Hurry Up and Wait

Well, we thought we were going to cruise to Toul on Thursday, June 26, but the weather had other ideas. We had quite a thunderstorm overnight after the intense heat of the 25th--amazingly strong winds as the storm approached made us glad we had 4 lines attaching us to the quay. The aftermath on June 26 was a much cooler day, but also a very breezy one. Knowing that the final stretch to Toul would involve entering small locks in the final stretch, going through narrow bridges, and maneuvering in possibly tight quarters in a port--not that easy with a barge and no bow thruster, even in light wind conditions--made us reconsider the wisdom of leaving a perfectly good quay. We OK'd our stay with the vnf lock keepers and rescheduled our arrival with Port de France in Toul.

We took advantage of the "off" day to do some advance scouting in Toul. It was only 10 kilometers or so by bike, about a 30-minute ride. It was really helpful to get an early look at the junction where we would leave the Moselle River and enter into the lock taking us onto the Marne au Rhin Ouest (West) Canal, as well as the mooring situation in the port. We saved all other sightseeing for when we were resident in the port.

The photo is a distorted, but that's what happens when trying to photograph a 110-meter barge
that was staring us down on the quay upstream of the Villey-sur-Sec lock. 

The winds were much more reasonable on the 27th, and as we were advised by the port captain at Port de France to arrive by late morning, we got a fairly early start at 8 a.m. The river cruising was easy. The canal cruising--not so much. The initial lock was fine, but the next lock was out-of-order, and we had to call for assistance. The canal has a lot of weed, which made it necessary for Lon to apply a lot of power to move us out of that second lock. We then had to wait some minutes for a lift bridge to be opened. What was interesting is that, during the final stretch, we cruised under the shadow of the old city ramparts in what used to be the city moat. The final lock was apparently acting up, so an eclusier was already there to assist us, and after a slightly tricky entry into the lock following a twisty-turny approach, we finally made it to the port. It took "only" (sarcasm intended) an hour-and-a-half to cover about 3 kilometers of canal.

By this time, we had already decided that the weather forecast was showing way too many hot days in the near future, and that a longer stay in Toul would be prudent. CARIB has RV-type air conditioning units, and they can work from our solar power during the day. In order to have AC at night, however, we would need to be plugged into shore power, hence the advisability of staying in port during the heat wave. We knew we could fit in our sightseeing during the cooler morning hours, and "hunker down" on the boat in the AC during the intense heat of the latter part of the day. That first afternoon in Toul was used for taking care of business--some long-delayed grocery shopping for me, and a visit by Lon to TSNI Marine, a boat repair business not far back down the canal, to discuss possible bow thruster repairs. Sunday through Wednesday mornings saw us completing short sightseeing expeditions.

Present-day Toul is not a large town, with a population of about 17 thousand, but it has a very important past. It has been a fortified city for 15 centuries, the first ramparts being installed at the end of the 4th century as part of the "castrum" of a settlement in Roman Gaul.

All that remains of the 4th century castrum is this section of rock behind some apartment buildings.
It's a rather sad, neglected site, one the city doesn't see fit to include on their walking tour.

Walking through Toul leaves an impression that most buildings are of fairly new construction, that is, going back decades rather than centuries. Much of this is probably due to the fact that, due to its strategic location, Toul has been subject to numerous military operations over the years. Most recently, it was heavily damaged in WWII bombings. Despite this, some vestiges of the past have managed to survive, and we paid due attention to them on our city walking tour.

One aspect of the historical city layout that is very obvious is the city wall. Throughout its history, military architecture has made its mark on Toul: the Roman castrum noted above was followed by 12th century walls, which were then followed by bastioned fortifications built by Louis XIV's military engineer Vauban in the early 1700's, which were followed by further fortifications after Toul became a French border town when Alsace was lost to Germany in 1870. Toul is the only city in the former administrative region of Lorraine to retain a city wall.

The ramparts of Toul.

The Metz Gate, the only original gate in the enclosure created by Vauban. It was
closed due to ongoing restoration.

Will work for grass--the city maintains a flock of sheep as an
"environmentally friendly" landscaping team for portions
 of the ramparts.

Also in the 4th century, Toul was evangelized, and became the episcopal seat of a huge diocese. The bishops of Toul held supreme ecclesiastical and political power as counts in the 10th century, and the town ultimately became linked with the dioceses of Verdun and Metz. Toul went under French protection in the mid-16th century and later became part of the kingdom of France. It lost its standing as a bishopric to the city of Nancy in the late 18th century, when Nancy became part of France. Saint Stephen's Cathedral, under construction from 1221 to 1496, is a continuing testament to the power formerly wielded by the bishops of Toul. 

The cathedral is currently owned by the city of Toul. Its roof,
a large rose window, and the organ were destroyed during 
WWII bombings in June 1940. Most of the exterior statuary
 of saints was removed during the French Revolution.

The relics of the Cathedral in a Renaissance-era 
chapel: Saint Gerard, Saint Aprones, and a companion
of Saint Ursula. 

Restoration work is still ongoing, but the Cathedral in general
seems to be in decent shape. The restored vault in the
nave was given its original colors.

The cloister, built in the 13th and 14th centuries, is
one of the largest Gothic cloisters in France. 

The stuff of (my) nightmares: not all is peaceful and contemplative
when exploring cathedrals. This bad boy was huge.

Adjacent to the cathedral was the former bishop's palace. The
original building was commissioned in 1739. After the French 
Revolution and the abolition of the bishopric of Toul, the building
was confiscated and sold to the city of Toul to become the city
hall. The current building is a restoration following a 1939 fire.

Saint-Gengoult's Collegiate Church was a second very
large catholic church in town. Construction started in 1240 and
ended in 1510, leaving the facade unfinished. Its construction
was financed by the wealthy citizens of the town who wished
to distance themselves from the power of the bishops.

Saint-Gengoult's was badly in need of restoration, but it
still maintained some 12th-century stained glass.

One of the old survivors was this former apothecary's house.
The carving above the large window contains a mortar and pestle,
the instruments used for the preparation of medicines. 

Morning coffee and conversation is a favorite French pastime,
especially on a Saturday morning.

The former Cafe de la Comedie (1903) and the city theater (1892).
The buildings were preserved, but not their original function.

The Place des Trois-Eveches (a reference to Toul's religious past), which feels like
 the city center--four streets run from it to the four gates of the city's fortifications. The
fountain was constructed post-WWII on the site of a district destroyed by the 
bombings in June 1940. The desk lamps are temporary installations that are part of a
summer light show at several spots in Toul. 

The aforementioned light show, Rayonances, consists of illuminations and music at several sites throughout Toul. It started on June 28 and continues to the end of August. It is free to the public, and was an interesting way to get a different perspective on a few places we'd seen during our daytime walking tour. Twilight comes very late to France this time of year, so we couldn't start our wandering on June 30 until after 9:30 p.m., but at least the air temperature had dropped by then.

Left: a view of the cathedral cloister's garden in the day.
Right: a view of the cloister garden with its illuminations.

Another perspective on the cathedral cloister. The colors of
the lights kept changing.

Give him credit for trying, but Lon still wasn't
as scary as the spider.

The front of the cathedral and the artistic butterfly motif. 

The lights in the garden behind the Hotel de Ville (city hall).

Our "we were here" moment.

Saint-Gengoult's Collegiate Church had a lovely, albeit smaller, cloister than the
 cathedral. At left, the stork certainly seemed to enjoy the view.

The music playing at the Saint-Gengoult's Church was
very New Age, very melodic. It was definitely good for
promoting a contemplative spirit.

On the morning of July 1 we were as early as we could be to get another perspective on Toul--from the top of the south tower of the cathedral. Every year, our knees complain a little bit more about being forced to climb stairs, but the views are usually worth it. At 10 a.m. the air temperatures were already oppressive, but the thick stone of the building kept things relatively cool on the climb.

Was this really graffiti from 1734, or a modern-day prank?

Left: some very interesting creatures populate the upper regions of the cathedral.
Upper right: a bird's eye view of the cathedral cloister.
Lower right: looking over the fortifications toward the Moselle.

I was happy to see that the circular stairs weren't
claustrophobia inducing.

Our final "tourist moment" came on the morning of July 2, when we went to the Toul Museum of Art and History in the former Maison-Dieu, a historic monument with elements from the 12th and 17th centuries. Unfortunately, most of the collection was not available for viewing because of restoration work being undertaken in the building. Only the Lapidary Room was open, with an eclectic combination of exhibits.

Lon looking at exhibits.

The Maison-Dieu.

A 15th C stone carving, the Adoration of the Magi,
originally part of Saint-Stephen's Cathedral in Toul.

A Roman-era dugout canoe found near a village just to
the southeast of Toul. 

Wednesday, July 2, was the last really hot day of the current heat wave. The timing was good, because we had an appointment the morning of July 3 at TSNI Marine to have the front of CARIB lifted out of the water so that the bow thruster could be removed and evaluated for the parts that would be needed. We already knew by this point that the motor was likely an issue as well, as that had been delivered to Jean-Paul at TSNI earlier in the week to determine if it could be repaired or would have to be replaced.

Waiting for the trailer and its hydraulic lift to be brought
to the boat ramp.

The bad news was that our motor was "toast" and would have to be replaced. Finding a reconditioned or new one that fits could be a challenge. As for the bow thruster seal, we were told "next week" for the parts to be here, so for the time being we are moored against a large residential barge amongst the collection of boats at the facility and we will wait. The dry weather continues, and cruising conditions are deteriorating throughout the canal system in France. Several canals are now closed to through navigation, but not yet the waterways that we are intending to travel after our maintenance issue is resolved. Still, it's a bit of "deja vu" from our 2022 season.