contentedsouls

We set off to Valenciennes in glorious weather with Daisy taking some outdoor space (Valenciennes was not a place where I would be happy letting her out) and G doing a bit of trend setting for the under bridge graffitti.

Big locks, big traffic but nearly everything going the other way so we made good progress and we arrived at Valenciennes to a brand new port area with every facility you could possibly imagine

The guy came down and said it would be 10 euros for the night, water and electric included. I was just setting off into town so he said to pay the other guy in the morning. The other guy in the morning said that this new port wasn’t officially open yet and that there was no charge until Monday – on Monday it would be 20 euros for 18 metre boats and 26 euros for anything bigger – I immediately had that shrinking feeling for the return trip (if we come back this way)!

It was already gone 5 and the fellers set off to do car positioning so I walked the dogs and set off into town – I reckoned I had an hour and a half to play before getting back to make food. Such an archetypically French city/town with everyone sitting out in leafy cafes enjoying the long overdue sunshine and enjoying a beer or Pastis. I would love to have joined them but there seemed little point by myself. The railway station was a fabulous piece of architecture.

G had started to worry about the brakes and tyres on the car so he went off to get it sorted in the morning, which he did and so it was lunchtime before we set off to Antoing.