Thursday, 1st July 2010, Vitry-le-francois
Eliza B
Ron & Elizabeth HOWARD
Fri 2 Jul 2010 17:54
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Position:
48: 43.620 N 004: 35.711 E
We enjoyed our short break at home in June,
catching up with news from friends and family and remembering the taste of wines
from the New World (you need a microscope and a bloodhound to find N W wines in
a French supermarche - but we didn't find much evidence of Meaux mustard and
Brie cheese either).
Since we have been back, the weather has been very
sunny and hot, with two half-days of intermittent
rain. We returned to Meaux on Thursday 17th June to
reclaim Eliza B from the boat yard where we had left her and made friends with a
couple of the lads working in the yard. Later that evening, at their
insistence, we joined tham for a drink in a local bar and to watch the second
half of the second French football match. (Which they lost and returned
home with many recriminations against their manager.) However, it was a
fun evening and they helped us to purchase a 'gangplank' for the boat
(which Ron had to drill). We also managed a bike tour of the
town.
  The following evening we went to a 'son et lumiere'
spectacle outside the cathedral. It involved about 500 local inhabitants
and included fireworks and real snow - it was quite spectacular.
Some 2 weeks after we had arrived at Meaux, we
decide it was time to move on. The next part of the canal was controlled
ith automatic locks and we were issued with a telecommande with which we had to
signal to the up-coming lock and then follow the light signals: an orange
flashing indicated your request had been received, a red and green showed that
the lock was being prepared for you and, after the gates had opened, a
green light gave you permission to enter. Once you were in and had got
your ropes round the bollards, you operated the blue pole handle to start
the lock operations, held onto your ropes and waited till the gates opened to
allow you to emerge and progress on your way. The system worked very well
- even when we encountered two sloping-sided locks.
     With overnight stops at La Ferte-sous-Jouarre
(where E bought another geranium), Chateau Thierry and Port-a-Binson we
progressed slowly along the Marne Valley. The mooring pontoon at Port-a-Binson
was the centre of play for the local school children who were having great fun
in and out of the river. After an exchange of 'bonjours' they asked if they
could use the boat as a diving platform. Later, as they became bolder, they
wanted to know how we lived on the boat and, finally, if they could look
inside. They were very polite and good fun.
  Further down the canal, the telecommande was handed
back and we had to contend with an earlier version of 'unmanned locks'
where the boater had to twist a dangling pole to activate the lock; however, the
light signals were the same and we managed.
 Eventually, on Friday 25th, we arrived at Societe
Nautique d'Epernay having noted the change of landscape from flat sand and
gravel fields to chalky hillsides covered with very neat vineyards - we were now
well into the champagne region. The SNE is a rowing and tennis
club, founded in 1879 when E Mercier gave them the piece of land between
his champagne 'factory ' and the river, with room for about 10 pleasure
boats along the river under the watchful eye of a very jovial and helpful
capitaine/club steward.
  That evening we enjoyed a meal meal in the Michelin
recommended, La Grillarde Gourmande together
with a bottle of the local brew. Our two day stay in Epernay allowed us to
explore the town by bicycle, visit a large champagne producer and
undertake a tasting of 6 different types of champagne produced by smaller,
independent growers.
 Ron also found time to do some 'running repairs' by
gel-coating some small blemishes in the cockpit left by previous
instruments.
On Monday, 28th, we hoisted the Newbury Yacht Club
pennant as we moved to Mareuil-sur-Ay to meet some friends from Newbury who were
visiting their favourite champagne producer to stock up their cellars. We
met them and joined them for a pleasant evening meal at a small, river-side
restaurant. The next morning we joined them for a tasting with
Champagne Dauby in the Grande Cru village of Ay. We all returned to
Eliza B for a light lunch and a gentle sail along the canal.
    We have now arrived at Vitry-le-francois where the
Canal Lateral a la Marne comes to an
end and we move onto the Canal de la Marne a la Saone. This should
take us through part of the Burgundy region and into the River Saone. This could
be interesting since we have been unable to purchase a canal navigation guide
(this section is being reprinted and will be available in
December!). And it's HOT.
Hopefully we can reach St Jean-de-Losne by the end
of July where we plan to leave Eliza B while we come home for the month of
August.
  Best wishes, Ron & Elizabeth.
Ron & Elizabeth HOWARD
Eliza B, Moody 36
+ 44 7768 816 579
+ 33 (0)6 11 66 79 08
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