Saturday 17th June 2017 Vouécourt to Joinville 26.7kms 10 locks

Crown vetch flowering on canal bank nr Villiers

7.6°C A much cooler night. Sunny with a clear blue sky first thing, but with a cold wind, clouding over by mid-morning. A French cruiser went past heading uphill around 8.30am. We set off at 9.20am. It was 25°C outside, but soon cooled down as we went through shade of the trees on the 2.5kms to the first lock and then the thermometer read

Ooh, la,la! Naughty gnomes!

19°C. We had a tarmac towpath on our left and a minor road on the right, no traffic on either. Down lock 35 Buxières (3.40m) A cruiser with a Kiwi flag was waiting below the lock to go uphill – the crew didn’t respond to Mike’s “Good Morning!” Good start. Two men were about to set up to fish below lock 35, they waved and said bonjour. 2.6kms to the next lock. More fishermen – it’s Saturday. Forested hills to our right. A group of fishermen were fishing in a very weedy

Goods train by lock 39 Gudmont

winding hole just before the town of Froncles. There were four boats on the mooring, an ex-Connoiseur hireboat - UK flagged, a small Danish yacht, a small Luxe DB UK flagged and a “dead” cruiser. There were a couple of gaps left on the quay for small boats. There were masses of campervans parked by the quay beyond the boats. On to lock 36 Froncles (3.30m) where there was a VNF depot above the lock. A couple of gongoozlers watched us lock through from the tail end bridge. The canal continued on a low embankment overlooking cows in a meadow along the banks of the Marne. A water rat swam across the canal dragging a long reed behind it. 3kms to lock 27 Provenchères (3.30m) a

River Rognon joins the Marne by lk 41 Mussey

VNF van stood on the lockside next to a lived in house. A British barge was waiting below the lock to go up it. 3rd boat of the day! I thought it was a shortened Sheffield keel but Mike disagreed as he thought the bows were too rounded, he was right it was a new-build. It had clouded over so Mike took our sunshade down. The wind was very chilly so I put my fleece on. 2.5kms to the next, 38 Villiers (3.30m) The lockhouse had lots of statues and gnomes in its garden. A large Dutch cruiser

Weed. Abv lk 42 St Urbain

was waiting below 38, that’s number four! Ten minutes later number five appeared, a Swedish yacht going very slowly – it had a sign on its bows to show its draught of 1.7m hoping it could keep to the middle of the channel which is only 1.80m. 2.7kms to lock 39 Gudmont (3.80m) The liftbridge at the top end of the lock worked automatically with the lock. A goods train was parked on the track alongside the canal. Mike counted 16 wagons full of stone, 70 tonnes to each wagon making a total of 1,120 tonnes. 2.9kms to lock 40 Rouvroy (3.90m) I made sandwiches for lunch. The canal was becoming more and more weedy, but cristal clear so you could see the bottom and the fish – lots of them, including some whoppers. 1.70kms to

The town of Joinville

lock 41 Mussey (3.20m) The liftbridge at the top end of the lock was an old one, manually wound and was kept open all the time for canal traffic. There was an aqueduct over the Marne before the lock chamber. Two fishermen were looking down into the river, fish spotting. Mike went to take a photo of the junction with the river Rognon from the aqueduct. I made a cuppa. The weed was getting worse, having to spin it off the blades in reverse every now and again. A coypu swam across the canal as we set off on the 2.8kms pound to lock 42 St Urbain (3.50m) A long straight pound, masses of weed and some very large fish sunbathing in the shallow edges. Big fields

Moored in Joinville

of barley, wheat and grazing cows along the edges of the Marne. 1.6kms to lock 43 Bonneval (3.40m) We could see several radio masts on the hill overlooking Joinville and kept fingers crossed for a good Internet connection. Another long straight pound, 2.8kms long into Joinville. The towpath became more in use again by walkers and cyclists as we approached the town. The water continued to be cristal clear, full of weeds and fish. The old stone railway bridge across the canal now carried the busy N67 trunk road. Down lock 44 Joinville (3.20m) and into a short cutting with high stone walls on each side next to a busy road. We stopped by a road bridge and blocks of flats at 3.45pm and moored next to some pilings, an old quay with deep water. Someone had hammered in some bent bits of metal to tie to. Mike went to take photos of the boat from the bridge and a lady who lived locally came to question him – the usual questions, where was he from, where was he going, etc, etc  - and “are you married?”, twice!! :)