Day 59 A day in Épernay
Sunday 30th June A chance to visit the champagne capital and visit lots of caves, although we concluded that having visited one, the rest would be more of the same. So we just soaked up the town and explored the…
Day 60 Épernay to Conde sur Marne
Monday 1 June The first lock of the day took us from the river Marne to the Canal Lateral a la Marne and its now canals until we reach the River Soane on 'the other side' (this is when we…
Day 61 Conde sur Marne to Pogny
Tuesday 2 July Very long stretches of straight canals today and 5 locks (with only 80cm clearance either side, entering the lock had its challenge with turbulent water from a side-weir) taking us up another 12ish metres. (now 88m above…
2 months in
Today marks the 2 month point, so what's it like living in a 36 foot (actually 37) floating caravan. Well we can both honestly say that we are greatly enjoying the experience. Jacana so far is working out as ideal…
Day 62 Pogny to Vitry-le-François
Wednesday 3rd July The final 9 miles of the canal lateral a la Marne today and 6 locks taking us up to 101m above sea level to the uninviting and fairly industrial town of Vitry-le-François, uninviting because although we rafted…
Day 63 Vitry-le-François to Orconte
We had thought a 30km run with 14 locks might be possible, but after getting behind a very slow barge at the first lock (and also picking up a remote control, and canal guide in English) we persevered for 9…
Day 64 Orconte to St Dizier
We set our expectations a bit lower today with 16km and 8 locks, which despite going smoothly still took over 4 hours. We estimate that each lock takes at least 20mins from the first press on the remote control, wait…
Day 65 St Dizier to Chamouilley
Saturday 6th July A late start this morning, in fact, almost afternoon, as last evening we went into town and came across a really good 3 piece band playing mainly 70s rock music outside a bar. Interestingly the audience of…
Day 66 Chamouilley to Chevillon
Sunday 7th June Another short run of 12km, 5 locks and 2 remote controlled bridges brings us to the village of Chevillon, this time against a newly built wooden faced concrete quay, with heaps of rubble and freshly laid foundations…
Day 67 Chevillon to Joinville
Monday 8 July We woke up to a few spots of rain, and the prospect that the boulangerie was closed on Monday. However, last night we discovered that the bakery had a vending machine! So armed with 95 cents we…