Decision Time

We survived the intense heat of Monday and Tuesday, and are currently enjoying a much cooler, cloudy, showery day today.

We're now a few days into our stay at the Port de l'Abbaye in Hautmont and we are still not quite certain what the rest of our cruising season holds--or where we'll end up for the winter. If I understood his French correctly, the port captain said that he would let us know about the availability of winter space in this port before our week here is up on Friday. It would be nice to know sooner rather than later, but so far we are still waiting to hear. Responses from two ports just outside of Paris indicated that they each have space for a boat our size and invited us to send applications, but they are, by far, the most expensive options, so we are waiting to see whether this port is going to work or not. One additional inquiry resulted in "we don't know yet if there will be space", one responded that we are too big for their port, and we are still waiting for responses from two or three others. We'll need to take some kind of action by the 21st.

During our respite this past week, we've taken two interesting, short excursions to nearby towns. On Sunday the 17th, we cycled 14 km (about 8.5 miles) to the town of Bavay, population 3,500. Known as Bagacum in Roman times, the town was at the crossroads of 7 Roman roads, a strategic location that allowed it to become an important center for Belgian Gaul and the capitol of the Nerviens (a powerful Belgic tribe). Bavay contains the vestiges of the largest Roman forum discovered in France, in fact, it's one of the largest in the Roman Empire. (A Roman forum was a meeting place that brought together administrative, judicial, and religious interests.) It has been known since at least the 18th century that something Roman was under all the lumps and bumps and buildings in that part of town. Following a German bombardment in 1940 that destroyed many of the homes and businesses that had been build atop the forum site, it was decided not to rebuild over the forum and excavations kicked into high gear.

Exterior view of the site when approaching the entry point. The forum
was built in phases between the 1st and 3rd centuries. The exterior
shows fortification walls that were added in the 3rd century to meet
the barbarian threats that were increasing at that time 

The site is opposite the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption
near the center of Bavay 

A model of the forum. Most of the largest remnants
are from the later fortification wall and from the subterranean
structures from all eras of construction

View from the eastern end toward the west. Exposed wall to the 
south (left in photo). The entire site is over 6 acres in size, and much
of the northern part of the forum is still underground awaiting
archeological investigation

A portion of the cryptoportico, a semi-subterranean gallery whose
arches supported the structures aboveground. The roof above the 
ruins was installed in May of this year to help prevent
further deterioration of the Roman structures

Pat walking along the south interior

Our second excursion was a re-visit to the town of Maubeuge, where we had stayed one night last week on a "sketchy" dock, but whose Vauban fortifications piqued our interest. Hot as yesterday promised to be (and it did ultimately reach 101 degrees), we decided that if we left early enough in the day we could spend a couple of hours in Maubeuge and make it back to the boat before it got too hot. An 8 a.m. departure and a mere 7 kms/25 minutes later found us walking on and amidst the ramparts. Vauban was the military genius of Louis XIV, and Louis gave him lots of projects in France and beyond. 

After the French gained control of Maubeuge in the late 1600's, Louis ordered Vauban to fortify the city. Vauban had the old medieval walls pulled down, and restructured the town's defensive structures. The initial work was finished in 1685. Various modifications were made in the 1700's and 1800's. 

The Porte de Mons, a large building in the front for troops and 
technical and administrative functions . . .

. . . a triumphal arch in the back, complete with drawbridge over
what we'll call Moat#1

And, following the cobbled path from the porte, we can see Moat#2

Walking to a high overlook allows us to see Moat#3

Lon tries to figure out how to breach the walls in Moat#2

A panoramic shot of the fortifications

Of course, this was the nice, clean, restored section of the fortifications. Amazingly, 2/3 of Vauban's walls survive, but much of it resides in what is now parkland and is slowly being taken over by Mother Nature, pending future reclamation projects. 

Waiting for the TLC that only lots of euros can provide

The current layout of the Vauban fortifications. The "fully"
restored sections lie between the zoo and the "vous etes ici." The
other sections (green) have some restored sections, but most are
awaiting work. The other 1/3 of the fortifications were torn down
decades ago, to allow for town growth across the river

The town of Hautmont where we are currently staying is also rather old, dating back to the 7th century. One of the most famous abbeys of the region was built here. In the 19th century, the industrial revolution came to town, and for a while Hautmont was referred to as "the city of 1000 chimneys." Not much of that particular legacy still exists.

The Hautmont Abbey has seen better days, but apparently there are options being discussed for its repair and use. Most of the existing building is 18th century and managed to escape destruction after the French Revolution

Sunrise view of Hautmont from CARIB. The port is part of the
town's urban redevelopment

Being stationary for a few days has given us the opportunity to meet some of the boaters who are passing through this part of France. 

We enjoyed conversation with New Zealanders John and Margaret,
who are also "refugees" of the canal closures to the east and south

A bit of a disturbing event today. There is a nasty, oily sheen on the river. The fire brigades came out in force, as seen below. I'd hoped they'd find the source quickly and deal with it, but even several hours later there is still oil or fuel floating downriver past us, and I worry about the birds that use the waterway. So far, they seem to be smart enough to stay out of the water, but they can't do that forever.