Nice to see you here again. It's still extremely hot and sunny here in France, currently 33'C at 7pm 💥💥,
although we did have a few cooler days last week after a couple of spectacular overnight storms. We woke up one morning to find that a tree had fallen down directly opposite us during the night and we hadn't heard a thing! Luckily it fell along the towpath and not across the canal.
After having the Canal de la Somme almost all to ourselves - where are all the boats? - it was nice to get back onto the hustle and bustle of the Canal du Nord. Even there it was fairly quiet and we didn't have to share any of the locks with other boats, which was probably a good thing as we got stuck in two of the automatic locks when the gates failed to operate and we had to wait for the VNF to come to re-set them.
That happened to us again at one of the locks on the Canal l'Ainse a la Marne . The green light was on for us to enter but only one gate had opened. I'm getting good at phoning the VNF and to give them their due they always arrive within half an hour. This one took 2 men 2 hours to fix as the hydraulic ram had become detatched from the gate.
I'm starting to think it must be the heat affecting the locks as we've also had 2 break-downs on the Canal de la Marne as well. It certainly can't be over use as there are still very few boats about and all of the moorings are empty.
There was a strange looking animal with a huge head beside one of the locks yesterday and we couldn't quite make out what it was until I zoomed in with the camera. It was a red squirrel carrying it's baby in its mouth.
We're now on the river Marne and spent a night at the moorings of the Societé Nautique in Epernay. It's the first time we've had to pay to moor for a long time and at 30 euros for one night it seemed really expensive, but we were made very welcome by the capitain Bernard and his wife and given a glass of champagne each as well as a free pass to visit the local champagne house which was right behind the mooring.
Our next stop was the village of Cumieres and once again the mooring was empty.
Cumieres has several champagne houses in the village but the most famous champagnes are grown around the village of Hautvilliers which was 3km away by bike, 120m uphill.......not a ride I'd like to repeat as the roads were very narrow and busy with vans and tractors.
It was worth it for the spectacular views across the vineyards
If the quantity of grapes is anything to go on,it may be a bumper year as every vine was as heavily laden as this
At Cumieres there are some amazing riverside metal statues epicting every stage in the manufacture of Champagne.
I never realised that there were SO many different Champagne houses. There are over 30 in Cumieres alone. Just a shame I really don't like Champagne, although I bet our bank manager woud think it's a good thing as some of these wines start at 10 euros for a bog standard wine and rise sky high for a vintage one.
Bye for now, come back soon X
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