Liverdun: Wednesday 11/06/2008:
Back at Nancy again. Love this place... although this time we have a few jobs to do while here. Firstly, get some fuel. I guess this is not a cheap exercise for anyone these days, but when you're getting 700 litres delivered, the current high prices bite!
We arranged for a tanker to come to the port and deliver it directly. The tanker carried both red diesel for the generator and white for the engine. As I've mentioned before, the difference is only some dye which distinguishes the higher taxed white from the lower taxed red.
We loaded 200 litres of red (at about €1, or A$1.60 a liter) and 500 litres of white (at about €1.50, or A$2.40 a litre). The total came to over €900 (about A$1,450). Fortunately, we only fill up a couple of times a year. I've calculated that it's not much different to what we were using in the two cars when we were using them a bit.
The second task I had on my "must do" list was to book us a mooring in Paris for some time in August (when Iain & Helen and then Mike & Liv are visiting us). However when I made the call, I discovered that because of a commercial dispute between the new owners of the Port and the authority that runs the river (the "Port Autonome de Paris") the port has been closed. This had occurred just a week or so back and the upshot of it is that we can't visit Paris this year; which does throw our plans into a bit of a muddle.
Anyway - long story short - we jumped onto the internet and booked some alternative accommodation in Paris for that time, and have arranged for a friend to stay onboard while we're in Paris and while we go to Germany for Sam & Vanessa's wedding.
It still causes us a few problems in some of our other cruising plans after mid-August, but we'll have to sort those out later.
(Fortunately this year we signed up to a 3G card with Orange, and have found it invaluable for getting access to the internet. We get high speed access in most big towns and fairly fast access in the country.)
Liverdun: Wednesday 11/06/2008:
Liverdun is an old hill-top village set on the Mosselle river that is an easy half-day's cruising west of Nancy. We moored up here on the river in a very pretty location.
The village is not the most attractive we've seen, but the people in the tourist office were very friendly and they gave us a sheet of paper to do a guided walk around the old centre. The old Chateau at the top has been restored but I think has been ruined - it looks like it's been rebuilt with cement blocks and painted.
The village is none-the-less quite old and worth a walk around (just).
To prove the authenticity of it's age however, Pete took this picture of what I assume is a parking sign in the main square.
Unfortunately, we were taking a guided tour on foot, so couldn't make use of the parking place.
Toul: Thursday 12/06/2008 to Sunday 15/06/2008:
We spent 4 days in Toul this time (we were here in 2005), and it's a nice town. It has all the facilities and is laid out around it's old defensive ramparts; earth-works and stone walls up to 5 metres high. These are in a "pentagonal star shape" configuration and have a, now dry, moat around them. They have now been planted out and turned into walk-ways and park areas.
(For those with a penchant for history, the fortifications were designed by Vauban; who was a Marshal of France and the foremost military engineer for Louis XIV, and who's designs were used to secure most of the France's major towns in the late 1600s.)
We spent some time doing some required maintenance, shopping, and meeting some new people. We had drinks aboard "Herkelina", a 24 metre barge built in 1906 and newly purchased by Tom & Lou. We met people from a number of other boats (Roger & Ruth, New Zealanders on "Romany", and Barry & Sue on "Domino")
Pete organized some drinks and food for another occasion; everyone brought a plate and a bottle - which worked quite well, and we had Sunday lunch onboard "Histoire d'eau" with Tom & Lou.
All quite social and enjoyable.
Toul: Monday 16/06/2008 to Monday 23/06/2008:
The week has consisted of cruising through some pretty rural countryside (I think most of the forested areas are behind us now). We have visited the following towns:
Bignicourt is a little bush mooring, just perfect for painting the port side of the boat (according to Pete), so we stopped and broke out the paint & brushes. What we didn't realize was how many mosquitoes there are around this year in this area. I'm not sure if its the weather or what it is, but we've certainly seen more mozzies around this year than any other.
Vitry-le-Francois: Wednesday 25/06/2008:
Today was a rest day from painting, but not, I'm afraid from the mosquitoes. We are at the summit of this canal now and I think it is an area with a lot of water (reservoirs used to feed the canal in both directions - east & west), consequently with the wet weather from this year's Spring rains, there are a lot more mozzies about.
La Chaussee-sur-Marne: Thursday 26/06/2008:
Unfortunately this mooring presents our starboard side so Pete informed me - more painting! Again more mozzies (starting to give me the s@#$%!!! ).
Chalons-en-Champagne: Friday 27/06/2008 to Monday 30/06/2008:
Chalons-sur-Champagne is one of the places I like to visit. I'm not sure why but I just like the town and the mooring. We have a couple of days here until my aunt and uncle (Pat & Tony) and my cousins (Chris & Peter) and their kids (George & Hannah) arrive on Monday for a short visit.
In the meantime there seemed to be some sort of city fete on at the park next to the mooring. The weather has been really good - warm and sunny, so it was quite enjoyable just walking around the fete and enjoying the activities.
There were stands for archery, dog trials, canoeing, rock-wall climbing. athletics, bike riding etc and a whole host of rides and activities for the kids.
On Monday evening Pat & Tony, Pete & Chris, and Hannah & George arrived for the week (see July - click here to go straight there)
You can click here to go directly to the July 2008 web page ...
click here .