Court Short

James and Claire Short, Adventures at Sea!
31 July, 2018
All change!

That’s it .... we’ve left the canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne and have entered the Saône.   What a difference.  We now have a wide river and gone are the little narrow canals with apple trees, blackberries and plums for the scrumping (made delicious compotes).    Gone is the emptiness and now we have other […]

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31 July, 2018
Tumbling down the canal

We have been hard at work managing lines as we come down the canal.  We’ve also been hard pressed to find places to stop overnight because of our draft and have ended up doing far more locks than we’d first planned!  16 in one day was our maximum! 

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31 July, 2018
Balesmes Tunnel

Oh my goodness what an experience!  The tunnel’s 5km long and the walled channel, just 8m wide, that leads into and out of it is a further 5km so a restricted passage of 10km.    There’s a speed limit too of 2knots so all very organised until 2km into the tunnel ..... all the lights […]

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26 July, 2018
Renaissance Langres

An amazing walled city on top of a hill, steeped in history and a real challenge to get to on a bicycle! However, well worth the effort as we cycled the ramparts, toured the City and visited St Memmes Cathedral.   Langres even has its own rather delicious cheese which, once infused with champagne, is […]

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25 July, 2018
Halfway

12 locks today with a lunch stop at Rolanport and overnight stop at Humes.   We are now officially just over halfway to Marseille!!  Doesn’t mean we’re going downhill yet though!!   This lovely butterfly came to visit ... I’m reliably informed it’s a lesser marbled fritillary!  So loving the canals (but they’d be even better […]

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24 July, 2018
Chaumont

We took our bikes to see Chaumont and spent the first part of the sightseeing trip pushing them uphill!   At the top of a hill, this medieval town - now the administrative capital of Haut-Marne - is a mix of new and ancient.  The Basilica of St John the Baptist with its Tree of […]

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23 July, 2018
From cereals to sunflowers

We’re now moving into sunflower countryside but a little too early yet to see them in their full glory.  We’ve visited an ancient church at Vignory with Carolignian knave and enjoyed Joinville, town of flowers.   Something to see at every stop on the way.

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21 July, 2018
Canals in pictures

Just enough clearance   Lifting bridge Canal bridge over the Marne

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21 July, 2018
From champagne to cereal

The scenery is changing and we are now very definitely out of the vineyards.  We’ve also had our first real rain while travelling which made rope handling slightly heavier work!  The locks are coming thick and fast and we foolishly looked in the book to see when they eased up!  Suffice to say the fitness […]

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19 July, 2018
We’re locked out!

Our most energetic day yet!  Eleven locks, a change of canals - we’re now on the Canal de Champagne and Bourgogne - a distance of 15nm and a climb of 26 metres pulling a 10tonne boat has finished us off!!  There must be a better way of travelling ..... ah yes, there is .... it’s […]

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  • About this Site

    This site is the Blog from James and Claire Short

    Calendar of Posts

    July 2018
    M T W T F S S
     1
    2345678
    9101112131415
    16171819202122
    23242526272829
    3031