This blog entry could prove interesting: We have not had wi-fi for over a week. We are now in Douai and I am using a non-QWERTY keyboard which is playing havoc with my typing.
Anyway : the quick update.
Fuelled up on 22/6 and travelled towards Comines lock. Said our farewell to Belgium the following day and changed the courtesy flag to the French tricolor.
Our first few experiences of barging en France were not great and we really struggled to find a mooring space. Continued down the canal de Deule and ended up on a fly infested mooring opposite a metal recycling quay. Not quite how we imagined the dream!
The following day (24/6) we found an idyllic, yet expensive mooring, in the pretty town of Wambrechies. Fabulous towpath cycling, hot sunny days, evenings spent listening to the African music festival and playing boule. Stayed for three nights and took the bus to Lille. Visited the free zoo in the Citadel and wandered into the city where we found ourselves caught up in a massive protest march.
On Sunday (27/6) we moved to a quiet mooring at Wavrin and tuned the sattelite dish into the football, which was probably a mistake given the result. We also ended up rescuing a racing pigeon from the canal and it stayed the night. This prompted me to learn lots of unfamiliar French vocab as I anticipated having to phone the owner. Luckily, for both me and the owner, the pigeon flew off the next morning.
On Monday (28/6) we moored on a quiet quay at Le Bac and drew quite a crowd from the locals. The flourishing vegetable garden on deck received lots of comments and we befriended a local man named Christian. He would pop down to visit us regularly and chat away to us in French punctuated with unbelievably good sound effects. He gave us a mountain of lettuce and, in return, we gave him an England flag. He, and his elderly mother, waved us off this morning - flag flying high.
Now in Douai in an Arabic internet cafe......
All going well on Lobelia. Heading for Cambrai next where the boys think they can join the Tour de France!
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Hi there from Mimi and Gaga passing through on their way to Adkins day. Keep sending you emails in the hope that one day you can find somewhere with enough signal to be able to pick them up. Clive has been having similar problems with wifi in Cornwall!!
ReplyDeleteAll well here and it sounds as if you are having a challenging time on the water; albeit enjoyable when you can relax.
Love to you all,
M & G
Hi there at Cambrai. Just back from Adkins day and they all send their love and a certain amount of envy. Ed missed seeing the boys but still a the marble that Danny gave him. Needless to say there was more water bombing and he and many others got very very wet. We met John, Christine's fiancee and he survived the family en masse very easily. Jenny and Graeme have a lovely home, delightful house which they have decorated and restored superbly; and a very large garden with paddocks, two horses, bantams, Ruby the dog, cherry trees and lots of other fun things.
ReplyDeleteNow we have to catch up with ourselves again. Any time you start feeling homesick think of the M25 with road works every few miles; stop go even at the quiet time of day; the M4 with road works slightly more spaced out but also slow, tedious, dusty and hot. Traffic everywhere and noise. Feeling better??
Lots of love,
mimi and Gaga
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