Marne River - Part 2 Covers October 26 to November 9, 2000 We left Veleda alongside the houseboat in Thorigny when we went to Germany by car, and on our return we went across the Marne, back up the 300 meters to the halte at Lagny where our carnival friends helped us hook up to electricity again. We stayed there until October 31 enjoying the town and its market, and we even went down to the park with all the statues we had stopped at earlier with Veleda. The statues were carved by a local artist who asked permission to use the concrete, left from bridges destroyed by the French to impede the German advance in the Battle of the Marne in WW I. They were on themes of love and family, using styles from Africa and South America. There were still several clumps of concrete abutments positioned and ready to be sculpted. It appeared a wonderful way to dispose of the remnants of war.  On October 31 we went back to the houseboat on the Thorigny side and prepared for our trip to London. It was a good time with friends we met in England last year. We had a chance to see Brian’s new boat, a Moody 44 in which he and Irene will sail on a retirement cruise starting this spring. We hope to be able to help them sail it across the Biscay, and they might join us for a holiday on Veleda in the Balearics this winter. We’ll see how things work out.  On our way back from London, we stopped off in Paris to visit Judy’s sister, and I dropped down to the Arsenal Marina to see who was there. Laudance was in, but Michael and Britta were off to Canada, Dorion whom we met in the Azores was there, Nefertari was still there, but the only ones home were Rod and Suzy on Glenlyon. They passed Veleda a few days earlier when she was alongside the houseboat and we were in London. It was good to see them again. Incidentally, subsequently we saw their name (ie Glenlyon) scratched in the mud on a couple of lock walls farther up the Marne, from when they came down the Marne from Nancy to get to Paris. We again returned to Veleda just after midnight November. 7. All was well. We left a short note and a case of beer for our host on the houseboat (as he was not around), and finally left at about 1100 that morning, now that the locks were open, heading on up the Marne. We cleared Chalifert lock (Height 3.34m) at 1147, the tunnel by 1152, and Ecluse de Lesches (Height 3.20m) by 1205, exiting the Marne River into the Canal de Meaux a Chalifert. We were moving right along until we noticed the water was not pumping very effectively. We stopped alongside a concrete pier to check it out. We blew down the through-hull intake opening, and it seemed to clear it. We started up, but in five minutes, again marginal water flow. So we stopped again at Port d’ Esbly, and this time removed the water hose from the water pump to ensure a free flow. This seemed to do the job, and we were OK after that.  We enjoyed a nice quiet, cool but beautiful journey up this canal that parallels the Marne, fringed by multicoloured trees, shedding their leaves like confetti to form a lush, glistening, wet, subdued but colourful blanket of rust brown, dusty gold, burnt orange and sullen red undulating on the water. Reflected in the small waves we created as we glided through this autumnal channel, the semi-naked branches of the trees towering over the canal banks seemed to quiver on the rippling troughs and crests, creating isolated cool diamond lances as the sun flickered through the canopy above. It was one of those high moments when one can enjoy the beauty fall brings to the outdoor world and feel privileged to be allowed to pass through such a sacred bower. By 1500 we passed through the Meaux Lock (Height 0.37m) and back into the current of the Marne River. Rather than continue upstream, we turned left, downstream, going between some river construction for a new bridge, beneath the first city bridge, to a pontoon halte. The halte was attractively situated beside a well-landscaped park, in the tranquility of the Marne loop, about 100 meters from the ancient, arched, chrysanthemun-bedecked bridge leading over to the vieux ville of Meaux with its Gothic Saint-Etienne Cathedral dominating the skyline. The water and electricity were turned off for the winter, but after several phone calls to various authorities, a friendly VNF maintenance man came down and was able to switch the power on, providing us with free electricity. We had him onboard for a cup of coffee in appreciation for coming out so late in the day in the now pouring rain. We also indicated a problem we had tightening up our packing gland and inquired about yacht mechanics in the area. He said he would let us know in the morning. At 0900 next day he came down in the drizzling rain with a bag of croissants to tell us he had arranged a mechanic for us. A half hour later two mechanics arrived and made short work of repacking and tightening up the packing gland, but they did need the new 50mm wrench we had recently purchased in London to do the job. The cost was minimal, about 90.00Ff (9£ or ¢18.00 Canadian). Judy was very relieved to have this job, which had been frustrating her for weeks, finally completed. We wandered through the town, took in the Cathedral, (started in the 12th century and finished in the 16th), and visited the Bossuet Museum, a former Episcopal Palace. There we enjoyed the art work, particularly a photographic display, in the vaulted crypt, of pictures of Meaux, parts of the Cathedral, statues, gargoyles, and roof top panoramas of the area, blown up into 3 meter high hauntingly crystal clear montages of the area. Meaux was at the crossroads of important trade routes dating back to Roman times. Its location at this loop of the Marne puts Meaux in the heart of the Brie area of France. As we go through France we are aware of the gastronomic areas for which it is noted. The Marne goes through not only the Brie area, but also the Champagne district. We left Meaux (PK 134) at 0800 next day, Nov. 9th, plodding upstream at a slow 4 knots. The PK (Point Kilometrique) distances on this part of the Marne are measured from Vitry-Le-François at PK 0 to the Seine at PK 178 at Alfortville, a suburb of Paris. The canal portions are easier than the river itself, as there is no current in them, and they are straighter. This next river stretch past Meaux was on a very windy part, zig-zagging in an easterly direction up to the headwaters of the Marne. We covered 32.5 nautical miles and went through 4 locks by 1730, when we stopped at Nanteuil-sur Marne at PK 74. Actually, it was only 3 locks as the first lock at Isles-les-Meldeuses was closed and we were flagged directly upstream over the sill as the water level was quite high. Each of the other 3 locks were open on our arrival and took less than 10 minutes each to raise us the 2.0 to 2.5 meters. Even though we traveled 32.5 nautical miles on the river, we actually did only 13.5 nautical miles in a straight line.  There have been no problems in locking up so far, as we have been met by an eclusier who takes our aft line and puts it on the first or second bollard in the lock, then takes our bow line forward. This arrangement works well as I can check our advance through the water by just tightening my stern line after the bow line has been placed on a forward bollard. So far we have gone through 22 locks and two tunnels, and climbed 45 meters since Honfleur. We have another 27 locks, 200 kilometers and 65 meters to climb before reaching the next canal, the Canal de la Marne a la Saone, at Vitry-le-François, the link to the Saone system. We have had it easy so far, as all the locks have been electrical and operated by eclusiers. We have yet to go through manual locks, or the automatic ones ahead. So far we have been able to travel 35 to 40 nautical miles, and go through two to five locks a day. That is about to change.  Next Log