The December Trip – shopping During the 5 month winter season we made two trips out to check on Calliope – and to enjoy the city of Kortrijk too. The first trip was in December. We had thoughts of enjoying a Christmas Market and buying some unusual presents for all and sundry – that bitContinue reading “Calliope check – two winter trips to Kortrijk”
Tag Archives: Piper barge
Next stage of the Belgian odyssey – Nieuwpoort, Diksmuide and Ypres
8 September to 21 September 2019 The eighth of September dawned brightly, if a bit chilly – then turned black as clouds rolled in. Autumn is suddenly upon us. It is only two weeks since the temperature was in the thirties and I was off swimming with the family. Looking at the sky I wasn’tContinue reading “Next stage of the Belgian odyssey – Nieuwpoort, Diksmuide and Ypres”
The Upper Lys, Leie and Mitoeyenne
15 – 24 August 2019 We returned to the boat in Kortrijk on August 13th, full of fatigue after a week of long road trips and an excellent South of France party weekend. There was 10 days to fill until our next family visitors arrived in Kortrijk so we set out for a short andContinue reading “The Upper Lys, Leie and Mitoeyenne”
A river and three canals in a week!
Well not exactly complete rivers or canals, but we did steam along 53 kms of the Base Sambre river, 20kms of the Canal Charleroi à Brussels, and 24 kms of the Canal de Centre and 40kms of the Canal Nimy-Blaton-Péronnes And that included an unplanned en panne two night stop, but more of that later.Continue reading “A river and three canals in a week!”
Heading north up La Meuse part 1
The waterways comprising La Meuse include the river itself, the Canal de la Meuse, called, prior to 2003, the Canal de l’Est Northern branch. At the same time the southern branch was renamed the Canal des Vosges. Together they formed a 245 mile long canal within the Franco Prussian border. This part, Part 1, isContinue reading “Heading north up La Meuse part 1”
An unexpected sojourn in Chalons-en-Champagne
So with spirits high and buoyancy in our step and our ship we turned starboard out of one canal, and then port into another – the Canal Lateral à la Marne. We were on schedule to reach our Winter mooring in Sillery six days later, including two, or even three, nights in Chalons-en-Champagne. Little didContinue reading “An unexpected sojourn in Chalons-en-Champagne”
Over the top to Champagne
Canal Entre Champagne et Bourgogne 25th August to 11th September 2018 This is a seriously exciting and enjoyable canal. It is 224 km along with 43 locks on the way up and 71 locks on the way down plus a 5 km tunnel through the summit – the Balesmes tunnel. It passes through glorious agriculturalContinue reading “Over the top to Champagne”
5 days and 4 nights on la Saône
August 21st to 25th We liked the Saône. It is generally a pretty river and in the southern part there are plenty of places to moor – not so many after Tournus for a biggish barge like Calliope. It would have been easy to spend far longer on the river, exploring towns and villages, butContinue reading “5 days and 4 nights on la Saône”
“Je veux montant s’il vous plait”
Avignon to Lyon – 5 days ascending the Rhône August 15th to 20th Feeling confident about diminishing wind and current speeds, and not too much in the way of Meteo alarms we set off from Avignon. There is always a little bit of apprehension about the Rhône for us. There are not that manyContinue reading ““Je veux montant s’il vous plait””
Juillet sur le Midi and la mer
I planned not to do a blog for a while, but the temptation to share some of the things we have seen and done proves too great. To be precise, 25 days were spent on the Midi, 1 on the Hérault, and 5 on the Canal du Rhône à Sète, which connects to the Mediterannean allContinue reading “Juillet sur le Midi and la mer”
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