Tuesday 12th June Charleville Meziers to Sedan

Trip 28kms Departure noon. Locks 6 of 99

We were woken by the leaving of a large barge in front of us and the immediate arrival from the opposite quay of the most stunning smelne vessel, Dutch owned of course. I went out to help him with ropes and he was a very nice guy. He told me he was only stopping for an hour to top up electric and water but surprisingly spoke very little English.

10 minutes later I was horrified to see his chum manoeuvring within 1ft of Doucette in a 16m steel leviathan with a jet propelled tender on Davits at the stern apparently trying to squeeze in between us. Collette was suddenly in blackout in the saloon as this monster blue hull slipped past the galley window. He got the bow in as I hurtled onto the pontoon to check and demonstrate at this stupidity. His fender brushed Doucette but I realized he could just about make it and with the stern thrusters these things can be manoeuvred with incredible accuracy. This skipper was decent and asked if I was happy before he tried. I told him yes but real slow. It was lovely to watch and he got in safely with 20 cms to spare either end. He was very grateful and we had a long chat. He invited me to view the leviathan but I had other fish to fry and wanted to get moving so declined but was pleased to have met another very nice Dutchmen who could certainly handle his boat.

I made a last visit to the boulangerie and we were ready to leave. We followed out an older Stevens, (smelne is Dutch name) which was another cowes registered boat. I had briefly chatted with the owners who hailed from east cowes and by co-incidence, they were heading for a winter in st symphorien my own winter destination. They were off to the Marne so we agreed to look out for each other in October.

The leviathan skipper came and helped me slip out. I was going to spring but with the strong current a big push on the stern and she drifted out no worries. The trip to sedan took us back towards Pont Le bar. I was able to enjoy the return run so much more and started to realized how pretty the Meuse was. A mixture of woods and rolling meadows speckled with cattle horses and the ever present reminders of this regions violent past with a line of concrete bunkers overlooking this strategically crucial waterway.

The sun had come out as we approached sedan and I had the shirt off for the first time in a few days. It felt good.

We arrived at a fairly empty halte fluvials. Moored on a very unstable finger and plugged in. The halte is again next to a small campsite so full facilities available. We lurched on the baguettes boar pâté and a variety of cheeses and some red wine.

Got the bikes off and rode round the town of sedan. Feature of which is a massive fortress which dominates the town and which is surrounded by cobbled streets with architecture form different centuries following the need for so much rebuilding work, a result of so many battles here. We loved the town and decided to have a full day here tomorrow and have lunch in one of the squares, but for now I needed a courgette and red pepper for tonight's dinner. I went into a marvellous old style fruit and veg shop with a glorious selection.

A huge ripe red pepper and a big courgette set me back 1.40€. Back at Doucette Collette set about e mail catch up. I made calls home. It was great to chat with tony and robin. Tony had all great news which was brilliant and rob was on top form too so I opened a cold one and started preparing dinner. A chicken and chorizo bake. Topped with grated em mental and breadcrumbed baguette. Collette thought it was amongst the top meals of the trip. High praise indeed but we could still not finish it all.

Clo was a bit tipsy so retired early, 10.15 but still broad daylight, leaving me to crack on with the blog. Had lots of catching up to do. I was pleased to retire back in the aft cabin.