Pargny-sur-Saulx (what will I get up to?)

Saturday 9 May

The canal closure that caused us to alter this year’s cruising plans has had other repercussions too. The route we’re now taking to get to where we want to be is a lot longer which means we’re going to have to travel more each day. That in itself is fine as that’s partly why we enjoy boating so much. It does mean, however, that we won’t be able to spend as much time exploring places on the way and having those long walks we enjoy. It won’t be like we’re missing out though as we’ve been on all the waterways at least once before and those around the Marne valley several times. This then has further ramifications with respect to the blog because I want to avoid repeating the sights and sounds I’ve covered in previous years.

Those thoughts make me stop and think further, particularly about why I write a blog. The main drivers are for me and Karen to recall our memories and also to keep our families informed of where we are and what we’re doing. At the same time it’s heart warming to know there are regular readers, so I don’t want to put them off with continuous repetitions.  The long and short of it is that I’ll keep in the forefront of my mind that it’s for mine and Karen’s enjoyment in later life to help us relive our memories so please bear with me if you feel there are unnecessary repetitions.

We’d agreed with VNF that we’d set off down the flight from Demange-aux-Eaux at 9.30am. Karen wanted to have a run so started down the flight while I took the boat down.  She wanted to cover at least 15 km so we’d had to calculate at what point she’d have to turn around and start running back in order to meet me on the way down. The first 17 locks are in a chain and we remembered that the chain didn’t work particularly well four years ago. VNF have probably decided that rather than repair the failing automation it was cheaper to have an éclusier attending boats so they were on hand to make sure things ran smoothly. Sure enough, when I rounded the corner to the first lock an éclusier had it set and was waiting for me.

As well as on the journey up to the summit the canal continued to run through wonderfully rural countryside, enhanced by the return of the hot weather.

For a young guy it was unusual that the éclusier didn’t speak any English apart from the numbers. He used a translation app on his phone to communicate with me on our way down whenever he appeared at a lock and wanted to tell me something or answer a question I put to him. We needed water and I asked where we could get some and he told us to stop at the eleventh lock down and he would turn the water on provided we had our own hose.

Karen and I timed things perfectly as when I was going into the sixth lock she arrived from the opposite direction at the same time having completed her target distance. I told her we could get water at lock 11 but she said she’d checked the tap on her way past and it wasn’t working. I passed this onto the éclusier who said it was okay and that he would have to turn on a stopcock inside the lock control hut.  As the éclusier had indicated, we had no problem getting water when we were in the lock which also had handy recycling and general waste facilities. We moored up when we arrived at Naix-aux-Forges and remembered that although we’d stopped there before that we’d never walked around the village so we had that delight to come.

Moored at Naix-aux-Forges

After a late lunch we went for our walk starting with the lavoir by the village lock. I’m including a picture of the basin as it was the first lavoir we’ve been in this year that had a basin full of clear water so, apart from no lavandières (washer women), it looked like it would have done in the days before washing machines arrived. No doubt there would have been no signs of any vegetation either.

Naix-aux-Forges was very pretty and made much of the river Ornain running through it.  There were a couple of mill streams and of course a couple of old mills standing alongside them. The pictures we took didn’t do the place justice but here’s the church:

Walking back to our mooring

Once again we were able to sit outside during the evening to enjoy the lovely weather.

On Saturday we cruised 15 km down 14 locks and saw no boats.

Sunday 10 May 2026

With rain forecast later in the afternoon we set off for Ligny-en-Barrois straight after breakfast. As we’d stopped in a chain overnight we had to call VNF to get it going again for us and the remaining three locks in the chain all worked perfectly. After the chain we were then back to using a télécommande. Since the advent of automation removed the need for resident éclusiers, the vast majority of lock cottages no longer house them and their families. On many canals most of the cottages have been preserved by selling them off or letting them out.  Sadly on this canal many seem to have been demolished and some of the others are in a poor state of repair such as this one at one of today’s locks.

We made it to our mooring at Ligny-en-Barrois in the dry and we‘d just secured the boat when our éclusier from yesterday turned up in his van. We were surprised when he asked us what our plans were as we thought all the locks would be okay now and we wouldn’t need him driving down in his van with us. We told him we would leave at 9am on Monday and he seemed happy with that and off he went.  The mooring was shared with motorhomes but the services were out of action for the vans which is why it was only half full.  Last time we stopped everything was working and vans were having to go elsewhere as all slots were taken.

When we’d pulled into the port we spotted some unattended fishing rods where we wanted to moor so slowed right down.  The fisherman was in one of the vans and came out to move his rods as soon as he saw us arriving. Fortunately it was all very amicable and he was able to reset everything once we’d tied up.

The previous time we came to the town we followed the town trail so this time we went for our own walk.  Continuing down the main street out of town, a direction we didn’t walk before we came across one of the old gateways into the town. We couldn’t believe it hadn’t been on the trail, especially as apart from one tower there was very little left of the original fortifications.

The rain did start in the late afternoon so we spent the rest of the day on board.

On Sunday we cruised seven km down eight locks and saw no boats.

Monday 11 May

At 9am, while Karen left for a run I set off as agreed with our éclusier even though there was no sign of him. As I left the basin we’d stayed in overnight I turned right onto the canal to continue downstream but noticed that the lock immediately upstream had no lights on. When I reached the first lock, the lights were on and it worked perfectly. I concluded that we were asked about the time of departure so that they would make sure the power was on at the locks we were going through.  This may have been the reason there was no power at the locks in the other direction.  It was a grey day and although rain wasn’t forecast until later in the afternoon it started soon after leaving Ligny-en-Barrois and by the time I picked Karen up from her run she was soaked.

It’s beautiful here when the sun’s out – honest!

Despite the weather, we made good progress encountering no problems with the locks and also no sign of our éclusier. We were planning on mooring on a couple of bollards we’d stopped on before at Longeville-en-Barrois. Leaving the lock before the mooring we saw that the pound was very low and were concerned we wouldn’t be able to moor because it would be too shallow at the sides.  As it was we were correct in our thinking and after a lot of faffing around decided to give it a miss and carry on to Bar-le-Duc where there was a free mooring at a VNF office or a paid for one with services at the town port.

As the gates opened for us at the next lock, two red lights came on signalling that it had gone out of action. It was pretty obvious what had happened as a large branch was stuck behind one of the gates stopping it opening fully.  We went into the lock anyway to have some lunch and I rang VNF. The timing was perfect as our éclusier turned up in his van as we were just finishing lunch. He soon had us on the way again.

On the outskirts of Bar-le-Duc we saw a couple of bollards at a place called Savonnières-devant-Bar and moored up for the day on them. We’d noticed the bollards before but had completely forgotten about them and for some reason hadn’t recorded them in our mooring notes.

Mooring at Savonnières-devant-Bar

The rain ceased later in the afternoon and we went for a walk although admittedly it wasn’t the best of walks as it seemed the area had been transformed into a massive retail and commercial park for Bar-le-Duc residents. A young local street artist under the name KREM is used by the council to decorate bland buildings such as sub stations etc. All the works we waw were nature related and looking at his website later it appeared that that's the subject he majors in. Not only does it brighten up the area it must prevent unsightly graffiti.

On Monday we cruised 13 km down 14 locks and saw no boats. 

Tuesday 12 May

Karen ran along the canal to the far side of Bar-le-Duc and back again while I went for a walk up the hill behind Savonnières-devant-Bar. It was a village we hadn’t visited before as it was the first time we’d stayed at the mooring we were on. In the middle of the village was an information signpost including directions to a lavoir so that's where I headed first.

We always feel like cheats when lavoirs are signposted because it’s fun searching them out, for example by finding streams and following those. Sadly it was locked but peering through cracks in the door I could see that the basin was still in good condition and could hear plenty of water running through it.

Complete with obligatory abreuvoir (animal water trough)

It felt to be a well to do village and the sort of place people would live in if they worked in Bar-le-Duc.  It may have always been well to do judging by the size of some of the older homes: 

Walking up the hill behind the village I thought that the more modern houses spreading up the valley probably had relatively prosperous owners too. The house on the far right had solar panels on the roof which is something we rarely see in France. As France produces around 70% of its electricity from nuclear power and also its prices are regulated, the cost to the consumer is a lot less than in the UK and consequently there is not so much desire to have solar panels. Having an EV we notice how much cheaper the power is over here than if we charge away from home in the UK.

Coming back down the hill I had a look around the village. The oversized church of St-Calixte was built in the late 15^th century and was in stark contrast to the modern mairie which as is the custom was also oversized for the size of the village

The memorial to local folk who died in both world wars stood in a peaceful park behind the mairie:

In order to save water we use a plastic washing up bowl in the sink on the boat. This year it has started splitting from the top and therefore needs replacing. We’d forgotten that the French culture is such that plastic washing up bowls aren’t generally used. We soon remembered this when we realised that they just cannot be bought in supermarkets over here. The only bowls on offer seem to be round or square and with an easy pouring spout therefore used for washing clothes rather than dishes. Not only that, the sink on the boat is rectangular. We’d given up hope of replacing the breaking one when I suddenly remembered that there was a spare bowl in the dark recesses of our under-bed storage. I retrieved the bowl only to find it was too large. Neither of us remembered buying it nor the fact that we must have known at the time that it was too large. The only way to get it to fit was by slicing off the overhanging lips at each end so at least we now have a functioning washing up bowl.

When we were both back at the boat we set off on the short journey to Bar-le-Duc. There are two lift bridges in the town and soon after triggering the lock before the first bridge an éclusier arrived to control the bridges for us.  There were three boats already in the port but we soon found out that they were still overwintering and there was plenty of room for us to moor up.

It was an unseasonably cold day and once we were tied up we lit a stove for the first time this year to keep the chill off. The reason we stopped at the port rather than our usual stop outside town was that we needed to be near the railway station. Karen was heading to Ålesund in Norway tomorrow for a week to help out (and spend time) with our latest grandchild, Samuel. We’d found that the best route was to take a train to Paris from Bar-le-Duc then Eurostar to Schiphol airport, one of the few airports where direct flights to Ålesund are available. After lunch we walked to the station to check the trains and also how long it takes to walk there. We then had a quick wander around town but didn’t take many pictures as we’d been on the town tour before and wanted to chill out on the boat for the rest of the day before Karen left for her trip. 

Bar-le-Duc is the capital of Meuse, the département we are currently travelling through, and is split in two by the river Ornain. Seven bridges cross the river as it runs through the town:

Back on board we stoked the fire up and kept it going during the evening. Two boats travelling in the opposite direction to us arrived later in the evening and just squeezed in to the remaining spots at the port.

On Tuesday we cruised 2.5 km down two locks, through two lift bridges and only the saw the two late arriving boats..

Wednesday 13 May 2026

It was an early start as Karen’s train to Paris left at 6.10am and we walked to the station together so I could see her get off safely.  We hadn’t bought return train tickets for her as we weren’t sure where I’d get the boat to during this next week. Hopefully I’ll reach the Marne valley so could meet her somewhere like Châlons-en-Champagne or Vitry-le-François. A lot will depend on the weather as the forecast isn’t that good for the coming week.

Early morning at a full Bar-le-Duc port

The locks don’t open for pleasure boaters until 9am on this canal which was a bit of a shame considering the early start we’d had; however, it did mean I could have a leisurely breakfast while I waited. You may have wondered why I didn’t go to Norway with Karen. Ironically, it’s because we have a pre-planned trip to Norway coming up at the end of June: our first ever cruise. We’ve never fancied going on a cruise but our narrowboater friends, Mike and Lesley, take several a year and really rave about them. They go with a small American company and the way they described their Norway cruise made us think that we should give it a go and we booked the same cruise as the one they’d taken.

We’ll have a few days in Amsterdam first and then cruise the entire length of the Norwegian coast up into the Arctic circle.  We finish in Dublin for a couple of days having also spent some time on a couple of Scottish Islands on the way back.  During the three weeks on the Norwegian coast we’ll actually have a day in Ålesund so will be able to catch up with our Norwegian family while we’re there.

This is why we’re on a schedule to get our boat somewhere we can leave it. Of course, the schedule was made tighter when the canal de la Meuse was closed at the upstream end where we wanted to join it. It wouldn’t really be possible for me to have taken a week out now and for us to get the boat to Pont-à-Bar in time on our return so that’s why I’m continuing cruising.

After my leisurely breakfast I timed my departure perfectly, arriving at the first lock dead on 9am. After that lock is the VNF office where we’ve moored on our previous two trips along here. Outside the office one of the old towing locos is on display together with a 2D sculpture of an old barge showing how they were towed:

It was at this point that Karen rang. Her train into Paris hadn’t moved for 20 minutes so she was in danger of missing her connecting train and therefore her flight to Norway. Having always said the trains in France run perfectly on time for me I was rather shocked until Karen explained that there had been a suicide on the line.  Although Karen did miss her connections she was able to get a later Eurostar service to Schiphol and also a flight that left at 9pm, eight hours later than the flight she’d got up early for.

Compared with Karen’s journey I had a trouble-free cruise. An éclusier had been appearing in his van every so often to check everything was OK and when I told him I was stopping for lunch he decided to do the same. I moored up using an old commercial bollard for the back and knocked in a pin to tie the front to.

Soon after setting off again, it started raining and although the rest of the journey was trouble-free as it was before lunch, I was very wet by the time I got to Revigny-sur-Ornain. A VNF icebreaker called Asterix is moored above the lock there and I’d checked with the éclusier if it would be okay to moor alongside it. He said it would be fine and I moored up as agreed when I arrived in Revigny. I immediately thought of Buddy because we moored in the same spot previously and Buddy spent a lot of time on the deck of the icebreaker because its wheelhouse gave plenty of shade.

Once inside I lit a small fire in order to dry my soaking wet outer gear and stayed on board for the evening as it was still raining on and off.

On Wednesday I cruised 15 km down 13 locks through two lift bridges and saw one boat, a French river cruiser going in the opposite direction. This was the first boat we'd seen whilst on the move since we were on the Moselle nine days ago.

Thursday 14 May

With rain forecast later in the day I set off from Revigny-sur-Ornain after having had an early walk to stretch my legs. The locks were every kilometre or so and all worked perfectly.  At the fourth lock, la Haie Herlin, goats were eagerly awaiting me as the boat slid in. I don’t know how long goats live but I’m convinced they are the same ones we saw when we first came through five years ago.

At Contrisson I passed a sheet metal works that no longer seems to use péniches for transport. Five years ago we saw péniches on their way to and from the works but apparently all freight is handled by rail and road nowadays.

The next lock after the steel works was triggered by breaking an infrared photoelectric beam so I had no need for the télécommande. This will be the case for the remaining locks on this canal until I reach the end at Vitry-le-François. Two transmitters are placed on one side of the cut and two receivers on the opposite side as can be seen here:

It started raining after that lock and continued for the rest of the journey. As I approached the next lock I could see an éclusier waiting in his van and as the boat went in he dashed out through the rain to pick up my télécommande as it would no longer be required. This was my only sight of an éclusier all day and, although it was very short, it was also the only conversation I had all day other than a phone call with Karen.

Reaching Sermaize-les-Bains the canal left the Meuse département and entered the Marne. After a few more locks, still in the rain, I pulled into the halte nautique at Pargny-sur-Saulx. By the time I’d tied up and checked the water was working the rain had stopped and the sun was coming out:

Moored at Pargny-sur-Saulx

The dry spell looked like it might last a while so I went for a walk that included a look around the town of Pargny-sur-Saulx. I came across an enamel plated Michelin signpost which we don’t see every day but as it pointed to a French war cemetery I thought I’d go and find it.

It was a relatively small cemetery where 284 soldiers from the Battle of the Marne in the First World War were buried as well as four from the Second World War. I say relatively small because around a quarter of million French soldiers were lost in the weeklong battle.  Many of the graves were marked, ‘Inconnu’.

I’d been thinking about stations that I could get the boat near for when Karen returns from Norway and was surprised to see a rue de la Gare as I didn’t think Pargny had a station, but I did find one at the end of the street. Mind you it did look like it had been closed for some while.

It reminded me of when I bought a ticket from a station where I was going to leave the car when we were in the Vosges. I’d been able to buy a ticket online but when I drove to the station it too had obviously been closed for a while. Why I was able to buy a ticket I will never know.

Continuing the walk around town I found the church that was built in the 13^th and 14^th centuries. It looked like it had recently been cleaned up:

Shame about the extension

Along the main road through town I came across the grand looking mairie and war memorial:

I got back to the boat just before there was another cloudburst which continued for a couple of hours.

Just about to pour again

After dinner it brightened up so I went for another walk starting on the other side of the cut.

Having said earlier that there weren’t many lock cottages left on the section of canal we’ve been on for the last week or so, most of today’s were still standing and inhabited. Although the cottage at the lower lock in Pargny-sur-Saulx has obviously been empty for a while:

On Thursday I cruised 13 km down 12 locks and didn’t see any boats.

Demange aux Eaux (a change in the weather)

Peaceful mooring at the summit of the canal de la Marne au Rhin (ouest)

Sunday 3 May

It was a bit cloudy when we awoke on Sunday morning but at least it was still warm. We took advantage of a need for some paneer to explore parts of Nancy that we hadn’t been to before. None of the normal supermarkets seem to stock the Indian cheese over here so it was off to the ethnic areas.  We tried Greek, Turkish, Kurdistani, a non-identifiable Asian shop and a couple of other ones that were more cosmopolitan, but to no avail. Strangely we came across halloumi in a few of the stores and the only major French supermarket we’ve ever found it in before is Grand Frais, a slightly upmarket Waitrose.

After giving up hope we sat at a bar in Stanislas Square for a couple of hours. You can’t be a tourist in Nancy without seeing and taking in the splendour of the famous square.

As it was the afternoon I fancied beer and soon realised that I’d misread the beer menu and it was twice as strong as I thought it was going to be so after a couple I joined Karen in drinking a sensible rosé.  At one point we were entertained by an older couple for 30 minutes or so doing some sort of photo shoot with him taking the pictures and her wearing different shawls.

On the way back to the boat we wandered around a garden for a while and were surprised how far advanced some of the plants were, such as the aliums, compared with ours back at home.  The blossom on one tree was particularly striking. We’d not heard of Chionanthus retusus before but could understand why one of its common names is snow tree.

We called in at the port on the way home to the boat and saw that the Dutch hybrid boat that we’d locked down with in Sommerviller last week was moored up but all was quiet on board.

The port capitaine came out of his office to see if we needed any help and we took advantage by finding out what the overnight charge for motorhomes was. Many inland French ports also have an area set aside for motorhomes. The area was practically full which wasn’t surprising as it was just a short walk into the old town. He also showed us more information on the redevelopment of the two basins:

It started drizzling so we took the short route home, passing Porte Sainte Catherine, the namesake of the basin we were moored in.

The rain didn't last long and stopped soon after we were back on board.

Monday 4 May 2026

Monday was get rid of the car day. I left the boat before the commuter rush into Nancy started, to drive the 200 km to Pont à Bar which is just to the north west of Sedan. The first half of the journey was on an autoroute to the other side of Metz and then onto wonderful undulating open roads through the odd small village with very little traffic to speak of. I crossed into Belgium four times and at each border crossing point the old customs houses were still standing but were now either abandoned or converted to private residences.

Arriving at the boat yard in Pont-à-Bar I sought out Benedicté the capitaine and she showed me to a secure place to leave the car for the next six weeks or so. I was looking forward to the first stage of the journey back to Nancy walking along the Meuse to the railway station at Nouvion-sur-Meuse as I had been hoping to do some butterflying on the way. Sadly it started drizzling as I set off so there was no chance of seeing any butterflies. As well as reminiscing about when we travelled down the Meuse there were a few physical reminders at locks and bridges of the sacrifices made by the locals in both World Wars:

At the first lock an information board explained how in WWI a small company managed to cross the Meuse under machine gun fire and recapture a village on the other side. A sad footnote explained that one of the company was the last French soldier to be killed – less than one hour before the Armistice was declared.

I crossed the Meuse to get into Nouvion-sur-Meuse and the photo below shows how miserable the weather was:

On the bridge was a memorial to the men of the village who died defending the bridge and the village during WWI. 

I’d hoped to have a look around the village before catching the train but it started raining more persistently so I stood in the shelter of the desolate looking platform for 45 minutes until the train arrived.

It was there that there was yet another memorial, this time to the men of the two local railway stations who died during WWII:

As usual, the train arrived spot on time and I was looking forward to wandering around Reims for an hour while I waited for the train to Nancy. I was checking train times and it transpired that the interchange station for the train back to Nancy was the TGV station at Reims which was 20 minutes outside the city thus putting paid to revisiting Reims.  The French are really into food dispensers such as breads, pastries and pizzas in villages that have lost their boulangeries but the TGV station had a honey dispenser, the first I’ve come across. It seemed such a strange place to have one, especially with seven different varieties.

The rain stopped whilst I waited for the train to Nancy and when I got back to the boat Karen told me it hadn’t rained all day; however, it had been very noisy due to the work going on in our basin as it was no longer the weekend.

I did wonder if the two rings we’re moored on will be removed once they start charging at the revamped ports.

Tuesday 5 May

We’d decided last night that we’d leave Nancy on Tuesday morning unless it was tipping down with rain. As it was, it was dry when we awoke but started drizzling whilst we had breakfast but as the forecast was only for light rain we thought we’d continue with our plan. In order to leave the basin we were in we had to get a lift bridge raised. We’d noticed over the last few days that it had two red lights on until 9am and assumed, unlike the rest of the canal, it couldn’t be used from 7am and boaters would have to wait until the commuter traffic had gone into Nancy. It seemed we were right in our assumption as a German boat came past us at about 7.30am heading to the bridge but couldn’t get it working. They moored up behind us and had obviously rung VNF and been told to wait until 9am.  The two red lights went out dead on 9am and they were soon through the bridge and about 20 minutes after that we set off too.

Bridge rising for us - traffic building up even though it was 9.20am

After the bridge we immediately passed a long line of liveaboards in various states of repair.

The next ten km or so was mainly past old canal related buildings which must have been really busy in the canal’s heyday.  We then reached a sharp right hand turn which looked like a junction.

Until the 1960s the canal de la Marne au Rhin continued straight on to Toul and then over 100 km further to Vitry-le-François in the Marne valley. The middle section between here and Toul was abandoned in favour of the Moselle whose locks were improved at the same time to accommodate 180-metre-long boats.  The right turn took us down a deep lock onto the Moselle which we would follow all the way to Toul to rejoin the other end of the canal.

Coming out of the lock we were onto an arm off the main Moselle that was used by large commercials to unload coal at the wharves along the arm. Arriving at the lock at the end of the arm that would take us onto the Moselle proper we saw the German boat from earlier leaving the lock side mooring and going in ahead of us. They must have been really pissed off having to wait for us for what was probably up to an hour but then the wait is understandable as you can imagine how much water is wasted in the turn of a 185 x 12 metre lock. As we left the lock the éclusier came down from his control tower and asked if he could take some pictures of us.

The signs indicating which arch of a bridge to take seem a little illogical when first encountered. A single yellow diamond indicates two-way traffic whereas a pair of diamonds indicates one way only.  The railway bridge below has two diamonds showing that we have to go through that arch and boats cannot come through in the opposite direction; they would be directed through one of the other arches.

Even more confusing at the bridge above is we pass through on the wrong side of the river, downstream boats would be coming through the arch to the right of ours. This is because there had just been a sharp bend in the river and large upstream vessels would want to hug the inside of the bend to avoid the higher flow rate present on the outside.

Liverdun is a most picturesque town perched on a hillside over the river and we've spent a few glorious days exploring in a previous summer. When we went through today in the dismal weather it did look rather non-descript:

The abandoned stretch of canal used to cross the Moselle at Liverdun on an aqueduct and then pass through a tunnel under the town.  The aqueduct was removed and all that can be seen nowadays are stone abutments on either bank of the river. This is a old postcard of Liverdun and the aqueduct:

Having mentioned about the Germans having to wait for us at a lock to avoid wasting water we went up three locks on the Moselle totally on our own.  Strangely it was the first time we’ve been on a French river and not seen a single commercial.

Entering écluse d’Aigneray

  With light rain all day the views of the hills alongside the river were rather forlorn:

Apart from waiting for 30 minutes, with no reason given, before being allowed into one lock all the locks were prepared as soon as we radioed the éclusiers. Karen reckoned that as there were no commercials around, the delay was because the éclusier was taking his lunch or having a nap as we were just plaisanciers (pleasure boaters).

Approaching Toul we took a right hand turn off the river and up a lock and back onto the canal de la Marne au Rhin. Coming out of the lock we saw the other end of the canal section that had been abandoned between Nancy and Toul. The original canal opened in 1853 and was 313 kms long making it the longest canal in France. As the canal is now in two sections, clearly shown on this map, it is now referred to as two canals with the same name but suffixed with either east or west:

So we had left the eastern section and were now going to travel the length of the western side before heading north, a journey we’ve done a couple of times before.  Arriving in Toul we had to wait for a lift bridge to open. As with many of the locks on this canal it is triggered when the boat breaks a detector beam that spans the waterway. I felt a bit guilty after going through the bridge as two red lights came on indicating that it had gone out of action. The bridge was stuck in the upright position and I noticed that there were two buses in the queues of traffic either side.  To help assuage any guilt, in case it was my fault, I rang VNF to report the issue and hopefully they resolved it remotely from the control centre.

Toul was a heavily fortified town with defences designed in the 17^th century by the famous French military engineer, Vauban. Most of these defences are still intact and we passed through a canon emplacement before mooring up for the day alongside some fortifications below the town lock. Obviously, this part of the wall was rebuilt when the canal had to go through it.

On Tuesday we cruised 36 km down two and up five locks and saw two boats, one hired and one private.

 Wednesday 6 May

Wednesday dawned quite bright although the forecast was for a cloudy day.

Our mooring below the town lock in Toul

Karen went for an early run around a hill on the northern side of town while I had a less strenuous wander around the town. I know I said a week ago or so that I would try to avoid mentioning my interest in the old electric locos that until the 1970s pulled péniches along the waterways. I can’t help but include a picture in this blog update as there were two of these locos on display at the entrance to the town port.

After breakfast we had a pleasant walk around part of the Toul fortifications to do some food shopping. Even though we’d been to the supermarket before we took a different route to one we'd been on previously. We were surprised as it was exactly the sort of way we would have walked with Buddy in order to keep him away from the hot pavements in the summer. At one point we walked under a bridge that led across a moat and through the remains of one of the city gates:

Once we’d completed our food shopping we retraced our steps, obviously looking like boaters with backpacks and bags.

Narrowboater's walk

After lunch we set off up the flight of locks through the western end of Toul. This flight usually operates as a chain where the next lock is set automatically whilst the boat is going through the previous lock. This automation can’t have been working properly as an éclusiere saw us through the first two locks and then an éclusier took over for the rest of the flight. He was what we described as a maverick and seemed intent on getting us up the flight as quickly as possible. We didn’t mind as it kept raining every so often and wanted to get to the top to moor up for the day.

He was a bit naughty really as he kept trying to open the gates for us before the lock was ready which can’t have been good for the mechanism. He was trying all sorts of other short cuts too but at least he made sure we were ready in each lock before opening the paddles for us so we felt safe.

Once at the top of the flight we went through a short tunnel which, unusually for France, was unlit but then we remembered that the éclusier had told us the traffic lights weren’t working so we should go straight through.  We assumed the lack of lighting was linked to the unavailability of the traffic lights.

Passing through Foug tunnel

We’ve been through nearly all the canal tunnels in England and Wales and, apart from a couple, they are all unlit which is a bit incongruous bearing in mind how H&S mad our country is. French attitude seems to be the opposite, scant regard to H&S other than in canal tunnels which are generally lit.

Coming out the other side we moored at a place called Lay-St-Rémy, a place we’ve never moored at before as we always had Buddy with us and goats roam free along the bankside.

Garish coloured mooring bollards at Lay-St-Rémy

On Wednesday we cruised 10.5 km up 13 locks and saw no boats.

Thursday 7 May

There was a knocking on the roof about 9.30am so I popped my head outside and saw two éclusiers.  They wondered if we were moving today as they would need to be with us at the next set of locks. As those locks were about 17 km away I said we wouldn’t get that far so wouldn’t need them and off they happily went.

Before setting off we had a walk to Lay-St-Rémy to stretch our legs. Funnily enough when we left the canal to join the road into the village, we passed an information board about the towing locos with a few old pictures of them in use on this stretch of canal.

We walked along each street in the village, of which there weren’t many, but this one we had to investigate:

At the end of rue du Lavoir we found what was once a lavoir but was now being used to store village effects. The animal trough and two pumps outside gave the building away plus the fact that it was open to the air at the top of the side walls.

A lady came out of a house to walk her dog and I asked her about the lavoir. She was very sad it was closed as she remembered going there with her mother and grandmother and also used it herself until it was taken out of operation. She was also sad because there weren’t any plans currently to renovate it. She had no English but managed to provide this information and explain she’d lived in the village all her life.  We couldn’t be sure of the other things she told us but at least we understood the lavoir information.

After Monday’s sad reminders of the two World Wars when I walked along the Meuse we saw this tragic memory of two villagers by the war memorial:

Even though the village was small it still had a school. It was rather charmingly advertised, complete with an homage to the canal, on the side of the mairie which also housed the salle des fêtes.

Walking back to the boat we could hear the sound of an engine and thought we had company but soon realised that it was a weedcutter clearing the basin next to where we were moored.

We had a lock-free journey to Void without any mishaps, passing the entrance to the canal de Meuse shortly before crossing the Meuse itself.

No lights at lock because the canal is closed

We had planned on travelling the length of the Meuse into Belgium this year but it has been closed at this, the upper end. The idea is that as commercials rarely use this end, closing it will save water used by people like us and the scarce supplies be used further downstream where the freight traffic starts.

Arriving in Void we saw there was a fishing competition going on and went to moor in front of the VNF office next to the large grain silos.  Fortunately, Karen was at the front getting ready to moor up as she saw that the guy on the permanently moored cruiser also had rods out and she was able to warn me to swerve aside just in time.

Moored in Void on Thursday night

It hadn’t rained all day, but it hadn’t been warm either and once we’d secured the boat we went for a walk around the town.  Although we’ve been before, we hadn’t taken pictures of the war memorial or hôtel de ville:

We’d found a lavoir in Void on the previous visit so walked out there again to get another picture for this blog entry.

On Thursday we cruised 16 km through no locks and saw no boats. 

Friday 8 May 2026

After three days with hardly a glimpse of the sun it felt good to wake up to bright sunshine with a promise of warm weather once again.

Morning in Void

The plan for the day was to get up to the summit of the canal and through a five km long tunnel before mooring up for the day. This meant ascending a flight of 12 locks which operate in a chain where the next lock sets itself whilst we’re going through the previous lock. We used the flight in 2021 and 2022 and in both years found the locks problematical thus needing several calls to VNF. Things obviously haven’t improved as an éclusier now takes boaters through the flight. The upside of this is that the journey is both simpler and quicker with the downside being that we had agree a time to meet at the first lock which we chose as 9.30am.

We were about to set off when a French couple came up to us and said they’d been told to go up with us and we agreed how we would position ourselves in the locks through the use of pencilled diagrams! We assembled at the first lock at 9.15am and in the end had to wait until 11am before starting the ascent. This was because there had been a problem with one of the locks on the flight that needed fixing first.  At least VNF kept us informed of progress while we were waiting.

Leaving Void

An éclusier saw us all the way up which meant we got up in record time even though he had to stop for lunch for 20 minutes which he laid out on the bonnet of his van:

At the summit we approached the entrance to Mauvages tunnel. At five km in length, it is the second longest canal tunnel still in use in France. As with an earlier mention of health and safety it came into play here too. We had to wait at the entrance to be handed a gas mask box each and were told not to open them as they were for use only in event of pollution. In a way that was understandable as there were no air vents in the tunnel, but what we couldn’t understand was that the éclusier cycled alongside us the whole way through.  At least it was great exercise for him as once we were through he had to cycle back, holding our gas masks, to retrieve his van.

We’d let the French couple go through first in their cruiser as they travelled  a lot faster than a narrowboat and we soon lost sight of them. We moored up soon after exiting the tunnel by the defunct buildings that were used for servicing the boat that used to tow trains of barges through the tunnel.

The tower (touer) is in a sorry state and had deteriorated even in the four years since we were last here. On the selfish front it’s a wonderfully quiet and peaceful mooring for us.

As is our wont we had a walk around the area including checking the facilities at the first lock on the long descent down to the Marne valley and then the Seine.  We find it incredible that it’s all downhill from here until Paris, 350 km away. The lock cottage at the first lock used to house a small VNF office but it was no longer in use and the building and lockside looked in a sorry state.  It used to be a good place to take on water but that was now out of service too.

There were plenty of butterflies out and about including our first small blue and grizzled skippers of the year.

Grizzled skipper posing for us

We also saw several small heaths:

On a patch of garlic mustard we found an orange tip egg. The caterpillars of the orange tip butterfly are cannibalistic so the female only lays one egg on each plant, usually garlic mustard or cuckoo flower.

Orange egg of the orange tip butterfly

Near our mooring was an old electric towing loco shed and I thought last time we checked it there were two locos in there. Looking inside this time we could only see one so once back at the boat I checked my photos and found that my memory had played tricks on me and that there was only one there previously.

We were pleased the good weather had returned as it meant we could sit outside during the evening, something that we hadn’t been able to do for four days.

On Friday we cruised 18 km, up 12 locks, through one tunnel and saw one boat.