Nogent-sur Marne and The Paris Arsenal
Seascapes Travel Log
Michael Grew
Tue 5 Jul 2011 15:55
Nogent-sur Marne . 03.07.2011 48:49:89N 02:29:36E
Woken up at 07:00hrs by several dozen Harley Davidson motorcycles leaving across the town bridge and if that was not enough four young males decided to have a heated debate sitting on the bench, on the quay, right by our mooring. They were finally told to B***** Orf by a French lady in a nightie shouting from her bedroom window. By then it was too late so we had an unplanned early start to the day. We slipped the moorings at 08:45hrs and (quietly) pottered down the river. It was a lovely day and the part of the river we travelled on was a hive of activity. Maureen said it reminded her of a typical summer’s day on the River Thames along the Kingston stretch. We arrived at the Port of Nogent at midday and as it looked really nice (and it had electric hook-ups and showers!) we decided to stop there for the night. The rotund Capitainerie was very chatty and helpful (even moving his launch so we could moor easily). We went for a walk along the riverside and found that a lot of the very up-market houses that fronted the river were in a gated complex. The walk took us away from the river and up into the town where we found even more very classy houses and buildings. We visited one chateau that had been turned into a museum for the creative arts and had a look at some modern photographs that were pretentious enough to call itself “Art” I’ve thrown out better stuff than was on the walls! (yes I know, I’m an old dinosaur) We returned to the riverbank where a marquee had been erected and a dance floor laid down and there were about 30 couples learning to dance the Salsa. Back at the marina we had a super ice cream in the marina café; very welcome it was too, it had been a very hot day again. In the early evening we had a lovely hot shower. We then sat out in the cockpit reading until it was too dark to see. Then went below and it was still pleasantly warm.
Paris Arsenal (We have now completed the circuit ) 04.07.2011 48:51:01N 02:22:13E
We left Port Nogent at 08:40hrs and slowly made our way down the Marne, through yet another tunnel ( a paltry 300 metres long). The river banks were now almost continually lined with buildings and houses, gone are the rolling fields of cereal crops or thick woods. Now we had to keep a sharp lookout and avoid the huge barges, particularly when entering and leaving the now huge locks. We stopped beside the fuel barge that is always moored on the outskirts of Paris and filled up our tanks before travelling the last few kilometres to the lock that leads into the Paris Arsenal Marina. It was at the barge that we joined the River Seine again and this meant that we had completed a full circle in our 3 trips.We entered the marina at midday and were allocated berth number 118 about ten berths up from where we were moored last year. After lunch we went for a walk up to the Republic Square. On the way, in one particular long street every shop was a gents clothing shop, all seeming to sell the same things. The Republic Square was a bit scruffy and there was a lot of litter laying around and lots of young black males just sitting around. The actual statue in the middle of the square is quite impressive though. We called into the Place des Vosges, a beautiful square of elegant 18th century houses. The Temple which is dedicated to the Knights of Malta and St Pauls Church, where Cardinal Richlieu used to preach.All the building seemed like a lot of capital city buildings, in need of clean up. Too many vehicles causing harmful pollution. On the way back to the Arsenal we walk down another long road and every shop was selling jewellery, again all very similar. Then Maureen realised that these were not retail shops but wholesalers. We picked up food supplies from Monoprix supermarket just round the corner from the Arsenal, before going back to the boat.