Dry and Hot

Hi Everyone,
Our apologies for the delay between blogs. We have been hosting visits by various family members- a total of eight, if we include three dogs! So, things have been busy but good.
Coots on the riverWe continued to travel East from Chalons en Champagne and Tours along the Marne then the Canal lateral to the Marne. Having been there a couple of times previously, we attempted to visit new places wherever possible.French War Cemetery and Priory at Port a BinsonThe weather continued to be hot, with no rain. The heatwave was affecting crops and grape vines as well as us from time to time. However, we managed well using the covers over the windows and finding shady trees. We even used our large fan occasionally.
The pleasant town of MusseyWe started to become concerned by the VNF (French Waterways) reports of low water levels in some canals and the reservoirs which feed them. The weather is the hottest and driest for decades and there are forecasts of canal closures. In the interim, navigable depths are reducing.Pierre Michaux (Bar-le-Duc) invented pedals for the bicycle We proceeded to Bar-le_Duc, a pleasant town which we had explored previously, but not completely. It was there that our son Will joined us from Australia. There is a good TGV (high speed train) service from Paris. However, unusually, the train was somewhat delayed because a violent electrical storm in Paris cut power to the trains.Bar le Duc from on high

Fifth century canal in Bar-le-DucBest Regards,
Dave and Penelope