September



What boatbuilders build when aluminum is in short supply

On September 5 we decided it was time to leave the safety of our shelter at Chatham and head toward France.  The Chatham Maritime Marina had been the perfect place to stay while sorting out Emily’s medical issues, providing excellent washrooms and laundry in addition to the most helpful and friendly marina staff we have encountered.  We also had fun learning a bit about Charles Dickens and his time in the area and hanging out at the Historic Dockyard.  However, we had by now arranged to meet Tom’s friends in Paris mid-September and we needed to get moving.

Boats behind us after the fog had cleared

We started with a one hour motor to Queenborough where the moorings are set out from the shore on the tidal river.  It makes for a lovely, peaceful night, rising and falling with the tide and the movement of the water and without the creak of lines or bumping of boats against the dock.  In the morning, however, we awoke to the proverbial pea soup fog.  We couldn’t even see the river more than about five feet away from the boat let alone spot shore or any other vessels.  Fortunately, the fog burned off by 11, giving us plenty of time to get to Ramsgate on the east coast by the end of the day.


We spent a couple of days in Ramsgate, taking advantage of our last days of Englishness by stocking up on familiar groceries and dry goods for which we were able to read the ingredient list (Emily’s initial diagnostic work-up included screening for celiac which came back positive, requiring us to go gluten free, at least until she is able to undergo a more diagnostic biopsy back in Canada).  Tom got a haircut and bought a few boaty things and we all had one last trip to the used book shops.

Fabulous weather for channel crossing

On September 8 we crossed the channel uneventfully, in waves that were choppier than expected but just below the seasickness threshold.  As we had heard that the lock into the canal at Calais was out of order, we entered France instead at Gravelines, a little north of Calais, a little south of Dunkerque.  What we did not realize is that to enter the canals here required 48 hours notice to the lock keeper.  As we had entered on a Sunday, we would not actually get into the canals until Wednesday.  In the meantime, we, along with all the other boats at the marina, floated up as the tide flowed in and sunk into the mud when the tide went out.

Sitting in the mud at Gravelines



Our first industrial sized lock - beyond intimidating

On Wednesday, we made it into the canal system and got started toward Paris.  This initial stretch of travel exposed us to new experiences such as locks we could not see the top of and tunnels through hills that we needed to be pulled through by electric barge.  We were lucky enough to meet up with another pleasure boat on our second lock and picked up a few locking tips from the much more experienced boaters.  We were also lucky that when the lingering odour of burning acid turned out to be the defunct battery under our salon bench seat rather than the pervasive scent of French countryside, we were only a few hundred meters away from a lock that had extensive waste disposal.  Tom unhooked the battery and disposed of it, all good, but sadly, we lost our cruising companions.

Entering a 5 kilometer tunnel behind a commercial barge

After several days of motoring and mooring at the quiet marinas that are built in small pockets of water off the canals, Tom rented a car at the town of Compeigne and we drove in to Charles deGaulle in Paris to pick up Rob and Jane from Kenora.  Their boating experience started the next day with an extremely short cruise down the river to the boat mechanic's where we dropped a full month’s budget on three new batteries for the boat and another handful on the nautical charts needed to see us through France.  Never mind though, because with the new batteries we can brew a pot of coffee in the morning and still have power enough left over to make toast.

After Compeigne we landed at the edge of the canal in a town called Creil, the highlight of which was a rowdy evening at the pub for Tom, Rob and Jane, and a visit the next morning to a barge in the process of being converted to a home, courtesy of Phillipe, a charming Frenchman met the previous night in the aforementioned pub.   Note that while a barge conversion makes for an excellent residential space, I have had no trouble resisting the urge to get out my squared paper and start designing.

 

After Creil we landed at Cergy, following the margin notes in the “Paris by Boat” book given to us by an English couple we met way back in the Netherlands.  As promised, this turned out to be a truly great place to stay.  In fact, if it were located a few hundred miles south, where January might be expected to be a few degrees warmer, we would have gladly tied up for the winter and stayed put.  In addition to a lovely marina surrounded by restaurants and all the basic services within easy cobblestone walk (butcher, baker, grocer, pharmacist), the town had a great looking school and train service to Paris.  It also had easy access, just across the river, to a huge recreational park encompassing a few small lakes and fit out with all kinds of boat rental (kayak, canoe, sailing, paddle boats, stand up paddlers, and white water rafts), waterski pulled along an electric trolley line, adventure courses (plank climbers, zip lines, rope net tunnels, etc.), a playground, small midway, biking and hiking trails, and a series of really neat exercise machines.  Very cool.

Alas, Cergy is a bit too cool in January so after a few days, we set out for Paris.  Our first views of the city were as we have come to expect, very industrial.  In fact, our first night was spent on the outskirts at a marina that does not have a high regard for visiting boats.  We made it into the city proper the next day, however, and managed to squeeze the boat between barges right under the Eiffel tour.  This was clearly a temporary parking spot, and having surveyed the neighborhood and noted the fellow surveying our boat, Rob opted to stay with the boat while the rest of us went for a quick explore.  We walked up to the Arc de Triomphe and down a block of the Champs Elysees before heading back to the boat to relieve Rob of his security duties. 

Unfortunately, we had learned a couple of days earlier, that the lock entry to the marina in Paris was broken, making it impossible for boats to go in or out from the Seine.  Had we known this much earlier, we might have taken a different canal around the top of Paris that would allow entry to the marina from the north.  Having taken the route that we did, we would now be looking at an extra day of motoring to get in, and as our guests were not particularly interested in the big city, we decided to carry on our way. 

Along with a British boat carrying similarly frustrated travelers, we landed at Port Cerise.  We explored and did the mandatory grocery shopping, but when Rob and Jane left on the train the next day, we departed in search of cleaner bathrooms.  A further wrinkle in the plan at this point was that the locks were out of commission a ways upstream on the Seine.  The closures had been planned up to September 29, which would have left us waiting for about a week, but, in fact, had been extended to mid-October, which would have left us waiting for three weeks.  The alternative to waiting was to plan a different route, taking the river Marne instead of the Seine, and a long, circuitous route to the south.  Alas, this is the route we have taken.

Our first stop on the Marne was at a lovely marina along the edge of the river in a town called Nogent sur Marne.  In the end, it was from here that we explored Paris.  Tom stayed on the boat to do laundry and change the oil, while we three girls took the train to Paris two days in a row and:

• Wandered the streets of Montmartre

• Had the girls’ portraits drawn outside Sacre Coeur

• Walked through Sacre Coeur and climbed the 308 stairs up the dome

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ate lunch overlooking the square filled with artists

 

 

• Wandered an extensive outdoor market (coincidentally located right beside the marina we were unable to get into) where we ate Lebanese food and green apples from Canada

• Admired the gorgeous stained glass windows in Notre Dame cathedral

• Bought a used French version of Harry Potter at a canal side book vendor

• Took a midafternoon break at a bistro on the left bank

• Examined the lovers locks all along the bridge above Notre Dame

• And sat on a bus that took us all over the city

If all goes according to plan, we will return and get ourselves Paris museum passes for a few days before we fly home in November or December.