12th - 16th September. We continue our return along the canal towards Nancy.

Back through Arzviller tunnel, but no trains this time.

The approach to Niderviller tunnel is in perfect order – those strimmers have been out again!

What a lot of goats! We bought some goat cheese from this farm, and it is very tasty.

The church at Xouaxange had an unusual tower, which goes quite well with the unusual name of the village. We have not yet discovered the correct pronunciation for it!

Another pleasant mooring at Xouaxange.

It was busy at Rechicourt lock today, with three boats going down ahead of us, and another three waiting to come up.

We then had to wait for nearly an hour, in case any more boats arrived to share the lock. During this hour a boatowner climbed up from below the lock to demand, “Are you coming down then?” As there was a red light ahead of us, we told her that we would, as soon as we could. She seemed to think that we were just waiting there to annoy her and hold her up! She was probably on a schedule! As no more boats did arrive, we had two floating bollards to use in the lock.

Did we really come in through those gates up there??

We sailed on through the heat of the day to this shady mooring at Moussey. Andy is just tying a fender to the tree to protect the topsides of The Puzzler. This is a first!

Our next stop was at Parroy, where the weather was cooler at last. This is an extremely pleasant mooring beside a campsite, with a table tennis table too, although the wind made for some interesting games! Barge Henrietta arrived on Thursday, with a friendly English couple, who had heard of the imminent closure of the Embranchement, at Nancy. We had planned to take another couple of days to get there, as it would add 40 kilometres to our route, if it were shut.

By making an early start on Friday though, and covering 32 kilometres and 10 locks in seven and a half hours, we made it to the junction, near to this lock. These last few locks have different gates, with just one hydraulic paddle on each one. We are now moored just past the junction, near to the supermarket and garage, having spent the rest of the day in getting provisions from both of these.