On the Cusp of the New

New waterway for us, that is. We arrived yesterday in Pont l'Eveque, which is where we made our turn up the Canal du Nord about 2 weeks ago on our way to the Somme. We're spending the day here, but when we start cruising tomorrow, we will be heading south on a stretch of the Canal lateral a l'Oise that will be new to us. After 14 kilometers we will pass into the Oise River, and 94 kilometers later we will arrive in the Port de Cergy, where C.A.R.I.B. III will spend the winter.  In theory, according to the route calculations of our navigation software, we could be in Cergy with only 3 cruising days of very moderate length (4-5 hours). But why rush? It seems as though we haven't had a lot of opportunity this summer to take the truly relaxed pace we had been hoping for before our cruising season began. So, with the vnf assuring us that water depth will not be an issue for us as we cruise south, and the fact that our contract with the port doesn't start until September 1, we are really going to try to live up to our name during these next ten-to-twelve days: Chill and Relax It's Bargetime. Our intent is to cruise in short segments and take days off as warranted, so that we can take advantage of being in an area that seems to be chock full of interesting things.

We left Cappy (on the Somme) last Monday, August 15, which was a national holiday in France, the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. It's interesting that in a country in which secularism in public life (but freedom of worship in private life) was codified into law in 1905, roughly half of the public holidays represent feast days in the Catholic church. Why? It seems it would not be politically expedient to take away long-standing popular holidays. 

When we left the Port of Cappy on Monday morning, the park had been
taken over by a village "brocante"--flea market

It had rained a bit on Sunday night, so the air was nice and fresh on Monday morning. It was a pleasant, uneventful cruise to our exit from the Somme and our stop in Peronne.

New Zealand friends John and Margaret left Cappy just ahead of us and preceded us into this lock on the Somme. When the Somme met the Canal du Nord, they turned left to the north (their winter
mooring is in the Netherlands) and we turned right to head south

Cappy was a haven for kayakers

Despite the canal being bordered by trees in many spots, there were
open areas that served to remind us that we were in a very agricultural
part of France

We'd stopped in Peronne for one night on our way to the Somme, but weren't there long enough to do much other than shop for groceries and make an aborted attempt to get water. Now, with water tank nearly full, we decided that it was a great idea to spend two nights in Peronne so that we could have time to see what the town was all about. Its position on the Somme River made it a historically important crossroads, but its location also caused it great suffering through the years. They must be a resilient people to keep rebuilding after devastation by the Germans (1870) during the Franco-Prussian war, nearly total destruction during WWI, and bombing by the German air force in May 1940. One of the reasons for us to visit Peronne was to see one of the major French museums focusing on WWI, the Historial de la Grande Guerre.

The WWI museum is housed in the restored castle of Peronne. The
four towers were built at the end of the 12th century. The castle was
much more complete prior to WWI

This photograph behind this memorial display in the museum shows
the extent of damage sustained by the castle in WWI

Lon in one of the display rooms in the museum. The information was
certainly comprehensive, but in the end, felt to us a bit "dry" and
too much to absorb in one visit

For as much damage as the town sustained during the last 150 years, there was still enough "history" to keep us interested. How much was original and how much was restoration was a little difficult to judge, although based upon some of the photos we saw, they've done a masterful job of restoration.

The Saint-Jean-Baptiste church. It was originally built in 
the early 16th century. It has the moniker of "the martyr edifice"
because of how much damage it sustained in 1870, 1914-1918, 
and 1940-45

Peronne's war memorial, "Picardy cursing the
war", represents a woman on her knees weeping over
the body of a dead soldier, shaking her fist in anger

The Grand Place and the Hotel de Ville (town hall) in the center. The town hall is another "martyr edifice", due to how many times it's been damaged and reconstructed over the years

One of our favorite bits was the remnants of the ramparts. Peronne was a completely fortified border city, and its ramparts date from the early 17th century. They were damaged during WWI and later restored.

The "Porte de Bretagne" (gate to Britain) 

Lon in the park that was created at the exterior of the ramparts

We love moats! 

We left Peronne on Wednesday morning, August 17, uncertain what we were going to encounter with the "boat grouping" that was in place on the waterway. As it turned out, we encountered no other pleasure boat traffic traveling with or close to us, so boat grouping became a non-issue. There wasn't a lot of commercial boat traffic either, but whether that is the usual state of affairs or because it is August--traditional vacation season in France--we're not sure. All we know is that our timing was awesome in that we got through seven locks and one tunnel with little to no waiting during the two days it took for us to cruise from Peronne to Pont l'Eveque.

North entrance to the Tunnel de Paneterrie, just over 1 kilometer long

Lest we forget, the canals are still a source of income to many commercial
bargees. Here, loading grain is a family affair

We overnighted (again) on a quay called Port d'Ercheu. This
time we thought we'd investigate the village that gave the quay its
name. Very quiet, rebuilt after WWI. Like many French villages
these days, it's mostly a bedroom community without much in the
way of local services like bakeries or other stores

Another sign that many commercial barges are a family affair. This was 
a playground placed atop the barge; a young boy was at the controls
(under the direction of an adult) when the barge left the lock

This was our "entertainment" when moored along the Ercheu quay--
the potato harvest was in full swing. They were working until late in the
evening, and when we awoke at 4 a.m. they were working by
lights in the field

We arrived in Pont l'Eveque around lunchtime on Thursday, August 18. After a bit of "down time" to relax after the cruising exertions of the morning, we set off on our bicycles to a small community just downstream. It turns out that the little town of Chiry-Ourscamp has two buildings of some importance: the chateau of Mennechet and the Notre-Dame Abbey Ourscamp. 

The Chateau Mennechet was designed in the late 19th century to be an art gallery. It wasn't finished before the owner died in 1903 and never served its intended purpose. It suffered damage in WWI and WWII and was never restored. It was abandoned for a long time and almost demolished, but is now registered as a historic monument. We saw no evidence of active restoration, but the grounds were mowed and there weren't big piles of rubble, so perhaps there is hope.

Lon outside the locked gate to the Chateau Mennechet

More accessible was our next stop, the Notre-Dame Abbey Ourscamp. Founded in the 10th century, the abbey was, in the 13th century, home to about 400 monks. The complex is mostly in ruins these days, the victim of the wars which ravaged the rest of the region. Many of the church ruins are from buildings constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries; other remaining buildings are from the 17th and 18th centuries. It never ceases to amaze me how many abbeys and monasteries were created in the Middle Ages--and the resources that were required to build and maintain those gigantic edifices.

The gate to the abbey courtyard and the moat, both dating to 
a late 1700's reconstruction

The choir and what were monk's quarters (to the left) are the most intact portions of what was
the abbey church. It was a huge building

The Monastic Hospital, built about 1240 and originally the communal
hospital. It was changed into a chapel at the beginning of the 19th 
century. The inside has been completely restored; the outside still
bears evidence of the bombardments of the world wars

Of the two wings of the 18th century pavilion, only the left wing is habitable. Previously the
lodge of the abbot, it now houses the resident religious community. The right wing was
seriously damaged in WWI and is currently undergoing restoration

After our interesting outing we made the mistake of following the Google Maps route to get back to the boat. Things started fine, and then we were on a grass path. You'd think we would know better by now.