Sunday, April 11

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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

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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.

Friday – April 9th

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Our risk for tying up to the waiting dock of the lock is that when the lock opens and the large barges start their day, our boat experiences all the wake surges. So, we awake at 7am to a crisp day. There was ice on the deck so we waited until 8:30 to depart. This was enough time for the sun’s rays to melt the “white-ice”. Maneuvering the lock would be dangerous with a slippery deck.

[MISSING VIDEO]

We had 3 locks to go through before arriving at St. Quentin City. The Yacht Haven we had read about looked bleak and with the day’s weather looking promising, we pushed on. We had about 62 degrees on the Thermostat. We adjusted our plans for the day with a stop at Serancourt le Grand where the books showed a left turn into a small Halt Nautiques (or moorings for pleasure boats). It was wonderful, quiet and aside from the men fishing on the shore, we were all alone.

Prior to our leaving Bruinesse we had purchased 2 dockside folding bikes for transportation and exploration. We keep them tied to the foredeck for occasions like this. Towns that are too far to walk, but worth the exploration. We rode to town where only the bar was open. After a beer, we rode to the next town only to find the only restaurant listed was closed from 2pm-4pm. Right when we got there. So it will be dinner on the boat tonight. Was good to get a bit of exercise with the bikes, so all was not lost.

Because we had arrived there quite early in the day we contemplated pushing on, but instead gave ourselves some time off to clean the boat, and get some work done.