Lumes (waters new)

WEDNESDAY 19 APRIL

After the last couple of days of unseasonably cool and grey weather it was pleasant to wake up to the sun streaming through the bedroom porthole on Wednesday morning.  Karen and I had a day apart which is most unusual for us.  Well, we spent some of the morning and some of the afternoon separately as I was on car moving duties.  A 10-minute walk took me down the high street to Verdun bus station.  On the way I passed the monument to the soldiers who were awarded the Verdun medal for fighting in the WWI Battle of Verdun.

Monument to the holders of the medal of Verdun

I’d heard of the medal before but hadn’t realised that it isn’t an officially recognised war medal.  The French government only issued medals for campaigns and not battles within campaigns; however, it is one of the most famous medals, probably because the Battle of Verdun was one of the most devastating in terms of loss of life.

Early morning start to find the bus station in Verdun

I had an hour’s bus ride to Commercy and found the car safe and sound where I’d left it outside the velodrome and was back in Verdun an hour later.  The bus and car journeys took the same length of time because the road was a single carriageway and also the fact that the bus only stopped a couple of times for passengers.  As the empty jerry cans were in the car, I took the opportunity to fill them at a fuel station on the way back.

This is where I have to admit to a rookie error I made when we came back to France a fortnight ago.  We arrived back on the Monday afternoon and had got the boat ready for leaving within a couple of hours.  One thing that I didn’t do was dip the fuel tank to see how much fuel we had and that was because in my mind we’d filled up before we’d left and that was the mistake.   When I checked the diesel tank after the first week, I was absolutely shocked that we had less than a quarter of a tank left and, frighteningly, we'd been on the river Moselle: not a good place to have run the tank dry.  Another error to add to those I still make despite my age.

In the afternoon I took the car further downstream to Stenay which was another journey of an hour followed by an hour’s bus trip back to Verdun.  Driving through one of the villages my eye was drawn to a couple of the Lorraine style houses that I mentioned in the last blog update.  These two were ripe for renovation by those with the right skills and mindset:

Having stayed in Verdun for two nights we’ll be moving further downstream on Thursday.  We’re due to meet our éclusier itinérant at the first lock at 10am which means we’ll need to leave by 8.30.  I used the French terminology to describe the lockie because Chris Hutchins had been in touch about my use of, ‘itinerant éclusier’.  He quite rightly pointed out that I should probably be using the word peripatetic instead of itinerant.  I admit I was using an anglicisation so from now on it’ll either be ‘peripatetic lockie’ or ‘éclusier itinérant’.

THURSDAY 20 APRIL

Whilst staying in Verdun we’ve been moored opposite the old Banque de France building which has been restored and is currently being converted to flats and offices.  Two years ago, we were moored in the same spot and at that time the building was covered in scaffolding and the stonework was very drab and dirty.  We both felt that a good job had been carried out.

The restored Banque de France overlooking the river

We left Verdun in the sunshine at 8.30 on Thursday morning in order to reach the first lock by the agreed time of 10am.

Passing porte de Chaussée, built in 1380, as we left Verdun

Back in 2021 we stayed in Verdun for several days and if you want to find out more about what we did and saw in the town and surrounding area then dip into the blog entries around that time by clicking here.  

By mid-morning the sun had all but gone and we spent the rest of the journey under chilly grey skies.  The Meuse valley was now wide, and we had some wonderful views of the surrounding countryside.

A straight stretch of canal

We saw one boat on the move and by coincidence it was coming out of a lock just as we were heading for it.  The majority of the journey was still on the canal with only a couple of river sections.  As usual the weirs on both sections felt most unprotected.  It won’t be for anther 40km or so until we’re on the river Meuse for the majority of the time with the occasional lock cut.

It was a long cruise for us, five hours in total and we stopped for the day at Sivry-sur-Meuse.  It started raining soon after we moored up and continued for a couple of hours before brightening up for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Evening at Sivry-sur-Meuse

On Thursday we cruised 19km down five locks.

FRIDAY 21 APRIL

The sun had returned on Friday, and we set off at 9am to meet our éclusier at the first lock 15 minutes later.  We had another long day planned as we’re still travelling through places we visited in 2021.  We’re hoping that by the end of the weekend we’ll be in Sedan which is the furthest north we got to on the Meuse before we had to turn around because the canal des Ardennes was closed due to lack of water.  At least we’ll be able to start waters new next week and also get to slow down somewhat. 

The upper Meuse valley looked so different in glorious sunshine compared with the last couple of grey days:

We had three locks with our éclusier and then we said our goodbyes just before Dun-sur-Meuse as the locks from thereon reverted to automatic, operated by using our télécommande.  It’s been fun being locked down by éclusiers but one positive of being back on automated locks is that we’ll be more in control and will have a lot more flexibility; we always feel a bit guilty if we have to ring the control centre to say we’ve changed our minds.

Approaching Dun-sur-Meuse

When we were in the lock at Dun-sur-Meuse a couple were taking a keen interest in us.  Coming closer, they explained that they’d seen us there two years previously and had spoken with us then.  They lived locally and since they saw us had taken in a Ukrainian couple.  The Ukrainian lady was with them but her husband, who was blind, was back at the house.

The French couple with their pink-coated Ukrainian houseguest

Now we’re getting further downstream the river sections are getting more numerous, last for longer, and still have unprotected weirs.

Cows taking an interest in us in a canalised section

We moored for the day on a spit of land between the river and lock cut in Stenay where I’d moved the car to a couple of days ago.  The campervan park opposite us was bustling with holidaymakers - there were at least three dozen vans parked up and, according to the electronic scoreboard at the entrance, room for another 49.  We're not really up on charges for vans but at 10€ a night including water and electricity and a free drink at the bar it seemed pretty reasonable.

 Moored at Stenay

I know we explored Stenay and followed the town trail before but I can't help including just one picture.  

I just love a waterwheel

On Friday we cruised 26km down seven locks.

SATURDAY 22 APRIL

Much of my spare time this week has been spent dealing with our UK and French income tax affairs.  The French tax year is the same as the calendar year and returns have to be finished around the end of May of the following year.  The French system is online and the tax return process for 2022 opened this Monday and, as no paper forms are required, it’s been relatively straightforward.  Not so for the UK side of things.  As foreign residents, we’re not able to use the HMRC online system and have to make paper returns each year.  Not too onerous you would think as forms are easily downloaded, but for 2022/23 the system has changed.  Non-UK residents have to ring HMRC to get the main tax return form mailed out as it can no longer be downloaded; strangely, the supplementary forms can still be downloaded.

All this means that the HMRC phone lines are now busier than ever, and it took me more than half a dozen attempts to get through to ask for a form.  I hung on for between 30 minutes and an hour on each failed attempt before giving up.  The girl I finally spoke with was as exasperated as I was and said that she and her colleagues were up in arms because they have had no explanation why the retrograde (and to us and them, a pointless) step has been made thus making the phone lines even busier than usual.

To keep on track for reaching Sedan on Sunday we left earlyish on a sunny Saturday morning.  After a couple of kilometres, we were on the river and stayed there until reaching Mouzon early in the afternoon.  Unfortunately, it started raining once we were on the river and as it wasn’t possible to stop anywhere, we put our wet weather gear on and kept going.  The scenery would be stunning on a beautifully clear day but I’ll include some grey pictures anyway.

Meuse valley vineyards

Raining on the river

The rain stopped for the last hour of the cruise

We both thought that the second lock we dropped down was probably the remotest lock we’ve been through and the steep wooded hillside on the left bank made for a dramatic backdrop.

We know European beavers are now quite widespread in this part of France but have yet to see one.  For much of the journey though we saw evidence of the damage they cause: the bases of trees gnawed through and felled trees laying along the bank or half in the water.

The rain stopped for the last hour or so and then restarted just as we were mooring up in the lock cut in Mouzon giving us a good excuse to stay in and watch the women’s rugby.

On Saturday we cruised 25km down three locks.

SUNDAY 23 APRIL

We’d stayed in the Mouzon lock cut on Saturday night just up from the port and campervan site.  Mouzon port is one of those where an overnight fee is charged even for boaters not wanting electricity or water.  We didn’t need either, so we opted for our bankside mooring as, with an enclosed grassy bank, it was better for Buddy in addition to being a quieter spot.

Vanners still asleep on Sunday morning in Mouzon

It was a shorter journey to Sedan than we’ve had for the last few days and only a couple of locks to go down so at the halfway point we took a detour up an arm of the Meuse.  The plan being to moor a kilometre or so upstream and go exploring.  A little further up the arm the river Chiers, a tributary to the Meuse, used to be navigable for another 35kms but the industry served disappeared at the beginning of the 20^th century. 

As soon as we turned onto the arm to head upstream, we could feel the flow was pretty strong.  The boat was finding it a real struggle, and I was getting a bit concerned about how we would turn around safely as the river wasn’t particularly wide.  I picked a longish straight stretch, importantly without any bridge piers, and started the turn with my heart in my mouth.  I managed to get the bows around and was rather hoping the current would turn them faster than it did.  All of a sudden, I realised the stern wasn’t coming around quickly enough even at full throttle and we were going to drift sideways downstream further than I’d anticipated.  A fallen tree was laying out from the bank, and it was going to be touch and go if we were going to complete the turn in time before being stopped by it.  We just about finished the turn in time and the only damage was the loss of our French flag caught by an overhanging branch.  Once we'd re-joined the open, and calmer, main river we both felt very relieved and admitted to each other that we’d been really scared and that it was the most frightening event we have had on the boat. 

As flying the French flag is a legal requirement, we felt that the cost of 5€ to replace it was a small price to pay.  To add insult to our injured pride it started drizzling and stayed that way until we reached Sedan and moored in the port/campervan park there.

Moored in Sedan

The rain continued off and on all afternoon but we didn’t mind as we had the French girls’ rugby game to watch.  Now we’ve arrived at Sedan we’ve reached the furthest point north that we got to in 2021 before turning back. So, from now on, we’ll be on new waters for us as we head further downstream towards Belgium followed by a trip along the canal des Ardennes.  Since leaving Parroy three weeks ago we’ve travelled just over 240 kilometres through 83 locks.

Our journey northwards so far this year

On Sunday we cruised 17km down two locks.

MONDAY 24 APRIL

Looking down at our mooring at Sedan

Another car fetching day; this time a little more convoluted as it involved both a train and a bus ride.  I caught a train from Sedan to Montmédy where I had an hour to wait for a bus to Stenay where we’d left the car at the port.  Those of you who read the blog regularly or have been to the area will know that Montmédy is famous for its citadel and old town on top of the hill overlooking the current town.  As I had an hour to kill, I walked up the hill to reacquaint myself with the place.

Driving back to Sedan I managed to find a couple of lavoirs.  In addition to being stream fed, the one at Laneuville-sur-Meuse had an impluvium style roof to collect rainwater directly into the basin which, unfortunately, looks like it’s kept dry nowadays.

Lavoir in Laneuville-sur-Meuse

Whilst I was away Karen went for a run further downstream and was pleased to find that there is now a cycle path alongside the river for the next 100km to the Belgian border.  This means she’ll be able to run ahead of the boat when we’re on the move without worrying whether the path she’s following will peter out.

We stayed in Sedan for the rest of Monday, mainly pottering around.

TUESDAY 25 APRIL

With sun forecast all day we were a little put out that it was raining when we woke up, but as it had stopped by the time we’d had breakfast we set off for our next stop.  From now on everything was going to be new to us so we were quite excited at the prospect.  The 23 locks from Sedan up to the Belgian border at Givet are an unusual size.  At 47.5m x 5.7m they are slightly larger than the smallest Freycinet standard locks and apparently Meuse barges were originally built to the same gauge although it would be most unusual for a modern péniche to be built to the same size.

Exiting the lock in the middle of Sedan, the prop began to really judder, so we had to stop.  We were almost immediately on the river and were fortunate to find some railings to tie the back end to while I went down the weed hatch.  It transpired that a long length of plastic sheeting had got caught around the prop which I soon extricated.  This was our first trip to the weed hatch to remove rubbish as opposed to weed during our time in France, so we considered ourselves lucky it hadn’t happened before.  We were also lucky that it happened in a lock as opposed to on the river itself. 

Apart from very short lock cuts, like the one on Sedan, we were now on the river Meuse all the time and, as we were travelling with the flow, we made good time.  We were soon passing the entrance to the canal des Ardennes where we will be returning to in five or six weeks after first travelling further down the Meuse.

The entrance to the canal des Ardennes

We fancied mooring up for a while so wondered if we could make use of some old commercial bollards on the riverbank.  Try as we might we just couldn’t get close enough and had to give up.  It would be a lot easier on a large boat that had some height compared to ours, because a line could be thrown down and around a bollard.  Mind you our rope throwing skills are nowhere near those of the professionals.

The valley flattened somewhat after leaving Sedan and the hills in the distance didn’t seem as high, so the views were quite different to those we’ve been seeing recently. 

When we reached the lock cut at Dom-le-Mesnil we found a likely place to moor for a while alongside a disused barrage keeper’s house.  There were old landing stages either side of the cut that were used to obtain access to the house by boat and we managed to make use of the old railings leading down one side.

Moored in Dom-le-Mesnil lock cut

Later in the afternoon we carried on for a while and moored on a long pontoon in a place called Lumes.  We wondered if Buddy remembered it as we dropped him off here three years ago for a holiday with Nikki and Gorete and their dog Bailey while we went back to the UK for a few days.

Moored in Lumes

Later in the afternoon we went for a walk along the river, coming back via Lumes itself.  There was very little in the way of commerce for a town, but it did boast the ugliest mairie we’ve come across.  The mairie is also the first we’ve seen without any flags flying, not even the obligatory tricolour.

Ugly and flag-free mairie

On the other hand the church was quite a contrast to the mairie:

Next to the mairie, we found a lavoir, this time full of water.  It also had a fireplace at the rear where water would have been heated in the bucket above.

The lavoir was under a building and we did wonder if the building was originally the mairie.  Mairies were often built above a lavoir, so the men worked upstairs while the women worked below.  It did mean the lavandières were protected from inclement weather.

Lavoir entrance to the left of the 'Lumes' hedge

We passed the remains of Lumes castle which was built in the early 1500s.  We searched for a way into the field in which it stood but it appeared to be part of a farm.

Ramparts of Lumes château

On Tuesday we cruised just over 20km down four locks.