Nancy (revisiting a winter project)

Tuesday 28 April

Firstly, thanks to all the heart warming comments and feedback on the first update of the season: Karen and I had fun trying to guess who was behind all the anonymous ones!

It was another glorious morning on Tuesday so we thought we’d take advantage and have a little cruise after first moving the car. Whilst getting ready, a hotel boat, Horizon II, came past and went into the lock next to us. When we walked over the lock bridge 15 minutes later to retrieve the car, the boat had only just risen to the top of the lock. VNF were there so there’d obviously been a problem with the lock operation.

It reminded us that all the locks we’ve been through so far have worked perfectly even though they’ve all been set against us which isn’t a big issue as they only take five or 10 minutes to set. The guy driving the hotel boat started talking with us and made the comment that we hadn’t moved very far.  We weren’t sure if he’d seen us last year in a similar area or had passed the boat in Port Sainte-Marie when we were back in the UK.  We decided not to question him so just laughed instead.

We moved the car eight km to Maixe and walked back along the canal and noticed that the only trees not yet in leaf, or only partly, were walnuts and ashes.  In fact we tend to find ashes are usually the last to come into leaf. When I was growing up I was led to believe that horse chestnuts are usually the first and oaks the last. I don’t understand why I was brought up with that notion about oaks especially as ashes are such a common tree. I understand that walnuts weren’t mentioned as they are not so common in the UK as they are in France.

Walking through Einville-au-Jard we passed a walnut tree outside a grain silo where Karen had spent a happy 30 minutes or so one autumn collecting nuts.  It had been one of her best hauls ever as the tree was on the offside of the cut and the only access was by boat.  Although the leaves are a lovely deep green colour when they are fully formed they look quite ochrey (is that a word?) when they are sprouting as can be seen in this picture of 'Karen's' tree.

Einville is one of the settlements along this canal that grew up because of the salt deposits.  I know I’ve covered the salt extraction extensively in previous years but as we came across an information board that we’d not seen before I thought I’d include it.

The English translation made us chuckle as it seemed worse than our French which hasn’t really moved on from lockie-French in that we can do enough to get by on the waterways whether by phone, radio or face to face but not much else.  Anyway, a couple of the soundings (derrick type structures) in Einville have been restored. We passed this one standing outside the modern salt production plant:

Arriving back at the boat we set off for Maixe where we stopped for lunch.  We decided to leave the car at the lock there and carried on to Sommerviller after lunch.  As we set off again a hybrid boat from Holland came up behind us and we locked down together until we moored for the day.  The locks on this canal are 40 metres long and as we’re about 17.5 metres and the hybrid a similar size we had to take care in the locks as there wasn’t much spare room.  We don’t usually use lines when locking down on our own but, because we were tightish on space, we used them at both ends of the boat. With Karen holding a line at the front she was able to have a conversation with the guy at the back of the hybrid as we descended each lock. She heard all about how they’d designed the boat and that it could run for five hours before needing recharging or switching over to diesel power.

When we arrived at Sommerviller we moored up for the day outside an old electric locomotive shed.  As with the salt production I’ve covered the history of when barges were towed by electric locos in previous blogs. Needless to say it still fascinates me so I will still occasionally make mention when we come across things like old locos, tracks and engine sheds.

Our mooring at Sommerviller

On Tuesday we cruised 14 km down four locks.

Wednesday 29 April

We decided to stay put for the day on Wednesday and alternate between relaxing and doing odd jobs.  Karen of course, had a run in the morning to retrieve the car whilst I set about getting ready to chill out for the day.  One task I had to do though was to get our VPN working properly which did take half an hour or so but I finally got there.  We rate our VPN but each year I seem to have to remove and reinstall it. That’s fine in itself but I always find it difficult finding out how to download it without additional cost.  We pay for an annual licence so need to be able to re-download the software at any point. That’s where the difficulty comes in as I can never see how to do it without paying.  In the end a live chat session managed to resolve it.    

It was a lovely sunny day yet again but with a fairly strong wind which made it feel cooler than it really was. We had a pleasant walk into Sommerviller and saw our first Painted Lady butterfly of the year on the way.  Sommerviller was typical of the villages of the area with one wide main street lined with large terraced houses on each side.  Nearly all had their massive wagon doors still in place and if not it was easy to see where they’d been updated. Ironically the only picture we took didn’t include many of the houses with the wagon doors, but a few can be seen:

The postcard below was from an old photo that was taken from the top of the church tower.  A woodpile can be seen in front of each house which was a common sight in villages in those days as all heating and cooking was carried out using firewood.

Back at the boat we spent some time planning the next few weeks and came up with a plan that would ensure we would be able to get water and go shopping at least once a week. We then sat outside for most of the rest of the day.  There were a group of teenagers hanging around a picnic table on the bank and after a while they came over to talk to us. It soon transpired that they wanted to dive off the canal bridge as they needed to cool down. They were worried that we would call the police. I assured them that we wouldn’t and to be fair we’ve never thought about it in the past when coming across other lads doing the same thing. Only three of them actually dived in and they obviously enjoyed it as they kept doing it. It’s not something we’ve ever fancied as we know what goes into canals in France. Rivers are different, as they have a flow, so we swim in those but I’m sure the water would be too cold for me at the moment.

Thursday 30 April

Whilst carrying out some planning yesterday we decided we would get rid of the car so it wouldn’t be a constraint on our travelling.  It took a while on Thursday morning to decide how to do it but in the end we thought the best idea would be to take it to Pont-à-Bar a little way north west of Sedan where we’re leaving the boat this year. It would be a journey of 200 km by car but by boat will be twice that because of the canal closure we’re having to navigate around. The plan was that I would take the car there on Monday, have a pleasant five km walk along the Meuse to Nouvion-sur-Meuse railway station where I'd catch a train to Reims. After an hour’s wait wandering around Reims, I’d get a train back to Nancy on the assumption that we’ll have the boat there by then!

Soon after midday we left for Laneuveville-devant-Nancy, Karen by car and me on the boat. It was another windy day but at least it was lovely and warm for the cruise. It wasn’t long before I was heading into Dombasle-sur-Meurthe one of the industrial homes of the great Solvay company. In their heyday Solvay had over 200 péniches bringing raw materials into the factory and transporting the finished product, sodium carbonate, out to customers mainly in northern Europe. I’d spent many a happy hour during last winter researching the Solvay fleet and searching for old pictures. I also managed to contact a couple of the bargees who furnished me with a lot of information too. Please click here to open a new tab containing the section in the blog that covers my findings to date.

Dombasle port that would have been filled with dozens of Solvay péniches waiting to be loaded

Heading into the still operational plant

The péniche on the inside was Solvay 79 and has been moored there since it was taken out of service in 1988. It does move because we’ve seen it facing in the opposite direction.

The locks from Dombasle down to the Moselle at Nancy are all in pairs as there was so much Solvay traffic.  Nowadays only one of each pair is kept operational:

I picked Karen up soon after the lock above and we saw a stork on its nest:

Next we crossed over the river Meurthe on an aqueduct that was opened in 1853:

Even though we’d thoroughly cleaned the boat a week ago, it was already covered in dust which was a bit annoying as we wanted to start repainting the burgundy on the roof; the blue was last done two years ago. We could moor near a water point at the lock at Laneuveville-devant-Nancy so the idea was to stay there for three days before heading into the centre of Nancy. As it was labour day on Friday when everything including the canals and rivers are closed we went through the lock and moored up next to a couple of supermarkets so Karen could do some food shopping whilst I filled up with diesel and replaced a gas bottle.

We’d been to these shops before and as we neared we could see the same old down and outs at the mooring that have always been there. Although there were now about a dozen whereas when we first visited six years ago there were only four or five. As usual they were quite affable and interested in the boat but it did cross my mind why these sort of groups are heavily male dominated.

I made a couple of trips to the fuel station for diesel. As with elsewhere the price had rocketed since last year when a litre cost €1.50 and was now €2.15. Replacing the gas wasn’t a simple job. Fuel stations other than autoroute service stations are generally unmanned and have automatic dispensers where you select the gas you need and after swiping a payment card a door opens to release a full bottle. This station didn’t have an automatic dispenser so I went into the supermarket to ask at the information desk.  You may laugh but as I’ve come across this set up before, I go into the supermarket with the empty bottle on my sack barrow. That way it’s easier to explain the type of gas and size bottle I need. I still misunderstood the instructions and thought I had to go to the drive (click & collect) area so off I went. The assistant there explained that I had to go into the supermarket and pay at a till and then bring my receipt back to the drive in order to complete the transaction. Once again I trundled through the shopping mall and queued up at a till with some really strange looks from shoppers with trolleys.

Back on board we spun the boat around, headed back to Laneuveville-devant-Nancy where we took on water as we went up the lock. We remembered that last time we moored here there were storks nesting near the mooring. Looking for them we soon realised that an anti stork nest device had been installed.

Anti stork nest building device

The device acts like an anemometer so as the wind spins it around the long stick spins around as well thus preventing storks from landing on the pole.

Moored above the lock at Laneuveville-devant-Nancy

On Thursday we cruised 16 km down four and up one lock and saw no boats.

Friday 1 May 2026

Friday was an enforced no cruise day as everything including the waterways closes down for labour day. The wind of the last two days had completely subsided meaning we were in for a hot one so Karen went for her run nice and early while I set about prepping the burgundy areas on the roof before the steel boat became too hot to touch.

After lunch we went to the brocante in the town hoping to find a small wall mirror and a washing up bowl, both of which we’d broken.  Although it must have been the largest brocante we’ve been to we couldn’t find any items to purchase.

We never cease to be amazed at how long it takes the French, Spanish and Italians and no doubt other nationalities to don summer clothes like the Brits do as soon as there is a bit of sunshine. It was 25 degrees or more and still many locals looked like they were dressed for winter. 

Returning to the boat we potted up some geraniums and petunias and then carried on cleaning the cratch cover. The cratch cover is the canvas cover at the front of the boat that covers the front deck, or cratch. We’ve been most remiss at keeping it clean but we finally decided enough was enough and after seven years couldn’t put it off any longer. Since we’ve got back to boat we’ve been doing a little bit every day and it’s starting to look better, well not so much lichen as there was when we arrived.  Karen insisted on taking a picture when we’d finished, although it looks like an old drunk with two glasses of wine rather than a cratch cover:

Saturday 2 May

Once we were up and about our first task of the day was to move the car to the centre of Nancy. Karen wanted to spend the day in Nancy on Monday whilst I took the car north to Pont-à-Bar and leave it there for the rest of the season; a job that would take the best part of the day. As Nancy was a city we needed to find an area close enough to the centre without parking charges. We found such an area around the university which was only five minute’s walk to where we would leave the boat.

We were glad that we walked back to the boat along the tow path as it afforded plenty of shade from yet another day of sun. Once back at the boat we set off straight away topping up with water as we dropped down the first lock.  After another couple of kilometres we were dropping down the second and last lock before reaching Nancy. In the winter I’d read in the local news that the pleasure boat port in the centre of Nancy was being tidied up.  Over the years it had become populated with liveaboards and abandoned boats and really was quite an eyesore for tourists and townsfolk alike. When we passed the port we were really surprised at the change as it almost looked tidier and practically empty so clearly they’d done a good job.

Empty pleasure boat port

Next to the port is Sainte Catherine’s dock, named after Porte Sainte Catherine one of the remaining gateways into Nancy old town. The town side of the dock is reserved for hotel, restaurant and disco bar boats but, apart from a péniche at the far end housing a jazz club, it was empty as work was going on repairing and tidying up the quayside. On the towpath side are two mooring rings which we’ve managed to moor on during our previous two visits here. Fortunately, there wasn’t a boat there so we were able to take advantage of the rings thus avoiding the unnecessary cost of going into the pleasure boat port. Typical narrowboaters many people say, but why should we bother when we don’t need water or electricity?  The mooring is really handy as it’s only a 600 metre walk through Porte Sainte Catherine to Stanislas Square.

Our weekend mooring in Nancy

It was a shame the quayside was shut off from the public whilst it was being redeveloped as it meant we couldn’t spend the evening watching the promenaders. We fondly remember the first time we came to Nancy as a couple with a ghetto blaster started Salsa dancing, soon attracting a crowd of onlookers.  During the evening other couples joined in and there were about a dozen couples dancing at one point.

You may have noticed the national flags in the picture above and realised they represent the EU nations. Sadly, the pole that used to carry the union jack is now empty.

On Saturday we cruised 5.5 km down two locks and saw no boats.