3rd - 10th September 2017. On to Meaux, still on the river Marne, and on to Lagny-sur-Marne. In Paris we turned left on to the river Seine, then upstream to join the river Loing at St. Mammes.

When we arrived in Meaux, there were five boats here, including Puddleduck and Oribi, but the others all left us! We hear that the Marne is to close at the end of this week for three weeks, which is a surprise. There is still plenty of time to get to the river Seine though.

From Meaux we were on the Canal de Meaux à Chalifert, which runs alongside the Marne. We managed to pick over 400 walnuts there, mostly from the roof of The Puzzler.

Our next mooring, back on the River Marne, was Lagny-sur-Marne, which was an important centre for the Resistance in northern France during the second World War. The bridges from the quay to the jetty are apparently removed in winter, which is a nuisance for continuous cruisers.

We visited the 13th century abbey of Notre Dame des Argents , which was also visited by Joan of Arc in 1430. It is interesting how the houses here are built directly on to the abbey.

The sun is shining in through all the stained glass windows, and reflecting on to the pillars.

The pictures are painted on to the glass in these older stained glass windows.

We were told that these windows are more recent, with each piece of glass being a different colour.

While on the next canal section, a barge, carrying containers, filled the waterway. Barges do not seem so big out on the main river.

Back on the Marne, we are now in the outskirts of Paris, with trees everywhere, and some very fine houses to be seen.

As we approach the River Seine, this sand barge is a sign of things to come!

The junction of the rivers Marne and Seine is dominated by this enormous Chinese restaurant. We have just come down the Marne, from the left, and are now going up the Seine, to the right of the restaurant.

The Seine is built up for a long way upstream from Paris, but this mooring, just 20 kilometres from the junction, was recommended to us by friends. A mini oasis amid the houses!

Further on, there are many smart houses along the banks.

There are also large communities of residential barges.

When the wind blows, it can be quite bleak out on this river!

I think that Endurance is the largest barge we have seen on the Seine.

However, Exelmans comes a close second. He swung his stern in to the bank behind us, and then quickly off-loaded his car with his own crane, before continuing. He left his wife with the car, throwing the car keys to her, across on the bank. Luckily, he could throw well, and they did not end up in the river!

After we had moored above the lock at Bois-le-Roi, a double barge squeezed in behind us. There was just room for him, or rather, them! They were a pair of barges lashed together, with one pushing the other. The captain craned their car off the barge VG, ready for an evening out.

There was an interesting sunset over the lock that evening.

Next day we completed our journey on the Seine, turning on to the river Loing at St. Mammes, to moor at Moret-sur-Loing. Last June this mooring was under water.

Moret is upstream from the mooring and the town bridge crosses the river Loing here.

Moret was badly flooded last June, as can be seen by the height of the water level, marked by the red arrow, well above Andy's head, by the town bridge.

50 yards upstream of the bridge, to the right of a small island, would not have been the place to stand then!

8th - 15th June 2016. On from Varreddes to the head of the canal de L'Ourc, then back to Bondy, in the suburbs of Paris.

We stayed above Varreddes lock for three days, as there were some fallen trees to be cleared from the canal further on. The village was about a mile away for shopping. The general store had no baskets so it was a question of piling all of our purchases on his counter, which was not really big enough! We managed though, to his delight. Were we his best customers this year?

We found an interesting walk up through the woods, and feasted on wild strawberries!

Moving on through Bosse bridge, this could have been on an English canal, except for the lack of other boats.

A lorry was needed to clear the wood from the fallen trees. There were a few small branches still in the water, but nothing to worry about.

The canal de Clignon is a small feeder canal, and comes in near the head of the Canal de L'Ourcq.

This canal is navigable for small craft, with a 12 metre winding hole after 1.2 kilometres. We walked up to this point, though its towpath could do with a trim! Yes, that is a train crossing ahead of Andy.

Near the winding hole the canal de Clignon crossed the river Ourcq on an aqueduct. The muddy coloured banks show how high this river has been.

Four kilometres further on, Mareuil is the next village. This view of  Mareuil church, together with the millstream, could have been painted by Constable, if he had been French!

To the right of the millstream, the canal de L'Ourcq comes to an end, but navigation continues on upstream for another 10 kilometres. However, this lock is not working just now, so this is as far as we can go.

Setting off to go back down the canal, Shannon is on a constant watch for coypu. She loves to see them, either on the bank, or diving to escape The Puzzler. Moorhens are nearly as good!

The two avenues of trees just before Varreddes are the most impressive on this waterway, with tall trees which are possibly birch, on the right, and hornbeam on the left.

Returning through Varreddes lock, we found that this lock is different to all the others, as far as keys are concerned. Mr Eclusier had worked us through last time, so now it was trial and error. It is a two key system here, and they must be used in order, or the lock will not let you have your key back! Eventually I had to go to find someone to help. He too had difficulty, and had to give me his key instead of our original one, as it was securely locked in! Incidentally, have you ever seen such a long lock, with only 3.1 metres of width?

Twenty minutes further on, we came across the remains of yet another fallen tree, which had just been cleared. It was quite a relief to get out of these woods, with overhanging trees threatening us at every turn!

All other locks on the canal de L'Ourcq are quite simple. The top light is green, so put your key in beside it, and turn it. This closes the lock gate and fills or empties the lock. The bottom light then turns green, and a key turn here will open the gates. Do NOT forget your key!

There is a great deal of urban art along this canal, and some of the artists are quite talented.

1st - 9th June 2016. On the Canal de L'Ourcq

Our first mooring on the canal de L'Ourcq was overshadowed by this large mural. We were still in the outskirts of Paris, but the weather was so wet that any potential troublemakers were not to be seen outside. The canal soon narrows to that of an English narrow canal, and has a depth of 0.8 metres. This is fine for us, but stops all wider and deeper boats from using this delightful canal.

So far there has been a good towpath all the way along this canal.

We stopped in Claye-Souilly for a couple of days. This is a delightful little town with all facilities. This work boat is the first other craft that we have seen, since leaving Paris.

Even the insects have a fancy hotel here!

On the way out of town, this clever mural was painted on two sides of the small building, with the join being difficult to spot.

All along the canal de L'Ourcq, there are avenues of trees. These are newly planted hornbeams along by the canal. The towpath continues to be excellent.

At Fresnes there are bollards all along this bank, with a small area strimmed round each one, for ease of use. As we seem to be the only boat on the whole canal, we appreciate this.

Two coypu on the opposite bank fascinated Shannon. We watched them grazing for ages.

One couple told us that they have walked along the canal daily for the last six years, and we are the first boat, apart from the work boat, that they have seen here. At the Ecluse de Fresnes, the lock was rather slow to work. We have our own key, so this is no problem. However, the man from the lock cottage came straight out to see that all was well for us, which was reassuring.

Shannon and I have walked along the towpath on most mornings.

We have a good view over the Marne valley, as this is a contour canal. We are well above the villages.

The town of Meaux can be visited from both the canal de L'Ourcq and the river Marne. There is still a lot of water in the Marne. Despite it being Sunday, the cathedral was very closed.

We followed the canal for ten kilometres as it meandered around Meaux. These swans paddled for ages in front of us, before deciding to take off and leave us.

This canal was dug by Russian prisoners of war in the time of Napoleon. It was built both as a water supply for Paris, and also to transport the grain of this region to Paris. Arable farming is still very important here, and the canal still carries non-potable water into Paris. Because of this there is a steady flow of water down the canal.

Just round the corner at Poincy, we moored above this wonderful garden.

The 76 year old owner invited us to come and look round, and we were certainly impressed by it. The Puzzler can just be seen, arrowed, on the canal up above the garden.

As it was a very hot day, Shannon found a cool muddy puddle, created by the immense thunder storm last night.

We have come through Varreddes lock, the only completely manual lock on this canal. It is the only original lock which remains. There are two parallel locks, but now only one is in use. We are stuck here until Friday, as there are some fallen trees further on, which will be cleared then. Our own waterways man is keeping us informed!