BLOOMING IN PICARDIE

15TH June, 2015 (Tony)

There’s a certain relaxed pleasure in cruising waterways you’ve previously explored. The familiarity of places and sights to see as well as the comfort of knowing where to find good mooring stops. We’re presently retracing our voyage of 2008 to the Western Front. In a few days we’ll be on the Somme, a river we’ve not been down before although we toured the region extensively in our car to visit many WWI battlefields and memorials. Sometimes familiarity is not such a good thing. At Chatillon-Coligny we decided to walk up through the town for a couple of kilometres to shop at the huge supermarket we’d been to before. We didn’t really need anything, just thought the exercise would be good. A stupid idea. Firstly because we forgot it was Whit Monday, another of the many religious festivals that are a public holiday in France, and so the shop was closed; and secondly, because Sally somehow wrenched her knee and it has pained her ever since.

The Canal de Briare was delightful, easy leisurely days, gorgeous weather and very few other boats. Well I suppose you only need one to create a crisis. As we ventured across the pound at the top of the canal we approached a narrow bridge and could see a small hire boat coming towards us. There are three rules which apply to such a situation: (1) whoever gets there first has right-of-way; (2) downstream traffic has priority; (3) might is right. We had all three of the above in our favour but he thought he was driving his BMW and hit the throttle. When he finally decided it may be better to hold back, or remembered that it wasn’t his boat, he thrust back on the throttle and immediately lost all control, doing a u-turn in the middle of the canal only 30m in front of Sable. A collision was unavoidable but I was impressed with how quickly Sable, in full-reverse throttle, almost stopped in time. His boat suffered a minor nudge amidships that barely left a mark. I think his underwear caught the brunt of the damage. Hopefully he is now a wiser and more cautionary pilot.

At Montargis — we love that town — we picked up Rotary friends, Lea and Pauline. They spent several restful hassle-free days with us after arriving from a hectic trip around Turkey. We spent a couple of nights moored to the side of the Canal du Loing in the middle of nowhere disturbed only by the songs of the birds and their own shrieks as they rediscovered the art (it wasn’t skill) of bicycling. We arrived at St Moret, one of the most picturesque villages to be found anywhere, where they took us to dinner at a very lovely restaurant overlooking the river. Next morning, the Capitaine kindly offered to drive them to the train station to journey to Paris for the remainder of their holiday. After another night in St Moret, we were on the Seine, downstream to Paris. A stop at Samois sur Seine is more-or-less obligatory, it is such a pretty village. And every stay at Samois warrants a visit to Fontainbleau so off with the motorbikes, a ride to the chateau and a walk around the enormous gardens filled-in a perfect afternoon.

On phoning the Port de l’Arsenal we were flabbergasted to learn that the port was full — no vacancies for two weeks! Every boat in France must be moored up in Paris as there are very few on the Seine. Well, ok, we’ll just mosey through Paris and moor where we can. The Seine twists and turns its way through more than 60km in Paris and there are very few suitable quays for a boat the size of Sable. We found a perfect spot upstream of the confluence with the Marne where we put up the awning and enjoyed as perfect an evening as Paris can provide, dining on the top deck until well after sunset (9:30pm). The wash from passing commercial barges was constant but not concerning. Next day, the hottest of the year, 38C, saw us leisurely cruise under the bridges of Paris, past the Eiffel Tower, around the Bois de Boulogne wherein at Roland Garros the semi-finals of the French Open were under way, through the big lock at Suresnes and past La Defense. We planned to enter the Canal St Denis and spend the night moored beside the canal, but it was so hot and about 2:30pm when we saw a good quay with a grassy bank we halted, pleased to be done for the day. We retired to bed at 9:30pm and fell asleep almost instantly only to be awakened an hour later by bright lights and the throb of a big engine. We looked out and couldn’t believe our eyes — mooring up to a couple of commercial pylons beside us was a 120m river cruise ship! It couldn’t have fitted on our quay anyway but it did make Sable look tiny. Next morning I chatted to the friendly captain and some of his crew. They apologised for hemming us in. They have as much difficulty as anyone finding mooring places. He told me there are twenty similar ships cruising the Seine from Paris to Le Havre and return. They normally spend two nights in Paris but their 83 passengers (maximum 122 @ 7,000€/13 days) were loaded onto busses to go sight-seeing in Paris that morning as there was no mooring available for them in the city.  They were due to leave 9pm that night. The crew filled eight huge rubbish bins with the ship’s garbage, and ours, and then kindly relinquished the stern hawser to allow Sable to sneak out behind. We continued down to Reuil-Malmaison where Josephine established a glorious chateau that Napoleon apparently hated. The town is modern, thriving and has to be one of the most likeable places to live. We had a memorable lunch across the river at a restaurant made famous by Renoir, it was here he painted his masterpiece, Luncheon of the Boating Party. The whole area was a favourite of the Impressionists and one can follow their trail all the way up the Val d’Oise culminating at Auviers where Van Gogh spent his final six weeks and is buried there alongside his brother Theo. Our final day on the Seine took us to Andresy at the confluence of the Oise. Otherwise forgettable, Andresy at least provided a crude quay to moor to, sheltered from the surge of the massive commercial barges plying the Seine, night and day.

Into the Oise, a much quieter river with tree-lined banks, still lots of commercials but hardly a pleasure boat to be seen. From Cergy we biked to the Axe Majeur and climbed the 210 steps to the top of the hill to take in the panoramic vista back to Paris. It is a relatively recent piece of architectural art based on the significance of 12 to mankind. (E.g. 12 hours of day; 12 hours of night; and other mathematical points). All a bit obtuse for us but we enjoyed the exercise; and the view. At Pontoise we discovered a new quay and fabulous facilities, built since our last visit. As a result we stayed a night and walked the town. The Musee to Pissaro was interesting if only for its underwhelming collection. Two by the master, a selection of some others and a few pieces of furniture. I suppose it would have been a bit too much to expect some great art in such a small town but then France can be full  of surprises and you can find wonderful sights where one least expects.  We should have stayed longer but we’re keen to get to Picardie. L’Isle Adam is another charming town that could easily have been created for a Disney movie set. There is a pontoon for only one boat. We weren’t surprised to find it vacant (where are all the other boatees?) so happily stopped there overnight and explored the town. Creil was merely an overnight stop, as was Compiegne. But Compiegne has a great chandlery and so replenishment of fuel and boat spare parts consumed a fair number of euros. The city is absolutely gorgeous. It also has a very famous chateau and grounds that once belonged to Napoleon III; and not far out of town is the railway carriage in which the armistice was signed to mark the end of WWI. Visits to these were detailed in a newsletter in 2008.

Yesterday, we followed a tandem commercial barge into a lock on the Oise. A mother swan with five cygnets and two other swans (presumably males) were already in the lock and did not seem at all perturbed by the intrusion of boats. In fact they probably use the lock just as we do to get upstream or downstream as they fancy. All of a sudden one of the swans took exception to the presence of the other close to his family. A most vicious fight broke out, their necks entwined, wings flapping as each attempted to bite the other. One escaped and tried to take flight but there wasn’t enough room for him to get airborne. The other pursued him into the back corner of the lock and clearly attempted to drown the poor fellow, holding his head under water for as long as he could, failing only because he had to come up for air too. Eventually with the lock now full the victim clambered into a chamber housing the hydraulic rams for the lock gates. The victor and his family nonchalantly exited the lock behind us. We only hope the loser escaped from his hiding place before the lock emptied again and the gates opened. The lock-keeper, who also witnessed the drama, would no doubt have checked on the bird’s well-being.

Finally, we have arrived at Peronne where we biked into town to revisit the fantastic war museum. Tomorrow we’ll be off the busy Canal du Nord and onto the quiet, peaceful Somme.

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