Nogent-sur-Marne, Lagny-sur-Marne, Meaux FR 9-14 August 2023 We turned of the Seine onto the Marne which was a new river for us. View from our boat in Meaux The first lock was only about a km from the turn off. It was a somewhat industrial landscape with many bridges over the river. We arrived at the lock, but because of a muffled connection couldn't quite catch the reponse from the lock keeper. But it was clear that someone was in the lock going upstream. After a while I heard the eclusier saying something about 2 pleasanciers and it soon because obvious that he was waiting to put a large commercial into the lock in front of us. By this time we had been joined on the waiting pontoon by a dutch couple on a cruiser. When the commercial arrived he filled the lock so we had to wait for another lock cycle before we could enter. Altogether a wait of about 45 minutes. Another 2 kms on we had to wait again for a commercial, this time leaving the lock. Then after a rise of about 4m we had a tunnel to go through. After that it was calm cruising, through an affluent and pretty area, to get to the port at Nogent sur Marne where we had reserved a place for 2 nights. We were looking forward to a day off as we had cruised for 5 days straight. On Thursday afternoon though, we did a bike ride around the boucle, which is a large bend in the river. The tunnel we had passed through was put in place to save 13kms of cruising around the boucle which is now closed to through traffic. There are still some docks on the Seine side of the tunnel, but most of the ride was through a quite pretty suburban area. In the evening we had a meal at the restaurant in the port, with a view of Moondance. Our next stop was Lagny-sur-Marne. The trip there was pretty straight forward, although we did have to wait at one lock as they locked through a very small VNF boat with no motor all by itself. This was especially odd as we could have easily gone through with it, as the lift was only 24cms. When we arrived there was only one spot left on the pontoon. Our friend Janos was already there and paced out the space and assured us that it was fine for us. In the end we squeezed in, but it was very tight. After we were moored, the boat behind moved back about half a metre, but we were still very close. A tight fit on the Langy mooring After a quiet afternoon our friend Louis picked us up to go to his place for dinner. Even though it was raining when he was cooking our magret du canard, we had a lovely evening and a delicious meal. The next day we had a look around the town. The highlight was the church which had some amazing stained glass, which gave the church a blue light. Right next to our mooring was this building. The sign says hot baths and showers. And we had a lovely sunset. The next morning we left for Meaux (rhymes with Mo and Beau). We had a good view of some of the parts of Lagny which we hadn't gotten to see the day before. Our trip had only 3 locks but 2 of these were either side of a 300m tunnel, and the last was only about 40 cms rise. We did go under a massive bridge which completely spannned the wide valley. Howard got a bit mixed up with the description in the mooring guide that we use, and we ended up mooring upstream of the lock, next to a stretch of grass with some bollards in amongst the grass. It was a fine mooring, but a bit out of town and with no services. We decided not to bother moving when we realised his mistake. The town mooring, which were free, was further down the river and closer to town, but we didn't need power or water so there didn't seem to be much point. We had some nice views from our mooring too, especially of the kids having fun at the beach. Meaux was quite a large town with a cathedral. View from the door of the cathedral There were also the Cité Épiscopale, a square at the side of the cathedral, with religious buildings including the chapter house and the bishop's palace. In the bishops palace was a museum with some history of Meaux, some furniture from their most famous bishop - Bossuet, and some fine art. The bishop's garden was also available for a visit. On Sunday afternoon we cycled over to the Parc du Pâtis, which was just near the beach opposite us. It was very pleasant riding around the path amongst the trees. On Monday we also cycled over to have a look at the Ourcq canal which connects with La Villette in Paris. It still has locks etc, but would be too narrow for us. It amazed me that there would be a second independent waterway so close to the Marne. On Monday evening we joined Rachel and her husband Janos on Csarvgo, in the port, for pre dinner drinks. It was a lovely evening.
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AuthorWe are sharing stories about and travels on our barge Moondance. Archives
August 2023
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