Châlons-en-Champagne (village charmer)

Yesterday was the first day of the closure of the Canal entre Champagne et Bourgone which was the reason we had to get off it on Sunday and are now retracing our recent steps.  The closure of this canal now means there are no routes open between northern France and the Med without going through Luxembourg and Germany. The routes have been slowly closed through the summer following the extended period of dry weather and the closures have also prevented us from reaching Roanne where we were going to overwinter.

All routes south are now closed

The red lines are closed canals and the red spots are closed locks which effectively mean that particular canal is not passable from one end to the other.

Tuesday was a washing day, so in the interests of efficiency we had a little cruise.  The engine has to be running to generate enough power to the washing machine, so rather than just sitting still listening to the engine, we may as well take advantage of the engine being on and move.  Having the engine on also means the water gets heated up.

We headed for Pogny where we knew we could get water to top up the tank after doing the washing.  I know we visited there on the way down and we were only visiting new places on the way back but picking up water is a necessity.  We knew we could always move on again in the afternoon if we wanted to.

We only had one lock to do and as we were going downhill it was easy for me to do on my own therefore giving Karen and Buddy a chance to walk alongside on the towpath.  The first bridge I went under was interesting from Karen’s point of view.  From the cut it looked just like a railway bridge which indeed it was.  However, to Karen’s surprise, the towpath had been laid straight over the rail tracks which actually looked like it wasn’t long since they were last used!

Railway to nowhere

It wasn’t long before we were moored up in Pogny and we had the choice of where to moor on the 80-metre quay as there were no other boats there.  As soon as we were mooring up a local guy, who was probably in his forties, turned up to watch us and we exchanged the occasional words.  We had met him last time we were here, when he spent quite a bit of time looking at the boat and we had the odd short conversation. 

As I was brought up in the 50s and 60s, he was what we used to call the village idiot.  I must admit I get fed up with a great deal of today’s political correctness, but that is one term I wouldn’t use.  For some reason we often attract the type (whatever country we are in), maybe because we give them time and try and include them.  Anyway, when I popped inside Karen came up with a lovely term, saying “I see you’ve been chatting with the village charmer again”. 😊

Moored at Pogny

After an early lunch we walked/trolleyed the jerry cans up to the local supermarket to fill up with diesel.  I emptied both cans into the tank when we returned, but decided not to refill them until we reach Épernay where the fuel station is right alongside the river.

Our friend patiently watched me pouring in the diesel and we had pretty much the same conversation about the boat and where he lived as we did before lunch and also when we met last week.  I did manage to get to tell me his name was Doni which sounds like it’s probably short for something else.

After we’d finished our chores we decided to stay put for the rest of the day and walked over to the River Marne to let Buddy have a cool down in the water.  ‘Doni’ soon joined us and sat next to us on the bank, finding it really funny as Buddy chased sticks into the water. 

The River Marne at Pogny

We saw no other boats during the day except a large French cruiser that moored behind us later in the evening.  Two Brit campervans turned up in the evening too, joining the French ones that were already there when we arrived.

During Tuesday we cruised a paltry three kilometres down one lock.

We awoke on Wednesday to find that two boats, not one, had moored behind us the previous evening.  They both set off as Karen left for her morning run and immediately they were both heading straight back to the mooring.

It was a bit blind leaving the mooring and as soon as they had pulled out into the channel, they could see a commercial bearing down on them at speed; I didn’t blame them for getting out of the way quickly.  They moored up for a while to let the commercial get ahead and through the next lock before they left again.

We set off when Karen returned, extra-mindful that a boat may be coming around the blind bend but all was clear, and we didn’t see any more during the day other than two that decided to moor next to us whilst we were having lunch.

Moored for lunch at Chepy

That’s not our tent, it belonged to a wild camper who was drying it out.  He had obviously put it away wet when he started off on his day’s cycle ride and, as soon as he found a spot in the sun, temporarily assembled it to dry out.  We gave him a cup of coffee while he was waiting and it was then that the two cruisers turned up, a French couple and a German couple.

During lunch we saw our first large tortoiseshell butterfly of the year.  These are very large butterflies, generally larger than red admirals and, sadly, now appear to be extinct in the UK.  While we continued our cruise another one appeared and settled briefly on our flowers.  We had quite a few visitors during the day including two clouded yellows who were sparring and spiralling up and down above the boat for some while.

We’ve noticed how the days have started drawing in lately; sunrises are later, and sunsets are earlier.  There is also an autumn feel along the cut, especially today as there was quite a breeze causing leaves to blow around.

Leaves starting to change colour

As we came into the outskirts of Châlons we saw Nikki & Gorete moored up on Puddleduck.  They were outside painting, so we pulled alongside for a chat.  We explained that we were heading back along through Champagne to see the vendanges and then hang around to see the autumn colours arrive in the vineyards.  Nikki reminded me that a lock on the River Marne was closing on 7^th October but I said we knew about that and had worked it into our plans.

Coming into Châlons-en-Champagne with the cathedral on the right

We dropped down the lock in the centre of the town and moored up in the same place we moored for a couple of days before going into the port last time through.  After tying up we walked into town as we had some letters to post.  The town was still bustling with quite a few tourists and the bars in the squares looked to be doing a good trade.

 

When we got back, we did some planning for the next few weeks, but first I checked which lock was closing on 7^th October.  It turned out it wasn’t the one I had thought it was so that altered our plans slightly.  We will now head back down the River Marne through the champagne country, turn around at the beginning of October so we can be the right side of the Vandières lock before it closes.  We’ll leave the plans for the rest of October and November until nearer the time.

Nikki & Gorete popped around in the evening and we swapped cruising plans for the next few weeks. They appear to be similar to ours so hopefully we’ll be bumping into each other a few times.

Tuesday evening moored below the lock

On Wednesday we cruised 14 kilometres down three locks.