Out of the Marne au Rhin Ouest and Heading . . .

. . . North. The Canal de la Meuse is open again for navigation and the Belgian and Netherlands waterways are navigable, so based on current information we are heading for Maasbracht in the Netherlands. Our main source of concern at the moment is the ever-changing Covid situation and possible impacts on our border crossings into Belgium and the Netherlands. But at the moment the borders are open, so we will go with what "is" rather than what "might be" and hope and pray for the best.

After the last blog posting we cruised six days in a row, so there wasn't much of an opportunity to post any updates until today, when we are taking a day off. And, truth be told, the only really significant "events" of the past few days were (1) reaching the summit of the Marne au Rhin Ouest Canal and going through the 3-mile long Mauvage Tunnel and (2) reaching the end of the Marne au Rhin Ouest Canal and entering the Canal de la Meuse.  Otherwise, it was small things:

Going through a lock and being observed by two
"gongoozlers-in-training."

Finally seeing another boat using the Marne au Rhin Ouest.

A humorous canalside display by a resident of Commercy.

Seeing this on a walk along the canal and 
dreading the cruise through the weed the next day, 
only to be pleasantly surprised that it wasn't
as much of an issue as we had feared.

 

Park-like moorings in Ligny-en-Barrois.

The only remaining tower from the old (12th or 13th C)
castle of Ligny.

It was on August 2nd that we passed through Lock 1 in Demange-aux-Eaux, thus reaching the summit of the Canal de la Marne au Rhin Ouest. We decided not to try to tackle the Mauvages tunnel after an already long-enough day of cruising, so left it to the next morning.

Approaching the entrance to the Mauvages Tunnel. Back on July
13 we went through the Balesmes Tunnel-also 3 miles long-
so future shorter tunnels should be a "piece of cake."

It took an hour and 15 minutes to get through the
tunnel. A vnf employee accompanied us through
the tunnel by riding an e-bike on the tunnel walkway.
  

After leaving the Mauvages Tunnel we were immediately faced with 12 "down" locks in close proximity to one another before we could moor for the evening in the town of Void. A somewhat tiring experience, but a great feeling when they were all behind us to know that we had finished all of the locks on the Marne au Rhin Ouest.

It was in Void that we had a "small world/what are the odds" experience. We had been tied up at the town's halte fluvial for about an hour when we saw Becky and Dave on the barge "Wanderlust" come cruising from the east into Void. Wanderlust was our immediate neighbor at the marina in Auxonne, so it was an amazing bit of timing to meet up in this small French town.

Dave and Becky on Wanderlust leaving Void
on August 4th to continue cruising west on the 
Marne au Rhin Ouest canal.

We started our cruising on August 4th with a blissful lock-free 7 km/4 miles.

It was great to enjoy the scenery without having to
jump up every kilometer to prepare for a lock.

The random patterns of the hay bales are an example
of AAA: Agricultural Abstract Art.

And, finally, we reached the junction with the Canal de la Meuse and the "left turn" that we had decided upon. 

One small aqueduct just before the canal junction.

It doesn't look like much, but a sharp left turn brought us
face-to-face with the first lock on the Canal de la Meuse . . .

. . . which, with "perfect" timing, had a boat ready
to come out.

We didn't go far on the Canal de la Meuse that first day. Although we immediately had 4 locks to contend with in relatively quick succession, that was somewhat of an aberration. We are finding that the kilometers-to-locks ratio is much greater on this canal as compared to either the Champagne et Bourgogne or the Marne au Rhin Ouest, which means longer, more relaxed cruising between locks and less locks per day. 

Our overnight stop was in the town of Commercy. 

The purple lines cross at our location in Commercy. 

The town has two main claims to fame. First, it was the site of one of the favorite residences of the 18th century King of Poland, Stanislas. Second, legend has it that a well-known French dessert called a "madeleine"--a small, golden sponge cake--originated there in the mid-1700's when "Madeleine", a servant of King Stanislas, offered the delicacy to his guests.

The front of King Stanilas' chateau. The building is largely a
reconstruction, as it was heavily damaged during the German occupation
in WWII.

Lon is dwarfed in the back of the chateau.

The madeleine: tastes like pound cake. One of our
"go to" snacks, it also works well as a quick base
for strawberry shortcake.

We are now moored in the town of Saint Mihiel. We've spent time yesterday and today sightseeing, and we'll still be here tomorrow for light maintenance and other projects. There is significant history from both World Wars in this town and further north. But that is a story for another day.