The weather continued glorious when we left Namur in Belgium and we slowly made our way up the River Meuse to one of the prettiest towns in Belgium – Dinant. It was warm and sunny with not a cloud in the sky as we motored past huge cliffs with rock climbers dotted on their faces.
We passed magnificent chateaux right on the river’s edge like the one at Freyr that is supposedly modelled on Versailles.
Then on Monday we crossed the border into France and the charm and the chateaux an the lovely country houses immediately ceased and we we chugged into a remote wilderness with the river carving a gorge through the Ardennes. There was the occasional cottage on the river, but for most of the time our own company were the wild animals in this beautiful part of France.
Then the troubles began… First we lost the good weather. Then the windscreen wipers stopped working. That proved to be a faulty connection and was soon fixed. Then the shower pump stopped working and that too was a loose connection. Then there was no where to stay on the first night so as one does we asked if we could tie up along side another boat. They agreed but early the next morning in the pouring rain knocked on our door and asked us to move as they had some friends coming who were to tie up next to them. So we moved on in the rain and then coming out of the lock at Charleville Mezieres the engine died. Something similar had happened before in East Germany so I was pretty sure it was the primary fuel filter. I managed to coax the engine into life again and looked for a mooring but it was full as following all the rain the authorities had closed the river and no-one could move. We spotted a barge flying a British Flag and they kindly let us tie up next to them. Then I tried to change the oil filter but couldn’t turn it with my oil-filter wrench. It was on very tight. So we tried to get a local mechanic to help but no-one was interested in earning money. I mentioned it to th english guy on the barge and he offered to give it a try and five minutes later he had managed to loosen the filter and 10 mins later I had a new one in place and and that problem was fixed.
But then we noticed water in a part of the bilge we hadn’t seen it in before and a closer inspection revealed a small leak in our water tank base in a hard to get at position. It only leaks about a one litre per day but I have no idea how to fix it. Anyone with any suggestions of knowing someone with experience would be sure appreciated. I guess it is a small hole that we need to cover but with what I am not sure.
The next day the river conditions were lifted and we set sail up the Meuse again for a short way before we turned off on the magic Canal des Ardennes which winds its way through rolling hills and remote villages to join up with the valley of the Seine River.
The canal had been closed for two weeks for repairs and there were lots of boats trying to get through, 95% of which were Dutch. No French or Belgium boats just Dutch, UK, NZ and Swiss. We had a flight of 26 locks to get through. One lock after another. Leaving one lock prepared the next lock for us and so we went from lock to lock to lock until eventually after a long day we arrived at Attigny where we stopped for the night for a well earned G&T. The bridges were very low and it was a matter of millimetres at time as we scraped underneath them.
We had a stick at the front measured to the the height of the boat and used that to judge whether we would get through with out more lowering of canopies etc.
Today it has been drizzly but the forecast is for gradually improving weather as we turn off the Canal des Ardennes and make a change to our planned route by heading across to the Cathedral city of Reims and then down through Champagne country on the River Marne to Paris.
Until then au revoir from us we turn on the satellite tv and watch some good ole BBC programs.
