France August 2015

This is the first time the good ship Sirius has been in France under the helm of the Sirius-Europe syndicate. France is quite a change from cruising the Netherlands but it's been a slow, manageable transition.

Headed for adventure

Alison and I began our adventure on the river Maas in Maastricht close to the Netherlands/Belgium border. A few hours after leaving Maastricht it became the Meuse which rises in France. This meant we were locking upstream in Belgium for 16 days until our first French town of Givet. Our cruising permits were purchased here and we were given the first of a nifty little radio box for triggering each lock we came to.

Covers down for the 3.5m bridges in a typical narrow french lock

At this point the locks reduced to the diminutive Freycinet standard and were mostly complemented with neat gardens and joined by attractive tow paths, ideal for cycling. We transited tunnels too, the longest being 2.5Km.

Easy does it, not much room on each side

As we made our way further upstream the river wound its way through heavily wooded gorges, we were often surprised by charming villages.

Sirius far below as we hike the hills of Montherme

Most of the other cruisers we saw were Dutch or Belgium, making their way home to the north. There were no noisy Australians or Kiwis on holiday so we were always able to find a quiet tieup spot for the night!
Our route lead us to a turn off at Pont-a-Bar from the Meuse into the Ardennes.  We must have been at the mountain top for soon after at Le Chesne we descended 26 locks in over just 9km, sure sharpens one's boat-handling skills.

Lock to the right, spillway to the left

Turning off the Ardennes led us into a joining canal to the Marne. The canal de l'Aisne a la Marne passes Reims where the champagne district begins. From here-on the surrounding hills are striped vertically with grape vines, chardonnay and pinot noir, sparkling in the sunshine. Reims is interesting in that it was here that the Germans signed the unconditional surrender signalling the cessation of WWII in Europe. The room has been preserved.

Eisenhower was upstairs whilst his 2IC negotiated with his opposite number here.

Basilica in Reims

Epernay was just around the corner and on the Marne. A very attractive, well-to-do city all about champagne. Dom Perignon was an important founder and at the Mercier house we took an electric train ride through the underground tunnels, up to 80km in length, stacked with bottles quietly maturing at 10C before the lucky ones could sample the final product.

This trip is through France at it's best and very easy to enjoy aboard Sirius.

It's hard work at times