Kerr Barging Blogs

Two years ago along the Canal from the Marne to the Rhine we travelled up the St Louis- Arzviller inclined plane boat lift. We were crammed into a structure like a large bath- tub which when full  weighs 850 tonnes, the guillotine- like gates were closed, and using a winch drum and a counterweight system we were moved 108 metres on a 41% slope, to be released at the other end wondering what would happen if the bath sprang a leak. Well, it has happened! A sight- seeing boat travels up and down the lift to show it off. On Thursday July 4th, with 21 passengers on board, it seems to have hit some important part of the structure which sprang a leak. At the same time smoke was coming from the boat because the water had all gone from the "tub".  Not only that, we are not sure, but believe that all the water in the next "pound" above the lift was coming out fast. This "pound" is kilometres long, about 2.5metres deep and 15metres wide. So that is about 100,000,000,000litres of water or more.

The water came flooding down the slope and quickly the closest town, 4 kilometres away, was evacuated (2,000 people). All the lock gates downstream were opened so that the water could flow quickly away. As a result the levels in the intermediate sections become too low and boats there were in trouble, sitting in the mud instead of floating. A helicopter was brought in to assess the damage, and a crane quickly brought to lift the boat and its passengers to safety. Fortunately the structure itself fell a few metres but did not plunge down the slope because of a safety braking system.

Our view from the bottom, 2011
The boat lift is closed for the foreseeable future- so we are glad this was not the year we planned to go that way. Just think of the stories those children on school holidays will be telling about their day on the Canal.

Best Regaerds,

Penny and Dave

We turned off the Oise River, which heads in a Northerly direction towards the Western part of Belgium, onto the Aisne River which travels in an easterly direction and which we will follow towards the Meuse River and eventually to enter Belgium in its easterly part.
At first the river Aisne forms the navigable waterway; later it becomes too winding and narrow in places so a canal runs alongside the river, first as the Canal Lateral to the Aisne, then as the Canal des Ardennes. For the entire length the waterway is predominantly rural with trees lining the banks and small villages off to the side, sometimes on the gentle slopes away from the river. We have met very little traffic on this stretch so it has been relaxed, trouble free travel for us all. The locks are automatic and have behaved themselves admirably. There is one chain of 27 locks, all interconnected so that as a boat leaves one, the next is being prepared. This too went very smoothly, whereas when we came in the opposite direction in 2011 we had several lock breakdowns. We continue to be kept on our toes in the locks. The first 24 locks in the chain were set out exactly the same, so that we developed a good rhythm of entering, tying up to the only bollard which Penny could reach without climbing on the roof, then drifting across the lock to the pull-chain lever to start its action. Lo and behold at number 25, the whole set- up changed and instead of the lever being front right it was back left. A new system had to be devised  and quickly as we were already in the lock before we could see that it had changed. I can just imagine the lock- designers chuckling: "gotcha".  

As we started along the Aisne we had intended to visit the site of the signing of the Armistice to end World War 1, but even though it was enticingly close to the River, we could not find anywhere to tie up safely. If we return to Compiegne later we can cycle to this spot on excellent bike paths, so that is something for the future. We did try in two places but each time, we touched the bottom before we were at the side of the river.

However, we have easily found good stopping spots each night and have enjoyed some pretty little towns. In the first, Vic sur Aisne, we found a 13th Century chateau, beautifully looked after gardens with roses flowering prolifically, and a mother duck with eight ducklings no more than a day or two old, crossing a road and trying to get down a steep flight of steps. We shooed a cat away from them (an event which our granddaughter re- enacted several times with playdough), then helped a woman and a girl shepherd them to safety. Of course this was quite a highlight for our own toddler.

The main town along this stretch is Soissons, important in the history of France as it is where Clovis, the leader of the Franks, defeated the Romans in the 5th Century. His successors made it their capital. It has continued to be the centre of battles through the ages. Eighty percent of the town was destroyed during World War 1 during the intense fighting along the Aisne, which provides a buffer to the north of Paris. Plans were put in place to produce a modern town from the rubble. Progress was slowed because of World War II when there was further destruction but was completed in the 1960s. Significant buildings such as the Cathedral, almost totally destroyed, have been rebuilt.

The excellent market, in front of Soisson's Cathedral

The town seems to be very active. A beach was being created along the riverfront, set up and many events were planned for the "Fete de la Musique", celebrated on June 21st. & nbsp;

The ancient Abbey at SoissonsAll too soon our daughter and grand- daughter needed to return home. The tiny town of Guignicourt offered us a train station from which we could begin our trip to the airport via Rheims, with the luxury of a TGV direct to the airport, half an hour to travel the 140 kilometres. There is the extra benefit of avoiding the Paris train network, hard going with suitcases and a toddler.
We continued along towards the Meuse, covering ground visited in 2011. We enjoyed revisiting Asfeld with its remarkable 17th century church shaped like a viol, and also the small town of Attigny which offers an excellent quay very useful for those boats about to undertake or recovering from the chain of 27 locks, which takes at least five hours.

Attigny has "Charlemagne's Gate" under which many old kings have passed. Next to it is "Le Charlemagne" Restaurant which is a model of the results of good promotion. Their board is at the quay, stating that it is open every night but Wednesday. The theme was "Charlemagne" and the room is full of flags, suits of armour and the heads of wild boar. The waitress (the wife: he cooked, she served) was wearing an interesting dress no doubt styled on the period. We had eaten there in 2011 and again decided to have dinner out as did the crews of three of the four other boats and yachts tied up there that Monday night. All but one of the tables was full, with English (us), French, Dutch and Danish conversations going on around us. What really stunned us was that as we paid our bill, the husband  came out to ask David is he had been there before as he remembered his face.  And here were we thinking we were anonymous in France, though Anja continues to be photographed frequently.

Best Regards,

Penny and Dave

Rubens painted this for the Cathedral

Soissons Cathedral

At the time we were in Rouen, the famous Rouen "Armada of Liberty" started. This event is held once every five years (approximately) and is a large celebration held over almost two weeks in the City. The star attractions are tall sailing ships from many countries of the world. There were marching bands, fairs, musical entertainment, street markets, sporting events and many other celebrations.

The ships were moored along a total of 7,000metres of dock on each side of the Seine River in Rouen. The ships looked marvellous and it was possible to go onboard. I visited two of them and was able to explore and take photos.

The event was very well organised which was just as well because it was visited by an estimated 10,000,000 people over the ten days. The normal population of Rouen is about 200,000 so this means there were five times as many people as normal.

There were ships from France, Brazil, Morocco, Mexico, Holland, Argentina, Oman, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and the UK. Holland and France had perhaps 20 boats and there were several form nearly every country. There were also a few warships and a very old but powerful firefighting boat.

Of special interest to many people were all the "Pen Duick" yachts from the first, made in 1898, to the most recent. Seven in all. The first was owned by the famous sailor, Eric Tabarly and they are still in the family of his descendants.

Here are some of the photos from the 2013 Armada at Rouen. Please wait a minute or two for the photos to appear.

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Best Regards,

Dave

Leaving Andresy we turned up the Oise River, which forms the southern link of the river and canal route from Belgium and the Netherlands and also from the Atlantic ports such as Calais and Dunkirk. At this time we plan to travel about 100 kilometres north and will turn off to head further East along the Aisne River. The countryside is attractive and heavily forested. The land is predominantly flat so that there are only seven locks. All have two chambers, providing one lock which is larger and deeper and so will accommodate laden barges; the "little" lock is still quite sizeable and was the one to which we were normally directed, usually to join an empty barge, riding high, sometimes by ourselves. We rarely had to wait for a lock which is surprising given how busy they are. The river traffic is quite heavy with commercial barges, usually consisting of two joined together to form a length of 80 to 100 metres.

The graves of Vincent Van Gogh and his brother
There were good stopping places at regular intervals along the Oise and we were able to visit several delightful towns. The first was the town of Auvers sur Oise. Those acquainted with the history of art (not us, I must say) will recognise this as the town where Daubigny, Corot, Cezanne and Pissaro came, attracted by the quality of light along the Oise. Perhaps we did not fully appreciate what drew them as the sky was uniformly grey. Then again, maybe this is perfect light for impressionist painters. The most famous contribution to the town's art history was van Gogh's death there. He lodged in an inn in Auvers for the last 70 days of his life and in that time painted 70 works, copies of which have been placed at the scene represented, dotted all over the town. Auvers is beautifully preserved so that most of the landscape and buildings are still as they were in 1890. After this flurry of activity van Gogh shot himself and died in his lodgings, now a Michelin starred restaurant. He is buried in the town cemetery, together with his  brother Theo. Many other artists who lived and died there also have graves dotted around the cememtery.

The next stopping place, Beaumont, was not as smart and neat but had a significant history back to Gallo- Roman times. Then we stopped at Creil where heavy rain prevented us from exploring fully but an early morning walk around town revealed the Hotel de Ville with an attractive garden including vegetable and herbs patches. As with so many things we stumble across, the story behind these patches remains a mystery- were they for education, were they a small community garden or did they belong to the Town Hall or a member of staff? Our grand-daughter was fascinated by the smells of lavender, thyme, sage and spearmint.

Mary's Birthday Party- lots of fruit!

Our final stopping place along the Oise was Compiegne, a city important in French history, though probably our main memory of Compiegne will be as the town where we celebrated our grand- daughter's second birthday, with balloons, party hats and candles on her birthday cake.  

The Emperor's Bedroom
More importanly in the history of the world, in the Abbey, whose cloister is still standing, five kings of France were consecrated, the first in the 9^th century. Later kings enjoyed hunting in the forests and the Chateau was improved by Louis XV and then by Napoleon 1st and Napoleon 3rd. This is where Joan of Arc was captured. Two significant  memorials, one a true to life deportation car, recall the 45,000 prisoners deported from the railway station here to death camps in Germany during the Second World War.

Mary waters our garden

Gardens of the Chateau of Compiegne

Ruins of the very old(12^th C) Donjon (Compiegne)

The Church at Compiegne

Hotel de Dieu (Compiegne)

We spent a couple of days at Andresy, where we visited the annual outdoor sculpture exhibition around the town and on Ile Nancy, reached by a shuttle ferry. Our daughter Bernadette arrived to spend several days with us, en route between a short visit to Guernsey and her home in Sydney. These few days had made a difference to the flood situation on the Seine though other rivers were still closed including the Yonne which was unavailable for all but 5 days in the entire month of May.

Sculpture- Upside down house in a treeWe decided that with more encouraging forecasts and the reduced heights and flows of the river we would pursue our original plan of travelling to Rouen, the last convenient stopping place on the Seine River before it enters the sea. There are only four locks between Andresy and the sea in a distance of 170 kms. These were excellent fast and smooth locks.

We continued to enjoy very favourable current, regularly cruising along at speeds of 15 kms per hour. We have again underestimated how beautiful the Seine would be, as most of the books emphasise how much commercial traffic there is. The landscape speeding by was delightful, beautifully wooded slopes. magnificent limestone cliffs and several historic castles. One of these, Chateau Gaillard, was erected in the 12th century by Richard the Lion Heart,to prevent the King of France passing down the Seine. The castle was besieged for a long time and finally fell to the French in 1204.  

The ancient castle

As with most rivers there are not many convenient stopping points along the way, but those towns we could stop at provided very interesting exploration. First we stopped at Limay across the river from Mantes la Jolie.

The Rose Window

The town was heavily bombed in World War 11 but the Church was spared (quite deliberately it would seem from the photos) and the stained  glass remains mostly intact, including the beautiful rose window at the rear, one of the oldest examples of stained glass we have seen. Next town was Vernon four kilometres from Monet's garden to which we rode along a very good cycle path. Despite the wet and cold spring there were flowers everywhere, though we were a bit early for the full display of water lilies. Bernadette left us here to return home, so the Monet visit was an excellent way to complete her stay.

Monet's Garden

Next stop for us was a very rural spot at Poses where we stayed on the river bank adjacent to a bird sanctuary. Finally we reached our destination Rouen, a large city with a busy water way, bustling with large hotel cruise boats and heavily laden cargo boats coming from the major seaport of Le Havre as well as the large container and other loading terminals in this area.On our entire trip down the river we met very few pleaRouensure boats. We stayed overnight in a marina in Rouen very handy to the main sights of the town. Rouen too was heavily bombed during the Second World War but significant renovation work has restored its beautiful old buildings, many dating back to the 13th and 14th centuries. With four generations of "Joan"s in our family it was important to visit the spot where St Joan was burned at the stake and to admire the modern church built on that spot in her honour.

Rouen

The current was still very strong but slowing as we returned a little way up river to await the arrival from Australia of our daughter Wendy and grand-daughter Mary (Joan) who will be spending three weeks with us, during which we will celebrate her second birthday. By the time we set off for the return to Andresy, where the Oise enters the Seine, the current had slowed to four kilometres per hour, compared with the flow of 6 to 8 kph which sped us along a week earlier. Therefore we made slow but steady progress as we returned up river. The weather had improved significantly so we enjoyed sunny warm days.

White cliffs, along the lower Seine in Normandy
We enjoyed the trip  back with the fun of having a two year old enhancing our days. Mary is very easy to keep happy and grandpa and grandma are enjoying her generous cuddles and interesting chats. She is becoming very proficient at "bonjour" and "au revoir" so gets lots of smiles. The cygnets and ducklings and their parents are benefitting from her delight in feeding them, and therefore visit quite often.

Best Regards,

Penny and Dave