Freezing overnight then sunny
spells but with a biting cold NE wind. Mike took the car up to Viviane’s and
parked by her house. On the way
back he picked up a loaf from the boulangerie. All ready to go and we set off
at 10.30 am, twisted the hanging pole which activated the flight of eight locks
up to the tunnel.
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| Leaving our pontoon mooring at Conde-sur-Marne |
Our Capitain (and good friend) Gérard came up to the lock No
24 Condé to say au’voir and said to ring him when we get to Berry and he would
come and collect Mike to retrieve the car. Off along the long, wind swept pound
(1.75kms) to lock 23 Coupé. The VNF man (or woman) in a van raced off up the
towpath heading uphill. Two ladies were walking the towpath, we caught up with
them just before lock 23 and had a brief chat. Lock ready with gates open, I
lifted the pole and the lock filled. Mike took more photos of the old lock
house, which hadn’t been lived in for donkey’s years and was slowly decaying.
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| Old lock house lk 23 Coupe |
1.35kms to lock 22 Isse on the edge of the village of the same name. There was
still a phone box on the lockside next to the modern lock cabin and a well
looked after lock house on the other side of the towpath. The pounds get
shorter and shorter as we progress up the flight. 700m to lock 21 Fosse Rodé.
The lock emptied as we got closer. Another lived-in lock house but no one
around as we locked through. 650m to lock 20 St Martin, there were no signs of
ever having had a lock house alongside the chamber. Mike hopped off with the
camera as the lock was almost full to take photos of a rusting relic in the
corner of the field below the lock.
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| Ancient Fordson tractor |
It was an ancient Fordson tractor with
caterpillar half-tracks instead of rear wheels. It was midday when we left the
top of lock 20. 750m to lock 19 Longues Raies. Again no lock house and very
quiet except for the birdsong. 500m to lock 18 Champ-bon-Garçon. It took ages
for the bottom gates to open, so long that we thought it would go “en panne”
(out of order then the VNF man in a van would arrive and reset it). No house
and very quiet. I made lunch as we rose in lock 18 and headed off on the 500m
to the top lock 17 Vaudemange. We left the top lock at 12.40 pm passing the
basin which now housed three cruisers, a converted retired péniche and two
Dutch barges. The guy off the end DB came out of his wheelhouse to wave as we
went past. Into the cutting leading to Billy-le-Grand. Wild hellebores were
blooming on the otherwise bare (apart from trees) steep sloping banks. In
another month’s time the towpath edges will be covered in wild strawberry
plants – full of small intensely-flavoured fruits called fraises-des-bois. As
we got closer to the tunnel entrance we could see the red light was on. Mike
looked through his binoculars and said there was no one in the tunnel as he
could see the far end.
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| Southern portal of Billy-le-Grand and keeper's cabin |
No signs of the tunnel keeper and the light remained red
so Mike went to find Madame who lives in the house atop the tunnel. He found a
bloke (must be a relief keeper now the VNF staff all work less hours per week)
in the cabin over the entrance, hunkered down by the door. He said he hadn’t
seen us. Mike had called him on the calling channel 10 and got no answer. No,
he said, it’s channel 18. Made a note of that on our guide book. I said we
should have hooted! As we went in the fluorescent lights came on and so did the
ventilator fans in the roof. Really noisy and adding to the very cold wind
which was already blowing through the tunnel. Once clear of the tunnel the
canal changes character and runs straight for several kilometres at a time
between chalky fields with distant hazy views of La Montagne, tree-covered on
this side with no sight of the famous vineyards.
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| Maintenance trolley on rails that were used for towpath traction mules |
As we were about to tie up on
the summit above the first lock down (Wez) a loaded boat (Abyss from Antoing in
Belgium) came out of the lock so we had to stooge around until it passed by as
we wanted to moor on the left hand bank at the end of the bollards. The wind
was blowing us on to the bank so the boat was held against the bank while we
attached ropes to the last bollard and Mike knocked some pins in. It was 3 pm
and we were shattered after the first day of moving after being moored at Condé
for nineteen months.
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