Champagne and Burgundy 2005
Our next stop was Metz which is quite an interesting town reflecting both German and French heritage. We trudged several kilometers to visit one of the Maginot Line forts but found it abandoned and overgrown. In one corner of the fort though we found a sign showing its use during the German occupation as a staging area concentration camp. It was most unexpected and sobering.
Metz is a beautiful city with a long history and lovely archtecture. Good shopping and a well run moorage made the stay very enjoyable. After a few days stay we pushed on with Luxembourg on one side of the river and Germany on the other. Unfortunately on the river there were precious few places to tie up. We spent one night in Remich in Luxembourg and tried to go on to Triers. Unknown to us, there was a "Manifestation" happening in this stretch of the river and all mooring was prohibited between locks. We tried to moor downstream at a good spot only to be told "desole". We returned to Remich but the river police made us go on to the next lock upstream. There was a very nice hotel barge cruising in the area and we later found that it was the anniversary of the Schengen agreement being signed and many dignitaries were going to be squired around on the hotel boat. We headed back to Metz and then Pont au Mousson again.
We abandoned our plans for Germany and headed for Verdun up the Canal de l'Est branch Nord. Verdun was a great mooring and a very interesting town. We visited the old Fort Douamont and the Ossuary. All very interesting and quite incredible when you consider the scale of the war here.
From Verdun we went on to Sedan, sight of major battle between Napoleon III and the Prussians, which the latter won.
The town was attractive with an old fort located some distance from the moorage. We had a great lunch and hit the road again. After Sedan we headed west on the Canal des Ardennes, and along through Reims. We couldn't find moorage in Reims so went on past the infamous port of Sillery, which posts a charge of 52 Euros a night for "big" barges. We later learned this is more like 7 Euros but with nobody on duty and a half hour 'til the locks closed we didn't take the chance.
We went on to Epernay, meeting fellow Tam & Di grad David Webb on his big bateau Jubilant. We stayed for a couple of nice days and some good champers with a tour of Moet-Chandon. The port of Epernay is one of the best with lots of information on the town, a happy hour at the tennis club, and shopping service for bread and croissants.
The next few days were spent slowly cruising through Champagne country. We got to Paris after stopping in Meaux and Nogent sur Marne, both very good moorings. In Paris we picked up Katie and our cruising pattern changed. We followed pretty well the same route as last year but in the opposite direction, going from Montereau to St. Jean de Losne up the Yonne and through the Bourgoigne Canal. This is lovely cruising, with helpful lock keepers and many, many locks.
All in all it was a great summer, with good guests and many pleasant encounters with other bargers. We arrived back in Roanne in late August and decided we would cruise to Holland next year and put the barge on the market. We have to do the usual winter maintenance, but she is in great shape and now is the time for us to think of our next adventure.
