Arrival in Reims

Boat moving day. Departed Berry au Bac and began our way on a new waterway – the Canal de L’Aisne a la Marne. The locks on this canal are operated by a “perche”. This is a rod which is suspended over the middle of the canal. You must line the boat up and hope that your crew have long arms! One quick twist of the rod and the lock swings into action.
Wheelhouse down, sun blazing, we pottered through 9 locks and 24km to Reims. It was a very sociable day. At one lock we were assisted by two bouncy black labradors; at another we deposited our unwanted blackcurrant/gooseberry bush with an anonymous gift tag for the lock keeper; a bit further on and we entertained a former lockkeeper and her three grandaughters and took them on a tour of Lobelia; and we purchased a bucket of spuds at another. 

Along the way we chatted in French with passersby who were all eager to know about the barge with the garden and the English flag. We waved to familiar faces on the working barges as we edged past one another on the narrow canal. Normally barge crews nod and smile as they pass us. But with our new friends on Zen, Medea and Vage we are now at beaming and waving stage. We have chatted with a few of them and some remember Lobelia in her former life on the waterways.

We approached the city of Reims at our sedate pace. Traffic raced alongside and above. It was noisy and ugly.

We moored in our ribbon of green and blue trapped in a realm of grey. The noise of the city thundered around us.