Heading East

Yesterday, July 26, we exited the Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne at the town of Vitry-le-François. The two days prior included a rest day in St. Dizier (July 24) and cruising toward Vitry (July 25).

St. Dizier was a largish town that had as lively a commercial center as we had seen in some time. The town originated in the 13th century as a fortified chateau. It became a royal fortress helping to protect the east of France and eventually an industrial center. Much of the industry revolved around metallurgy, although some of the now-vacant commercial buildings on the city's outskirts indicates that industries are in transition.

A portion of the surviving medieval ramparts, still
"protecting" the medieval castle (now a police sub-prefecture).

In 1775, fire destroyed 2/3 of the walled city.
This half-timbered building is one of the few
remnants of pre-1775 St. Dizier.

In our cruise on Sunday, July 25, we encountered more than one lock with thick, thick weed infestation. We had to call for vnf assistance at our very first lock in St. Dizier, which was not completely surprising to us, as we had watched several boaters having trouble with the lock the previous day.

The lock gates of a French écluse: the modern-day
equivalent of The Hanging Gardens of Babylon (one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World).

Fields of sunflowers, which brighten even cloudy days.
 Sunflower oil is used widely in France.

Apparently "boats in locks" is a spectator sport here.

It's always sad to see an old lock keepers house that
is no longer used, but this one actually looked nice
with the green shutters and the roses.

We boated in and out of showers on the 25th.

Lon really knows how to show a girl a 
good time

The sun came out later.

Happy Campers.

Leaving the last lock on the Canal entre
Champagne et Bourgogne at Vitry-le-François.

We don't have much to say about Vitry-le-François. It is an important waterways crossroads, sitting as it does at the confluence of three canals. However, we never made it to the center of town to see what was there. We were moored canalside at the only remaining boatyard in town and spent the afternoon of the 26th getting information from the owner of the boatyard about available services, stocking up on groceries, and relaxing on the boat while staying out of the intermittent rain. 

We had further discussions this morning with the boatyard owner, but we had pretty much decided yesterday to keep our options open and stay with Plan D, i.e., we're going to cruise east on the Canal de la Marne au Rhin Ouest to the point where it meets the Canal de la Meuse. At our hoped-for rate of travel we should be there by August 4 or 5. Then it's decision time: turn north on the canal de la Meuse toward the Netherlands; continue on the Marne au Rhin Ouest to the Canal des Vosges and the Petite Saone to take us back to our starting point of Auxonne; or make an about-face and go back to the boatyard in Vitry. There are a lot of factors involved in the decision, so we truly will just have to wait and see.

The purple lines cross at Vitry. We've completed the
"left" portion. We have just started the "right" portion, 
and will go through 80 locks over 111 km before we reach
the Canal de la Meuse. It really isn't like mountain
climbing, just a lot of locks over a relatively short distance

The intersection of the Canal de la Marne au Rhin Ouest
and the Canal Lateral de la Marne.

A fallen tree narrows the canal.

The seven locks we went through today were
automated, and we triggered the lock preparations simply by
cruising past sensors installed about 300 meters
from the entrances to the locks.

More off-and-on rain today, and we're spending the evening at a lovely halte nautique adjacent to the town of Pargny-sur-Saulx.  

We thought the church looked a bit "new" compared to most of the churches we've seen in villages. It turns out there's a good reason for that. On September 6, 1914, the town was bombarded by the Germans during the First Battle of the Marne (Sept 6-12, 1914). 

A photo of the town after the bombardment and
resulting fires.

It was a sobering reminder of the part of the country we're in. The city of Verdun, which saw horrific action in WWI, is not that far away.