Tuesday 26th June Sampigny to Commercy

Trip 9kms. Departure 11am. Locks 2 of 130.

I got up to find a baguette on the wheelhouse seat. Volker had clearly got up early and bought it for us. Nice one. I set about clearing up after last night. The midgy bites had been no trouble after all but cleaning the cob and magma was a bit of a chore. We breakfasted simply, bread cheese fruit and yoghurt. We headed off into town for a look round whilst Volker set off for Commercy.

The town was very old. 3 pigeons looked down on us like where's wally from crumbling wooden windows to an old stone barn. Can you spot them in the picture?

The war memorial was pretty as was the Meuse winding its way through the town running parallel to our canal section.

The old cafe in the high street was something straight off of a film set, and the garage just 50 yards up the street housed the movie vehicles.

The short run to Commercy was incident free and we found Folker waiting on the quay to help with lines. Before I had plugged the electric cable in, he was back with the brandy and 2 glasses, one of which he insisted I keep as a momento. A very nice man.

Got the bikes down and went off to the supermarket for vittals some 10minutes cycle away. I was getting Ava some water so we would need two trips but on this very hot day, riding was a pleasure and no hardship.

We returned to Doucette laden and collette unpacked while I delivered the water. She was ready when I returned and so we headed for a quick look in this sizeable town.

The halte was next to a velodrome and was shared with campervans. Electric and water was payable by 3€ tokens giving 8hours usage. The town was lovely. Dominated by an old chateau which now provided very posh civic offices, a cresh, the tourist office and some very nice restaurants. The chateau was bordered by small cobbled streets full of nice little shops and boutiques and more bars than usual for a town this size. This may also explain the need for 3 pharmacies within 100m of each other. We decided to come back and explore properly on foot tomorrow as I was keen to get back to the supermarket for beer and wine stocks which were running worryingly low. We got there and I locked the bikes outside a garden centre in which we were looking for some new folding chairs. We came out after a price shock and I asked Collette for the boat keys to unlock the steeds. Oh god she exclaimed I thought I gave it to you! I gave them to you to unpack the vittals, I exasperated. I felt the pannier that's just your horn explained the crew. Interesting responses were left unspoken at this fraught moment. I will walk back you go do the shopping. I staggered back in the stifling heat and broke into the boat. Like john mills in ice cold in Alex I Downed a much needed 1664 without taking breath. I did however take a short sharp intake when I realized the keys were missing. Did she give them to me as she had said, if so had they fallen from my pocket whilst riding? My head spun with all the ramifications. I retrieved the spare bike key and set off back to the shops, retracing my previous route and keeping a close vigil for a lost set of keys.

Got back to the bikes, the crew was still in the shop, I opened her pannier and there sat dormant was the set of keys. The question of who had dropped them in there and was ultimately responsible will be one of life's unanswered imponderables. It just ain't worth it baby!

Oh how we laughed when I informed the crew. Back at the now re stocked Doucette, it was time to start the cob for dinner. We had invited Folker and Ava over for 7pm. Like true Germans, They would not be late.

Sure enough at 7 sharp they arrived armed with a bottle of pastis for apparatives and we had a lovely candlelit night enjoying roast pork, dauphinoise, mushrooms and cobbed tomatoes followed by strawberry tart with cream and a monster cheeseboard. We drank bubbly and merlot and retired after midnight a little tipsy.