Travels with Forty Roses: May 2018

Tomorrow we board the TGV for Paris and Toulouse to begin the journey home, flying out of Toulouse and via Lisbon to Toronto on the 16th. Forty Roses III is tucked up in her summer berth with good people to watch over her. Our big pots of roses and geraniums are now decorating the front patio of La Taverne Villageoise under the eyes of Emmanuelle and son Christophe. They will be watered and nurtured throughout the summer and we shall have them back in September. My pot of thyme and parsley has been handed to the chef who was rather pleased to receive it. My beautiful Clivia orange lily is tucked in its pot under a shrub near the boat per instructions from Hans & Joke and the lovely white orchid, about to bloom again, goes to Sylvie. Plants are cared for, boat is cleaned from top to bottom, mechanicals have been serviced carefully by the Captain and we are ready to roll out tomorrow morning and head to Euralille to step on the train.
Bernard ( M. Chiron ) has been here for a coffee and the transfer of keys, so we are set to go.
We had a wonderful season, met such good people, wrestled with the language so we know more or think we do, causing the occasional difficulty; we have stories to tell and wonderful memories.
Now we return to our beloved Lake Skootamatta, open up the place, plant flower pots and garden, and enjoy family and friends at home. We are taking a break from weekly blogging but will post at least once this summer while in Canada.

Happy Summer to All!

Bernard

First Poppy

Lake Skootamatta in Summer

Home we go. . .

We entered the Canal du Nord on opening day for 2018, May 2. At the last écluse on the Oise the lockmaster warned us there was a line up. We had expected something like that as it is a really a commercial barge canal that shortens the number of locks substantially from the Saint Quentin. And, despite having two tunnels of its own, it avoids the huge long Riqueval Tunnel of 6 km that we passed through last fall; an experience that I did not enjoy . It was very dark, the boats are pulled through by a tow in a long line connected by your lines and the tunnel itself is very tight. So we felt the Canal du Nord would be a big improvement.

Now as the locks are 91.9 metres long they can hold a “pusher” of 80 metres , a couple of large 40 metres or several pleasure craft. There were no other pleasure craft heading north so we expected a very long wait to be “paired” to another boat where we can both fit. How fortunate were we to find a 50 metre boat waiting to be paired up at the first écluse at Pont l’Évêque. Jeremy, aboard the Garere was heading to Belgium with a massive load of scrap aluminum; all alone he was captain, crew and dogs-body on this hugely overloaded craft. His car rested on top and we often held our collective breathes as he passed under bridges. A few times there was only an inch to spare. He did have a dog for company and it was joyous to be released on canal-side once in a while. But what a treat to be paired up with him right away. We were like his small mascot in the big canal. Even at 18.3metre you feel pretty insignificant beside some of these huge commercial barges. The écluse average about 6.2 metres in height with some exceptions being 8.2 metres. A big drop or a big rise! To keep with our escort so we would not have to wait to be “re-paired” we ran from 7Am to 7Pm without a stop other than waiting our turn at the next lock set on the first half of the system. Because the canal had just opened the commercials were big, loaded to the hilt and slow. The VNF was masterful in moving everyone through this waterway with minimal waits and logjams. A word here about the VNF. They manage the canals of France and a more dedicated group would be rare to meet. Some days on small canals there may be one VNF lockmaster who runs with you écluse to écluse. Always amiable and pleasant. And, on small canals, having a lunch break which we enjoy as much as he. On the large busy ones the hours are long. For instance above the 5km tunnel on the Canal du Nord the hours are 7AM to 7PM. Below the tunnel to the end at Arleux, the hours run 6:30AM to 8:30. So we travelled, stuck like glue to Jeremy and his overloaded craft. He, always in the lead, as that is the rule. . .pleasure boats take second fiddle as the big boys have times to meet and money to be lost if we hold them back. We were good teammates and hustled into the écluse, were efficient with our lines and did not delay. At the Ruyaulcourt Tunnel he entered first as always and we followed. The tunnel is controlled by a light system and has passing lanes of 1KM in the middle so meeting barges must wait for the proper signal. It was dark and long but not as bad as the Saint Quentin tunnel and we made it through. However a huge 80metre boat got himself wedged sideways across both the passing lanes just after we met and passed him . We think he was in too much of a hurry and came upon the boat in front of him too fast and had to stop. We were happy to be on our last night after a very late tie up but beautiful evening light over the fields. Knowing we only had 4 écluse left to go we gave Jeremy a bottle of good red for his partnership with us. . We know he will enjoy it.

Hitting the Canal à Grand Gabarit at Arleux the next morning after our 6:30 AM start we watched Jeremy peel away toward the Scarpe and we turned in the opposite direction toward Lille. What a treat to hit the first big écluse on this major waterway and find moving bollards. Without them as the locks are so deep one must have a system of two lines for the sidewalls of the canal. When one gets too high to hold the boat properly one sets a second line over the inset bollard below and so on all the way down to the lowest inset.

And so we made our way finally into a tiny offshoot of the Canal de la Duêle in the city of Lille and tied up in this old section ..a dead end route but set within the beautiful Citadelle Park. Not another boat in sight. Just many fluff balls of baby ducklings with their worried mamas. Here we enjoy our last days this May in France before we move a few km north toward the Belgium border and berth Forty Roses III for the summer. We know this city well, having lived here awaiting the boat last year. John has returned to his swimming at the pool and I to my wonderful walking/jogging trails. We can relish our favourite bakery, enjoy the pastry windows at Meert but renounce the temptations. We look up our former haunts and take pleasure in this city. Tuesday we move to Wambrechies and begin to tuck up the boat…this weekend we relax and enjoy the beautiful weather along with everyone else who lives here.