Sunday 23 June
It’s beginning to get warm now, despite the fact that we still have a long way to go to get to the Med, so a leasurely start at 11 following the fitting of the bimini to keep the sun off.
We had planned to stop at Esbly (30km) but the only realistic stopping place was filled with a couple of barges, so we went on for another hour to the old town of Meaux. Here we were expecting to Moor up at a small marina but the river was full of water sport activities and we were told in no uncertain terms that the marina was full and to move on. However a 100 metres out of town we came across a grassy lined wall deep enough to accommodate us so we tied up with our stakes for a peaceful and free night.
Although we’re following the Marne River, much of today has been on 2 canals, the Canal de Chelles and the Canal de Meaux a Chalifert, both of which have been very quiet, we saw one other motor boat, and more alarmingly, very shallow, at a steady 1.8m, giving about 30cm under the keel!
5 locks today, taking us up probably about 13m in total, and now according to an app on my phone we’re at 46m above sea level.
