Taddy Tales

We had guests arriving and didn't want to take them all the way to Paris.  So we decided on a detour up the Canal Aisne a la Marne to Reims.  This took us up a flight of locks and through the Billy tunnel (a mere 2.3km). The mooring in Reims was right in the city centre and close to the historic cathedral.  It was also under a flyover and across the canal from the A26 motorway.  So peaceful it wasn't.  But it gave us the opportunity to explore the history of this important city .  The cathedral sums it up quite well with its century old tradition of royal coronations, brought up to date by being the place where France and Germany formally reconciled in 1962.  It's a history that binds us all and I worry that we're too quick to forget it sometimes in our little island. We also enjoyed a visit to Eisenhower's headquarters and the room where the surrender of the 3rd Reich was signed on 6th May 1945.  It's a lovely story as Stalin was furious ...

Our last night on the Canal Marne au Rhin gave us a lovely mooring and calm evening.  I flew my drone to get this nice picture.  The weed had cleared and the weather was beautiful edging towards hot . . . At the end of the canal was a junction.  Turn left for the Bourgogne and right to the Marne.  The town at the junction is Vitry le Francois and that seemed a nice place for the weekend.  Arriving at the harbour it seemed full but the delightful harbour mistress, Pascale, waved us in and chased off another boat that was slow leaving.  This was the end of our 2 weeks with Marille the Poodle and son-in-law Chris arrived to stay overnight and collect her.  It got hot. A heat that had us hiding from the sun and draping sheets to keep the boat just a little cooler.  We visited a Vet to get something stronger to stop the idiot Retriever gathering ticks.  That was a success for some carefully researched French. We set off west on the Canal L...