August 2024 – Part 2 (16th to 31st)
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Can’t believe we’re already six months into this year’s cruising season, with only about two more months to go. Everything is so relaxed and slow on the waterways, but still time seems to race us along.
As of today (16th) we’ve crossed the French/German border and joined the canalised river Saar, and at our first lock (ecluse 30) we had to collect a telecommander which should remotely trigger the following 29 locks as we cruise along. Just a kilometre or so further on we came across a lovely looking mooring (only long enough for just us – we even had our own gated entrance!) at Grosbliederstroff, along from a canoe rental business which was prettily decorated to match the location. Our position was just outside of a large park area, and if we crossed a nearby bridge we could once again be in Germany. (In fact I chose to cycle over to a nearby supermarket across the border, so Nicki and I were in two different countries for a few hours.)
Our first night here was great, quiet and uneventful, and so we decided a second night would suit us …. what we hadn’t realised but found out early the next evening, was that there was an outdoor film showing in the park once it got dark. It wasn’t too intrusive though, and actually was quite a nice backdrop at bedtime.
On my cycle ride the previous day I had passed through a small Port de Plaisance in Sarreguemines a little further along the Saar, spotting a WOB flag flying on a barge named Cleo. On mentioning this to Nicki, she immediately checked out the WOB register and was able to make contact with the owners, Sandra and Ross, and we tentatively arranged to meet up the following day as we were heading in their direction. Despite a late-ish start for us, we did manage to stop and spend an hour or so chatting before it was time to leave them, and we continued on until we reached Zetting, roping alongside a cycle path just past a lock.
Overnight there was some heavy rain, which carried on until late morning the next day as we made our way along the Canal de la Saar and on to Sarralbe. On our way we passed this interesting ‘cruisr liner’ – it looked like a huge ship, but in reality it wasn’t much bigger than Shensi. All a matter of proportions and perspective … we wondered if it had been some sort of movie prop.
Arriving in Sarralbe we were able to moor along a clean and tidy concrete quay right next to a small park area, with free electricity and water. Add to that the sun coming out, it was a near perfect mooring.
Later on we took a stroll into the town, which showcased a beautiful church, but otherwise everything was closed (it was a Sunday after all).
We did however manage a few interesting snaps of the locality.
After a good night in Sarralbe, we set off the following day in very hot weather and gently cruised along ready to stop when we came across somewhere we liked, which turned out to be the little Port de Plaisance of Mittersheim, next to a VNF office, tied up to bollards on a concrete quay. The surrounding area was very lovely, with pleasant walks alongside the cycleway, and just a few other boats moored in the near vicinity.
With no sense of urgency these days, we made a later start in the morning, once again just cruising for around four hours before we found our night’s mooring along a quay at the Pont d’Albeschaux in, against a nice wide stretch of grassland set back from the main canal. An early awakening the next day saw us leaving the Canal de la Sarre and turning into the Canal de la Marne au Rhin just two hours later, and a mere 15 minutes after that we came across a VNF mooring at Gondrexange, which had it’s own bbq area, a (disused) petanque space as well as plenty of picnic benches. Because of the slope of the banks, we had to stand off slightly and, once again, my trusty homemade aluminium passerelle was deployed and we had easy access for the night. For a while it seemed that we would be on our own, but as the day wore on we were joined by for other boats.
Moving on, with decidedly more (hire) boats now on the move too, we set off to reach the Tunnel de Niderville which we anticipated passing through the following day. Despite a relatively short journey (just two and a half hours) we encountered plenty of cruising warnings along the way (no passing, sound horn, narrow sections, narrower bridges, etc.), but eventually we arrived at the amarrages basin de Altmuhle to moor up for the night and await our passage through the tunnel in the morning.
Fully rested, we were ready to leave just before 9am on the morning of the 23rd and were only the second boat of the day to enter the one way half-kilometre tunnel, which took about twenty minutrs. Exiting this tunnel, it was then about a kilometre to the entrance of the next one – there was a brief 20 minute wait for boats already on their way towards us, but once they’d passed by we were off again and into the 2,307 kilometres long tunnel d’Arzviller, a slightly longer time of 35 minutes.
So far we’d managed about eight of our planned ten kilometres journey for the day, but there was still more to come in the form of the St-Louis-Arzviller Inclined Plane, travelling down a distance of 44.5 metres from top to bottom over a horizontal distance of 108 metres (opened in 1969, this inclined plane replaced the previous eight hour journey through a series of seventeen locks). It really was quite an awesome sight to see, and to then watch the scenery as we slowly slid down the plane.
Arriving at the lower basin, we made to stop for lunch but this turned into an overnight mooring when we decided to visit the 17 ancient ‘traditional’ locks in the Valée des eclusiers. It turned out that Wendy and David on Otium were moored nearby, so they moved along in front of us and we spent a lovely evening together on Shensi. (As it turned out, we weren’t able to visit the ancient locks, but maybe if we pass this way again we can try them.)
Next stop, Lutzelbourg where we found a nice long quay stretched before us at the other side of ecluse 21. After quickly tying up, we hopped off the boat and wandered up to the town’s local market. A quick visit was also made to the local ‘super market’, a Proxi store that incorporated a few shelves of goods, a bar, a cafe, and a post office.
Moving on the following morning we cruised along to Saverne where we were directed into a mooring at the end of the Port de Nichols haven, right in the bend of the river. We had heard lots of good things about Saverne so arranged a two night stop, and headed into the town to looks around the Chateau Rohan and generally browse the streets and surrounding area.
Popped over to look around a Rose Garden, one of Saverne’s attractions, but sadly it was the end of the season so there were few flowers still in bloom. Still, Nicki enjoyed looking around and managed to find some beauties.
Whilst here, we met up with Anna, a fellow WOB, and partner, Robert, and spent a lovely evening with them onboard their cruiser.
Moving on in the morning we made it to a pleasant mooring just before ecluse 41, and stayed for two nights to take a brief rest. I managed a cycle ride along the towpath, and later we walked into the nearby village.
Next stop, Quai de la Foret de Brumath where we were able to moor at the end of a stretch for commercial barges.
30th August saw us on our way to Strasbourg, passing through the town and out towards ecluse 86 outside the Pont de l’Hopital where we were able to moor just in front of the ecluse and spend a few days exploring whilst we waited for Janos and Rachel to join us.
Strasbourg was an incredibly attractive town with lots of activity. We managed a walk around the centre, a city train ride and a visit to a local antiques market.
