Barge Date:  06-26-2019

Saint Dizier and the next canal

Just moving right along.  With fuel in the tanks we are carefree.

You know each year I bring you a toilet story.  This year I returned to the boat with "improvements" to the system.  I can now access the problem valves by removing a small panel.  Two screws. Great. I was slapping myself on the back because we have had no problems. Until I thought about it, that is.

Yep, the water line behind the electric toilet started making problems.  So I quickly and conveniently removed 2 screws to see the part I must unscrew that holds the valve.  Wouldn't you know it; the valve dropped down and behind the lower panel that has 6-7 screws, and I am thinking this could be bad.  I do not have any spares (something I am now getting).  I remove the lower panel and no valve, but I do see a small mouse hole, and if it went down there it is gone for good. What is a good work around?

So I am trying several ideas, but because this water line goes to both toilets, we will need to use one or the other.  But then I get to looking and notice that there is like a sheet of carpet or something and think, "could that little valve have fallen behind the sheet, and is it still there?"  So I plug all the mouse holes and other problem-looking spots and begin to bend back the carpet.  With a flashlight I can see the valve. I carefully maneuver the carpet and snag the valve.

So my improvement works, but  I just have to be careful when taking off the cap that holds the valve.  That is my toilet story, I hope, for this year.

We arrived in the town of Saint Dizier to a long quay and we are the only boat - and will be for most of the 4 days we are there. Not a real special town to walk around, but they do have a nice main square with cafes.  A good place to take the load off and enjoy a morning or afternoon snack.

End of Year Class outing

On June 21, the Fete de la Musique is held all over France and in some other countries.  This is a day to stop and enjoy music.  The larger the town, perhaps a better selection of sound.  In St. Dizier they had 10 settings with different types of music.  The food merchants were on hand, and it develops like a street fair.  On the main square a large stage and sound system had been set up while I enjoyed a coffee and small pie (tartelette) in the afternoon while Marianne made her third trip to a bookstore. The band we saw that night was very good.  Let's go to the video.

This African drum group was led by a man who was just recently allowed to have his family join him in France.  These are 2 of his children dancing.

This year more than the last two we have been trying to pick evening moorings that has some improvements, and after leaving St. Dizier we are able to take the last space in a county mooring.  We meet up with Martin and Eileen again, talk to a man from down under, a marine engineer, who might be interested in canal travel.  He and his wife have been crisscrossing Europe for about 3 months in a camper and will soon depart.  So we invite them and another camper couple, Steve and Ann, and Peter and Eva,  Germans with a barge, to a get-together at the quay-side table.  We all bring food and drinks and trade stories. Good evening.

We spend a day here and I do some boat work.  Starting to get hot.  The week of June 24 will have temps near 40 (100F). This night we gather with some other boaters to go over the routes we have traveled and offer suggestions about where to stop.  We leave the next morning and are able to take the last open spot in the town of Vitry-le-Francois.

This city was mostly bombed away in the last war, so you see a different layout of streets when compared to cities that have buildings going back 300-600 years and streets that are never straight. We have lunch downtown and head back to the boat.  It is somewhat cooler below deck and with the addition of window screens we have some air flow and no flies.

With no space left in the marina, we offer a cruiser to raft on to the barge.  Turns out there are 3 Belgians aboard.  And from the south of Belgium, so French speaking. They tended to stay away from us but did bring over 2 beers from the Belgian province of Luxembourg.  Do you know what a Shandy is?  Learned this from some Brits.  It is half  beer and half lemonade. Try it.  It makes beer drinkable and refreshing.

When we leave the next morning we are soon on a new canal, the Canal de la Marne au Rhin, partie Ouest.  We will travel east to Toul and then turn south. Today we see more commercials than canal people. Two of our passings were interesting.  On one side of this canal a lot of trees have been allowed to grow out over the water. We are on the tree side. So I try to plan our passing so we are not driven into the woods. Done.  The next passing happens as we are looking for our evening tie-up. Is it here, is it there?  We are going real slow, and of course the unexpected meeting with the commercial is at a good bend in the canal. But we got by.  We are in the shade by ourselves hoping for a cold front and rain (no such luck).

On a personal note (as if  any of this was not personal) at about 4am our time, 10pm Pittsburgh, June 25, a  new Horchler joined us. Christina and Andrew received a baby girl, Annelise Ardenne Rose. She arrived weighing in at 8lbs and 9oz. She is a red head with blue eyes like her father. Mother and daughter look great and both are very hungry. A happy day for all.