– part 1 From Belgium into France 7th – 13th May 2022 We didn’t start at the bottom, or the mouth, of the Meuse; we joined at Namur, so this account does not do full justice to the river. It was a rather overcast day when we left the Sambre and found turning upstreamContinue reading “The Magnificent Meuse”
Tag Archives: Barging through France
Visitors aboard for our last days in France in 2021!
With family and friends in North East France and Western Belgium 14th to 24th September 2021 We were at Corbehem, just inside Le Scarpe Superieure, which goes on to Arras, with a plan of a slow cruise to Lille; there we would meet with son and partner who were arriving by Eurostar for a shortContinue reading “Visitors aboard for our last days in France in 2021!”
Canal du Nord – bottom to top!
Almost five and a half years ago we arrived in France on Calliope at the mouth of La Somme. This was our introduction to boating in Europe, and when at the end of La Somme we turned right onto the Canal du Nord we thought we were really now among the big barges of theContinue reading “Canal du Nord – bottom to top!”
A short trip East to West on 3 canals
Canals Sambre, Saint Quentin and Lateral à L’Oise 5th to 7th September 2021 It took just two days cruising to go the final three and a half kilometres on the Canal de la Sambre from Beautor, the seven and a half kilometres on the Canal de Saint-Quentin to Chauny, and the eighteen kilometres on theContinue reading “A short trip East to West on 3 canals”
Canal de Sambre à l’Oise
A wonderful week on country waters 30th August – 5th September 2021 Robert Louis Stevenson was still with us as we moved onto the canal built in the 1800s to link the Sambre at Landrecies with the Oise at La Fère – both places mentioned by RLS in his book ‘An Inland Voyage’. To writeContinue reading “Canal de Sambre à l’Oise”
Carry on up the Sambre!
The French Sambre 26th to 29th August 2021 This is a nice short blog, especially in comparison to some of my recent ramblings. We had three nights and the best part of four days on this stretch of the 2021 voyage. Bienvenue en France! We left Erquelinnes on a blue and sunny morning, crossing theContinue reading “Carry on up the Sambre!”
Winding our way to our winter mooring
27 September – 10 October 2019 We were taking the long autumnal way round. We had left Kortrijk in late August and set off on a loop of northern Belgium and France, in order to arrive back where we started and tie up for the winter. Now we were on the last lap, crossing borders,Continue reading “Winding our way to our winter mooring”
The river Meuse – La France a Belgique
Initially it didn’t seem so different, the change from the Canal de La Meuse to the actual river, probably because a lot of the canal section is actually on the river itself. However as we progressed the geography changed hugely and spectacularly, as you will see. We left Stenay after my early morning mammoth cycleContinue reading “The river Meuse – La France a Belgique”
June on the Canal de la Marne au Rhin – weedy in parts; ultimately glorious
June 10 – 18 2019 Monday 10th June – we had left Soulanges on the Canal de L’Aisne á la Marne in the morning and by lunchtime we had turned to port at the T junction at Vitry-en François and were heading up the Oest (West) section of the Canal de la Marne au Rhin.Continue reading “June on the Canal de la Marne au Rhin – weedy in parts; ultimately glorious”
Short Stretches – Montech, Montauban and our first 10kms of le Tarn.
It was so great to have some of the family with us for the 9 locks, 1 overnight stop, and 10 kilometres of l’embranchement (canal) de Montech. It also gave us the chance to drop down onto the Tarn and experience some river boating – in all weathers as you will discover. On the returnContinue reading “Short Stretches – Montech, Montauban and our first 10kms of le Tarn.”
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