Karen’s Travel Blog

Journeys on water and land

france

  • It had taken us 10 days, travelling each day to make the voyage from Vitry to Toul on the western section of the Canal Marne au Rhin. We had a 3 day break in Toul, then a 7 day unplanned rest in Nancy. Now it was time to complete our navigation of the eastern section… Read more

  • From Toul there are 2 options to navigate to Nancy Option 1 and I must say the preferred route is to travel north along the Moselle, before turning south towards Nancy. This is a distance of 33kms, 6 locks and 2 lifting bridges. Easy Option 2, again travelling along the Moselle, but this time in… Read more

  • Well, by this time you must know a little about the challenges of barging in Europe. Luckily this particular challenge was not ours, but belonged to our travelling companions on Mimosa. A broken bow thruster prop was suspected and finally confirmed with an under water inspection. The fix was to be delivered by a diver… Read more

  • The Canal l’Aisne de la Marne takes a southerly route from the Canal Lateral a l’Aisne to the Canal Lateral a la Marne. These canals are east of Paris and provided access for commercial barges from the Meuse to the Marne. The inclusion of the word “Lateral” indicates that the canal runs alongside the river.… Read more

  • Rising in France the Meuse meanders its way through France and Belgium before draining into the North Sea in the Netherlands. Its total length is 925 km. The river navigable over a substantial part of its length. In Belgium and the Netherlands it is part of an extensive inland navigation infrastructure connecting the Rotterdam-Amsterdam-Antwerp port… Read more