Barge Date:  07-17-2019

Canal des Vosges

One of the stops on the Vosges is the town of Chatel-sur-Moselle. It sports a castle that has been mostly buried. Of course its origin goes back a long way; it was an interesting build that let the designers come up with various ways to get the attackers to fail.

Lots of tunnels to get into the fortifications, but beware, it is dark.  So you might fall into a hole filled with water;  you might enter a room that allows the defenders to drop rocks on you; and beware of the knee knockers designed not only to hurt your knee but to alert the defenders that you are coming: **%#^@.

At one time the defenders filled the upper rooms with debris and stayed below.  Perhaps someone forgot what was down there because others began new buildings on top so today you have occupied houses on top of castle walls and foundations.  Supposedly someone has a drawbridge in his basement.

Volunteers now come to the castle to help excavate the ruins.

That is an ancient thumb you see in the upper corner.

Our next important stop is the city of Epinal. It is not directly on the canal, but there is a channel of about 5k that brings you to the port. Unfortunately the water situation in all of France is bad and has been bad for a number of years. Epinal is near the high point on the Canal des Vosges, and it is at the top that problems begin.  There has not been enough winter rain to fill the reservoirs that feed this and other canals in the French system. You might remember that I wrote about low water levels in another canal.

The day before we were to leave for Epinal, the VNF, the operator of almost all canals in France, made a post that the branch to Epinal is closed until October. The city has such a nice port it was going to be fun to bring the barge into town. So we had to settle for tying up at the branch and walking into town. Three kilometers by the road and 5 if we followed the branch to town. The first day we took the short route and the second the "scenic" route.

This is a fun and interesting town. The Moselle River runs through the town, and it makes for a lot of pictures. Actually there is an island in the city and one branch of the river is a kayak course. There is a host of interesting buildings, castles and a Chinese pagoda. Don't ask me why the Chinese touch. Someone about 100 years ago wanted to make this a project, and there it is, recently restored. The town had a bit of a Mediterranean feel to it. Had a great dessert in town - crepe with bananas and caramel.

Another laundry.

We must continue as we need to have the boat taken out of the water for a hull inspection.  If it is not done in August someone will need to stay longer.