Unbelievable

It's been an eventful few days, to say the least. Our Saturday in Beez was spent pondering the pros and cons of our various cruising options in light of the recent closure of the Canal de la Meuse , and the port captain there gave us a helpful perspective. In the end, we decided that it was safest to take the Sambre route. Decision made, we did a little last-minute exploration of the area around Beez.

The white cross--and the letter "A" formed from
shrubbery-- marks the spot where Belgian King Albert I died
 in 1934 while rock climbing in an area of
cliffs known as "Marche-les-Dames." At the time, conspiracy
theorists postulated that he had been killed elsewhere and his
body planted at the site. In 2016, DNA testing of bloody
leaves that had been taken from the site lent support to the
official version of the king's death

One of our concerns about cruising the Sambre was the amount of commercial barges that we had observed in Namur on Friday entering and leaving the Sambre. It's a narrower river than the Meuse, and we were uncertain about what commercial traffic might mean for us in terms of delays at locks. As it turned out, cruising on a Sunday was probably the best thing we could have done, as it seemed that all of the commercial bargees must have been taking the day off. We had the waterway nearly to ourselves; we saw no commercial traffic and very little pleasure boat traffic.

Turning onto the Sambre River in Namur, we cruised under
the cable cars making their way to and from the Citadel

It's a small world--and a nearly unbelievable coincidence that of
the few boats we saw, we again encountered fellow Americans
 Dave & Becky on Wanderlust. (They were moored next to us when we were at
 Port Royal in Auxonne, and we met them in Void, France
 during 2021's cruise.) It's very strange the way our cruises keep coinciding,
 but like last year, we were headed in opposite directions

We had thought that the landscape between Namur and the next large city "down the road", Charleroi, would be heavily industrial. Although there was some industry noted on this first day, for the most part it was a pleasant and pretty cruise.

We almost stopped for the evening in Floreffe, under the watchful
eye of the former Abbey of Premontres (founded 1121 and rebuilt
in the 17th and 18th centuries), now a seminary. However,
mindful of our Schengen deadline, we moved on a bit further

Our cruise on Monday gave us some of the "grit" that we'd been expecting earlier. The closer we got to the city of Charleroi (literally "King Charles," after the 17th century's Charles II, King of Spain and the Netherlands), an industrial center trying to make its way back after a period of decline, the more "unlovely" landscape we saw. The cruise through Charleroi and its numerous abandoned industrial buildings felt a lot like a portion of our Great Loop cruise in 2014, when the "Cal-Seg" took us through the industrial areas south of Chicago. Very dismal. Getting to the other side of Charleroi and back into more natural surroundings put me in mind of the scene in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy steps out of black and white Kansas into colorful Oz.

The Charleroi waterfront felt very bleak

Ahhhh . . . back into more restful surroundings

Monday evening found us on a quay with a view of the ruins of  l'Abbye d'Aulnes. Originally founded in the 7th century, the buildings fell victim to destruction by post-Revolutionary French in 1794. We weren't really in a town in the usual sense, but there were several restaurants in the area, and it was humming with people

The Abbey was imposing, even in its decrepit state. Adjacent to the 
ruins was a fancy wedding and events center

We were a curiosity for this group of youngsters 

A short 2-hour cruise on Tuesday brought us to the lovely little town of Thuin. The elevation of the upper town was a good test for our e-bikes. As it turned out, the elevation wasn't a problem, but the cobbles were a killer.

Coming into Thuin. The belfry tower (1640) in the upper town is 
all that remains of the collegiate church that was destroyed in 1811

Here we are in Bird Song Park overlooking the old ramparts
and terraced gardens

An unobstructed view of the "suspended gardens" and ramparts of the medieval town. The terracing was part of the defensive structures

Lon descends a passageway through the city wall
to get to a pathway amidst the terraced gardens

Narrow streets and old buildings of medieval Thuin.

Someone really liked bird decorations--how
very Alfred Hitchcock

After we left Charleroi, the locks on the Sambre shrank to the "Freycinet" gauge that we encounter on many of the French canals. The largest commercial barges that can pass through these locks cannot exceed 38 meters in length. The locks were manually operated, which meant telephoning the locks to request passage (always a joy with my limited grasp of French.) Fortunately, I only had to phone the first lock of the day, and that lock keeper would notify the other locks that we would be needing passage.

Pat assisting the lock keeper at one of the manual Belgian locks

On Wednesday the 13th we passed from Belgium into France, beating our 90-day Schengen area deadline by 4 days. Not that anyone checks at the border, but still. Whew! The French have automated their locks, so we collected a remote-control device from the first lock we went through in France.

Not a "Telecommande for Dummies"--this
baby does it all

It was a rather warm day, and so we were happy to be able to stop shortly after noon in the town of Jeumont, about 3 km beyond the border. It was a great town quay, complete with electricity and water, and all for no cost. We had lunch, were winding down, and then came the knock on the door. So sorry, you can't stay here, there are fireworks this evening in this area. (Bastille Day is the 14th, but some towns have their celebrations early.) Not happy, because there aren't a lot of mooring options in this part of the Sambre. But we had no choice except to start cruising and see what we could find. A town dock in Boussois just 4 km away was totally decrepit and couldn't be used, so 2 hours after we started, we finally ended up at a rather "sketchy" mooring in the town of Maubeuge.

The proverbial "port in a storm", because we wouldn't
have picked this place were we not so hot, tired, and
without other close options  

  

About 90% of the center of Maubeuge was destroyed in WWII, so 
the town lacks many historical buildings. However, it had retained
 extensive fortifications dating back to Vauban in the late 17th century
(and later modifications). They're spread out over a large area and 
would be interesting to explore with more time

The Bastille Day celebrations in Maubeuge included live music in the town square

Our July 14th didn't go quite as planned. We thought that about 45 minutes of cruising would get us to the marina in Hautmont, but we didn't count on the lock that was impassable because it was shut down for the Bastille Day holiday. 

A Bastille Day parade in Hautmont--and the lock we
couldn't use

It was an easy day--a walk to check out the port and the town, relaxation, and dinner on the boat--and then came the knock at the door by local law enforcement. So sorry, you can't stay here, there are fireworks here this evening. Unbelievable--again? It was our very own version of Groundhog Day. Fortunately, we didn't have to move far; we were told we could stay on the wall just prior to the lock gates. And we did have the consolation of a front row seat for what turned out to be rather decent fireworks for a small town. The lock should be working again tomorrow, and we'll be at the marina before we know it.

As it has turned out, our decision to take the "Sambre option" was the correct one. A notice came out from the VNF announcing the closure of a portion of the Canal de la Marne au Rhin Ouest, which means that we now have no alternate way to cruise to Toul and must find a different winter mooring site. We'll be inquiring here in Hautmont, and hope they will be able to solve that particular problem for us. We're going to stay here for a few days anyway to give us time, if needed, to investigate what other marina options might be out there and avoid cruising during a brief heat wave early next week. Hopefully we can get where we need to go before all of the canals are closed!

No rain in sight and 100 degrees is forecast for Tuesday.