Movin', Movin', Movin'

On Tuesday morning, July 20, we left Vieville and 5 hours later reached the Halte Nautique in Donjeux. At that point we decided to phone the vnf in hopes of getting information about the status of the canal closure ahead of us. Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, we were told that the Champagne et Bourgogne would be opened up the next morning. Not long after that conversation we received a notice to mariners in our e-mail with the official announcement of the opening of navigation. Good news indeed. The halte in Donjeuex was a nice enough place--quiet, peaceful, and a free mooring with electricity--but our time limitations and the distance yet to travel are always on our minds, so we were happy that we were going to be able to move on.

Weeds in the canal are occasionally a problem again.
This mass/mess was in the canal as we passed by the
halte nautique of Froncles on our way to Donjeux.

Maybe the bird lovers out there know what this bird is.
All I know is that its colors were stunning.

The French canal version of a branch library.

As small a village as Donjeux was, it boasted the 
lovely Chateau de Donjeux in the vicinity. The current
chateau is of 18th century construction and is built on
the site of the feudal fortress of the 11th century. The 
gardens would have been open for viewing, but we didn't
have enough energy to attempt the hill.

A short cruise on the 21st brought us to the now-accessible-to-us town of Joinville. In the Middle Ages it was the site of an important lordship in Champagne. Its medieval chateau-fort was demolished during the Revolution of 1789, but the 16th-century Chateau du Grand Jardin survives, has been restored, and is open to the public. 

Enjoying a self-guided tour of the chateau gardens
and the first floor of the chateau.

Very formal gardens in Renaissance French style. The
chateau had several gardens; this one was at the front
of the building.

One of the gardens in the back.

The Chateau du Grand Jardin and some of its gardens

Looking from the Chateau du Grand Jardin toward the hill upon
which can still be seen the remnants of the medieval fortress.

The Peceaux docks along a canal running through town.
"Peceaux" refers to wood stakes that were used to support grape
vines. Until the phylloxera infestation decimated French
viticulture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the
hills in the area were covered with grape vines. Until the 17th
century, the canal was used to fill the moats surrounding
the city's fortifications.

The Eglise (church) Notre Dame dates to the 12th century, although it was much restored in the 19th century (and the facade reflects that). 

One of the church's treasures is "St Joseph's Belt", 
brought back from the Seventh Crusade (mid-11th C) by
Jean de Joinville.

The timing of our visit to Joinville was good, in that July 21 was the date of the first concert in a "Festival d'orgue" to be held in the church with music played on the church's 1688 organ. The artist that evening was Juan Paradell Sole, organist emeritus at the Vatican in Rome. Two comments about the concert: 1) the music was enjoyable and 2) the pews were the most uncomfortable we have ever sat in. The seat was at a 90-degree angle to the back, and the top of the pew back had a strip of wood that forced us to lean forward. 

The old organ, placed as organs usually are, up
high and in the back of the church.

No neck-craning needed: a screen was erected in
the front of the church for our viewing pleasure.

We set an ambitious cruising schedule for ourselves on July 22nd. To take advantage of the continuing good weather, and with the prospect of a day in port on the 23rd, we decided to put in a long 8-hour day to go directly from Joinville to the city of St. Dizier. This would entail about 30 kilometers, 13 locks, and several lift bridges. We started relatively early, and for the first 3 hours things were great. But as the exit gates of Lock 50 just started to open they suddenly stopped. A call to the vnf was followed by a 30-minute wait for someone to show up to get us out of the lock. While waiting, we had the opportunity to contemplate the difference between regular time and "boat time" with respect to distances travelled.

As water poured over the back gate . . . 

. . . we contemplated the partially open doors
in front of us. Ah, freedom! So close and yet so far. 

And then we contemplated the sign on an adjacent building
 that said the Super U supermarket in Joinville was 10 minutes
 away. We had left Joinville (moored close to the Super U)
 3 hours earlier. And that is the difference between
 "regular time" and "boat time".

Despite the unexpected delay we still planned to end our day in St. Dizier. That is, until a recalcitrant lift bridge in Bienville sapped our will to continue and we stopped for the day at the village of Chamouilley, about 9 kilometers shy of St. Dizier. It turned out to be a restful stop and great for our frazzled nerves. The quay was spacious and the village had created a lovely park environment for residents and visiting boaters and campers.

There was one boat (not occupied) behind us on the quay, so we essentially had the mooring to
ourselves.

Our bike ride that evening took us to the neighboring
village of Roche-sur-Marne. For such a small village,
the church was a wonder.

A short cruise during the morning of July 23 and we are now in St. Dizier. 

As we sit at the Halte Nautique this Saturday morning, we are mulling over a potential Plan E. It may seem strange that Plan B was mentioned in the blog about two weeks ago, so how is it that we are already to the point of possibly implementing Plan E? It's simply that events and decisions to be made are oft-times moving faster than these blog entries are created. In this case, Plan C was our decision several days ago that we would not be making a trip to the UK this summer. The covid situation is changing so rapidly that we did not feel comfortable travelling out of the EU to a current "hot spot" and not knowing if we'd be able to re-enter the EU. We have not yet changed our return flights to the U.S., but that will happen soon. October 6 will become September 14 to keep us compliant with the 90-day Schengen limitation; we have yet to finalize our departure city. Plan D related to our proposed routing to the Netherlands. We had been hoping to go north to the Canal des Ardennes and from there to the Meuse and into Belgium. The problem is, the Canal des Ardennes is currently closed to navigation. It had a problem with its Lock 2 even before the flood, but according to a contact at the vnf, the recent flooding caused additional damage on the canal, which will likely keep it closed for several weeks. This leaves our only east-west option as the Canal de la Marne au Rhin (Quest), which then would intersect with the Canal de la Meuse to take us north. Because of the recent flooding, the Canal de la Meuse is still closed in its more northern sections, so we have to hope that it will soon reopen.

Covid uncertainties and canal uncertainties aside, another factor at play is the truism that boating and schedules are not a good mix. Our experience this summer is confirming that truth. Being limited to a 90-day visit this year, and having a rather ambitious cruising destination, is not allowing us to relax and explore the way we are accustomed to. All factors combined add a level of pressure to the journey that cannot be fully overcome, even as we glide through some beautiful areas and have enjoyable experiences. We feel the need to keep "movin', movin', movin'," but at the same time we fear getting too far and then being stopped short of our goal and in a less-than-optimal location for our needs.

Hence, exploring a possible Plan E seems wise. We recently became aware of a boatyard in the city of Vitry-le-Francois that has a dry dock and works on large barges. Vitry is at the beginning of the Champagne and Burgundy canal (only 30 km from St. Dizier), and we are making arrangements to stop by this yard and talk to them about the variety of projects that we were hoping to have done in the Netherlands. If we are comfortable with what we see and hear, it is entirely possible that we will decide to take the Netherlands out of the equation for this year and leave our boat in Vitry for the winter. We could then spend the last few weeks of our summer in relaxed cruising before leaving France.

Plan E? We may already be in Plan "punt" territory.  How exciting!