FOOTBALL AND REIMS

Football does not come top of my list, however, we are moored directly across the 'Canal de L'Aisne à la Marne' in the centre of Reims from the Stade de Reims. The structure is very elegant, for it's size, the lighting masts being quite unique and delicate. We had slight concerns, will it be noisy? In the two weeks we have been here it has not been used. This all changed this weekend when the lights came on. In a local pub a lot of people were wearing red and white. All of a sudden they all vanished. Obviously match time. Reims were playing Le Havre. (Reims 1 Le Havre 0). When we got back to Soraya it was dark and the stadium looked awesome, especially with the reflection in the canal. Every so often there was a roar, all quite exciting as we did not know when it was coming not being able to see the action. 

Stade de Reims.

We established the stadium is of no concern as it is only used for a match once every couple of weeks. Inside Soraya you could not hear it at all and the view out of the window of the floodlight stadium was stunning.

TENNIS IN REIMS

Most of you know that I'm keen on playing tennis, so I usually try to seek out a tennis court when we're stopped for a while. In Reims I found a well established club with nine courts, five of which were indoor and a restaurant and bar! 

Margaret outside the club house, ready for a game.

This was a first for me as the courts were clay, terre battue, and I've never played on clay courts before. What I didn't realise was that after playing for two hours and exhausted, one then had to rake the courts ready for the next players, although that wasn't too energetic!

Raking the court after playing.

MOUSTACHES AND MORE

As you know I have always sported a moustache in various configurations and I am prone to a beer or ........ I think I may have found the perfect pint. It has to be my Reims drink. A lot less bubbly than the famous local drink.

Local beer in Reims called, well you can guess.

It gets even better on moustache reporting as there is an 8km moustache run advertised, I may be the only person with a real moustache judging by the photos of the people on the flyer!

The November Moustache run!

Walking around Reims you can't get away from facial hair.

Even the coiffures are making a move into the moustache market.

CHAMPAGNE, HIVERNAGE AND SCOOTERING

We are now deep in Champagne terroir and it's the end of our navigation for the year. We originally thought of going back to Dijon as we have said before but with the floods then the various closures we have had to constantly reassess. We revised our route yet again and we were heading for Nancy where we had secured a mooring. The trouble is we have wintered there before and we like to have a new place each year, if possible. We would like Paris but we are still on the waiting list, which I think gets longer. We came to Reims on our way to Nancy and fortunately found a great mooring very close to the city centre. After a day or two we both agreed it would be fun to stay. After a lot of asking around we have managed to secure the place, nothing in writing yet. The problem is the Capitaine leaves the port on the last day of September and only reappears on the first of May. Good job if you can get it. So it's Reims (pronounced Rance, with a very hard 'a'), for the winter. If any of you are tempted to a bit of sampling of the local grog you're very welcome and only 40 minutes by TGV from Paris.

So it's off for a tasting or two. While Brian and I were moving cars the girls got stuck straight away into a bit of dégustation. Well it was free so it would be rude not to accept. Do like the stools, massive champagne corks with their caps and wires.

Orla and Margaret sampling the local tipple. Remind me what they make in Reims?

Brian and I coming back from leaving the car at Loivre to be collected a few days later. Eat your heart out Harley Davidson!

FISH AND CHIPS

In a small art gallery recently on a péniche called Freycinet in Longueil-Annel they were exhibiting an interesting series of small installations based on 'Fish and Chips'. I thought they were fun all made from cardboard, newspaper and a few other bits and pieces such as fish hooks. Each installation was about half a metre cube.

Fish & Chips Blues No 4 - Fish or Meat with your chips?

Fish & Chips No 6 - The Jubilee Fish & Chips.

A bit of British Royal Family in a péniche in the middle of France. A bit strange.

THE LIFE OF THE BATELIERS

It was a tough life being a Batelier (bargee). We recently found an interesting museum, if you are into barge life,'Cité des Batelliers'. Unlike other museums about barging that we have visited this one was totally concerned with the people only, not the canals or the barges etc.

Romance on the canals.

It all starts with coming together and there was plenty of photographs about getting married on a péniche, married life, working together and of course the children. Particularly liked the photo below of the child tied with the rope. The rope was obviously to prevent the child falling overboard. The rope being the precise length to prohibit this.

Doesn't look too pleased with the bondage!

Education of the children was always an issue until a school for the children of bateliers was established in the 1950's enabling the children to have a more normal education.

OISE OR WAZ

Travelling along the Oise, pronounced Waz, is very pretty but not much else. In fact it continues very much as in the photograph, for 2 days, with the odd bit of industry, .

The River Oise.

It does have a silver lining, we are on our way to Reims. Remind me what that is famous for? and some friends are coming to help with the dégustation.

MOORING AND COMMERCE

Coming into any mooring you need firstly to attach to the quayside then ensure you are and will remain quite static. Sometimes we are attached but too loosely as the evening later proves and we start to move about as the ropes stretch.

Come on Geoff, pull harder, don't leave Margaret to do all the ropes. 

Liking all the bare foot routine and the 6 pack! We don't always tie up as hard as the commercials, as they drive against the rope to tension it prior to fixing the stern rope. Or is it the ropes we have that stretch too much? The jury is out. It all works fine but as we are heading for Compiègne I will be going into possibly the best chandlery in France to discuss rope stretching and perhaps some new ropes.

In the 'have to' visit 'Musée de la Batellerie et des voies Navigables' (good title), the barge and navigation museum, we came across lots of things but a simple exhibit we thought very interesting. In very organised bottles were samples of all the cargoes that a single barge had transported in the lifetime of a commercial bargee.

Lots of stuff! Zoom in it's fascinating.

BATEAU CHAPELLE

Coming in to moor at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, on the Seine, we saw a péniche which was not the usual commercial or livaboard. On closer inspection when ashore we found it was a chapel for the batelliers (bargees). Looked a bit scruffy on the outside, had to be explored.

Je Sers

I'm not into this genre, but, the chapel was amazing for an interior of an old previously working barge.

The interior with lots of stained glass.

There was Mass every day and Margaret actually considered going at 6pm but she ended up having a glass of wine on Soraya instead! The chapel also had a large social space which was used for ??? The current main function seemed to be the integration of people from the Far East into France.

IMPRESSIONISTS AND PORNOGRAPHY

Up and down the Seine you see many things. We were recently on one of the many, perhaps hundreds of islands in the Seine. It has the great name of Île des Impressionnistes. It is where many of the great Impressionists gathered, dined, drank, went boating and painted. On the balcony of the Restaurant de la Maison Fournaise, Renoir painted 'Le Déjeuner des Canotiers'. Having the painting, a reproduction obviously, next to the actual location gives the painting so much extra. 

Painting by Renoir in front of the balcony where he rendered this iconic painting.

Going back to Impressionists and Pornography there is a good connection. Well perhaps it's a bit tenuous but it is there. A day earlier we were moored adjacent to another island and this time the artists were the the film makers rather than painters. It was definitely a porno shoot, with lots of pauses as members of the public passed by. All very strange. The connection, obviously The Seine. It's been used as a backdrop for 'Art' for centuries.

PARIS TO PARIS

We left Paris after an excellent 12 fun filled and sunny days with lots of friends. We originally had a permit, very hard to obtain, for 7 days. Apparently this is the maximum. After about 6 days we had an early morning knock at the door. We were told we could not moor where we were and had to leave. We were adjacent to a sign stating that boats were only allowed to moor there with authorisation. We had authorisation! It cannot be possible we were told by the 'Chef de l'Inspection de la Navigation de Paris'. We found the email quickly and all was sorted. Great apologies with the usual comments about 'mon collègue' and communication.  We asked if we could stay for the weekend festivities, well of course they were not to be missed. So 7 turned with approval into 10 days. It was agreed we would leave after the weekend. We did, it was 12 days. You have to know how to play the system and get the officials on your side. We broached the question of winter mooring where we were. The answer was no, but now he felt embarrassed about our authorisation so, well perhaps!! We should contact the person we got authorisation from with a request for winter mooring 'hivernage' and they would have to contact him and maybe? We do not know, however, we will vigourously persue the matter as we have been on the waiting list for another mooring in Paris for 3 years and all we get is '....très compliqué'.

Coming into Paris.

Leaving Paris via the Canal St Martin.

Along the Canal St Martin you come to a tunnel. This is approximately 2 kilometres long slipping under the heart of Paris. All a bit strange and slightly surreal. Not sure why they had to include a bend into a dark underground tunnel. All part of the experience I assume.

Entry to the souterrain, tunnel.

We left Paris to travel east towards Reims and Nancy. A day later we radioed an eclusier and asked as normal for the lock to be prepared for our transit. No reply. Tried again. No reply. After about 6 attempts we moored up to a dolphin and walked to the lock. There are random strikes at the moment and we assumed we had hit a strike day. It did seem very quiet and closed. Margaret tried various gates, doors I walked ahead. I called to Margaret that we would not be progressing at all!

The dry canal, a game changer.

It's one of those things in life, if you're in a boat and there is no water, well I assume you can guess the rest. Back to Soraya, onto the Internet to find out what is going on. The canal would not be filled for another 2 weeks. Out with the fluviacartes, maps, and try to find a plan B. Actually it's plan C as we had to change our plan in the summer due to the floods. So the new plan involves going back to Paris out the other side then heading north and east to get to Reims by a lot longer route! All good fun.