Meaux (the lavoir returns)

On Thursday the temperature was back in the 40s, so we didn’t do a lot all day other than make sure that Buddy kept cool.  At one point though, I walked down to the old Canal de Cornillon to find the remnants of a lock.

The old lock at Meaux on the Canal de Cornillon

The River Marne forms one of its many meandering loops around and through Meaux.  In the 13^th century the top end of the loop had several mills built on wooden piles that formed a bridge across the river.  This made it impossible to navigate through Meaux so a short cut, the 575-metre-long Canal de Cornillon was built in 1235 to make navigation possible.  Looking at the map below, this short cut is the upper of the two blue lines across the loop.

Meaux where we have been moored for a while

The lower blue line is the current navigation which is a cut from Chalifert to Meaux and called the Canal de Chalifert.  Even though this cut is over 170 years old, the original one was still used into the 1950s.

Amazingly the mills stood until 1920 when they were destroyed by a storm and flooding.  This is a picture of a postcard of those mills from that time though I doubt they are the same buildings that were apparently erected in the 1200s.  Behind the mills you can see the bridge that was opened in 1540 and still stands today.

The Pont de Marché opened in 1540 

Friday was nearly ten degrees cooler, so I went off to the station first thing in the morning to make my way to Migennes to pick up the car.  First, I had to get into Paris and, as it was late rush hour, the train was fairly crowded but fortunately air conditioned.  I then had to catch a couple of metros before the next train and I had a slight panic on the first one.  Looking at the metro map on the train I saw that my interchange station was greyed out and there was reference to works being carried out until September.  I made up my mind to carry on to the following station and then walk back.  My rationale being that the station may actually be open, and I would get off as planned, if so.

After studying the words on the map a little more, just before reaching the station, I realised that only two of the four lines that ran through the station were closed and neither were the ones I wanted.  Just as well I didn’t get off at the station beforehand!

Even though there were no delays on my journey and very short waits for connections, I just got on the final train as the doors were closing.  Clearly, the French train journey planner works to a much tighter timeline than UK ones where it is sometimes possible to get earlier trains because so much time is allowed for connections etc.

It wasn’t long before we were travelling into Burgundy and the change since we left a few weeks ago was amazing.  The sunflower fields were nearly at their stunning best and, as the train was full of tourists heading into Burgundy, there was a lot of excited chatter about the views.

After 3 ½ hours travelling I arrived in Migennes where I had a shortish walk along the end of the Canal de Bourgogne and onto the River Yonne to retrieve the car from Simon’s boatyard.  Sadly, the canal is now closed due to water shortages so the port was empty apart from the boats at the hire boat centre which, I assume, are now unusable until the canal reopens.

This would normally be full of tourist boats

At the boatyard I settled our bill for the period we had been moored there during our last trip back to the UK and had a chat with Phillipe.  He attends the weekly VNF information meetings about the state of the waterways and didn’t have any good news.  In fact, he confirmed everything we have found out about the impending and current closures of canals.

At least, soon after I started driving back to Meaux, I passed a lavoir.  This one was in Épineau-les-Voves and was the first we have seen for quite a while.   I mentioned before that we have come to the conclusion that clothes cleanliness wasn’t as high on the agenda in the areas around Paris as it was in Burgundy!

Lavoir, built in 1915, now used by the council for storing their lawn mowing and gardening equipment

It only took two hours to drive back and I picked up Karen & Buddy when I arrived at the boat.  Parking is limited to eight hours in the centre for non-residents, and we needed to keep the car here until we leave on Monday.  Karen had gone for a walk during the morning to find the closest places we could leave the car without paying and without time limitations.  That’s why I picked her up so she could show me where to park.

During the late afternoon several more boats turned up and it was the first time we had seen all the pontoons full up.  No doubt it will empty out again during the weekend.

One of our neighbours - all the way from Mexico

Around midnight the rain started, and it seemed to rain all night and was still raining when we awoke on Saturday morning and it certainly made a refreshing change.  Our first job was to visit the vets to get Buddy’s passport validated for re-entry into the UK which has to be done every time we return.  This entails tapeworm treatment and having his passport stamped accordingly and the cost seems to vary considerably.  Our last bill was for €52 and today it was only €16!

It was raining when we walked back from the vets and we were glad we had packed our waterproof jackets.  On the way back we visited the Saturday market which even had a live rock band entertaining the customers and also those people who had to wait outside as dogs weren’t allowed in 😉

It stopped raining for the rest of the day as we got home and we (and Buddy) enjoyed a much cooler afternoon and evening than of late in what felt like normal summer temperatures.