These are the adventures of Andy and Sally Rawnsley on their narrowboat "The Puzzler". We have been living on the boat for over nine years now and are still loving it. Our Ulster born Shih Tzu, Shannon, has grown up, and has taken over the boat! After three wonderful years in Ireland, we transported The Puzzler to The Netherlands, and spent a year there. In 2015 we went southwards, to reach the north of France by June. After glorious weather throughout the summer, we arrived in Roanne in late October, and enjoyed our winter in this friendly port. We cruised extensively in France in 2016, 2017 and 2018, returning to Roanne each winter.


Saturday 27 August 2016

23rd - 26th August. On to Demange-aux-Eaux, through Mauvages tunnel to Sauvoy, then on via Void to Pagny-sur-Meuse.



Autumn is approaching, as the wheat fields are ploughed.


We pass some lovely country properties.


At Demange-aux-Eaux is another pleasant jetty.


This is the main street of Demange.


This lady is the only person about, making sure that all is perfect in front of her house.


Moving on, the water has never been clearer. There are a lot of small fish to be seen in front of the bows here.


Mauvages tunnel approaches. We will be accompanied by a cyclist through the tunnel to make sure that we are OK.


Thisraight tunnel is nearly 5 kilometres long, and is lit throughout, with parts of it reinforced with metal girders.


There were three VNF men waiting for us at the other end, but they just smiled at us as we emerged.

Sauvoy was another mooring with a handy tree for shade. Well, we are near to the mooring, but the tree looked better than the bollards did!
In Sauvoy several of the houses had barns as part of the buildings. We saw one small tractor put away for the night in one of these, nearer to our mooring, but it was too dark for a photo.


Moving on to Pagny-sur-Meuse.
Last night there were 8 boats here, and we had to double up, outside a Dutch barge. They all left this morning, so we moved on to the jetty. Since I took this photo, the sun has moved and so must we! We have backed up to the end of the jetty, for a cooler afternoon under the tree. Inside the boat the temperature is 34 degrees, or 35 degrees in the open cratch.

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