more to be an unused waterway. Our phone calls to the VNF from the ecluse brought exactly that information, so we had to turn the boat and return to the major canal in order to retrace our steps to Cambrai and further.
We only just managed the reverse of direction, since the lock was paired next to an equal size barrage that effectively doubled the width of the canal immediately in front of the lock. We had about 2 metres to spare - one at the bow and one at the stern as we backed and filled Van Nelle 180 degrees.
The St Quentin Canal is very pleasant, furnished with double locks, wide leafy stretches, quiet pretty towns and a good supply of little shops and restaurants along the way to the Riqueval Tunnel and beyond the St Quentin. We chose to go only about half the distance to Riqueval so we could turn at a lock served by a hand operated >perche de commande=. This meant we could turn immediately in front of a lock where the canal widens without alerting an automatic operating mechanism by having passed through radar detectors that are used to operate many of these ecluses.
On the way to Cambrai we stopped for the night at the fortress town of Bourchain. Early the next morning an idiot commercial skipper decided to test our mooring lines by running at full speed just off our beam. Needless to say, the extreme suction snapped a 20 tonne breaking strain rope and our bow was sucked into the channel, nearly hitting his vessel. He continued on his way looking decidedly pale. After sorting out that episode, we proceeded to Masniers and there, Admiral Ian and I came across a local soccer game. Very exciting action, especially since the local team triumphed with a one handed goal after about 70 minutes, against the run of play. We celebrated with a Champagne aperitif on return to VN. We had now tried some 5 or 6 different brands and qualities, from Palmer, Mumm and L=Amiable. Their Brut and Grand Cru, the Millesime 99 Brut de Brut and Mumm=s Carte Classique (the American blend) plus the great Palmer Amazone - their top drop.
Arriving back in Cambrai we were relieved to see the circus had indeed gone, they had sneaked out the previous night between midnight and dawn. A quick bit of water filling and some drinks with Tag and Enid from our neighbouring boat and we finished the cruise with a chicken BBQ washed down with a couple of well chosen Burgundies (red and white).
The next day we picked up a hire car and set off for the Historial Museum at Peronne and further, to Compiegne to visit the Chateau Royale and the Armistice Carriage in the forest of Compiegne. This was the railway carriage used for the German surrender on November 11, 1918 and then the French capitulation in 1939. It was then taken to Berlin by Hitler but burned in a suburban park. The current exhibit is an identical carriage (the next serial number) restored to the exact specifications as used by Marshal Foch in WWI. Unfortunately Compiegne was closed - both the Chateau and the Carriage musee..... !!!!! We often grumble about Fermé Lundi (the French habit of having Monday off) but this town obviously has Tuesday off.
Anyway - we had a good day out, especially since by chance we discovered the glorious Chateau at Pierrefonds. This was ruined by Richelieu on orders from Louis XIV but by order of Napoleon III it was completely rebuilt and it is REALLY amazing. It stands in a very pretty village that has charming little electric boats for hire on a clear, still lake that reflects the local hills. Above the valley nestled village towers the Chateau. Huge, ornate, imposing. A fantasy castle just like the one in the Disney opening credits of yesteryear=s TV shows. Inside it is every bit as wonderful to behold as the incredible exterior. This is one amazing place - and we have seen many in France !
We returned along the Autoroute and later enjoyed a quiet dinner at the Relais St Remi, a favourite restaurant in Cambrai. The next morning, the Palmers, another couple of happy campers, boarded their train to make connections through to London and to take a rest from the hectic taste and feel sensations of life aboard Van Nelle.
We also deserved a break, and so followed the longest stretch of AFDs (alcohol free days) we had had this year - 3 whole days !
Life is now in >winter preparation= mode. Except the day we took Bill and Sylvia out for a day of barge handling instruction prior to their PP certificate and Barge Handling course with Tam and Di Murrell, here at Cambrai. Sylvia (Columbian but a US citizen) is married to Bill (a native Californian) who is converting the small Dutch barge (14 metres) they bought from Bob and Bobby Marsland here. They plan to begin cruising next year. The thought of helming Friesland - Tam and Di Murrell=s 25m Luxemotor, was beginning to spook them so I suggested a day cruise to give them some preparation - if not confidence.
All went well until I decided to leave Sylvia to her own devices in the wheelhouse on her last lock approach - a sort of confidence booster. Well the chain of events from then included her approaching the lock too quickly, putting the boat back into forward gear when entering the lock and increasing the speed, then not taking the boat out of gear, Maureen capturing a bollard with the bow line and almost melting it while using it to slow the boat down, the boat therefore making an abrupt right turn into the wall and unfortunately, into the command rods which bent and, one disconnected.
We repaired the break but were unable to effect other repairs before the VNF arrived to take an interest in the affair. In the confusion the >alarm= rod had activated bringing the supervisor to the lock. Well, we sorted out the details on arrival back in port - after all it was only a couple of bent bits of metal rod, no big deal - we=ll see - the VNF have offered to provide a repair estimate before sending the bill off to the insurance company. We=ll see.
We did see - the VNF supervisor arrived a couple of days later with the bill - i193.00. I guess they will put a plaque on the lock with my name on it !