Saint-Valery-sur-Somme (the end of the road)

7½ mile long straight

We wanted to get to St-Valery-sur-Somme on Tuesday but ummed and aaahed about when to leave.   Most of the journey would be on the final nine-mile-long section of the Somme known as the canal maritime on account of it being affected by the tides, especially the currently high spring tides, and also when the sea lock was used.  The control centre would have the final say as they knew the state of play of the water from both a tidal and sea lock use perspective.

We finally opted to leave at 11 and rang the control centre who said that was fine as the tide was going out during the morning but they did point out that we would only get through two swing bridges by lunchtime so would have to moor up and wait until later before completing the journey.  Looking at the clearance heights in the guidebook we knew we should get under all the bridges without them having to be swung.  Just to be safe we changed our minds and said we would leave immediately instead so we could reach St-Valery by lunchtime.

When we arrived at the only lock of the day, we saw that we had two éclusiers allocated to us for a change.  This was the final lock on the Somme for us as we wouldn’t be going through the sea lock.

Two éclusiers today

Immediately after the lock was a road bridge that had an electronic display on it.  It was indicating the available air height and was the first time we’ve seen an electronic one.

3.6 metres – loads of room

We then turned left onto the canal maritime which runs for nine miles down to the sea from the centre of Abbeville.

Turning onto the canal maritime

Soon after leaving we were approaching the first swing bridge and could immediately see there was plenty of room for us.  The éclusiers waited to see that we fitted under safely and then disappeared, their work for us finished for the day.

Approaching the first swing bridge

After the swing bridge the canal rounds a corner and runs dead straight for 7½ miles broken only by a further three swing bridges.

Onto the straight bit

The final swing bridge was the lowest of the four but there was still ample room for us.

No problem for a narrowboat

The éclusiers had told us that the port above the sea lock was full but there was a short pontoon before a lift bridge immediately in front of the port that we could use but there were no services.  As we’d only just taken on water, we were more than happy to use the pontoon and not only that, it meant we were on our own as well.

Moored at St-Valery-sur-Somme

Talking about water, a couple of people mentioned about the high water pressure and my bedroom accident at Pont-Remy, and asked why I didn’t just close the tap accordingly.  The bornes on the Somme do not have taps; the hose is plugged into the borne via a connector.  Some people fit a regulator on their hoses to cater for such circumstances, but I’ve never got around to it yet – maybe the time has now arrived?

Not only were we secluded but the pontoon was gated so it would be safe to leave Buddy to his own devices and know he wouldn't be wandering off.  Our friend Brigitte was calling in to see us in the afternoon, so we took a short walk down to the sea lock before lunch.  Brigitte was over from the UK for a couple of weeks visiting her family who live in north west France.  She used to live in the area before moving to England soon after she started working.

The sea lock was massive and consisted of two sets of double gates at each end as well as guillotine style sluices.

Bottom gates and sluices of the sea lock

Looking from the bottom gates to the top gates

Harbour on the far side of the lock

Brigitte easily found us and manged to park right next to the pontoon.  We had a pleasant couple of hours catching up on our respective families and life in general before she left to see a sister who lives a short drive away.

Afternoon tea – UK style

Man in a gas powered kayak

It was lovely to see Brigitte and after she left we went for a walk around a village called Pinchefalise and then stayed at the boat for the rest of day, leaving investigation of the town and seafront of St-Valery-sur-Somme until Wednesday.

By six o’clock the tide was fully in and the pontoon had risen a fair bit compared with when we’d arrived, such that we had to walk down the ramp to get onto the bank rather than up as it had been earlier.  Obviously, the canal water level doesn't fluctuate to the extent that the sea does between the tides as it is controlled by the sea lock, but it still has a rise and fall of well over a metre especially during spring tides. 

Now we have reached the end of the Somme we will be retracing our steps until we get back to the Canal du Nord where, we will head south back onto new waters for us.  We have plenty of places to visit on the Somme still and will hopefully catch up with some of them on the return journey, especially if the weather holds.

Our travels this year starting at Châlons-en-Champagne (the blue flag)

On Tuesday we cruised eight miles down one lock.

With rain forecast on Wednesday afternoon we went for a good walk around Saint-Valery-sur-Somme and the bay during the morning.   It was quite a touristy place, in fact there were more tourists around than anywhere else we’ve been to this year.  Admittedly they seemed to be French judging by the conversations we overheard and the lack of cars with non-French plates.  Nearly everyone we saw was being compliant by wearing masks and keeping a good distance apart even in the street market.

Becoming a common sign in much of France now

The town was really quite pretty and reminded us of UK coastal towns such as Rye in East Sussex, although the beach huts weren’t a patch on those found in the UK.

Rather drab beach huts

We visited the bay at low tide but could imagine that it would be quite stunning at high tide and on a clear sunny day.

The town that can just be seen on the far side of the bay is le Crotoy which boasts of having the only south facing beach in northern France. 

Mediaeval Saint-Valery-sur-Somme was fortified in the 11^th century and lies on top of a hill overlooking the bay.  We came across several sections of the walls still standing and also three of the gates which originally had drawbridges.  The walls and gates were all in different stages of restoration having been damaged by bombardment over the centuries including during WWII.

Porte de Nevers

Both sides of Porte Jeanne d’Arc

Many of the walls of the buildings were constructed using flint as well as bricks and/or stone which was another reason why the town reminded us of those along the South Downs in England.

Chequered pattern of flint and stone on a church…

…and in flint and brick on the house on the left

Another pattern on another church

These two street views belie the fact that there were plenty of people around shopping or sightseeing:

Just before we got back home Karen disappeared to look at the grass by a wall.  Can you guess what she was doing?

Yes, she'd spied an overhanging walnut tree

Contrary to the forecast we didn’t get rained on and, even though we didn’t see a lot of the sun during the day, the rain just amounted to the occasional spots off and on later in the afternoon.  Thursday may well see us walking out along the northern side of the Somme bay and then later in the day having a short cruise to a place called Petit Port which is halfway back to Abbeville.