Cumieres to Ferte-sous-Jouarre

Sunday 7 August

We arrived at Chateau Thierry after five and a half hours and 5 locks.   The first couple of locks were enormously wide with floating pontoons which was marvellously easy, but the rest were the normal design.  All the locks are shallow and no problem.  At the first lock we were once again given a telecommande remote control to open the gates.  Not only is the Marne lovely, wide and deep, it is also practically weed-free so we no longer have to worry about the engine cooling system getting blocked.  We’d had dire warnings from other yachts of filters getting clogged up with weeds but the outside strainer on Forever must be very good because Mike has never found anything more than a few blades of grass in his filter.  The river is also remarkably free of traffic and we are lucky to meet two or three boats all day.

The sides of the river are thickly edged with large trees, but through the spaces we get glimpses of the intensely cultivated countryside stretching away to the horizon, foreshortened by gently rolling hills.  The land is a panoramic patchwork of vineyards, highlighted by the occasional field of corn or wheat and dense patches of forestation and studded with small villages and hamlets.  T he moisture laden light picks out every imaginable shade of green, relieved by the red and grey tiles of the houses.

We haven’t seen a cow in many days.  We also, happily, haven’t seen any industry on the banks of the Marne, unlike the Rhône, which was heavily littered with factories.  However, the bird life is prolific.  I have endlessly tried to get a good picture of the grey heron, and this is the best I could do.

At Chateau Thierry, there was a small pontoon, fully occupied by boats, and then a long wall.  Always unhappy about parking on a wall, we were circling hesitantly when the Luxembourg skipper on one of the boats on the pontoon beckoned us over and we gratefully moored up against him.  There was only one, very dodgy, electric point which our neighbour (Charles) was plugged into, but he had a triple adaptor and both the boat in front and we were plugged into that.  French electrics can be quite terrifying – and this is a Municipal Halte!

The chateau at Chateau Thierry has been destroyed, but the walls remain and we took a pleasant walk up the hill and through the ruins.   

The town seemed to have everything we needed.  We needed some bits of leather to replace the protective coverings on our spreaders, and found a little shop in town that made leather clothes.  The proprietor, Dan, was really helpful and he dug out the right strength of leather for us and gave us the off cuts we needed – no charge.  We also walked to the local Brico and bought a metre of good carpeting to replace Forever’s old and worn carpets.  There was a fuel station near the Halte so we bought a few jerry cans of diesel and did a good shop at a nearby Carrefour supermarket.  It was all very convenient.  The town was ancient in parts with interesting features.

          

Thursday 11 August

We’d been delaying our arrival in Paris, waiting to hear if friends were coming to join us, but now heard that they were no longer able to come, so we set off and arrived in the secluded Halte at Ferté sous Jouarre, tucked away in a small arm of the river.

We were lucky and the next day was market day, so we were able to get some good fresh produce.    The sun shone pleasantly for most of our day here so I took the opportunity of a clean and empty pontoon to cut and fit the new carpeting , though we’ve not yet glued it down.  It looks lovely. 

Ferté was typical of so many small French towns and in my opinion, absolutely charming.

The French are quite innovative with their floral arrangements.