6th - 9th August 2018. On along the river Sambre through Namur and industrial Charleroi further into Belgium. Down, then up, the inclined Plane at Ronquieres, then down the Strépy-Thieu lift.

On leaving Namur, we are immediately in an industrial area, but not for too long. However, the river Sambre is lined with sloping concrete banks for kilometre after kilometre.

This is one of the very few villages to be seen along this stretch.

Charleroi is built in the middle of all the industry.

This goes on for a long way.

We are seeing quite a lot of commercial traffic. When empty, like this barge, they always look more imposing.

The tall tower ahead marks the Ronquieres inclined plane. We have yet to discover why there is such a tall tower here.

We were straight in to the caisson to descend this amazing structure. There are two of these floating boxes, but only one is in use at the moment.

To go back up the plane, The Puzzler was allowed to share with Amigo, a large barge from Holland. It is a good thing that we are narrow, to fit into that space!

It seems strange to be sitting there, doing nothing, while we are moved up the hillside.

Half way up. We are ready for a quick getaway at the top!

There is a visitor centre within the building, with an excellent video presentation about the lives of the bargees. However, our only access to it from our mooring above the lift, was through the workings on the other half of the lift, as directed by a workman.

Who is worried about health and safety? We declined going up to the 9th floor for the view though!

Returning back to the junction, we continued on the Canal du Centre to reach the Strépy-Thieu lift.

Here we are in the lift, with our entry door visible up above us.

At the bottom, having descended 73 metres!

The whole tower of the lift looks very impressive from here, as we sail away.

As we exit the Strépy lift, to our left can be seen one of the Historic boat lifts. The Historic Canal du Centre, with four boat lifts, is now a World Heritage site, with the two canals running almost parallel to each other.

31st July - 5th August 2018. On from Sedan on the canal de la Meuse, with a detour for a fuel stop at Pont-à-Bar on the canal des Ardennes. Then on to Haybes, finally joining the Belgian Meuse below Givet, to arrive at Namur in Belgium.

Martin and Jenny left us on Tuesday, and we pushed on to go up one lock on to the Canal des Ardennes, at Pont-à-Bar. The lock control pole made a handy bollard!

There was a tame ragondan (or coypu) there, which really enjoyed slices of apple. Shannon literally quivered with excitement, as she has a love affair with ragondans!

Up one more lock to Pont-à-Bar to fill up with fuel. We would have enjoyed visiting the Canal des Ardennes again, but this pic (from the noticeboard)  of the collapse of lock 21 at Neuville-Day, shows why the canal is closed. It is very sad. The canal de la Meuse is also now closed due to lack of water, both at the junction with the Marne-Rhine canal, and, more recently, at Stenay too, so we have been very lucky to get through.

Continuing on the Canal de la Meuse, houses are squeezed in below the trees, along the river banks.

Trees dominate the banks here.

Sometimes it is difficult to see how there can be a way through!

At Château-Regnant we found Esme, and caught up with Chris and Diana, until 1am! We now have a great deal more information about Belgium, so many thanks to them for that. It is lovely to see friends again.

Monthermé is another small town which fits on to the outer edge of a bend in the river. This waterway is by now mainly river, with canal sections.

We managed to squeeze three boats into Deville lock, with The Puzzler going across the lock.

This chateau is very private here.

An hour later the trees are closing in again.

Our geraniums have really liked the hot weather!

We stopped at Haybes again. It does not seem like three years since we were here last. This is a very pleasant village.

Here is the cat burglar! Last night it was so warm that we left the outer side door open overnight, protected by the mosquito net. At 5 am the cat must have stepped on to the top of the netting, and then fallen into the boat, taking the net with it! Shannon practically exploded, and ran up and down the boat, screaming at the top of her voice! No sign of the intruder, but he must have made a very quick exit!

We moved on to Givet, with the cliffs leading on to the citadel.

The citadel overlooks the town.

We moored on the wall, pretending to be a commercial, but no-one minded. No shade here, but with a high wall all our doors can be open, with no risk of Shannon escaping.

It is late for cygnets, but these ones look very healthy, with two white babies, which is unusual.

The river is much busier now, as we move on into Belgium, with many more marinas such as this.

The church in Dinant is practically built into the cliff, which dominates the town.

The locks are now bigger, and we are travelling with 5 other boats. Four of them are faster, so they wait for us in each, and the other slower cruiser keeps us company!

Ahead, these houses on top of the cliff must have a fantastic view!

We couldn't decide whether this was an actual house, or just a garden ornament!

Approaching Namur, our last town on the Belgian Meuse.

The citadel of Namur, which we explored three years ago.

24th - 31st July 2018. Martin and Jenny join us at Commercy to continue on the Canal de la Meuse via Verdun, Stenay, and Mouzon to Sedan.

Martin and Jenny joined us at Commercy on Tuesday evening, and Martin was hard at work the next day, closing a lock gate.

Arriving quite late at Verdun, we squeezed in between a Dutch Tjalk and a Dutch cruiser. The people on the tjalk were very happy to have our bows overlap their tiller, but the ones behind arrived after we were tied up, and thought we were too close to them, even though the boats were not touching. He got quite upset, poor fellow!

We had a very pleasant meal out in Verdun, at Le Clapier restaurant.

Next morning it was time to see the town, before it became too hot. The main town gates are still an impressive sight.

The Battle of Verdun was fought between the French and the Germans during most of 1916, with the French being the final victors. There is still evidence of the fighting throughout the town, with schrapnel damage on this church wall.

Nearby is the main war memorial, decorated with attractive flowers.

On Friday we moved on to find a rural mooring, with no artificial lights, for the anticipated eclipse of the moon.

The eclipse was very faint, due to drifting cloud, but here the moon is emerging again.

We passed several of these old railway bridges, which were destroyed during the second world war.

We came into the mooring at Stenay, which is on an offshoot from the canal. It was easy to back out when we left, but would have been tricky, had we been several boats further in!

We came to Stenay to visit the Beer Museum, and found it very interesting.

Some new Dutch friends had recommended this mooring near to Alma lock, and it was certainly worth a visit.

Our game of pétanque had to be played on grass this time, as the track was too close to the canal. Does this picture look a little bit posed?

Next day it was a lunchtime visit to the 13th century Benedictine Abbey at Mouzon.

The carvings round the front door are impressive.

All along the canal de la Meuse, we alternate between river and canal sections.

At Sedan this is a memorial to the battle of Bazeilles, which was fought on 1st September,1870, during the Franco- Prussian war.
On our way out in the evening, we saw some young men fighting, near to this memorial, but an ambulance happened to pass them, and so they pretended they were playing! After our meal, which was frequently punctuated by the roar of two motorbikes, we walked back to the boat, and a dog bit Sally on the leg. Just a slight bruise, but the owner rewarded the dog with a treat! No doubt it will try harder to draw blood next time!