Lumes (last stop on the Meuse)

Morning under les Dames de Meuse

SUNDAY 14 MAY

Returning to Revin after walking along the large river loop around the town we came out at the deep lock where it wasn’t easy putting Karen ashore when we’d arrived in the town on Friday.  She had to be dropped off at one of the three commercial dolphins that can be seen in the picture below.  The picture also shows the flow the boat had to deal with at the same time and then head into the lock approach afterwards.

Dolphins at the lock approach at Revin

The wooded banks of the river around Revin were full of wild garlic a couple of weeks ago and Karen was hoping it hadn’t gone off yet as she needed a few handfuls for the evening recipe.  She was in luck and, although most of it was just on the turn, there were still plenty of fresher leaves to choose from.  Our walk was enhanced because for once there were plenty of butterflies on the wing, a rare occurrence so far this year. 

Back at the port we topped up the water tank, settled up for our stay, said farewell to our neighbours and set off for the village of Laifour.  On the way down we’d spotted a likely looking mooring a couple of kilometres outside the village in a lovely remote location that wasn’t in any of the waterways guides we use.  It was particularly inviting because not only did it look like a beautiful place but it was on the inside of a bend away from the main current.

With the sort of weather normally expected at this time of year we had a pleasant cruise, albeit slow as the flow against us was still strong.

Passing Anchamps

The last part of the cruise was under some rocky hills known as the Dames de Meuse.  Legend has it that these 400+ metre high hills are the wives of first crusaders who were turned to stone for being unfaithful whilst their husbands were off crusading.  When we’d come down this way the sky was very overcast but this time we were treated to lovely blue skies.

Lock cut beside les Dames de Meuse

Rejoining the river we found the spot we were looking to moor at.  Unfortunately, several fishermen were in situ and one of them didn’t get one of his lines out of the way.  He’d obviously misjudged it as he’d removed his other lines, but our bows just caught the remaining one.  We were practically stopped by this point, so Karen went down the front and released the line for him.  He was very apologetic and said it was his fault thus avoiding a potentially embarrassing situation.

One guy was set up against one of the bollards we wanted to use but he made gestures that he and his wife, who was reading while sunning herself, would move for us.  We were very grateful because I wasn’t relishing the thought of having to ask them to move.

Sunday evening at Laifour before the anglers left

It really was a stunning location and easily one of the best places we’ve stayed at and after the anglers left we had the evening to ourselves.

On Sunday we cruised 8.5km up two locks.

MONDAY 15 MAY

Buddy and I went butterflying while Karen went for her Monday morning run.  I found an area of scrubland that looked ideal for green hairstreaks but couldn’t find any.  Although there were quite a few butterflies out and about it seemed speckled yellow moths were the most common insect. 

Back at the boat I had to do what can only be described as a blue job as it involved hoses and valves related to the toilet and that’s probably enough said about that other than, as with any job, it took longer than planned.

In the afternoon we walked the two kilometres to the village of Laifour which was further upstream.  It wasn’t a very large place but must be quite busy in the summer months being on boating, walking and cycling routes as well as nestling under the Dames de Meuse.  Walking down the main street we saw the unmistakable sight of a lavoir but this one had been converted into the village hall:

Helpfully a sign had been put up at the other side for those not in the know:

The mairie, as is still nearly always the case, was showing solidarity with the Ukraine by flying their national flag.  The railings around the war memorial were decorated with a garland of doves coloured in by the village children.  

The only person we saw was a woman who called out from her garden when Karen was trying the church door.  She told Karen, with a shrug of her shoulders, that the church was closed, always closed!

TUESDAY 16 MAY

We just couldn’t drag ourselves away from our beautiful spot so spent another day going for the odd walk and just taking in the views.  At one point, Rob and Suzy popped by for a while; they’d cycled down from their mooring further upstream at Monthermé.

On one of our walks, we spotted a small sign to ‘Source ferrugineuse’ and followed a track up the wooded hillside for a short way.  We found a spring where the minerals in the water emerging from it had stained the rocks a rusty iron colour:

WEDNESDAY 17 MAY

Sun rising on the Dames de Meuse on Wednesday morning

Still not able to drag ourselves away from the stunning scenery around Laifour, we moved on to the village itself where there was an old quay.  It looked a great place to stop, handy for the village centre and with just one other boat already moored there.  The fact that the facilities hadn’t yet been set up for the season, probably explained the lack of boats.

Moored at the village quay

It was a strange set up because electricity and water bornes are present in photographs of the site in the guidebooks, but they are clearly removed for the winter as they weren’t there when we arrived.  This was the first time we’ve come across this and couldn’t help thinking that there must be more work involved in removing, storing and installing the bornes every year rather than just using a secure master switch and stopcock as seems to be done in other such moorings.

Soon after tying up, a couple of guys arrived and mowed the long grass on the quay which probably meant the mairie was getting ready to connect the services so they could start welcoming (and charging) tourists.  Once again, we went for a couple of walks during the day and on one of them found these signs pinned to trees every so often:

My first thoughts were that the signs were indicating a good walk to see or hear owls at the appropriate times of the day.  Investigating further, it transpired that many of the village walks in this area are named the same and we were surprised not to have come across them before.  

At the southern end of the village we found a second lavoir which, like many in the Ardennes, was locked so we couldn’t see inside.

When we returned home a couple of boats had joined us and our neighbour who was there when we arrived.  A little later on two more pulled up so the mooring was full. No doubt this is a sign that it's getting busier and what we should expect until we leave the Meuse.  Selfishly we'd rather be on our own but know that commercially it's much better for it to be busy.  Not only do the local enterprises benefit from the tourism but so do the canal and river authority.

On Wednesday we cruised 1.5km through no locks.

THURSDAY 18 MAY

That's Buddy asleep on the freshly mown quayside at Laifour

We had an early breakfast on Thursday morning as we wanted to walk to the top of the Dames de Meuse which are just over 400 metres high.  We found out that there were two paths to the summit and chose the steeper one which was quite a bit shorter but obviously a stiffer climb.  Most of the walk was in the forest so there were no views. but the tree cover gave us plenty of shade for the climb up.  We were still in an area where the predominant rock was slate which meant we passed some dramatic formations on the way up.  At the summit a viewpoint had been created by clearing the trees and gave us some brilliant views:

Laifour to the right of the river

Karen queried whether we really were at the summit as she’d thought that there were going to be statues representing the Dames de Meuse standing at the top.  She was almost disappointed that there weren’t any as she’d built up a picture in her mind of how it was going to be.

By time we got back to Laifour all the boats had gone and after coffee and cake we set off too, bound for Monthermé.

Approaching the lock before Monthermé

We were meeting our friends Bill and Jane, who were heading to Holland, and found them moored on the town quay.  Buddy recognised their boat as we were pulling up and started wagging his tail so hard that his back end was almost coming off the rear deck.  Buddy always remembers boats where the owners have given him treats and Jane is never shy at not only providing dog chews and biscuits but saving scraps of cooked meat when she knows she’ll be seeing him.  After mooring up we spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with Bill and Jane, not forgetting to pick up our post that they had brought up from our residential address in Châlons-en-Champagne where they'd overwintered.

Moored in Monthermé

On Thursday we cruised nine km up two locks.

FRIDAY 19 MAY 

Friday morning was spent with our friends who were moored further up the quay from us thus nearer the campervan section.  Monthermé was clearly very popular with the campervanners as there were so many; probably the most we’ve seen in one spot this year.  We said our farewells around noon and Bill and Jane got ready to continue their journey into Belgium and then Holland while we set off south for Joigny-sur-Meuse.

Some of the long line of campervans as we left Monthermé

We had an uneventful two-and-a-half-hour cruise to Joigny-sur-Meuse, a spot Karen had chosen because we hadn’t stayed there on the way down but we’d both thought how peaceful it looked as we’d passed by the village pontoon.

Moored at Joigny-sur-Meuse

All afternoon was spent sitting outside with just a brief break for a walk around the village.  Buddy was happy sleeping on the pontoon in the sun but every so often paddled in the water to cool down followed by a sleep in the shade.

There were a few tourists wandering around the village and it seemed that most of them had arrived by bike.   Rather than include photographs of any of the buildings here’s one of some signs on the mairie.  We did wonder if the picture next to the name of the square where the mairie was situated was of the soldier the square was named after.

Almost back at the boat we found yet another locked up lavoir.  To be fair this one was being used as a village storage room so at least it wasn’t being left to fall into disrepair like so many of the lavoirs we’ve seen in Ardennes.

Looking north from the bridge in Joigny-sur-Meuse

On Friday we cruised 11 km up one lock.

SATURDAY 20 MAY

We left Joigny-sur-Meuse straight after breakfast as we wanted to reach Lumes which would be our last planned stop on the Meuse before turning off onto the canal des Ardennes.  It was a lovely warm day and we saw three boats on the move; two heading for the port in Charleville-Mézières and we suspect the third one would be too as it’s a large tourist town.  Arriving in Lumes we moored on the 100-metre pontoon where we were the only boat.

We’d been cruising for nearly five hours, so a very long day for us and the first thing we did when we arrived was walk into the village of Lumes to check the car was still where I’d left it opposite the mairie.  All was okay so Karen drove into Sedan to do the food shopping while Buddy and I had a walk and did some boat jobs.

Later in the afternoon we could hear happy screams of children and realised a group of teenagers, who’d been playing football near the mooring, were at the far end of the pontoon where they were diving into the water.  Although the Meuse looks fairly clear, the authorities are not happy people swim in it unlike many other French rivers.  To be honest we wouldn’t swim in it as it is nowhere near as clear as the likes of the river Marne but then we do see children swimming in the canals over here which must be worse than swimming in the Meuse.

On Saturday we cruised 18 km up four locks.