13-14 May
An unscheduled trip back to the boat to meet the Raymarine dealer. I located them through Raymarine UK, phoned and wrote to them (with a French translation to ensure we both understood the problem), and they suggested this date. The person who turned up seemed fairly knowledgeable. He replaced the course computer card, updated the software and re-wired the AIS connections. We were more or less able to confirm that the compass was working correctly, but not completely able to check it until setting off. I was unable to check AIS since no boats on the Seine or Oise use it.
Sunday 25 May
We drove to Dover, hoping that the French fishermen had given up blockading the ports, and boarded our 12:00 Norfolk Line ferry to Dunkerque. The ferry actually departed a few minutes early, unlike recent P&O crossings, which had all been late. The boat was fairly new and also looked smarter than the P&O ones. We had written to the company in advance to ask for a bridge visit, and after we had crossed the traffic separation zone they invited us up. After passing crew quarters and conference rooms we went up the stairs to the bridge, an area about half the size of a football pitch. There was only one officer and a lookout on duty at the time. It would take too long here to describe all the interesting things that we saw and learnt, but since boaters are always interested in toilets on board we can report that they have their own sewage system and the finished product is clean water that can be pumped out.
The A15 motorway took us straight down to Cergy.
Monday 26 May
After a night on board I drove to Vermenton, where we had agreed a mooring with France Afloat. After an overnight stop half way I was back the next morning. Richard and Gillian Bickford were back with us, being very useful by cleaning the boat..
Tuesday 27 May
We left our mooring of one month at Cergy and were soon on the Seine. A short journey upstream took us to L'Isle Chatou, Impressionist Island. Four of us enjoyed a meal at Maison Fournaise. The atmosphere and location are very good. The meal was not expensive, but also not the best we have eaten.
Wednesday 28 May
Richard and Gillian welcomed their French friends Francoise and Gerard aboard. All six of us sailed up into Paris, with Gerard and Francoise, the locals, providing commentary.
As we listened to VHF chatter we asked Francoise and Gerard to translate. Gratifyingly they said that even they found it difficult to understand the French on the radio. At one lock we thought we would be helpful and try to identify what the lock keeper wanted us to do. So we set Francoise to speaking to him, only for him to give a very rude response that he was not speaking to her and that she should just listen. This was not a universal experience with lock keepers, and the lady who came on duty a few minutes later was much more pleasant. The problem for us stems from the fact that they do not use VHF protocols, so it is very difficult to determine who is speaking to whom when there are several boats around. And sometimes you can only hear half the conversation, making it even worse.
Although going against the current we travelled easily at about 8 kph. At first the scenery was mostly Paris suburbs with a mixture of houses and industry. But we quickly started to spot well known sights, and then everything was upon us at once. We went through the centre and arrived at L'Arsenal, only to be told on VHF that they were full. Despite a long beseeching message in French from Francoise the port controller could not be persuaded to let us in, and just repeated 'complet, complet, complet'. This was disappointing, since we had been told several times that you could not book and that they would more or less guarantee you a place.
So we turned around, waited several minutes for the contra flow lights at the Isle de la Cite, then returned to the Eiffel Tower area. The Halte Fluviale Tour Eiffel had a space and greeted us warmly. As it turned out, this was a much better spot. There was only one way traffic past us, so less turbulence, and we were on the river bank, so could leave whenever we wanted, without locking. Water and electricity was included. Local shops and restaurants were nearby, and we could watch the Eiffel Tower light show from our boat.
Thursday 29 May
Our friends left and we visited the Marie Antoinette exhibition. Back at the boat we discovered from the man running the halte fluviale that he had been told the previous day that the place would close permanently the following day. This was a great shock to everyone. It seems that Paris is not interested in leisure boats.
After a lot of searching around for a simple meal we found a restaurant near the boat. Prices in France seem to have gone up a lot, even allowing for the strength of the Euro. There are lots of mediocre restaurants charging 30 - 40 Euros for a set meal. On the whole it is much better to eat on the boat.
Friday 30 May
We left Paris and continued up the Seine. Progress is fairly straightforward and you can easily cover 30-40 KM in a day. But finding somewhere to stop can be a problem in the busy parts. We decided to play safe and telephone ahead to the Port de Juvisy. They reserved a place for us for the night. At 18 Euros including water and electricity that is not bad. The captainnerie told us that we were lucky - they do not normally have space for boats our size, but someone had just left. Most of the marinas we saw seemed to cater for small boats. For the first time we got a strong satellite signal, so were able to listen to The Archers and watch the news.
Saturday 31 May
As the Seine became more rural we decided to chance finding a mooring for the night. We were unable to find somewhere convenient to stop for lunch, so ate on the move. The locks work all day (except for Sunday - lunch from 12:30 to 13:30), so pushing on was not difficult. We did discover one thing with the large, commercial barges. We were waiting some time on red and green lights for entry to the lock. As the lock appeared to empty we drifted closer to the gates. Then, without warning, a large barge appeared from round the bend and continued to motor straight at us. He did not change course or speed and had no idea whether we had seen him or not. Hard reverse just got us out of the way in time and averted a nasty accident. In the lock he came up to us with a smile and said that commercial traffic takes priority in the lock. This was understandable, but he was not there when we made our initial approach. After that we found it quite useful just to tuck in behind a large barge and enter the lock.
We reached Melun by later afternoon and amazingly found good moorings on the left just before the first town bridge. A hotel barge, Savoir Faire, with a British captain, was just ahead of us. The town is worth exploring and we topped up with supplies.
Sunday 1 June
It's June already, only three weeks until the longest day.
Our normal start time of around 09:30 slipped to 09:50, but there did not appear to be a need to rush. Just as well, since at 12:45 we spotted a restaurant, L'Isle des Truitres, just past Hericy. The two hour lunch and half bottle of Champagne meant that we just got through the next lock and decided to stop at Champagne sur Seine. We were told by the hotel boat that there was a commercial fuel depot just after this, so decided to make for this in the morning. A quick bike tour of the town revealed nothing of interest, but we are now getting speedy at assembling the bikes.
Monday 2 June
After a quiet day on Sunday the commercial barges started again, with the one moored just upstream from us starting its engine around 07:00. A short way upstream and just above the junction with the Le Loing canal we found a commercial fuel depot. The large tanks and long fuel lines showed that it served commercial barges, and so had a good turnover. It is a good idea to buy from such places, since the fuel should be of better quality than from a small marina or similar. They also have water and a small chandlery, although were out of stock of Navicarte 20. It seems that you have to buy virtually every book in the series in order to navigate anywhere of interest. Although we still had plenty of water in the tank we were pleased to be able to top up. There are few water points. The most likely place to get water is a marina. Large locks have water, but you have to be very quick to leap out and put the hose into the tank while the lock is in operation. We tried it once and it was more of a splash and dash. They would not let us stay an extra minute as more boats were arriving.
At Montereau we turned onto the Yonne and the story continues in the next section.