What Goes Around . . . Ends Up in Paris

With all scheduled projects and unscheduled repairs complete, on Wednesday, May 3, we cast off our lines and started our cruising for 2023. 

Our view of the entrance to Port Cergy as we started making our way north on the 
Oise River

The first few weeks of our cruising "aspirations" will take us on a circular route to the north and east of Paris. We are starting with the Oise River, backtracking to Compiegne on a section of river that we travelled last August. We then will turn right to cruise the Aisne River and Canal Lateral a la Aisne as far as the town of Berry-au-Bac; another right turn will take us onto the Canal de l'Aisne a la Marne to cruise to Conde-sur-Marne; from there we'll turn right onto the Marne River and follow it until it reaches the Seine, where we will turn right yet again. We will cruise the Seine briefly before making our final right turn into Port Arsenal in Paris in early June, where we will spend 3 weeks.

We travelled the Oise very slowly last summer and explored quite a bit, so we feel as though we don't need to linger long in any of the small towns on the Oise. We're saving our time for the other waterways that we've never been on, and which promise to have some stellar sites to explore. We have been lucky to have had sun, glorious sun, during our first two days on the water. It's been a lovely reminder of what spring can be like. 

We spent Wednesday night in the town of L'Isle Adam. There have been settlements in the area for centuries, and the name of the town is derived from that of a Lord Adam who, in the late 10th century, was entrusted with a castle that had been built on an island in the middle of the Oise. The descendants of Lord Adam ultimately took on the name "L'Isle Adam", as did the island and ultimately the town. These days, the town is a bit of a vacation spot for Parisians because it is only about 25 kilometers north-northwest of the gates of Paris, and very little of "old" L'Isle Adam remains.

The three-arched Cabouillet Bridge, the only one of three town bridges built around
1500 to have survived the years. Until the mid-1800's this channel was used for
transporting goods, but it is currently only navigable by very small vessels.

It's school vacation week in this part of France, and the local park was packed with families
on Wednesday. 

We shared a floating dock with a cruiser from the Netherlands.

Today was more of the same--mostly sunshine, and a lovely cruise up to the town of Creil, where we'd stayed for a few nights last August. We're in a different mooring spot, this time next to Ile St-Maurice in the middle of the Oise. It's a much quieter site, with very little traffic, and lots of adjacent parkland. 

The river is a little narrow here, but the wash from passing
barges hasn't bounced us around too much--yet.

In the Middle Ages there was an extremely large, fortified
castle on the island at Creil. This house was built over a part
of the former castle site. Excavations are currently ongoing
to uncover what remains underground of the original castle.

It seems that from tomorrow we're in for another extended cloudy, wet period. Perhaps good for replenishing France's water table; challenging for planning boating days and sightseeing.