Thursday 1 September 2016

Farewell La Somme

It's been a month since I wrote the last blog and what a busy month it has been. Whilst still moored at Saint Valery on the coast I popped back to the UK on the Eurostar train from Lille for a girlie weekend with my daughter and little granddaughter, spent visiting my mum for her birthday.

On my return we set off on the return trip upstream. Stopping at Abbeville for the night we met up again by chance with Megan and Steve on Wavedancer who were due to make their return trip across the channel a couple of days later. It just happened to be Megan's 60th birthday so we had a fun evening of bubbles and beer on the back of our boat, joined by Wendy and Robin on Pippin. It was worth the sore heads the next morning!


Next evening we moored at Pont Remy opposite a crumbling chateau, nicknamed Chateau Pianiste from the many pianos and organs that were in there. It once hosted many well known royal guests including Mary Queen of Scots. A lovely view from our windows, still elegant in its faded glory, it was very atmospheric as the sun set behind it.


Next morning we set off in beautiful sunshine to Picquigny. This stretch of the river is very picturesque but also very winding and has a strong current in places. The Captain had a look of deep concentration on his face, alert to every twist and turn in the river, negotiating the eddying currents.


Beautiful wild flowers alongside a lock

A peaceful lunch stop alongside a nature reserve

After a weekend in Picquigny we cruised to Corbie where we left the boat for 10 days to return to the UK for a planned housesit in Hampshire. I got to spend my birthday with family and also to share my daughter's birthday 5 days later. Happy times. Chris and I also had some days out, highlights being Winchester, one of our favourite places, and the Mary Rose exhibition in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. The Mary Rose is well worth a visit. One of Henry VIIIs warships, it sunk off Portsmouth harbour in 1545, was recovered in 1982 and has just opened to the public following extensive restoration work. They also recovered thousands of artefacts giving a real insight into life in Tudor times. Fascinating.




On our return journey we took a left instead of a right at the Calais tunnel and headed for Bruges, only an hour and 15 minutes drive. We parked the car up at Flandria Yachtclub ready for our arrival there by boat in a few weeks. We were given such a warm welcome by harbour master Patrick and Josef that we are really looking forward to our stay there. Josef's little saying "you have landed in a cup of butter" made me smile, obviously the Belgian version of "a pot of gold". 

We were returning to France and the boat by train next day so had booked into a hotel close to the main square, the Markt, and the Belfry. We had a taster of Bruges for a few hours and as the weather was so lovely we did the tourist thing and went on one of the little boats that take you around the little canals. Bruges is called the Venice of the North.


Followed by dinner in the Markt, very romantic.


We are looking forward to exploring more of this beautiful city and its surroundings when we return by boat, and to sampling more of the things it is famous for, beer and chocolate, oh and the moules, frites and mayo, waffles. There are cyclists everywhere in Bruges and I think we shall be joining them to burn off all the calories.



All was well when we arrived back to the JR in Corbie and we set off again on our journey to the end of the Somme and our trip north into Belgium. The weather was glorious, so different to when we had passed this way 3 months ago at the time of the floodings in France. The word Somme is Celtic for tranquillity and that will be our lasting impression of this beautiful waterway, contrasting with the tumult of its past. We will hold onto memories of a wonderful summer here and happy times spent with our friends Terry and Terry. 


So the next adventure begins. We left the Somme on Saturday afternoon and turned left heading north on the Canal du Nord, a busy commercial waterway. It turned out not to be that busy at all and we only saw a few big barges. We travelled farther than intended to make the most of it and got through the Ruyaulcourt tunnel before mooring up at Hermies which was a comfortable overnight spot. The Ruyaulcourt tunnel is 4350 metres long and is unique in that it has a two way section in the middle controlled by traffic lights. Fortunately for us there were no other boats in there and the Captain pronounced it the easiest tunnel he had done.


Setting off again next morning we soon got through the last 7 downstream locks of the Canal du Nord and didn't know why we had been worried about it. It had turned out to be quite a pleasant experience.

We then found ourselves on what is known as the Grand Gabarit, a series of commercial canals that run from Dunkerque to the Escaut. The canal and the locks got wider, and the boats were getting bigger!  We couldn't moor up where we had hoped as it was choc full of those big commercial barges resting up for the weekend. So we carried on for another 15 kilometres to another mooring recommended by a fellow boater (thank you James) just off the Grand Gabarit on the smaller Canal de Lens. We were relieved to find the pontoon there empty, an oasis of calm away from the wash of the big barges. Judging by the fascination of the locals out walking in the adjacent park not many boats come down this way.

When we set off the next day, Monday morning,  the skies were gloomy, the landscape became industrial and the bigger and bigger barges kept coming. The biggest we saw was 105 metres long, 10.5 metres wide and weighed 2150 tonnes fully laden.




It was inevitable that we would end up in a lock with one of them but surprisingly it was very gentle on the way down.


It was with some relief that we finally turned off the Grand Gabarit onto the much more petite Canal de Roubaix, which would take us next day to Leers Nord, a mooring on the border with Belgium. This 20 kilometre canal was abandoned for decades following the closure of the textile industry along its route. It reopened in 2011 following investment of 37 million euros and pleasure boaters are being encouraged to use it. We received a very warm welcome from the lovely Camille and her team the next morning who accompanied us all the way opening bridges and operating locks for us. We were delayed for 2 hours at one point whilst police divers were searching the canal but we finally arrived at our destination Leers Nord at 6pm.


One side of the lock at Leers Nord is in France, the other side is Belgium. We are moored on the Belgian side which is actually the Canal de l'Espierres. Lined with plane trees on both sides it could be the Canal du Midi. This is a free mooring with free water and electric but best of all we are moored just steps away from the excellent Maison du Canal. 


This bar/ restaurant is a little gem the likes of which we don't think we have come across in all our travels in France. It is a favourite of our friends the two Terry's and we can see why. Lively and buzzing, it is a focal point for the local community, young and old come together over a coffee, or more likely a Belgian beer or cocktail or two. The landlady Anita, her family and her staff are so friendly and welcoming that you quickly feel a part of it all. Very reasonable food and drink prices too, I am working my way down the list but the Mojito is my favourite.


I can honestly say the moules were the best I have ever eaten.

How appropriate to be dining alongside a lock

 We are resting up here for at least a week and will explore the surrounding area on the different cycle routes. I have a feeling it will be quite hard to drag ourselves away.

2 comments:

  1. Thats the best place in France/Belgium to hang out for a week or two, If my camping car was working I would be heading that way for the weekend

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  2. Hi guys. .looking very tanned and happy....enjoyed the blog...happy cruising xx

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