Lemonade

Our inability to end our cruising day on July 23 in Metz resulted in a 4.5-hour cruising day turning into a 6.5-hour cruising day. It's OK to have that length of day once in a while, but it can be rather tiring.  Having started our cruising a few minutes past 8 a.m., it was almost 3 p.m. before we were finally tied up on a quay just upstream of the Ars-sur-Moselle lock. The disappointment of "no Metz" didn't last long, as we quickly decided that we could spend a few days in our next stop, our return to Pont-a-Mousson, and spend one of those days doing a day trip to Metz via train. Easy-peasy, lemonade from lemons.

Our mooring just upstream of the Ars-sur-Moselle lock.

Furthermore, it turned out that our mooring spot for the evening was within easy walking distance of the small town of Jouy-les-Arches. Jouy has a pretty significant "claim to fame" in that it contains 16 arches of what was once a 1.2-kilometer aerial section of a 22-kilometer-long Gallo-Roman aqueduct created to bring water from Gorze to Metz. Construction began in the 2nd century A.D. on an underground conduit in Gorze. After 12.7 kilometers it emerged from the ground in Ars-sur-Moselle and crossed the Moselle to Jouy-les-Arches, where it went back underground for a further 8 kilometers and ended in Metz. The aqueduct was apparently already largely gone by the Middle Ages.

The aqueduct passing through Jouy-aux-Arches. A substantial
amount of restoration has been done on the aqueduct in the past
two decades, sometimes using ancient Roman methods.

Left: taking a stroll close to history--quite a bit of the original construction was left exposed on  

the "far end" of the aqueduct; Upper right: the collecting basin for the aqueduct in

 Jouy-aux-Arches; Lower right: an end-on view of the aqueduct arches in Jouy-aux-Arches.

What remains of the aqueduct on the Ars-sur-Moselle side of
the river can be seen from the river (we cruised by it twice) 
and this view from the bridge adjacent to our overnight mooring.

Despite damage from heavy fighting in the area in WWII--as well as other historical battles over the centuries--Jouy-aux-Arches has managed to preserve more than just the Gallo-Roman aqueduct. 

A 13th century fortified house, originally part of one of two
fortified farms that provided refuge to the area's inhabitants
at times when the town came under attack. 

The beauty of a long cruising day is that it is often followed by a shorter than usual day, and such was the case for us. On July 24th it took us less than 3 hours to get to the quay at Pont-a-Mousson--and this time, we were on a part of the quay that allowed us to plug into electricity from an outlet on the adjacent building. With no reservations awaiting us anywhere, we were free to stay as long as we wanted in Pont-a-Mousson. There were things to see in the town that we weren't able to get to in our initial visit, and of course, we needed a day to visit Metz.

We took advantage of the beautiful weather during the afternoon of the day we arrived to get on the bicycles and pay a visit to the castle ruins on the top of the Mousson hill. Google Maps was up to its usual tricks of leading us through paths that we had no business being on with bikes, and the paved roads were pretty steep at the upper portion of the hill (which had us pushing our bikes in one section), but we managed to survive. We parked in the village of Mousson and walked up the final stretch.

The castle was the residence of the Counts of Mousson from the 11th until the 13th century. It was a commanding spot from which to monitor the trade routes that passed through Pont-a-Mousson and the tolls that were collected there. As was true for many of the fortified castles in Lorraine, the 17th century conflict with French royal power was devastating to the Mousson castle. As he had done elsewhere, Cardinal Richelieu ordered the inhabitants of Mousson to demolish the castle that had protected them. Adding insult to injury, the remnants of the castle and the adjacent village were nearly obliterated by American artillery bombing of German positions in 1944.

The Chapel of the Templars was built at the same level as the village of Mousson, a bit lower than
the castle. The Templars came to Mousson in the 12th century. Abandoned in the 17th century, the chapel became part of a farm. It was significantly damaged by the bombs of 1944 and is currently
 the focus of an ongoing restoration project.

Lon uses a woodsy trail and steps leading from the
Templar's chapel to get to the main castle grounds.

A few sections of standing wall constitute most of what is left of the castle.

The castle chapel is listed separately as a Historic Monument. It was
built by the Countess Sophie during the 11th century, but could not
withstand the bombs of 1944. An old communal cemetery is next
to it. The statue of Joan of Arc once sat atop the chapel, no doubt
headless from the bombings (and not due to Joan's desire to join the ranks
of saints who are known for having lost their heads to martyrdom).

We are fans of the authenticity of the ruins that remain. There
are some repairs, of course, to shore things up, but no
wholesale replacement of what formerly existed.

The view of Pont-a-Mousson from the castle. At the far upper right, C.A.R.I.B. III can be
seen at its mooring in front of a large, light-colored building.

The "Chapel of Lights" was built on the site after WWII.
It's a glass and metal structure that contains a sculpture
of Christ on the Cross.

There are other vestiges of "old" Mousson that have somehow managed to survive the
centuries. At left, the Porte d'Urtal, the last remaining gate of the Mousson ramparts. At right,
a section of the ramparts provides a backdrop for the parking area between two homes in
the village of Mousson.
 

A nice dinner out at a busy local restaurant allowed us to recover from our afternoon exertions and helped us to be ready to face the exertions of a walk around the city of Metz on Friday, July 25. Although it would have been nice to have been moored within walking distance of the old town of Metz, a 20-minute train trip from Pont-a-Mousson was not a bad alternative.

Metz has been a town since at least Roman times, as it occupied a strategic position at the heart of major European routes. In the Middle Ages, it was one of 3 cities, along with the cities of Toul and Verdun, that comprised the Episcopal seats known as the "Three Bishoprics." Metz is currently the capitol of Lorraine, within the Grand-Est region of France. As a city with a population of nearly a half million people, it was obvious to us that one day of exploration was going to be barely enough to scratch the surface of what Metz had to offer. We were able to get to many of the places on the Metz tourist map, but not all, and regret that we had to miss out on, for example, a visit to the collections of the Musee de la Cour d'Or. But what we did manage to squeeze in was very nice, and our overall sense of the city was that (marina aside 😁) it was a pretty special place.

Saint-Etienne Cathedral (13th-16th C) has one of the highest naves
for a gothic cathedral in Europe. 

The cathedral is famed for its exceptional amount of stained-glass (surface area of 6500 meters sq),
 with windows ranging from the 13th to the 20th centuries. At left, windows of the 16th century. At right, contemporary artist Marc Chagall's depiction of the Creation.

The height of the nave and the stained glass everywhere cannot help but draw the eye upward.
At right, the Graoully, who, according to legend, lived in the arena of the Roman amphitheater
in Metz until vanquished by Saint Clement of Metz.

Flowers and florists are a big part of the culture.

Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonains is one of the oldest churches in France. Construction began in the
4th century A.D., at which time it belonged to one of several public bath complexes in 
Gallo-Roman Metz. It became the chapel of a Benedictine monastery in the 7th century. It
is currently an exhibition hall, but its interior shows evidence of the multiple changes in its
form during the centuries: Roman walls, Romanesque arcades, and Gothic vaults.

This photo taken during a lunch of pasta, salad, and
beer includes a view of various antiquities: the Maison
 Rabelais (12th-16th C.) and me (mid-20th C.)

The architecture in this part of Metz made us feel as though we were in
Paris. In the upper photo, at far left, is the train station of Metz, voted
in 2017 as the most beautiful train station in France.

Top: The Cloister of the Recollets (13th C.), a former convent which now
houses the European Institute of Ecology.
Below: A viewpoint on the Moselle River.

The Renaissance arcades of Place Saint-Louis (13th-15th C).

Metz also had a Templar's Chapel. The octagonal, 13th-century chapel is the only one of
its kind in Lorraine and is the last vestige of the Knights Templar in Metz.

It was lovely to see a busy center city and lots of shopping options.

We were exhausted by our whirlwind walking tour in Metz. It really was too much to attempt in one day, so perhaps a day trip from Toul in August or September needs to be considered.

We were in no particular hurry to leave Pont-a-Mousson, and our cruise to Nancy was only going to require about a half day, so we decided to stay put for the weekend in PAM. This allowed us some time to stroll through neighborhoods we'd not visited during our trip downriver, prepare one much-overdue blog posting, and just relax.

We walked across the bridge on Saturday, hoping that Saint Martin's Church would be open. The Tourist
Office no longer had a key to the place, so we were unable to investigate whatever treasures the 
13th-15th C building contained. The building at left used to house the University of Pont-a-Mousson,
a Jesuit university that was well-regarded throughout Europe. It was founded in 1572 and operated
 until the Jesuits were expelled from France in 1768 and the university was transferred to Nancy.

Saturday nights in summer are music nights in Pont-a-Mousson. On July 26th, karaoke was the order of the day--complete with a pretty amazing band and high production bells and whistles. The talent was local, and with a couple of exceptions, was not particularly good. But it was fun to find ourselves in the midst of a family-friendly event.

These two guys (at center) were one of the good acts. The
 back-up band was consistently good.

We did our final "must see" in Pont-a-Mousson on Sunday morning, July 27, with a visit to the Abbaye des Prémontrés. Construction began in 1705 on this former abbey of the Norbertines monastic order. Like many other religious institutions in Pont-a-Mousson at the time, it owed its existence to the famous Jesuit university. Unlike those other religious communities, however, the abbey buildings survived the 1768 abolishment of the Jesuit University. Survival did not mean survival as a religious institution: it functioned as a small diocesan secondary school in the 19th century, and as a hospital from 1912 to 1944. It was heavily damaged in 1944, but thanks to a massive renovation effort, it was restored and became a cultural center in 1964. It now also houses a 3-star hotel.

Top: the exterior of the abbey church and some of the adjacent building
as seen on the non-Moselle side of the complex.
Bottom: the enclosed arcades of the cloister were displaying
paintings about the restoration of Notre Dame Cathedral Paris.

Left: the interior of the church is empty of furnishings, as it no longer serves a religious purpose.
Right: a view out to the cloister garden.

The abbey is famous for the beauty of three of its staircases.
At left, the Large Staircase; top right, the Atlantes Staircase; 
bottom right, the Little Round Staircase, the only staircase which
was not destroyed in 1944.

Evidence of the damage of the 1944 bombs.

A panoramic view over one of the abbey's gardens, the Courtyard of Honor. 

As the photo above indicates, the weather was a bit "iffy" on Sunday, so the intermittent rain made it good for staying indoors for the rest of the day. And on Monday morning, July 28, it was time to pull our lines and make our way to Nancy. 

Making Adjustments

It felt good to leave Toul for a while on Tuesday, July 15. Although we were anxious for a "bow thruster motor update", we knew that all parties involved would need time to get back into work after the long holiday weekend, and rather than pacing on the boat, we were better off distracting ourselves with a tourist visit elsewhere. After a short 25-minutes by train, we were walking in the small town of Neufchâteau. It is one of the oldest towns in Lorraine and developed along one of the old Roman trade routes. By the 12th century it was considered to be quite a large and prosperous town for the time, with "all the ingredients necessary for a good time", such as musicians, jugglers, and actors. It was also a principal administrative center, and regularly hosted conferences to solve disputes between Lorraine and France. This same political important made it a target for destruction during disputes between Lorraine and, at various times, Burgundy, France, and Prussia. 

Just as there is an association to promote "The Most Beautiful Villages in France," there is an association to promote "The Most Beautiful Detours of France." The towns that take on the latter designation must adhere to certain specifications and are subject to periodic audits to ensure that a detour to a particular town is, indeed, worthwhile for the tourists that choose to visit. Neufchâteau is one of the 100 or so "Les Plus Beaux Detours de France," which gave us hopes for an interesting visit, as the town's historic center has a number of Renaissance era buildings as well as significant religious buildings.

Place Jeanne d'Arc, formerly the town marketplace,
with an 1857 bronze statue of Jeanne. She was born in
the village of Domremy, about 10 km from Neufchâteau.
Jeanne took refuge in Neufchâteau in 1428.

Exterior and interior of St. Nicholas' Church. Its foundations were
laid in the 12th century, and had extensive additions in later
centuries.

The unusual features of St. Nicholas: A stained glass window paying tribute to the soldiers who
gave their lives in WWI; nine late 15th century stone statues from the Cordeliers convent representing
the anointing of Christ; a late 12th century Romanesque crypt--the "lower church"--upon which the upper church rests.

The d'Houdreville Mansion, a late-16th century Renaissance
building which is now the town hall.

A point of pride of the town hall is its Renaissance staircase.
It's open to the public, but you have to get permission at the
town hall in order to access it.

13th century St. Christopher's Church, which was,
unfortunately, not open when we came by. 

The day was ultimately a bit less engaging than we had hoped, partly because some of the historical attractions were not open during the time we spent in town. We wanted to make sure we were able to speak to Jean-Paul about the bow thruster before the end of the day, so we returned to Toul earlier than we might have otherwise, and this kept us from seeing some Neufchâteau sites that were only open in the afternoon. Some of the recommended sites didn't seem to be available at all on the Tuesday we were there. And although it was an attractive town, it was really, really quiet.

It didn't seem as though many tourists were "detouring" to the town
on this day. Rue Saint-Jean, one of the oldest streets in 
Neufchâteau, was nearly deserted and nice lunch options were
difficult to find.

As it turned out, we could have stayed in Neufchâteau a while longer, because there was no new information about bow thruster motors. We spent the remainder of the work week investigating various options, including the possibility of sending our motor for a rebuild to Tinnemans, the Dutch company that had done so much work on C.A.R.I.B. in 2022. Mostly, we just needed to get some direct answers on what was possible so that we could make decisions about the who/how/when of fixing the boat, cruising options, where we could meet our friends arriving on August 1, and where we would keep the boat for the winter.

We ultimately decided to stick with TSNI for fixing the thruster, but the reality was that it wouldn't happen as quickly as we would like. We weren't quite ready to be done with cruising, so we scheduled a departure from Toul for Monday, July 21, with the intention of cruising down the Moselle River (deeper water, bigger locks) as far as the city of Metz. After turning around we would cruise to Nancy to meet up with Ken and Brenda, who would then cruise with us as we return to the TSNI yard at Toul. We'll have to save the Marne au Rhin Est Canal for next year, and we'll be substituting Toul for Saverne as our wintering location.

We had off-and-on rain showers on the 21st, but it was nice to be moving again. Our stop for the day was Liverdun, a previous cycling outing for us. We didn't feel the need to climb the hill to the upper town again, so we satisfied ourselves with purchasing some of the local "Madelaines of Liverdun" and just relaxed.

Much of the view from the river is trees and hills.

There are no quays for barges to moor at in Liverdun, but the dolphins
work well, especially as these have a walkway to shore. Our boat is 
lower than commercial size barges, so it requires care not to slip
 when transitioning from walkway to boat.

On the 22nd we passed the junction that later in our cruise would take us to Nancy, and headed north on the Moselle. The day was rather breezy, but because the locks are so large, they don't give us the same potential for problems with entry and exit as the small locks on canals.

We are still in a waterway that has commercial barge traffic.

Commercial traffic gets priority over pleasure craft, but as long
as we let them into locks first, the locks are well able to 
handle us and a 110-meter-long barge.

Four hours and three locks got us to our next destination, Pont-à-Mousson, a town of approximately 15,000. We were able to find space on a long concrete quay very near to the center of town. We did our usual "thing", going to the Tourist Office to get a guide for walking to the local sites of interest. Our visit was somewhat abbreviated, as we only intended to stay for one night on our way to Metz, but we knew we'd be stopping again on our return from Metz and could take care of any "unfinished business" then.

The "Mousson" referenced in the name is a nearby hill on which a castle existed from at least the 10th century, and the "pont" (bridge) refers to the river crossing at which the lower town developed. Our first impression of the town was very positive. It had been very badly damaged in WWII, but had been apparently rebuilt with a great deal of care. It was a busy place and it was nice to see so many people--and shops and cafes and restaurants--in the center of town.

One perspective of Place Duroc, the only triangular arcaded square in Europe. Its sides are
lined with arcaded buildings of the 16th - 19th centuries.

Perspective number 2 of Place Duroc.

A close-up of one of the Renaissance arcades.

Saint Laurent Church (16th C). One of its treasures is the statue of Christ carrying his 
cross, attributed to the sculptor Ligier Richier.

We had a great view from our mooring spot of the Abbey of the 
Premontres.

We could also see Saint-Martin's Church on the
opposite bank of the river. The bridge is relatively
new, having been constructed post-WWII after the
Germans blew up the old bridge as they were
retreating from the American 3rd Army in 1944.

The local craft beer brewery had a cute logo and an irresistible
 "tasting package" with 8 different beers and a souvenir glass. 

We might have stayed longer in Pont-a-Mousson except that we had a Wednesday reservation at the Port de Plaisance in Metz. Jean-Paul had offered to telephone the port captain in Metz to set it up and had done so before we left Toul. At any rate, the cruise to Metz on Wednesday, July 23, was pleasant. Being without a bow thruster continued to be a non-event: it's a convenient tool to be sure, but on this particular waterway and with the bigger locks it hasn't been an issue. What we were a little concerned about was whether what we requested for mooring space would be provided. We'd seen reports in the DBA Waterway Guide that the port was not very welcoming of barges, and that they much preferred smaller cruiser-type craft. What we really needed--and what we had asked Jean-Paul to request for us--was a mooring along the T-head of one of their floating pontoons. Anything else would require us to back into a slip perpendicular to the pontoon, an extremely difficult maneuver and one that, with our high stern and dinghy, would leave us unable to get off the boat. We left Toul with the impression that a stern-in mooring would not be expected of us and that we would be given acceptable space in Metz.

Should we have sent out own e-mail just to verify the arrangements? Probably, because when we got to the port in Metz after a 4-hour cruising day, the only available slips were of the "back in perpendicular to the pontoon and hope you don't hit neighboring boats" kind. My calls to the port telephone in an effort to get guidance went unanswered, so Lon pivoted C.A.R.I.B. and we headed out of the port,  cruising back the way we had come on the Moselle. There were no other mooring options in Metz, so we went 10 km and through the lock at Ars-sur-Moselle and then tied up on a quay for the evening. Were we a little frustrated? Yes, but it turned out that it was possible to make "lemonade from the lemons."

Still Waiting

Another week . . . in Toul. The parts for our bow thruster seal arrived last week by mid-week, but as feared, getting an appropriate replacement motor is proving to be a challenge. The interconnectedness of the bow thruster system means that if we can't find a motor with exactly the same features as the old one, it will probably be necessary to make modifications in other parts of the system, such as the drive chains, to enable the bow thruster to work with a different type of motor. As far as we know--and we're working through "Google Translate" for our communications--the motor issue was outsourced to a third party with more expertise in issues involving motors. So, we're at the mercy of multiple entities to complete parts searches, acquisitions, and installations. 

At upper left CARIB is seen moored against a larger barge.
This has been our neighborhood for the past 10 days.

In the meantime, the following graphic shows the deterioration of the water situation in the canals of the Northeast region as of July 11. We are currently in Toul, which is in the blue-circled area at the middle of the graphic. Green designates water with no restrictions; yellow would indicate the presence of some special conditions for passage; orange indicates actual restrictions in the waterway, such as decreased depth; and purple indicates water that is closed to navigation. The Moselle River to the north of Nancy and Toul is the only waterway not currently under any restrictions. Once CARIB is repaired and we're able to depart, we have to hope that our orange-colored route to Strasbourg on the Marne au Rhin East Canal (to the east of Toul) will still be open for navigation. That's currently the case, and the depth of the water--although lower than usual--is still sufficient for us. Had we any desire to cruise to the west or the south we would be out of luck, and it's entirely possible that there will be additional canal closures unless the amount of rainfall increases substantially.

To avoid going "bonkers" during this rather long break from cruising, we're mixing sightseeing day trips away from the boat with periods of work on boat projects that under normal circumstances would probably have been done at the end of our boating season.

Saturday, July 5, was forecast to be the last summery day before three days of cool temperatures and off-and-on rain, so we took a 30-minute train ride to the city of Nancy to get a "first look" before we cruise through on our way to Strasbourg. The population of the core city of Nancy is just over 100,000, but its metropolitan area is home to around a half million people. With a city that size, our scant few hours in town could only give us the barest superficial look at what Nancy had to offer.

Nancy was a small, fortified town in the early 11th century that grew in importance to become the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine. The last Duke of Lorraine, exiled Polish king Stanislaus I, was the father-in-law of French king Louis XV. Stanislaus' period of rule in the mid-18th century saw the architectural redesign of the urban core through the construction of a trio of squares to link "old", medieval Nancy to the "new" town of the 17th century. Those squares are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Place Stanislas, the focal point of the Baroque reconstruction of the mid-1700's.

At left, the Hotel de Ville (Town Hall) of Nancy, the largest of the buildings on Place
Stanislas. It's also known as Stanislas Palace, but has been the Town Hall since it's construction
in the 1750's.

In true Baroque style, you can never decorate with too much gold.

The passage from Place Stanislas to Place de la Carrière (Quarry Square) is a monumental arch.

Place de la Carrière is lined by many Renaissance mansions of the 16th and 17th
centuries on the approach to the Government Palace of Nancy.

Constructed as a replacement palace for the old ducal palace, the
Government Palace served as a headquarters for various aspects
of the French military post-WWII. It was then transferred to the 
 city of Nancy,and since 2013 has been part of the Lorraine Museum.

The Lorraine Museum was closed for renovations, so some of the

displays were moved to the former Duke's Chapel (1608-1612),

part of the Cordeliers Church. The chapel was originally constructed

 so that the Dukes of Lorraine would have a necropolis close to their palace.

The dome of the chapel was modelled on that of the
Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy.

A view down Grande Rue in the medieval city, looking toward Porte de la Craffe, dated
1336, the northern gateway into medieval Nancy. 

The stunning Gothic-Renaissance courtyard of the Hotel
d'Haussonville. Built as a private mansion (1528-1543),
it was converted into a 4-star hotel over 20 years ago.

Being in Nancy allowed us to scope out the port, and what might be available to us
for mooring. The port itself was rather full of long-term boats without much, if any, space
for visiting barges. Our best bet appears to be the quay across the channel from the port.

Nancy definitely deserves more of our time when we start cruising again. We didn't get the opportunity to explore the Art Deco aspects of Nancy, for which it is also well known, or just simply stroll its various neighborhoods and parks.

Following that warm Saturday were three rather autumn-like days. Given the off-again, on-again nature of the rain, it was difficult to plan any outings. We went for a few walks with the umbrella, but that was more to stretch our legs than to accomplish any particular exploration. Our wedding anniversary on Monday, July 7, passed rather quietly--restaurants are typically closed on Mondays, and even had that not been the case, the weather that evening was not such that we were anxious to walk into the center of Toul. It seems, after 46 years, that "the honeymoon is over".

Getting some fresh air on Sunday, July 5, during
  a wet walk to the Toul cathedral for the opening
 organ concert of the Festival Bach de Toul 2025.

The weather cleared by Wednesday. Although we were more than ready to do something away from CARIB, we were hoping that the parts for the bow thruster seal would have shown up and that we would need to go back into the boat ramp to have the bow lifted for the installation. Although the parts for the seal replacement did arrive, the motor acquisition is still a problem and Jean-Paul at TSNI Marine didn't want to install the seal if there were potentially going to be changes needed to the drive system. He asked us to give him until this week to source what we need; hopefully, we will have some positive news within a few days. That being the case, we were free to "get out of Dodge" on Thursday.

In the spirit of getting an advance look at a possible future mooring stop, as well an exploration of the adjacent town, we decided to use the bikes to get to the village of Liverdun, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) downriver from Toul. The beauty of the ride was that it followed the Moselle River on a paved route that was mostly a separate bicycle/walking path and had very little in the way of hills--until we got to Liverdun. Given its strategic location at the top of a rocky spur overlooking the Moselle, it's not surprising that for a time Liverdun was a stronghold of the Bishops of Toul. It was the summer residence of the bishops in the 18th century. After the construction of the railway lines through Liverdun and the Moselle Canal, Liverdun became a popular resort during the Belle Epoque--when swimming in the Moselle was still permitted. 

Our view of Liverdun as we approached.

The bicycles were parked in the lower town. It made no sense to try to ride them from the lower town to the upper town, as there were only two approaches, stairs . . . 

 . . . and steep roads.

Liverdun (horrible name, by the way) was very quiet at midweek. Judging by the village's website, it's a much more active and touristic place on summer weekends. The industries of the 19th and early 20th centuries are gone, and shopping in the central village is pretty much non-existent. What it has retained are vestiges of its past centuries, and is overall an attractive and well-maintained village focused on tourism.

View of the Moselle from the former ramparts of Liverdun.

Castle Corbin, an early 20th century reconstruction of a 19th
century castle built on the ruins of the medieval castle.

A macabre variation of "Napoleon was here." 

There were some beautifully redone old houses. The Gerbaut
House was a tithe-collection house in the 16th century.

The Porte Haute is a 16th century reworking of the old northern
 gate of the 12th century city wall. It includes a square tower (16th
 century) that was variously a refuge for the poor and a prison,
and a round tower (12th/13th century) that was a guard post. 

The 12th C. Church of Saint-Pierre.

Left: The 16th century tomb of Saint Euchaire, who was martyred in nearby Pompey in the 4th 
century. After his beheading, legend says he returned to the church in Liverdun carrying his
head under his arm. It sounds a lot like the martyred Saint Denis in Paris, who also went for a
stroll after being beheaded. Apparently for these very righteous people, losing your head does
 not affect your ability to walk.
Right: old frescoes painted on an interior column.

All play and no work doesn't get boat projects done, so we decided to stay close to "home" for the next few days. We were also approaching a holiday weekend here (Fete Nationale, or "Bastille Day" to English speakers on Monday, July 14) and didn't want to mess around with holiday schedules for trains or tourist offices. It wasn't all work the last few days. We've had some social get togethers with Russ and Julie, an Australian couple we met at the Port de France in Toul, and who pulled into TSNI last Thursday to get their boat prepped for winter storage before they return to Australia in August. 

Pat, Julie, and Russ having dinner at the port. TSNI has the
equivalent of a food truck, and they offer dinner (usually pizza)
on Friday and Saturday nights.

Toul had its holiday fireworks show on Saturday night, 
July 12, with the cathedral as backdrop. That's earlier than
 most towns (who usually do their fireworks on the 13th or 14th),
 but it does help them to attract a large crowd. Interestingly, the
 soundtrack to the fireworks wasn't patriotically French, but
 Hollywood movie music from Star Wars, James Bond, and others.

We went for another bike ride on Sunday morning, this time along the now closed-to-navigation stretch of the Marne au Rhin Canal Ouest that runs between Toul and the junction with the Canal de la Meuse to the north. It's a stretch of waterway that we've not cruised, so we were curious to see what it was like. The landscape along the canal was, except for a short stretch of industrial development, very pleasant, but the overwhelming impression of the canal itself was weeds--lots and lots of weeds.

This was the only boat we saw all day on the 10 or 11 kilometers
of canal that we cycled along. As all boats should have vacated the
canal prior to the closure, we are wondering if this is a matter
of mechanical difficulties--or water too shallow for a sailboat.
The amount of weed was typical for most of the waterway.

The approach to the Foug Tunnel.

A sad sight--a port and canal empty of boats, but full of weed,
 at our turnaround point of Lay-St-Remy.

Today may be a French holiday, but it's been a workday for us. Tomorrow, we hope to be on a train to one of the nearby towns that had significant historical importance in Lorraine. And it's back to work tomorrow for the French, so we hope it will be "the day" that more progress is made in resolving our bow thruster problem.