Kerr Barging Blogs

A Warm Welcome

We had an uneventful flight from Sydney, via Singapore, to Paris. As usual, service on Singapore Airlines was excellent and the flights were on time. I (David) needed quantities of ice to keep my glaucoma medication cold and this was cheerfully supplied.

At Charles de Gaulle, the Immigratrion official was surprisingly friendly in his welcome and very impressed that we were able to have summer in Australia and then a further summer in France.

We spent 24hrs in Paris and were able to visit the Luxumbourg Gardens as well as the Maritime Museum. Two more Parisian places to tick off our long term list. Then we were on the train to Joigny where we picked up a rental car and also chose new fabric for the boat cushions. These are being made for us by a lady in the village of Charbuy where we normally stay at the start of each cruising season.

On the front door of the Mairie where we went to pick up our new titres de sejour (temporary residence permits), there was a large welcome sign with our name on it, an Australian flag and a big yellow smiley. Thank you Corinne!

At les Chouettes, where we stayed for a night, we were also warmly welcomed by our wonderful hosts Chantelle and Christian who also provided us with a beautiful dinner and their own sign on the door welcoming us.

Anja was in good condirion. We found that the temperature inside had gone down to -9degC during winter but no mould or other problems. We have solar ventilators which circulate air throughout the boat for most of the winter.

We caught a train to Dijon and then an Italian Train overnight to Venice. We had chosen one with sleeping facilities and booked well ahead. However, it was an "interesting" experience. First, the door to the carriage would not work, so we ascended the adjoining carriage and went between. Then, we could not get into the sleeping compartment. Finally it opened. A French couple had started in there from Paris and been asleep when we arrived at a little before 11pm. They made room for us and showed us how to work the beds. The small compartment was equipped with six bunks- three on each side. It was quite squashed with four of us so just as well there were not six people in there! This was supposed to be "First Class" but we would definitely give it that label. Then the conductoir arrived- just as we were falling asleep- and requested our passports for the night! No interest in our tickets.

At 5am there was a banging on the door. It was the conductor with the passports of the French couple. They got off at Milan at about 6am.

So, not a very good night's sleep for anyone.

The conductor came about 0830 and tried to give us a number of passports but they were not ours. She kept pushing two more passports at us until finally she was lucky and the proferred passports actually belonged to us! In Venice, we have also had to show our passports several times for a number of reasons. Never have our passports been so looked at and totally different from France.

Anway, here we are now in a  comfortable Venitian apartment. The vaporetto is not too far away and we are making excellent use of it (as well as our feet) to get around.

Best Regards,

Dave and Penny

Off again!

Saturday the 6^th April, we are off for our cruising in France and Belgium with a "starter" trip of two weeks by train, through Italy.

Best Regards,

dave and Penny

People watching us on the River Marne

Anja will spend winter on dry land in Simon Evans' boatyard in Migennes, on the banks of the Yonne River. During the last few weeks we have retraced the route we took at the beginning of the year, though without the slight detour to Paris. Most of the travelling is on rivers, the Marne, the Seine and the Yonne. It seems to us that there is more commercial traffic this year than we have seen before, even at the same time last year. Most of the barges are carrying grain or sand and gravel. One moored in Migennes had a load of hops to take to Holland.  We have seen several carrying containers. There is a big new container port now on the Yonne so as time goes on this traffic will undoubtedly increase. We several times shared the huge 180 metre Seine locks with several other barges without any room to spare. The barge drivers seem to enjoy these occasions as it gives them a chance to socialise with each other. Many crews are made up of a husband and wife and the usual separate conversations seem to develop. We have also been interested to see how many of these couples are quite young, late 20s or early 30s, and it is not unusual to see a fenced in area on the deck full of play equipment for young children. They are probably the sixth generation of barge children in their families.

Father and Son
We have been able to catch up on some attractions we missed previously. In Meaux we had one very full day: market in the morning, then in the afternoon a bus trip to visit a very new World War 1 museum just out of town, opened at 11am on November 11th 2011. The Battles of the Marne were fought here. The displays helped us to a better understanding of the origins and progress (or perhaps years of stalemate is a better description) of World War 1. The museum had assembled uniforms of all the countries involved and  an excellent collection of other artefacts including one of the taxis used to take troops to the Front here more quickly in 1914, a decisive move in winning that particular  skirmish.

To finish our day in style we wrapped ourselves warmly to sit on temporary tiered stands in the Cathedral courtyard with about 1,000 other spectators for a Pageant of the History of Meaux, brilliantly presented with sounds and lights ( and lots of smoke), complete with a cast of hundreds (including horses) clad in magnificent costumes. It seemed that the cathedral was being used as a giant dressing room. This is the 30th year of this sound and light event. As it is presented only 15 times each year, we counted ourselves lucky to be there at the right time. We did our homework so that we had some grasp of the town's history and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

 son et lumiere- Meaux

A few days ago was very exciting for us: we applied for the renewal of our Titres de Sejour (permits to stay in France for more than 3 months) for next year. Last year it was very complicated and required several trips to various offices to complete the formalities for the  first titre and its original renewal. Subsequent renewals seem to be a great deal easier and much less stressful. We greatly appreciate the assistance of the staff of the Mairie at Charbuy, and of our Chambre d'Hote hosts Christian and Chantal, in working the way through the bureaucratic maze and in supplying the necessary documents.

The weather has been delightful for these last days on the barge. There has been only one day of rain in weeks, good for us but not for the countyside generally, which is looking very dry. Several canals have reduced depth and manyother people  have had to change their plans. Fortunately we will have no trouble reaching Migennes as planned for the last few days of cleaning inside and out so that Anja is in good shape for the long winter months.

And so we say farewell until next year when we plan to return to Europe for our late in life project of "travelling and learning".

Bien cordialement,

Penny and David

The Marne- one of our favourite rivers

WW1 Museum, Meaux

We turned west at the end of the Sarre Canal, to start our long trip back to Migennes. The first step was the Eastern section of the Canal from the Marne to the Rhine, which we had travelled last year to head west from Strasbourg. This time we turned off it at a small canal called "The Nancy Embranchment", just before we reached Nancy. This branch is only 10 kilometres long but has 18 locks, and over the last few years has rarely been open. It was closed from 2003 for about five years, opened briefly and then closed again because of some massive dam failure. It was reopened in June this year then briefly closed again because it was full of weed. So we were very keen indeed to travel it now because there might never be another time! Also, it connects with the Canal des Vosges and the very end of the Moselle river so by going that way we would be breaking new ground.

 A serene Canal

The canal was very modern, the locks worked well, the countryside attractive and altogether travelling it was a very pleasant experience. Had we wanted to stop there were plenty of places to pull over, but in such a short length we went straight through. We met only two boats on the entire length.

From the Nancy embranchment we turned briefly West into the Canal des Vosges. The 3 kilometres and two locks we travelled will have to fulfil our desire to be on this Canal. In the past our plans to travel it have been ill- fated because of its many unexpected breakdowns. Next waterway was the Moselle at the beginning of its navigation. Having travelled for so long on it during our German trip we were very pleased to see it at its source. We had to readjust again from the small canal sized locks to the large river ones built for huge commercial boats. The Moselle is at present suffering from very low water levels because there has been hardly any rain, so we had to wait an hour while any boat in the area was collected to make it worth while to operate the lock. A small police boat worked like a sheep dog to round up any boat in the vicinity. Then we all went through the subsequent locks together. One of the boats kept dashing ahead but inevitably had to wait until we arrived after travelling at a much more sedate pace as befits our dignity and advanced years.

 A fortified Church

Soon we had reached our turn- off point and we entered our fifth different waterway in 2 days, the Canal from the Marne to the Rhine, Western branch. From now on we are retracing our steps from earlier this year. As this has coincided with some very hot weather in France, it is quite relaxing to concentrate on  keeping cool rather than feeling compelled to go out to explore. We have had eight days in the last ten of temperature over 30 degrees and up to 37 degrees. The Ministry of Health put out warnings to drink plenty (I think they were referring to water, not wine) and to seek medical attention in cases of extreme lethargy. Most nights cool down well and this morning was quite cold at 13 degrees.

We thought that re- tracing our steps would mean we could shop without the usual searches. Not so! We stopped near Nancy at a place remembered from last year, where there are good bollards handy for a huge supermarket and a self- serve petrol station. We don't usually top up our fuel tanks from jerry cans but thought we would make an exception as it was so close and put in two or three to be sure we would get back to the next river- side pump. What a disappointment! The big supermarket was closed for renovations and I had to shop at the alternative, Lidl, an Aldi- type chain. I bought the essentials without spending much money but as we had been six weeks without finding anything but an Aldi or a Lidl, I was really wanting to replenish my stocks at a supermarket which offered more lines and more choice. Then David was charged for 37 litres of diesel for filling a 22 litre jerry can, and as this was a self- service booth attached to the closed supermarket, there was no- one to fix the problem. He filled several more (at the correct price), so the average price came down somewhat.

Our complacency was shattered also at several towns where we thought we could easily find the boulangerie. We found the boulangeries all right but had forgotten that this is holiday time so many of the bakers are away. They close the shutters and put a sign up saying "Conge" (annual holiday) and naming the date of their return.
 Another fortified Church from the 12-13th Centuries

We are enjoying the chance to travel back through this most attractive part of France and to see the countryside with its summer aspect. This morning we watched as the mist rose from the canal in the cool morning air. The children are still on holidays so we see them cycling, swimming and fishing, with friends or in family groups. On one really hot day we came across several groups of older teenagers using the lock as a huge swimming pool. Large signs at every lock strictly forbid swimming in the locks and warn of the danger, but as often happens in France, the lock - keepers were turning a blind eye.

David's bread- seeking adventures continue. Early one morning he came across a group of four young teenage girls who had probably been having a sleep- over as they were lolling around on a rug at 7am. His query about any boulangerie in the village was greeted with peals of laughter and a great deal of giggling. He took that as a "no".  Fortunes were much better on another day when he had not even tried to find a baker in the tiny town where we stayed overnight. Just as we were entering the first lock that day a bakery van pulled up and asked if we would like to buy some bread. "Yes Please"!

Best Regards,

Penny and Dave