Getting Underway

Our final few days in Maasbracht last week were busy with cleaning, shopping, finalizing the bill with Tinnemans, a few short bike rides in the area, visits to favorite restaurants, and all of the other things that needed doing before we could cast off on Friday, July 1, to start south.

For these few days in Maasbracht we were moored in the harbor for transient boats

Much as we appreciated the mooring spot that Tinnemans provided when work was being done,
we have to admit that the happy hour view of the Juliana Canal was better from our mooring
spot in the harbor

After some storms passed through on Thursday evening, we were left with a breezy, cool morning to start our return to France.

Commercial barge--and pleasure boat--traffic was pretty constant during our cruise on the 
Juliana Canal

We rode up the 2nd lock of the day with 5 other pleasure
boats. It was the most turbulent experience we've had
in a large lock. We were large enough and far enough back in
 the lock so that we were not affected too much,
 but the smaller boats were getting moved around pretty well

We're backtracking on the route that we followed last year on our way to Maasbracht, which means that our first stop has been the city of Maastricht. We liked Maastricht a lot when we were here last August (and again, briefly, with cousin Frank in May) and are glad to be here again.

No old, historic port for us this year. We decided to take advantage of the free moorings along a quay that stretches between two bridges in the Maas. Mooring here can be in high demand during the summer, so another boat rafted to us when the wall space ran out

Lon on the bridge abutment that overlooks the mooring quay. The oldest part of Maastricht is
to the right. Lots of steps up and down, so the bikes are staying on the boat

We are able to see a constant "boat parade" from where we sit,
as the main channel of the Maas is just on the other side of the wall--
barges, river cruise ships, tourist day cruises, and all manner of
pleasure boats

We'd explored the center of town pretty thoroughly last August, so for a different experience we walked to St. Pietersburg Hill on the south side of Maastricht. There we toured old Fort St. Pieter and the nearby Northern Caves.

The French captured Maastricht in 1673 (during the Franco-Dutch War) after a siege directed by the French military engineer Vauban took advantage of the elevation provided by St. Pietersburg Hill (Fun Fact: The French Musketeer d'Artagnan, made famous by "Three Musketeers" writer Alexandre Dumas, participated in this campaign and was killed by a musket ball on June 25, 1673). The city was returned to the Dutch a few years later, and around 1700 a fort was constructed on the hill to provide better defenses and keep the advantage of height from any subsequent invaders. 

The lower level was constructed around 1700, the upper level
in the 1800's. The fort was never taken, but then again, it only 
participated in one battle--in 1793, with the French again--and the
Dutch won that engagement

The "strategic view" of Maastricht from the top of Fort St. Pieter

While on the hill we also toured a portion of what are called the "caves of Maasbracht", but which are really a collection of limestone quarries that originated in the 13th century. Over the centuries, huge limestone blocks were cut from the ground to be used in multiple construction projects. When the industry no longer made economic sense, portions of the cave complex were turned over to tourism. During WWII the caves provided sanctuary and/or an escape route to Belgium for several thousand citizens. In that same period a "vault" was also constructed in order to store many valuable Dutch artworks, including Rembrandt's "The Night Watch."

A map that shows the tunnel system that existed in the "caves". The mining created thousands of tunnels and chambers; we saw just a small portion of the tunnels comprising the section in the upper right of the photo

As part of the "rebranding" of the caves as a tourist attraction, 
artists were allowed to create charcoal drawings. There is nothing
ancient about this Cleopatra--she is purely a 20th century creation

We had originally planned to continue cruising today and enter Belgium, but the boat had other ideas. Some electrical issues that we thought had been resolved have reappeared, so we are currently awaiting a "house call" from the electrician who worked on C.A.R.I.B. III in Maasbracht. Fingers crossed that it can be diagnosed and fixed quickly. 

Besides just a general wish to be moving, I have another reason for wanting to cross the border. It appears Dutch bees have taken an interest in me, as I have been stung twice in the last week.  It's not as though I have been aware of doing things to either attract or anger bees, but it seems not to matter. I'm getting a little tired of itchy, irritated skin, and am hoping that Belgian bees will ignore me.