We are almost back to Vitry le Francois, ready to turn East along the Western Branch of the Canal from the Marne to the Rhine. We will travel along this canal to Toul where we head down the Moselle and into Germany and Luxembourg- then back along the Sarre River to France. We have recently had limited 3G mobile phone reception, which has limited our ability to keep the blog up to date. However, as of now, the blog and the photo gallery are fully up to date!
We have enjoyed travelling back along the Canal between Champagne and Burgundy. On the way back, we have been able to visit some new towns which we skipped in the other direction. It is a very friendly canal. When we first travelled it a month ago, we were surprised by the number of people who came up to the locks to talk, ask where we were from and where we were going. There were people taking an afternoon walk, workmen installing heating in a house near the canal, a Dutch couple on a bike tour and very chatty lock-keepers who accompanied us to work the manual locks. A freight line ran beside the canal for quite a while and the train drivers hooted and waved as they passed us.
We wondered if the attraction was novelty as the Canal had just been re-opened. No, it is just a friendly area. The train drivers are still hooting and we had a friendly conversation with a team of nine firemen who were filling their tanker at the lock. They wanted to know where were from and what we were doing. As always, there is amazement that we are from Australia and that we are travelling so far. One of our lock-visitors labelled our trip THE "Tour de France"!
All the best,
Penny and Dave
In France, over 100 years ago, most washing was done in the rivers and canals. "Lavoirs" were set up in most villages and towns. These were usually open-sided buildings with a roof and a supply of water. The most sophisticated one we have seen, had chains and pulleys to raise and lower the floor level to match the level of the water. Many of these lavoirs have been preserved and often beautified with flowers etc. This is a typical lavoir. However, unlike most, it was fed by a spring and was in the centre of the village- some hundreds of metres from the river.
We have even seen a lavoir that has been converted into a pre-school for children!
Lavoir at Ray sur Saone