Yesterday morning I awoke to pouring rain – fresh croissants, fresh bread and fresh tea with fresh milk. G had got up early, cycled back for the car and returned via the boulangerie. Perfik!

After brekkie we needed a planning meeting. We had intended to head down to Nancy and then Strasbourg but the plan incline d’Arzviller has broken down (‘again’ – according to the indigenous boating population) so that route is no longer an option. We need to bear winter in mind (sorry to raise the subject in July) and we think we may be able to move about a lot more than we thought when we came out here. So this is the new plan:-

Continue down the Meuse to Troussey and then turn west along the Canal de la Marne au Rhin – through the three and a half mile tunnel (that’ll be me with my head under the duvet then) to the Canal Lateral a la Marne and then North West to Paris ish, possibly. We’re taking bets on how many more plans between now and the end of October! Doesn’t matter though does it – everywhere’s nice.

Where we’re moored at the moment is quite funny – everytime someone empties the lock behind us the boat goes all tippy uppy and sits at an interesting angle. Enough to take the satellite signal out and we have to go and start the engine and ‘pop’ it off again – G was trying to watch the bowls and it’s given us the giggles. Good job that there’s hardly anyone around and the locks shut at 6 or we’d be exhausted (albeit a little thinner).

Our river map guide suggests that we should, ‘mounting the ship’s bicycles for a ride to Mont-Devant-Sassey to see the 12th/13th century fortified church’. So we did. It was one hell of a climb.

Glad we went by car and not, ‘the ship’s bicycles’ (well the apostrophe was in the right place)!

Off to backtrack by car tomorrow to find Debs, Kevin and the hounds.

Jill