The lights were slow to react after a boat heading upstream crawled out and I started towards the lock on the red and green signal thinking I would get the green as I reached the entrance . I didn ’ t and passed through the open gates .
This of course is a big no no and the automatic lock shuts down . By this time the French boat had followed me in and we were stuck . He called the VNF wagging his finger at me and in a loud voice said that an Englishman had passed the red light and upset the system . The lock man admonished me and threatened me with the weed rake ; so the French do have a sense of humour and it all ended in a friendly atmosphere . After all there were four of us !
A longish day and we moored with the Frenchman after six hours and 31 km at Richardmenil where I knew there was a good restaurant .
After delivering a bottle of Two Hoots Golden Ale to our neighbour ( he thought I owned the brewery – if only ) we trudged off to the village to find said restaurant displaying a notice “ fermeture exceptionnelle ”; my punishment perhaps ? Indeed I was sent up the hill to the supermarket for supplies and dinner on board was as good as any !
It had rained all night – again – but day 15 dawned grey but fine for our last day of the first “ half ” of our trip on the basis that it divides nicely at Nancy where we were to change crews .
This was to be an interesting day in that we would say au revoir to the Canal des Voges , go through the “ embranchement ” that connects to the Canal de la Marne au Rhin where we would turn west , ascend one lock and look for a mooring in the City .
This connecting canal has been closed for some three years due to a land slip but repairs have been completed leaving a very narrow and in some places shallow section .
However it is passable and saves many kilometres . It boasts of 13 locks in its 10 km length , the downward nine of which are in a chain . In this chain we saw a fascinating sight of crows landing on the inner frames of the upstream lock gates as the water dropped and picking out whatever took their fancy , moving lower with the water level ! Hardly any traffic allowed us to make good progress and the day ’ s run of 17km with 14 locks was completed in just under five hours .
Typical of a city marina was the large numbers of live-aboards of hugely contrasting standards from very smart converted barges to semi-derelict sail boats , work boats and old trip boats ; you name it and somebody will have made a home from it .
Fortunately some space was available for “ bateaux de plaisances ” like us and we managed to slot in stern-to against a rough concrete quay . All very interesting .
The capitain reminded us of Carson , the butler in Downton Abbey ; very organised , helpful and no- nonsense !
Our friends who had been with us from St . Jean had time to organise their train for the next morning to Dijon and thence to St . Jean to retrieve their car . Fortunately the wave of strikes did not affect the mainline services and we waved them off at 6am – in the rain !
For various reasons Nancy proved to be more of an interlude than just a stop-over to change crews , of which more next time .
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