Going with the flow

There were several boats travelling with us along the Yonne. Our pace was dictated by a large, slow commercial barge ahead of us so we had plenty of time to enjoy the surroundings, including a barge going the other way which carrying a submarine, and the first families of cygnets for the year. The first couple had just one little chick, the next a huge family of eight.

Submarine on a barge!
We travelled with four other pleasure boats of very assorted types. It was important to co- operate in using these difficult sloping- sided locks. We may have described these before: when going down in the lock, the boat cannot be attached snugly to the edge because the boat would slide down the side scraping all the way or worse still, be stranded on the slope. Some locks have one or two pontoons which rise and fall with the lock level, but only one boat can be tied to a pontoon. This needs to be the heaviest boat- in our group, us- so other boats raft up beside so that we all rise and fall together. With only one pontoon we could not all fit across so  one captain offered to scrape down the side, so others tied to him as well.

The real fun started with those locks without a pontoon. Then we all needed to keep station towards the centre of the lock, far enough from the edge to avoid running out of water. It was obligatory to tie up though so we had a long line to the edge of the lock, but kept in the centre using motor and occasionally bow-thruster. A second barge was tied to us but we had to do the manouvering and we had  poles ready to push off the side if we came too close, a task taking complete concentration by both captain and forward hand. Of course, with the poles, we would have been pushing off 56 tonnes- a feat taking strength and patience, which was fortunately not required. By the end of the day we were all ready to stop at Montereau, at the junction with the Seine River.

The Seine like the Yonne was running very fast but we had an uneventful trip down towards Paris. Commercial traffic was quite heavy, pleasure boats very scarce. We found good spots to tie up each night and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, despite the weather which was cold and wet. David can keep warm and dry all the time, in our centrally heated craft, and as the locks are well- spaced, Penny did not have too long outside before she too could enjoy the warmth. All the way along the River the water levels were very high.

We successfully negotiated Paris, though we were boarded by the Water Police who suggested that perhaps David should have stood aside to let a large commercial boat past at one point. They were very pleasant and helpful and extremely expert at coming aboard with both boats moving. They explained that it was because of the fast- moving water which meant that the big boats could not go at normal speeds. They were happy that we had done the right thing (speeding up well past the speed limit) but just asked for our continued vigilance. They also asked about kangaroos, had we cruised all the way from Australia, were we retired etc.

Here are some photos of Paris (allow a little time to load:

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We were pleased to moor that night at Bougival on the North side of Paris. The Impressionists liked to visit and paint here and Monet painted a number of the local scenes. We stayed the next day and  travelled by train to visit the Chateau of Versailles, which was  most impressive.

We could tell how high the river was throughout Paris where we could see only the top of the railings which marked the riverside walks. We discovered that there was more flooding in the Yonne and five days after it was opened for traffic, it had been closed again. The Seine remains open though there are some traffic restrictions in Paris. Looking ahead, we can travel very quickly along the Seine to Rouen, our next intended destination, but we are a bit worried about getting back against such a strong current. The commercial barges travelling upstream are really struggling to make headway. We are at the moment in Andresy, just near the junction with the Oise, enjoying some time in a peaceful backwater while we decide where to go next.

Almost finally, an example of the gracious language used in official advices from the VNF:

"Distinguished boatmen and users of the waterway are asked to respect the signs in place and comply with the recommendations that will be given by the officers Waterways of France or Fluvial Brigade."

and finally, some photos from Versailles:

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Best Regards,

Penny and Dave