Bologne (competitive allotment-ing?)

Sunset over Bologne

Friday was moving day and we were off to a place called Bologne which, as far as we’re concerned, had a normal mooring, in other words no water or electricity.  This did mean getting ready to cruise included additional jobs like getting the washing done, filling up the water tank and other receptacles like saucepans that we use to store water.  On the electrical side I made sure the solar panels were clean and put away the power-hungry electrical appliances that we only use when hooked up.  The electric kettle was replaced with the ordinary kettle and the fan heater put away.  Mind you now the weather is warm again there’s not really been any call for the heater other than the occasional blast to take any chill off first thing.

As we rose up the first lock, we saw our first scarce swallowtail of the year.  Contrary to its name it’s fairly common and widespread in Europe, more so than the more recognisable and darker yellow swallowtail. It got its English name from the fact that it’s a very rare migrant to the UK which also has its own species of swallowtail that can be found in the Norfolk Broads.  This picture is one we took last year at Chepy near Châlons-en-Champagne and you can see why it’s in the swallowtail family.

Scarce swallowtail seen at Chepy on July 11^th 2020

It seems to have been the weekend for their emergence as we have seen several more scarce swallowtails since.  Just before the next lock we passed Roôcourt-la-Côte which is one of the places we looked at when driving around before the current confinement scouting for mooring spots.  There was nowhere to moor in the village when we looked, but we did find two lavoirs and included them in the blog for that day as they were really well maintained and quite stunning.

Roôcourt-la-Côte

The next spot we’d seen on our scouting trip was by some silos below the next lock at Bologne.  When we got there, we realised the only place we could moor would be directly under the silos.  When we were sussing it out from the other side of the cut we’d thought there were bollards just before the silos, but we’d been mistaken.  Although there were bollards under the silos it wouldn’t be pleasant as the sun would be blocked out from early afternoon.  Not only that, we can really only moor underneath silos overnight in case commercials turn up to be filled with grain.  We had to carry on up the lock and check out the next likely site.

Looking back at the shunned silo mooring

Coming out of the lock we crossed over the river Marne which is now about 300 kilometres upstream from its confluence with the river Seine in Paris.  We reflected on the many happy days we’ve spent cruising the length of the navigable river from Paris and now continuing up the Marne valley by canal as the river is unnavigable this high up.

The river Marne is ‘paddleable’ this far away from Paris

Soon after the aqueduct we found the old quay we were looking for and it looked ideal as there were four sensibly spaced rings and plenty of space to park the car.  After mooring up Karen ran back to Viéville with Buddy to get the car.  I have to admit to having a kip while they were gone as yesterday’s jab had wiped me out a bit – so annoying.

Arrived at Bologne

We were moored in a quiet spot with views across open fields.  The only drawback was that we were on the towpath side so Buddy had to be kept tied up.  Being only 1.5 kilometres from Bologne it’s an ideal place for locals to walk their dogs or go for a run or bike ride which means people often stop to look at the boat and try to engage us in conversation. No doubt it’ll be busier at the weekend as Bologne, with approaching 1,900 inhabitants, is quite large compared to recent places we’ve stopped at.  Mind you it’s lovely when curfew arrives as it becomes lovely and peaceful, and the only signs of movement are from birds and insects.

Early in the evening two private boats came through, these were the first we’ve seen in the seven weeks since we set out from Châlons-en-Champagne.  Judging by the speed they were going and the fact they looked quite sparse inside we assumed they were being moved somewhere, possibly to be sold.  The southern end of this canal joins the river Saône not far from St Jean de Losne where there’s a massive harbour where many people live on their boats and where there’s also one of the largest collection of boats for sale in the country. 

On Friday we cruised three miles up three locks and we now only have 31 miles and 29 locks to go before we reach the summit at Langres.

Having had no reaction to the Oxford jab back in February I’d been a bit upset that I felt wiped out and my arm hurt after the Pfizer one I received on Friday.  Fortunately, I was back to normal by Saturday morning so I can’t really say I had any significant reactions.  Karen was due to get her first jab on Saturday morning and hers was slightly complicated because she was allergic to penicillin as a baby which she has to declare.  Our French friend Brigitte helped us out by supplying a few statements explaining the history and that other vaccines such as the flu jab have been fine since.  Karen used Brigitte’s words when she completed the box asking about allergies.  Ironically, there wasn’t any need for concern about misunderstanding through language difficulties, as the doctor she saw wanted to speak English!

We took it easy for the rest of the day in case Karen had a reaction and also it was such lovely weather we didn’t fancy doing a lot anyway.  We just had the occasional wander for 100 metres or so along the towpath or through the woods at the back of the mooring. 

A portion of the large arable field opposite us has been marked out and men, watched by women, have been turning the soil by hand and raking it into the sort of mounds used for asparagus or strawberries.

What are they doing?

Cars and people were coming and going all afternoon; the men always doing the work while the women watched.  Some lines had a few stakes in of varying heights and also labels could be seen marking the end of some of the rows.  Karen was convinced it was some form of local competition.  Whatever it was it certainly warranted a closer inspection and as we could only see from the far side of the cut, we’ll have to walk down the other side for a closer look on Sunday.

A rare event – a passer-by

Fortunately, other than a heavy arm, Karen didn’t react to her Covid jab, but we stayed relatively close to the boat on Sunday just in case.  After a late breakfast we found a circular walk that would take in the gardening work in the field, the village of Bologne and along the river Marne.  When we reached the area that was being worked on, we found that each row was labelled with the name of the person working on it.  They weren’t evenly distributed, some people only having one or two rows and others half a dozen or so, and on closer inspection we could see a variety of different vegetables were being grown.  Maybe the landowner had allocated it to the villagers so that had vegetable plots by the canal where there was a plentiful supply of water – we’ll probably never know.

Looking closer

We walked across the fields to the southern end of Bologne, walked the whole length of the village and out the other end without seeing a soul.  Whenever that happens it reminds us of the phrase. ‘Mad dogs and Englishmen’.

Mairie, war memorial & church in one shot

As we came out at the northern end, we crossed a millstream with an old mill to the right and a lavoir to the left.

The mill

It was lovely and cool inside the lavoir, so we sat for a while listening to the water running through.

There was an opening at the far end of the lavoir that had an iron grill barring passage.  As the opening led to the millstream it was probably barred for health & safety reasons; unusual to see in France but it does happen sometimes.  Looking through the grating we could see a hole leading into the stream and thought it was probably an old privy on the lines of a castle garderobe.  We’ve come across privies inside and alongside lavoirs before but only a handful.

The outside toilet

With the weather set fair I now have no excuse but to continue with making good the paintwork.  It was a job I started but didn’t finish in the first lockdown but at least I got the roof completed which was the most important and largest area area to do.