Cooking in France

No, this is not a discussion of French cuisine. Rather, it is a statement of what it feels like to be in the midst of a significant heat wave in France. We are now experiencing the second heat wave of the season and it's only June. The heat wave in May was uncomfortable, but the worst of it lasted just a few days. Here in northeast France, we are in the first stages of what is predicted to be a long-term event. When all is said and done, it is predicted that we will have nearly 2 weeks with daytime highs in the 90's (Fahrenheit), and mostly mid-to-upper 90's at that. Most of France is affected, as are Spain, Italy, Portugal, and other countries.

This is a screenshot of the Weather Channel forecast from today 
through Wednesday, June 25.

We arrived back in Toul yesterday afternoon, June 18. The 3 days to travel from Lagarde were not particularly eventful. We stayed Monday night (June 15) on the town quay of Einville-au-Jard, the former site of a ducal residence of the House of Lorraine (demolished in the early 19th century), and the current site of a variety of industries, including salt production. On June 16 we cruised slightly longer than normal (for us) in order to get to Nancy so that we could have Wednesday as a full day in the city. We find Nancy to be a beautiful town, but more than that, one of their movie theaters was showing "Disclosure Day" in Version Originale (English language soundtrack with French subtitles) and we always like to take advantage of English-language movies when we can.

Pretty typical for audience sizes we've encountered at
afternoon matinees. Ultimately, there were a total of 8
 of us that watched the movie.

Days are long this time of year in northern France. This is the light level
in Stanislas Square at around 8 p.m.

On the day we arrived in Nancy, toward the end of what had been an enjoyable cruise on the Marne au Rhin Est Canal, we saw a disquieting announcement from the vnf.  Apparently, the rains of the previous week had not done much to replenish the canals, because the guaranteed depth of a large section of the Marne au Rhin Ouest Canal--which would be our route out of Toul on the way to the Netherlands--was being reduced to 1.4 meters. CARIB's water draft is 1.1 meters, so the water depth was becoming uncomfortably "skinny." We spent much of our time in Nancy discussing possible cruising scenarios. We had already decided to spend at least the next few days in Toul due to the dangers of trying to cruise in the extreme heat. Of course, the longer we weren't cruising and the hotter it remained, the more likely it was that canal water levels would continue to drop. 

We had a nice cruise out of Nancy and up the Moselle River on our return to Toul. With the heat continuing to build, we were happy to be on a river for most of the day and able to put our bimini up for shade. When we got to T.S.N.I. Marine in Toul we encountered some barging acquaintances that we'd last seen in Port Royal in Auxonne in Spring 2025 and had an enjoyable "catch-up" session aboard CARIB. But then, the aquatic dominoes started to fall.

A vnf advisory last evening announced the closure of the most southern part of the Meuse Canal beginning at 6 p.m. today, a section of waterway entirely too close to the Marne au Rhin Ouest Canal for comfort. A second "domino" fell only a couple of hours ago, with a vnf advisory closing navigation on a large portion of the Marne au Rhin Ouest Canal beginning next Monday (June 22) and continuing until at least July 31. So much for our powers of prognostication in thinking that it would be unlikely for canals to close this early in the summer.

We now find ourselves in a position similar to where we were last August, with routes to the north and west blocked. A southern route down the Vosges Canal remains open, but cruising that way wouldn't gain us anything. At least we have a place to stay on the boat while we wait out the heat and try to figure out our next steps.