Verdun (‘tis walnut season)

Early morning mist while moored at St-Mihiel

As agreed with VNF, we left St-Mihiel at 10 o’clock on Friday morning to get to the first lock which was about seven kilometres away.  This meant they would know what time an éclusier would have to be at the lock to get it ready for us.  Once the mist had cleared it turned out to be lovely and warm and it stayed like that all day.  As we left town, we passed some ‘cliffs’ that had been one of the sights worthy a visit as recommended by the tourist office.  We were glad we hadn’t taken them up on their suggestion.

Call those cliffs?

For the first part of the journey, we continued on the river Meuse but once we re-joined the canal, we were on that for the rest of the day.  Being back on the canal meant we were potentially returning to the weed issues of earlier in the week, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been further up the canal as only two trips to the weed hatch were required.

The river Meuse north of St-Mihiel

As expected, our éclusier had the first lock ready for us and living up to expectations he had a cigarette on the go too.  He did four locks for us during the journey, and he was smoking at each one.  Of course, he may have had others while waiting for us, but it does seem to be a thing that éclusiers have a fag when operating locks and almost invariably they are also on their phones.

Lock ready for us

We were soon back into the swing of having the locks manually operated for us, but it felt quite different to when we last had this which was on the canal de Bourgogne a couple of years ago.  There, most of the éclusiers used motor scooters and zipped up and down the towpaths keeping one step ahead of ‘their’ boats.  Here, with no towpath to speak of, our guy used the road system in his VNF van so there was none of the embarrassed waving as we were passed on the towpath.  I say embarrassed because after waving at each other the first time, who will take the plunge and decide it’s pointless waving any longer as we’ll all be meeting up again in a few minutes?

Our éclusier always opened both top gates for us even though we would only need one open.  It was necessary in order to release the weed that built up against them.  Having two gates to close meant Karen could get her hands dirty and help out by jumping off to close one of them.

Karen putting her back into it

She found the final one too hard to close so our guy had to come over and help her.  In good old French machismo style, he did it one handed but with a big smile on his face.  He was also happy for us to leave through one gate but looking back at each lock we noticed that he partly opened the other gate too so he could use his drag rake to get weed clear of the lock.

Passing Lacroix-sur-Meuse

Soon after setting out, we’d commented to each other that we couldn’t remember when we last saw a boat on the move and then, at two successive locks, there was one waiting to come in as we left.  The first was a converted day trip/restaurant boat from Amsterdam with a Dutch couple on board and the second a lovely old Dutch barge with a couple of Brits on board.

Going under the Paris-Strasbourg TGV line

By early afternoon we’d arrived at our destination for the day, Ambly-sur-Meuse.  We agreed with the éclusier that we would leave at 10 o’clock on Saturday with the aim of reaching Verdun where we hoped to stay for a few days.  He told us that he would be asleep all day, but a colleague would be along to help us.  We pulled up on a 10-metre pontoon in an old basin and settled in for the rest of the day.

Moored at Ambly-sur-Meuse

We soon realised there was a wasp nest under the pontoon so thought it wouldn’t be sensible to stay there especially as we would want to be sitting outside.  We decided to have a look around the village and then move the boat further along the basin where there were some old bollards.

The village was small with a population of just under 250 but it did boast a boulangerie.  There was the usual mairie, and it was massive considering the population, but it was doubling as a school as it would have when it was built.  There must have been a small population in those days as the words ‘École mixité’ were inscribed on the lintel above one of the doors as opposed to separate ‘École garçons’ and École filles’.

Over the top mairie

The high street

Karen was delighted because at the top end of the high street she found a walnut tree that had started dropping its fruit.  This was the first we’d found this season to be at this stage, so she spent a happy ten minutes or so gathering the fallen nuts.  We’ve noticed that not many trees have a lot of nuts on this year and have learnt that walnut trees have their own cycles of plentiful and barren seasons.  It does seem strange though that nearly all are practically barren this year.

Karen happily harvesting

When we got back to the boat, we moved it along to the other end of the basin to get away from the wasp nest and I spent some time in the engine bay checking all the electrical connections for the starter battery were clean and bright.  The battery loses its power so quickly now that I have to jump start it every time so the need for a new battery was paramount.  Looking on the web later on I found a company in Verdun that could supply a battery of the correct dimensions and, just as importantly, with the poles in the correct positions.  I told them I would pick it up on Tuesday and they agreed to keep it aside for me.  This did mean I would have to catch a bus back to Commercy to pick up the car on Monday in order to drive to the battery shop.

Moored at the other end of the basin at Ambly-sur-Meuse

I mentioned the dimensions and pole placings especially for narrowboaters who’ve never replaced their boat batteries.  The battery compartments are generally very tight on space and difficult to access.  On top of that the wiring associated with the batteries tends to be just the right length.  We’ve heard of people who’ve bought batteries of the same measurements as the ones they were replacing.  When they tried to install them, they were stymied because the poles were either switched or placed centrally rather than on an edge meaning the leads couldn’t reach the correct terminals.

Mentioning lack of space on a narrowboat reminded me that while working in the engine bay I found I had two sets of jump leads which just goes to show that even on a narrowboat you never really know what you may find.

On Friday we cruised 11 miles down four locks.

Saturday was another 10 o’clock start but we didn’t get to the first lock at the allotted time as one of the two alternator belts failed.  The other one had failed when we were still in the UK and were halfway down the long flight of locks at Wigan.  Spare alternator belts are a must to carry especially over here so once we drifted to the side, I set about replacing the failed belt.  Karen tied the boat to a couple of trees while I rang VNF to explain we would be 30 minutes late to the first lock which turned out to be a good estimate by the time I got the new belt on, adjusted it and jump started the engine (remember, we are without a starter battery).

Our éclusier was a jolly chap and spent most of the time talking about his son and daughter.  He finds it funny that his daughter is also fluent in Chinese, English and Spanish and his son is studying criminology at university while his father is an éclusier.  He saw us down four locks and then left us as the final lock, in the centre of Verdun, was operated by staff in the control centre there.

We reached Verdun by early afternoon which initially looked like it was a mixture of old and new buildings. 

Skyrises and cathedral beyond the weir

As is often the case there was no warning of the weir other than on our map and the trees caught on it.  Just before the lock was the Verdun tunnel which at 50 metres in length was little more than a bridge but the canal had to get through the town's fortifications somehow.

Tunnel de Verdun!

As we dropped out of the lock, we could see rowers ahead and a guy in a RIB was having a difficult time trying to get them all over to the side as a boat was coming.  They were obviously all inexperienced and unable to follow his instructions, so we clung to the right bank while they tried to manoeuvre to the other side.

Rowing boats huggubg the side with more ahead

Apart from a bridge and a block of apartments, none of the buildings along the river in the centre looked modern:

Modern apartment block looking more like a multi storey car park

Modern road bridge

As we rounded the final bend, we could see a long pontoon that was empty apart from one boat which we found out later had been left there since July.

The whole quayside was lined with busy bars and restaurants.  We could see that the ones at the near end were screened by a wall as the parasols were only just peeping over the top, so we turned around to face upstream and moored under the wall for a bit of privacy.  There were plenty of electricity and water points so once we'd tied up we hooked up and got the electric kettle out.

The fact that Verdun was so heavily involved in WWI means it's quite a tourist hotspot and it really was the busiest town we’ve visited this year.  We decided to find the tourist office to get a trail we could follow but leave the walking until Sunday even though rain was forecast.

As it turned out we ticked off a few sights on our trip to the office.  This is the Porte Chaussée which was built in the 14th century and was the main entrance to the town through the city walls as they were then.  Over the centuries the fortifications were moved further out as the town expanded but the gate remained.

Porte Chaussée

Section of ramparts from the 19^th century

Just outside the tourist office was a moving memorial to the citizens of Verdun who perished in both world wars.  The figures represent the five arms of the French army in WWI although the names inscribed on the memorial are those who lost their lives in both wars.

Memorial erected in 1928

At the end of a street leading away from the quay stood another memorial this one in memory of the Armistice with more mentions of the citizens of Verdun.

We stopped for drinks at one of the bars overlooking the quay where we were moored and fortunately Karen had a hard copy of her passe sanitaire.  We've been to bars out in the country where they haven’t asked for our covid passes but, I suppose as Verdun has so many tourists, they won’t serve customers until covid passes are produced even when sitting outside as we were.  Karen had lost her covid pass when she lost her phone so has to carry a hard copy everywhere.

On Saturday we cruised 12 miles down five locks.

A grey Sunday morning

We completed the town tour on Sunday morning and compared with Saturday Verdun was deserted.  It was a very grey day but at least it didn’t rain on us, and the sun finally came out in the late afternoon.

Quiet streets

On the banks of the river stood the 19^th century officers’ mess:

We found the most moving of all the statues and monuments was one erected in 2016 on the 100^th anniversary of the Battle of Verdun.  This was sculpted to commemorate the work women carried out while the men were at war, akin to our own Land Girls and Idle Women.

St-Paul’s gate which stood in the 19^th century ramparts

A chapel in the high street was not a particularly attractive building but, like many buildings in Verdun, still bears the scars caused by artillery and shrapnel.

St-Nicholas chapel

After a stiff climb to the top of town we came across another gateway, this was set in the first town walls, built in the 12^th century.

Porte Châtel

The cathedral and archbishop’s palace were the main buildings left standing at the top of the town and the palace now houses the world peace centre.

The bishop’s palace from the rear

Walking back down to the river we followed the 'Escaliers des grandes marches' or the stairs of the big steps.  These sounded really impressive as they’d been cut into the rock face to give access between the upper and lower town.  Sadly, they’d been replaced by standard concrete steps so instead here’s a picture of the main road west out of town once we reached the bottom.

Back down at river level we walked to the west along the river past a vast underground military headquarters built in the early 1800s and used until the end of WWI.  Apparently, it’s like a small town and is open to the public under the grand title of citadelle souterrain or underground city.  A little farther on we reached the ramparts again and yet another gate.  This one wasn’t mentioned in the town tour but was being restored so maybe it will appear in future editions.

The ramparts on the western side of town

Under the walls stood 16 large statues of marshals and generals from both world wars.  They were placed there in 1959 and were originally intended to line a boulevard in Paris.  It did feel like Verdun is the recipient of unwanted statues as earlier we'd seen a Rodin bronze that had been donated by a town in Holland. 

Later in the afternoon I caught the one bus a day back to Commercy.  It was about 10 minutes late turning up and seemed to break all the speed limits in an effort to get back on time during the hour long journey.  As is always the case I was a little nervous about what state the car would be in or even if it was still there, but all was fine and, apart from finding four lavoirs, I had an uneventful journey back home.  The lavoir at Dieue-sur-Meuse has to be mentioned as it had a really unusual floor.

The lavoir stood on the banks of a millstream whose level would vary depending upon the operations of the mill downstream.  A clever system of Archimedes screws was installed that would lower and raise sections of the floor and the washing stones accordingly.  The mechanism and floor were in a sorry state now, but you can get the idea.

Lavoir at Dieue-sur-Meuse

An advantage of going on town trails is that we are able to seek out likely places to leave the car for a while.  After parking up it was a short walk back to the boat and as I made my way along the pontoon, I was greeted by the smell of freshly baked madeleines wafting out of the rear doors.  Full credit to Karen as they were even better than the real thing!

I had a quick scout around on the web and found a picture of the lavoir at Dieue-sur-Meuse from the days when it looked happier and the Archimedes screws were plainer to see:

Karen was back at work on Monday for a couple of days and top priority of my job list was to replace the starter battery.  As we now had the car in town, I drove to the motor factors to pick up the battery I’d reserved.  It’s never an easy job replacing batteries on a narrowboat because of the awkwardness of accessing the battery bank but at least I managed without knackering my back and hopefully the new one will hold its charge.