Port-à-Binson (almost a sunless day)

Our main task on Monday was to pop down to Épernay to fill up with fuel, replace a gas bottle and get the weekly shop done.  On Saturday morning we had joined the River Marne at Dizy, four kilometres from its navigable, upstream, end at Épernay and moored a little further down at Cumières for the weekend.  This meant we had to turn around and cruise up to Épernay where there is a large Carrefour right next to the riverbank.

It’s not a particularly pleasant spot to moor overnight but there were two motor yachts already there when we turned up.  One was a Belgian guy who had stopped for gas and was hoping to get over to the Black Sea by winter.  He wasn’t aware of the canal closures that would make his journey problematical, but he had a laisse faire attitude and believed all would turn out well in the end.

The other motor yacht had a couple on that we had met before, he’s a Brit and she's a Kiwi.  They were topping up with food and water and were hoping to get over to Strasbourg for winter.  They too, weren’t aware of the canal closures but strangely had the same attitude as the Belgian so were going to push on anyway. 

After buying 80 litres of diesel, replenishing a gas bottle and getting a week’s worth of provisions it was back off to our pontoon morning Cumières for lunch before carrying on downstream.  We were heading for Port-à-Binson as there were a couple of places we wanted to visit nearby, and we hadn’t stopped there on the way up.  The first big village we went through was Damery; we had cycled there on Sunday to investigate the moorings.  The moorings were free on Sunday, but a large Dutch barge had arrived since we visited so we carried straight on.

Boat on the moorings at Damery

As you can see in the picture, the weather has changed, although the sun was out all day, clouds kept threatening to roll over but never quite made it.  There was a restaurant next to the bridge that we will need to investigate on our way back as it had the odd name of ‘Le Bateau Lavoir’.  We haven’t seen a lavoir for ages and rather hope to find some as we explore the Champagne villages.  Maybe this building used to be a boat-wash along the lines of a carwash and not a wash house 😉

Le Bateau Lavoir

Dark clouds over Damery

The first seven locks at this end of the river are operated by a remote-control unit (télécommande) that is given to the boater at the first lock and then deposited when leaving the last one.  On the way up it worked really well apart from one lock where Karen had to go and get the éclusier out of bed because we couldn’t get the gates to open.  The same thing happened today at the same lock but this time it was easier as the éclusier responded to our radio request for help and came straight out to operate the lock manually.

Although we are back on the river, the locks aren’t that much larger than the canals we have been on recently at 45 x 7.5 metres.  It’s not until further down towards Paris that the locks revert to three times that size.

Passing through Reuil

We had stopped overnight at Reuil before and although the mooring was empty, we decided to carry on another few kilometres to our original destination.  It was gone five when we finally moored up, which is late in the day for us to still be cruising.  The mooring is right next to a large island which has a strict one-way system along each side.  This made it a bit tricky turning around to get onto the mooring but, as expected, there were no boats on the move to get in our way.

Moored at Port-à-Binson

I know we have always said we prefer canals to rivers but there is something different about the River Marne; it seems so tranquil and inviting along its entire length that we feel quite at home on it.  Of course, being a river, it flows and is therefore free from any muck and rubbish like leaves and other floating vegetation.  This makes it ideal for swimming in but neither of us felt it was hot enough to have a swim today.

During Monday we covered 22 kilometres down two locks.

With rain likely on Tuesday afternoon we went for a walk in the morning to avoid it.  We wanted to walk up to the village of Châtillon-sur-Marne which has a huge statue dominating the hillside and skyline.  

The statue on the hill

Even though it wasn’t raining it was a grey day and we packed our wet weather gear in a backpack just in case.  As luck would have it, we didn’t need it as the rain kept off until we were just about to get back to the boat.

As we set off, we crossed the river and could just see where we were moored and the island opposite.

 

Other than a brief stretch on a road to begin with we walked through vineyards until we reached our destination.

The statue

The statue was built in 1887 and is of a pope who died in 1099.  His name was pope Urban II and he was a Frenchman whose family were noblemen from the village.  Karen noticed that he had an aerial sticking out of his right shoulder but we decided this was a modern addition rather the depiction of a strange affliction.

We had some great views from the top even if camera phones can’t do them justice, but I include them for our own memories.

Looking east over the town

Looking west down the Marne valley running between the hills

Another object of the walk was to visit the ruins of an old castle, but when we found it, all that remained of the building was completely covered in scaffolding and access was barred to the public.  The scaffolding had only recently been erected because the castle could be seen quite clearly when we came along in the boat a few weeks ago.  Mind you that was on a cloudless, sunny day which probably made the castle (and the statue) more prominent.

Aborted attempt to visit the castle

We went into the village itself where all was quiet and the only places open were champagne houses and the church.

Walking down the other side of Châtillon-sur-Marne

The church was unusual in that it had no stained-glass windows

The church was also unusual for two other reasons: it smelt of putty and had signs saying domestic animals were forbidden.  If I had had a hedgehog outfit with me I would have put it on Buddy as a disguise.

On our way up through the village we had noticed quite a few plastic bottles, filled with water, laying on the roadside.  It wasn’t until we came across some more on the way down that Karen suddenly realised that they were there for watering plants that looked like they had recently been put in the beds.

One of the old village pumps had a flower bed around its base and also some of these bottles.  The border of modern house bricks seemed a little out of place.

Freshly planted plants around an old pump by a modern hydrant and modern bricks

In keeping with our general walking desire to have circular walks we had devised one that would take us to another landmark that we had noticed when coming up the river.  This was a large building back down in the valley near to a French WWI cemetery.

On our way down with Port- à-Binson in the far distance

We found that the building we had seen was in the grounds of a priory.  I know little about priors and their habits (!) but if the way the English churches provide their ministers with lavish rectories is anything to go by then this could have been where the prior himself lived.  Although we couldn’t pay the priory a visit, we did find out that it was used as a hospital in the first world war.  

Was this the residence of the top man?

Opposite the priory we looked around a French war cemetery that houses the bodies of over 2,500 Frenchmen killed in the area during 1918. A notice by the cemetery indicates that many of the soldiers were from the French colonies.  This would account for the many headstones that were ‘Muslim’.  In line with the French War Graves Commission, crosses are used for Christians, and different types of headstones are used to differentiate between Muslims, Jews and ‘other religions’.  Interestingly (and most enlighteningly), France is the only country that uses a headstone specifically to represent those of no faith or freethinkers.

The priory

As I said, it had started spitting with rain by the time we got back and when we had lunch it started drizzling, and it stayed like that for the rest of the afternoon.  Looking out of the windows the only excitement, other than a heron who kept fishing from the same spot, were two passing boats both of which were hotel boats.

We did venture out again, later in the afternoon, but only for a short walk along the river to let Buddy stretch his legs after being cooped up on the boat since lunch.  The sun did come out in the early evening, but the forecast is for a couple more grey days ahead ☹