Unexcused Absences France 2015 - Week 8 Recap (he said)

France 2015 – Week 8 Recap (he said)

by Kent 12 Aug 2015

Even though this week was on exactly the same stretch of canal as Week 7, but in reverse order, the flavor of the week could not have been more different. These recent seven days were about old friends, new friends, the whims of the weather, and the International Space Station.

You may remember that Saturday we picked up our Italian friend Andrea, whom we met back in February at Beaver Creek, and he cooked us a terrific Italian meal in Montureux-lès-Baulay. Sunday morning dawned with a heavy mist hanging over the Saône River, but it had burned away by 10 and we had a cloudless drive back to the boat harbor in Corre. Andrea had to get back to Paris in time for work, but we scheduled an early dinner so he could drive back on a full stomach.

Town square, but no boulangerie, in Baulay

Monday we turned the corner into the first lock of the Vosges Canal with great trepidation; over the past week we had heard, from reliable sources, that, because of a lack of water, the northern half of the Vosges Canal was a) restricted to shallow-draft boats, b) completely open, c) completely closed, d) was open now but could close at any minute, e) would definitely close August 15, and f) was definitely open but would definitely close, maybe, if certain conditions prevailed, but maybe not, who really knows. These status updates had come from friends, fellow boaters, concerned citizens, marina managers, lockkeepers, and the VNF (Voies Navigable de France – the French waterways authority) itself. We chose to operate based on rumor “f”, which was the most vague, and thus was most likely to be true, at least in France.

Canal port in Corre

The reason for our concern with this particular stretch of French inland waterway was that the northern half of the Vosges Canal lay between us and our winter parking spot in Lagarde, on the Marne-Rhine Canal. And if any part of the Vosges was closed, we wouldn’t be able to make it around to Lagarde using an alternate route by the time we had to fly home. Leaving Après Ski tied to the side of a canal somewhere for the winter was not an option, so we researched some alternative marinas, just in case.

A brief aside about France in August; this is the time when the village flowers are in full bloom, the temperature has dropped a bit from its July highs, and much of the country is on their congés annuel (annual multi-week summer vacation). Never mind that August is the height of tourist season in France, when one would think that shopkeepers would want to be in their shops making money from all the tourists who have flooded into the country. Nope, the shops, restaurants, and hotels that serve the holiday crowd are mostly closed because the owners are on holiday. I guess it makes sense if you’re European.

Low water in the Vosges Canal

So here we were heading north on the Vosges Canal, after being assured by the lockkeeper in Corre that the northern section was definitely open today, but tomorrow, well, it would probably be open. Most likely. Gallic shrug. The first few automated locks went fine, and then we came to the dreaded double red light on the control panel; lock out of service. Had they closed the canal already? Go ashore, walk to the control booth, press the interphone button to talk with VNF regional headquarters; yes, he could see on his computer that our lock was out of service, and he would send a mechanic along to fix the lock after he had a cup of coffee, a cigarette break, and a short vacation in Portugal (remember, it’s August). A mechanic did eventually come and reset the system, and all was fine.

Rural Vosges

Our Monday night stop was in Selles, a small village (with no boulangerie) we had passed last week on the way down and wanted to visit this week. The temperature was back above 90, but we found a perfect spot next to a large house that would cast some shade on the boat starting in late afternoon. As we maneuvered to the quai we had to dodge a number of children swimming, kayaking, and stand-up-paddleboarding. There were kids in the water everywhere. Apparently someone gives swim lessons in this town.

How to beat the heat in Selles

We perched on a park bench in the shade for an hour until the shadow from the house covered Après Ski, then returned to the boat for a delicious meal courtesy of favorite wife. Tuesday we planned to cruise to Fontenoy-le-Château, fill up with water and diesel at the Le Boat base, then continue north a bit further. But when we rounded the corner into the port, there was the gleaming* hull of Excargot, summer home to our friends Peter and Sonja. We saw them briefly on the Champagne Canal last year, but wanted to spend some quality time with them so we decided to stay in Fontenoy for the night.

Approaching Fontenoy-le-Château

It was an excellent decision; we spent a long afternoon catching up, then agreed to meet again at 7 and drive to dinner. The neat thing about Excargot is that it has an actual garage up front to store an actual car below deck (unlike most Americans who use their garages for overflow storage). So we took full advantage and drove a few kilometers north to the canal-side inn and restaurant that we visited last week, Auberge du Coney. The meal was delicious, just like last week, and Peter and Sonja seemed pleased with our suggestion.

The next morning we filled up with diesel, then helped Peter stow his car below decks (“helped” in the sense that we stood around and took pictures while he and Sonja maneuvered the hydraulic crane and car sling). The car fits pretty tightly in the garage, much too tight to open the doors. Sonja said it’s usually once the car is completely stowed and the crane put away that Peter remembers that he left his phone or wallet on the front seat.

Attaching the sling

Maneuvering into position

And down the hatch

Then it was time to say goodbye; they were headed south to their winter spot in Auxonne, and we needed to continue north to get out the other side of the Vosges Canal before it closed for lack of water. We cruised a few hours to the pound between locks 24 and 25, an incredibly beautiful spot deep in the woods with no towns, houses, or cellphone signal in sight. The “port” was a nice stone quai with bollards, a picnic table, and a fire pit.

I gathered firewood and Heather went for a run and we were hoping that no other boats would stop so we could have the place to ourselves, when just before closing time (6pm) we heard a boat coming up through the nearby lock. Foiled. But not really, because we saw that the boat was the Dutch cruiser Eva, belonging to a nice Belgian couple, Johan and Marilou, whom we had briefly met back in Corre. We helped them tie up, then invited them to share a digestif (after-dinner liqueur) with us around our campfire once the sun set.

Our campfire on the Vosges Canal

My Boy Scout skills were still in good form; I got the fire lit with one match, using only natural materials, and we quickly had a nice campfire going. The sky was crystal clear and as dusk faded became deeply black. The four of us lingered until quite late, and just after they went back to their boat, a very bright satellite, which I later discovered to be the ISS (International Space Station), ghosted by overhead. Check out the website heavens-above.com, which will show you upcoming ISS (and other satellite) passes for your location. Turns out it flies overhead all the time at this latitude; we watched it several more times this week.

The International Space Station

Thursday morning we said goodbye to Johan and Marilou, then took a leisurely cruise to Melomenil, a microscopic village (not even close to having a boulangerie) that had a farmhouse/auberge/restaurant. I should have written “restaurant” in quotes, because, while this “restaurant” had a normal menu posted outside by the door, the owner was only serving two things for dinner, neither of which was on the menu. But the coq au vin was delicious, as were the vegetable and potato side dishes, so it was a worthwhile stop.

Friday we continued climbing the Vosges Canal, stopping at an Intermarché supermarket one lock short of the summit. Our last provisioning was the previous Saturday, and we were running meaningfully low on food. Provisions gathered, we continued the final lock into the summit pound and cruised to a little mooring (in the shade – the weather was still really hot) opposite Chamousey. As we made dinner, the sky began to darken, and by sunset the lightning show was in full swing. The cloudburst held off until it was time to go to bed, and then we got some much needed rain.

Thunderstorm in Chamousey

Saturday we cruised the rest of the summit pound and began the long descent back towards the Moselle River. After a morning stop between locks 8 and 9 to do some laundry, we continued north, and parked in Thaon-les-Vosges, exactly where we were two Saturdays ago. The town has the finest pétanque court in all of France, a gorgeous curved wood structure that covers a half dozen of the courts, and it seemed like the entire region was out in the park enjoying the third-most-popular French pastime (the first two being fishing and going on holiday). Also, our friends Marine and Guillaume from Paris arrived for a few days on the boat, and we had a fun evening catching up with them since we saw them a year ago.

The pétanque “stadium” in Thaon

So far, so good, with respect to the Vosges Canal. At this point I doubt that they will close the canal with boats still in the middle, so I suspect that we’ll have an uneventful, if shallow, cruise for Week 9.

* Ok, Excargot doesn’t quite “gleam” anymore, but this is on purpose; according to Peter, he let the hull go a little bit “scrungy” so the boat would not make as appealing a target to voleurs (thieves).

Week 8 Numbers