29 August - 6 September Lys River France We had a week on the quieter French part on the Leie, called the Lys in French. Howard's fishing buddies Matt and Martyn joined us, so that was a good excuse for Howard to get in a bit more fishing than usual, but we still managed to also have a look around, taking advantage of Matt's car, especially at WWI sites. Thanks to Martyn for letting me use some of his photos. Howard and I arrived in Armentieres on Thursday. After the busy Belgium Leie the river seemed very quiet and calm. We had a look around Armentieres in the afternoon. Firstly a bike ride down the river to the Christmas Truce memorial, and then the cemetary where there is a section for French soldiers and a statue dedicated to the "Mademoiselle from Armentieres" (from the song). Then into the city centre. In the afternoon a family with 4 kids, including triplets were admiring the boat, so Howard invited them on board to have a look. On Friday we arranged to meet up with our friends Carol and Barrie (who are moored in Ieper), at an auberge near the Ploegsteert Memorial. It was great to catch up as they will have left when we are arrive at Ieper in mid-September. After lunch we went to the memorial and museum. A lot of information about the battle of Messines in WWI where the Australians and New Zealanders took a major part, and where tunnels were built under the German lines and 19 bombs were detonated at the same time to help the Allied advance. I was interested that the two lions out the front of the memorial were different, one looking calm, and the other showing his teeth. Nice sunset that night. On Saturday Matt and Martyn arrived even earlier than we expected - they drove over from the UK via the Chunnel. We had another look around the main square of Armentieres, and then took advantage of having the car to do a large load of shopping. In the afternoon a large organised bike ride went right past our door. Fishing commenced in the afternoon. Dinner on the back deck, and another lovely sunset. Sunday morning we set off to our next mooring in Sailly-sur-la-Lys. While Howard rode back to Armentieres to collect the car, we had a look around the town. There was a Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery within the grave yard at the church. The next morning we saw our first commercial on the river. We were pleased to be moored when he passed. After the fisherman packed up we dropped Martyn and Matt in Ieper, before heading off to Kortrijk for my physio appointment. We returned to Ieper at Kortrijk and met up with Matt and Martyn and after a look around, we went our for dinner before returning back to the boat. Tuesday we headed off again, this time to Saint Venant. We called the lock as we were about to leave, only to learn that the lock keeper wouldn't be at the lock until between 11 and 11:30, so we delayed out departure. The lock keeper arrived before we had time to moor at the lock so we didn't have a delay there, but we were told we'd have to wait until 4pm at the next lock as another boat was coming. We arrived at about 12:30, so expected a long wait. After lunch, Howard cycled back to collect the car and we also had a look at the lock and the mooring which was just after the lock. Another boat joined us and moored alongside, and we were able to go through the lock at about 3:40pm. Luckily both us fitted in the lock - just. The mooring was lovely and the town of Saint Venant was quite pretty. On Wednesday morning there was more fishing. Australia (Martyn) won the week's competition on a count back from England (Howard), with New Zealand (Matt) coming third. As rain was expected there was no more fishing, so in the afternoon we drove to the nearby hilltop town of Cassel. It was surprising to see such a dramatic hill rise above the very flat plains. We went to a nearby restaurant for Matt and Martyn's last night. The highlight was the cafe gourmand, or in my case the chocolat chaud gourmand (hot chocolate with dessert tasting plate). Including liege waffle, chocolate mouse, mango sorbet, chantilly cream and of course hot chocolate. Very yum!!! Matt and Martyn had to catch the Chunnel on Thursday afternoon, so in the morning we went to Fromelles another WWI site. There was a major battle here where there were over 5000 allied casualties (dead, wounded and missing) in two days of fighting. Also in the 1990s a mass grave of 250 Allied soldiers was found, mostly Australians, and they were identified where possible and re-buried in a new grave yard. There was a museum about the battle and the new graves. There were also a memorial to Australians near the town, and a cemetery for some unidentified solders. Back at the boat it was a quick lunch and a farewell to Matt and Martyn.
We had a fairly quiet afternoon and then set off the next morning to Aire-sur-la Lys. We did meet a commercial, going in the opposite direction, but luckily the canal was fairly wide where we met. From Aire we will be back on a big commercial canal.
2 Comments
Cheryl Poustie
6/9/2019 10:49:06 pm
Thanks Deb. Really interesting set of fabulous photos and stories.
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