June 2023 – Part 2
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From Persan we moved on along the Oise until we reached Pontoise and moored just ahead of the Pont de Pontoise on a free pontoon. No services, but perfect for us and just a short walk across the bridge to the town. Janos, Rachel and Mischa, pulled up a little later, mooring on the town-side of the river opposite us.
We decided to spend an hour erecting the bimini – which took much longer than we expected, as usual – before making a visit into the town centre, where we met up with J,R&M for lunch before continuing our stroll.
In the evening there was an event on the quayside near Czarvargo, so we all popped over for a drink, meeting up with Keith Sweet at the same time.
In the morning we carried on along the Oise to a nice area very close to the village of Cergy. Another free mooring along a high concrete wall, but good enough for our needs, and a ten minute walk into the centre.
After the heat of the previous day, the early morning temperature was cooler today and easier to manage, although that didn’t last long as we slowly meandered along the peaceful Oise before turning into the Seine. Paris, here we come.
Our next scheduled stop was at Rueil-Malmaison, where we had arranged to meet and collect Cha, who was going to stay with us for a few days – we duly followed PCNavigo instructions to Ecluse Bougival to reach Rueil-Malmaison and on reaching the ecluse we waited … and waited … and waited to be allowed into the ecluse. Eventually we got through to an eclusier on the phone, but it turned out that that particular ecluse was closed and we were re-directed on a somewhat different route, which took us another hour or so before we managed to reach Rueil-Malmaison and find a mooring. This was in a pretty little spot on a jetty by a restaurant and play area, so lots of activity during the day and through till 1.30 in the morning!
After an exhausting day for Cha, travelling across Paris via train in excessive heat to meet up with us at Rueil-Malmaison, we were all together and spent the evening catching up and relaxing in the sunshine on the stern.
In the morning we travelled further into Paris assuming to pick up a mooring at the Port Van Gogh in the suburb of Asnieres. Due to a mix-up with phone numbers, it took us quite some time hovering in the Seine on the edge of the marina until we were finally guided onto a pontoon and with some assistance from the capitainerie we were ensconced for the rest of the day and night.
The three of us decided to explore Asnieres – possibly not such a good idea given the heat – and we walked around the streets for a while until we found a little cafe on a street corner to rest in before heading back to Shensi (clutching a ‘Kwak’ glass that the owner gave us).
After a rocky night in the Port Van Gogh, we set off in the morning to travel through Paris along the Seine, and took in some of the major sights, such as the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral (still under reconstruction after the fire of 20 mom19), l’Ile de la Cité, the beautiful bridges over the river, the Musee d’Orsay, to name but a few …
Eventually, almost four hours after starting off that morning, we arrived at the Arsenal Port in the centre of Paris where we had booked in for the night. Entry was via a tight left hand turn from the Seine into the lock, and from where we were directed to a specific mooring, rafting alongside another barge.
Once we were settled in Cha walked us over to the Latin Quarter of the capital, which is the area she lives in, and we sat down for a cooling drink in the extremely hot temperatures, and enjoyed a spot of people watching in this busy area.
Being right in the heart of Paris, it was a very expensive nightly rate for a pretty noisy mooring, but it was worth it just to say we’d stopped there! The next day we had to make our way further along the Seine to reach Juvisy, a small town where Cha could catch a train back to her apartment after her couple of days with us. There were a few anxious moments when we tried (and failed) to moor fairly close to the town to save a long walk, but in the end Nicki and Cha got off Shensi at Port aux Cerises across the river to Juvisy and they then made a hot and uncomfortable walk to the station, arriving just in time for the train. After saying goodbye to Cha, Nicki managed to find where Shensi was (uneasily) roped up to railings beneath a nearby bridge, and we were off again.
At the junction of the Marne and Seine rivers we were contacted by Jeannie and Jonathan on Aleau as they passed behind us heading into Paris, before cruising past an impressive Chinese styled hotel in the river bank.
Marne and the Seine
Now we were leaving the busier section of the Seine and were able to take it a little easier as we continued along searching for a potential mooring for the night. Using the DBA waterways guide, we came across an empty concrete quay outside of a disused restaurant at Rijs-Orangis on the banks of the Seine, so quickly stopped and roped up. Despite looking a little shabby, it wasn’t too bad a place to stop with a very nice walking path into a nearby forest, and an Aldi not too far away. We decided to stay for two nights as we weren’t in a rush anymore, and except for some rocking when the odd large commercial barge passed, we’re had a reasonable couple of days. However, on departing we realised that one of the sets of quayside cleats that we had used had been ripped out during our stay, possibly due to the strain on the ropes when the ‘big boys’ rushed by.
Moving on we continued into the town of Melun, where we came across a few other boats – Julie and James (with Colin) on Mimosa, and David and Wendy Brown (with Monty) on Otium. We took a short walk into town to re-stock our cupboard, but to be honest it was just too hot to explore any further and aside from the odd foray with the dogs for a toilet break we remained in the boat with the aircon on.
Our next day’s journey took us even further along the Seine and after four hours we reached St Mammes and found a mooring along a wooden jetty close to the town, at the confluence of the Seine and the Canal de Loing.
In the evening we left Shensi on the Seine and walked round the corner to follow the Canal de Loing for a distance – partly to check out the next days travel, but also to visit a fete in the next town. We started off well, with the dogs being entertained for a while by locals who seemed very taken with Pip’s ball fetish. The walk was further than we’d anticipated, in part along an overgrown towpath, and as soon as we reached the fete we decided to turn round and retraced our footsteps, now in the dark! Not our best idea yet, but the dogs enjoyed it.
Combined with the heat and (for us) such a late night, we made a very slow start in the morning, eventually leaving St Mammes and turning into the Canal de Loing for a half hour cruise to Moret sur Loing where we had booked to stay for a few nights. (On the way we passed many, many canoeists, and they all seemed to catch up with us again at Moret.). On arrival at the Halte Fluvial we had our own bit of staging to moor against, next to a small park with lovely views and walks nearby – it really was quite idyllic.
Once established in this lovely area, we realised find that there were a couple of other DBA rally attendees on site – Alan and Sue (Whisper), Jonathan and Jeannie (Aleau), James and Julie (Mimosa), David and Wendy (Otium), Peter and Karen (Joie de Vivre) – as well as new friends, Stuart and Sue on Dipper who came round for dinner one evening.
The town of Moret was very picturesque and the waterway was just beautiful with families paddling and swimming in the cool water throughout the day, which all added to its charm.
Whilst here we wanted to visit Chateau Fontainebleau, and booked a taxi to ease the journey for us. Arriving at the gates, it was easy to see why it’s such a star attraction, the building is enormous and apparently has 1500 rooms (although we never saw them all!) and although we only saw a smattering of the interior on our (unguided) tour, it did include the Grand Apartments and Napoleon 1st Museum. We also took a train ride around the grounds to get a flavour of the estate.
The following are just samples of the beauty of Fontainebleau Chateau, some of which were hard to put into words!
After such an interesting day, out plan was to head on further up the Canal de Loing for a few days but that was scuppered in the morning when we were advised that due to a tug being stuck further along the canal, no-one could pass through the ecluse. Oh no, we’d have to stay another night in this fabulous little spot!
So, after another night’s rest we were able to set off again and headed into the first ecluse where we were given our very own remote control to operate the locks along this waterway. How exciting.
Our first day in the Canal de Loing was very peaceful and relaxing, and we crossed for about four hours before reaching a ‘rough’ bankside mooring (using pins) near Montcourt-Fromonville. A lovely find, with only the odd walker passing by.
The last day of June saw us travel as far as ecluse 7 where we pitched for the night at a nice quiet spot with bollards, and despite overnight/early morning rain, we all slept well.
