Paris

 It has always been a thrill to cruise our own vessel into Paris, and it is a right of passage for anyone cruising the waterways of Europe. The replica Statue of Liberty is, however, an uncanny landfall marker. The more familiar full size version, for which Gustave Eiffel was involved with the engineering, was donated to the US in 1886. He also had a hand in constructing a tower in 1887, which was only ever intended to be a temporary exhibition piece for the World Fair in 1889.  

No, we are not lost. 

We have previously moored in the Arsenal marina, safely through a lock and just off the busy Seine, however on this visit we also cruised further up through the arts district to tie up in La Villette marina for a few days as well. 

We cruise for 1.5 kms, beneath the streets of Paris!

Emerging into daylight 

and climb four pairs of locks up to La Villette.

A magic way to cruise quietly up through Paris

Our temporary home in Paris..'La Villette'

  There is so much to see in and around Paris. Here is just a taste of what we found.

The night before cruising into a busy Paris we moored by the Ile des Impressionistes, across the river from one of the favourite watering holes of impressionist artists such as Monet, Renoir and Degas.

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The location for the 'Party at Rueil' - Renoir 

At Rueil is the Maison Fournaise restaurant, little changed from when

Pierre-Auguste Renoir created his 'Party' painting

 The impressionist painters sought their inspiration at this quiet backwater of the Seine.

The Paris Pantheon, a truly monumental building. 

In its crypt are the tombs of those honoured by France such as M and Mme Curie, Louis Braille and Victor Hugo.

A brass ball is suspended from the Pantheon dome.

Without any mechanical assistance,

 this ball oscillates by the movement of the earth itself 

Bastille Sunday market 

The waterway actually runs beneath La Bastille monument.

 

Jules Verne decor at the 'Arts et Metiers' metro stn.

Another day, another chateau, Chateau de Chantilly.

An Uber ride from an Oise river mooring at Creil 

Napoleon's office in Chateau Malmaison, Empress Josephine's home

 

Napoleon Bonaparte's bicorn hat,

displayed at Chateau de Chantilly.

We have taken time out to visit a chateau or two, and try to absorb a bit of France's turbulent history.

It seems that there is always a dramatic story behind each chateau and Vaux-le-Vicomte near Melun is no exeption.

In 1653 Nicolas Fouquet was the 'Superintendent of Finances' for France under King LouisX1V. Over a period of 5 years Nicolas managed to divert enough funds to build himself this modest little house in the country just South of Paris. The mistake he then made was to invite the King to a lavish house party.  As a result the King took a close look at the books, arrested Nicolas, threw him in jail for life and confiscated the lot.  Louis then commissioned the three lead craftsmen resposible for the building to build him a bigger and grander Chateau at Versailles.

After centuries of neglect and the occasional revolution, the Vaux-le-Vicompte has been faithfully restored, is now back in family ownership and is open to visitors.     

 

Nicolas Fouquet, 

 fell foul of Louis X1V

This modest Chateau, Vaux-le-Vicomte,

 completed in 1661, sealed the downfall of Nicolas Fouquet

The gardens alone extend for 1.5 kms

With a modest wine cellar.

Golden fountains. Is there a familiar trend here? 

Do I perceive a similar and singular greedy trait being exhibited across the Atlantic and beyond that other Statue of Liberty?

Warning, could there be a lesson here? In France they had a unique and swift way of dealing with people who got above themselves.

With Paris behind us, we head upstream for another 60 Kms to the junction with the river Yonne. 

Back out on the Seine, despite the drought,

 we have enough water flowing over the barrages.

However these cruise boats are moored up, empty of guests

and probably unable to cruise the drought struck Rhine 

 

We are alone in a big commercial lock,

 heading up the Seine

Montereau-Fault-Yonne, the confluence of the Seine and Yonne rivers. 

We turn right.

Napoleon gives us a clue!

On the Yonne river, evenings are getting shorter.

We are getting closer to our winter base at Migennes. 

Three men in a boat

Three men and a boat.Martin, Richard and Gareth.

 

 There is a certain trait among Englishmen that compels them to take on excentric expeditions. I have to confess that I once had similar leanings. So when a very British looking rowing gig tied up astern of us one hot summer evening in Amiens, I was compelled to learn their story.   

The much traveled 'Wossname' with 

'Montmorency' resting on deck. (Read the book)

Wassname carries the souvenirs of many noble voyages

These three retired gentlemen are the nucleus of a crew which has rowed Wossname up or preferably down rivers, voyaged out to sea and traversed many canals in Britain and Europe. They were in the flotilla that escorted Gloriana, the royal barge, down the thames at the 2012 Queen's Jubilee pageant, and have competed in the 2014 Great River race. Some of their epic rows have raised funds for charities of their choosing. Spoiler here, Wassname does the "boring bits" being towed on a trailer.

Farewell Amiens and the Somme

Amiens Cathedral rightly dominates the skyline

After sunset, the Cathedral light show is stunning.

In the porticos, lighting colours the stone carved saints,

 as they would have originally been painted 

Antiope finds a Somme mooring

This peaceful river once defined the front line.

we are just a few Kms out of Amiens

These lift bridges are managed by the roving lockeepers

Weed munchers, doing a great job keeping this waterway clear

Meanwhile, after a restful few weeks on the Somme, we will begin our own passage down to Paris.

It is hard to imagine while cruising quietly through this postcard landscape the horrors seen here, and the futile loss of thousands of lives during two world wars. Now on a bankside mooring the only sound is the rustling of leaves. 

Lovingly restored narrow gauge locos at Cappy

We take the tourist train behind a diesel loco. 

( Steam at the Weekends ) 

At Cappy, a narrow guage railway museum houses trains that once hauled munitions on both sides of the front line. Remnants of those lines through the woods still survive,  these days they carry tourists like us.

 

Another train on another day.

The Armistice Carriage. Another reminder! 

We had returned to Compiegne, this time with family guests aboard, and took time out to visit the site of the armistice signing in a railway carriage on November 11th 1918.      'The War To End All Wars'. 

This wagon, sadly, is not the original. Adolf Hitler demanded that the French surrender 21 years later in 1939, was signed in the same carriage, then had it moved it to Berlin. In 1945 as the Allies closed in on Berlin it was burned, reputedly by the SS.

 River levels permitting we continue South on the Oise river to join the Seine, Paris and eventually the Yonne.

Picardie

 As I write we are moored in Amiens in the heart of Picardy and in a quiet spot in the shade of trees and a 15min walk to the largest catherdal in France.

With some relief we have descended the 35 locks on the French western end of the Sambre navigation. Here we joined the Oise river which flows into the Seine and Paris. At Compiegne we are back in the mix with commercial traffic again. 

                                                                          

Amiens cathedral, dating back to 1220 took 60 years to build.

Notre Dame in Paris could fit inside with room to spare. 

 

A plaque in the Cathedral honours the

 Kiwis who helped defend Amiens in 1916

Jules Verne was born and lived in Amiens.

Much of his inspiration is on display around the city 

With a little time in hand before heading South to Paris and with guests aboard, we headed North up the Canal du Nord and onto the Somme River. It is 12 years since we last cruised the Somme. During this time the hire boat fleet once based at Cappy has gone, and the waterway has become much less travelled. Many of the small waterside hostelries have closed up. This delightful and peaceful river needs more visitors. 

The higher levels of the Sambre

were clogged with weed making for very slow going

Descending the Western Sambre.

Sadly this route will decline without more boat traffic   

We are back among the commercials at Janville, Canal du Nord.

Lifting gates, at Noyon, Canal du Nord.

The commercial craft have priority.

Aproaching the 1km Panneterie tunnel, Canal du Nord 

One way traffic only.

Concentration needed on the helm

This heron does not miss a trick.

As the lock empties, he picks off the stranded fish.

 

Compiegne

Jeanne d'Arc in a defiant pose before the 'Mairie'

in Compiegne

Here she is again, by the railway station.

Jeanne d'Arc is one of the patron saints of France

Compiegne has a strong connection with Jeanne d'Arc. As a wilful teenager she led enough French people to rout the English, who ruled much of France back then. It was in Compiegne that in 1430 the Bugundians (loyal to the English) captured her and for a ransom, handed her to the English who then burned her at the stake for leading her army in mens clothing, declaring this to be religious heresy. 

From here, we head South to Paris.