Now that I have mastered the video portion of Blog..

This was from the early part of the trip leaving Bruinesse NL.

First video clip from Oosterschelde waters to Terneuzen, Belgium.

[MISSING VIDEO]

Sunday, April 11

As you can see, the weather is clearer and things are “greening” up for our journey. The following pictures are one typical canal lock. We had to wait for this barge to leave the lock. Amazing how they fit. We think our fit is tight!

Sunday, before setting out, I washed the sides of the boat again. The locks leave so much slime it is a daily task for me. Settled up with Michel before departing. 2 showers, 2 laundry wash and 2 drys plus our mooring came to 26 Euros.

We will turn left on the Canal de l’Oise a l’Aisne today. We head to Bourg-et-comin and then on to Pinon, a quick Halt Nautique with maybe 4-5 quayside moorings. Only picnic tables and trash containers here. We walked to town but being Sunday the stores were closed. This is too bad as they had a huge SuperMarket that I am sure had my cooking gas.

We crossed the bridge to go to another community there and I found one bakery open (of course) and I purchased a coke and sweets for Ken and for dinner a small pizza type quiche. Our evening was quiet with us planning our next 3 days itinerary with Reims as our destination.

Saturday, April 10th

Heading to Chauny, where we will find the best Port du Pliance (a more advanced mooring with showers, laundry, electic, water, etc). We left our cozy mooring at 8am, coffee and 2 locks then pulled over for a good breakfast of bacon-eggs in Jussy, France. The quay mooring was small, but we were entertained by the volunteer fire department practicing their skills with the hose and water rescue.


Back on the canal at 10:30 we arrived at Chauny’s Port du Pliance around 1:45. We found a wonderful spot alongside the quay and were greeted by Michel and his friend. They helped us tie up and promptly gave us the low-down of all the great amenities of the port. It was one of the best “marina’s I have seen in a long time. It is clear the city wants to attract the pleasure barge community. Chauny is a larger city with a train to Paris! One hour and you are there. (We talked about going….but decided to check out the city).

We walked to City Center and had a beer and sandwich on a sub roll. Some of the best bread ever! Getting low on cooking gas we did a bit of searching but did not find the right kind. We think our cooking gas is purchased in Grocery stores. You have to find the big stores and in the city, you will only find small markets. Glad to have my reserve tank.