When cruising the European waterways we usually leave in the morning so we can arrive at our destination early afternoon, have some lunch and relax. But we were on the tidal Seine and the flood, which would carry us up river 40 kms from Rouen to Poses did not start until 3pm. With the late start we did not arrive at our destination until after 7pm. It was a long day!

We keep up the pace the following day, cruising from Poses to Vernon (51kms). Again we were able to secure a mooring below the old mill but this time there were no visits to Giverny. Instead we crossed the bridge and explored the town.

Vernon

The most iconic sight in Vernon is the old mill. It stands on the remains of the medieval bridge. The original bridge was built in the 12th century, and was a substantial structure and included several watermills. The bridge didn’t fall due to a catastrophic event, but rather it was damaged and rebuilt over time. You may wonder why the old mill is in such good condition. It was severely damaged during bombing raids in WW2. After the war the local community stepped in to save what is now the most recognisable sight in Vernon.

From Vernon we travelled up the river to Port Ilon. The port occupies a 100 hectare flooded gravel pit. There is no town nearby to explore but we were able to top up our fuel at the very reasonable price of 2.10 euros per litre. The following day we decided to cruise another 50kms that would se us at Andresey, a town at the confluence of the Seine and the L’Oise.

Despite being assured by all my reading material that there was power available at Andresy, we discovered this was not the case. In fact the machine on the dock to operate the power was in a bad state of repair and failed to operate. I later found out that the mayor in the town for the past 2 years had disregarded the dock and its facilities entirely and had allowed permanent boats to move in that were rented out as Air BNB’s. The new mayor had vowed to correct this situation. Oh well we will see.

With no reason to stay longer we left the next day and turning left we cruised up the L’Oise to L’Isle Adam.

L’Isle Adam is definitely worth a few days stop. There are a number of very good restaurants to choose from, a supermarket and a covered market packed with excellent produce. There is the choice of 2 moorings, one on the river (which Peter prefers as it is closer to town) and a modern marina. The town is quite elegant with 18th and 19th century houses reflecting its period as a fashionable country retreat.

Our visit to the market provided not only an opportunity to restock, but I was given a French lesson. Myrtelles = blueberries, Peter’s breakfast favourite.

Leaving L’Isle Adam we clocked up another big day, 70kms to Compeigne. We had planned to stop a few days, but were unable to get into the port. Instead we moored on the wall overnight (using our passerelle for the first time this season to access the shore).

Pont L’Eveque marks the beginning of the Canal de Nord, which became an unplanned stop for us. Coming of the L’Oise we picked up something on our propeller, that made a clunking sound. So we hobbled into the mooring to attempt to find a fix. Luckily there is a dry dock at Pont L’Eveque and although this would not provide a solution the fellow working there was able to put me in contact with a diver (plonger).

Our Plonger arrived about 7.30 that evening to remove a large piece of plastic sheeting that had wrapped itself around our propeller. I was worried that we would be stuck for a few days, but in the end we managed to achieve a quick and painless solution. Though the pain was in Peter’s hip pocket, as the cost of the diver was 400 euros. Not a cheap fix!

We our propeller in working order we made the dash up the Canal de Nord, 62kms to Peronne, along the way passing Piper boats, Le Koala and Blue Belle

We had hoped to moor in the port at Peronne but not only was the captainner not helpful with information but the port was clogged with weed. We bailed out and spent the night rafted up with our friends on Sirius. Yes it was a big night, with lots of beverages!