Ronquieres and Strepy-Thieu 4-6 August On the way back to Mons we decided to take a detour to visit Ronquieres Incline Plane Boat Lift, as well as the Strepy Thieu Ascenceur. We realised the day before we were to go to Ronquieres that we would be there on the Sunday of the Ronquiere's Festival, and so there may be problem going on the boat lift at all. But we decided to risk it and headed off in the morning, after a stop at the supermarket. We did call on the phone in advance of arriving and we thought they said it would be all good. When we spoke to them on the VHF they assured us that it was all good. However the lift didn't open for us and in the end we called and they told us "demain matin" (tomorrow morning). We don't know if we had misunderstood, or we didn't do something but we didn't end up going down the lift at all. We did (cheekily) start walking down the incline plane until the security guard stopped us. We also had a good view from the top, including the festival, and a duo making a music video, and were able to listen to some of the music of the festival as well. In the morning the lift was working, but we decided to just do a U turn and continue on our way, rather than spend a few hours for the return journey. From Ronquieres we headed to Strepy Thieu, where we had to wait about 40 minutes before heading down. The ride was so calm that it felt as though the building was rising up above us, rather than s going down. In the afternoon we did a walk along the old disused canal that was retired when they put in the new canal for the Strepy Thieu. The old lock houses have been re-purposed. One as a club house for the yacht club, and another looked like a private home. The next morning before leaving the quay (where 27 motor homes had stayed overnight - we were the only boat), Howard had a fish, catching 17 bream of between 2 and 4 lbs. He was very happy.
2 Comments
Steve Hugo
12/8/2019 07:12:16 am
Top catch young Howard. We'll make a fisherman of you yet.
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