22nd - 30th June 2017. Along the river Moselle from Toul, then up the Embranchement to join the Marne au Rhin canal(est). On via Crévic, and Parroy to the 15 metre lock at Réchicourt.

Leaving Toul, we turned to the right on to the River Moselle. There are not many locks on this stretch, but this one has a rise of 7 metres.

This lock makes those on the Marne au Rhin canal look very small!

We moored immediately above the lock, to be joined overnight by barge Luma.













As Luma passed us, these next two photos were taken, just one second apart, to try and show the sheer size of a 2600 capacity commercial barge, compared to The Puzzler.

From the Moselle, we turned off up the Embranchement de Nancy. The first four locks are very close together, so it was a bonus walk for Shannon.

We found a pleasant bankside mooring, with shade from trees on both sides.

Shannon and I both had a snooze!

At the junction with the Marne au Rhin (est) we went to the left, for an overdue trip to the supermarket. We seem to be going shopping once a fortnight. The flowers are doing better than ever.

From Crévic we made an early start, aiming to reach our first lock at 9am. However, barge Modicum crept up behind us, so he went past. Then, just as we approached the lock, a Dutch barge arrived, so again we moved down the queue! Pam and John, from New Zealand, joined us again in the lock.

At Parroy this purple sky warned us of the thunderstorm to come.

All the flowers came in for their safety. They do not like thunderstorms!

On our second night at Parroy the mooring was quite full, with 10 boats there. The capitaine said that it was the most boats there for two years.

We joined the Germans from five other boats for pancakes and drinks, but sadly we were rained off.

This kingfisher watched us pass by. You should have had your camera here, Matt!

Shannon enjoys finding the shade
under the flowers.

There were five hungry cats at Rechicourt lock 7.

Approaching the big lock at Rechicourt, it looks bigger than ever. This lock was built to replace six of the old locks.

We are sharing with a German cruiser, using the middle rope on to the floating bollard. We were right at the front of the lock last time, and it was much gentler there.

At the stern, it is very rough water, as the paddles let the water in from underneath the boat, pushing the stern out.

Normally, when going up a lock, the rough water is at the front.

Mooring above the lock, we need the plank to get to the shore. Every time the lock is filled up, The Puzzler tilts to the right for a while, as we are sitting on the bottom. This pound is very long though, so we are soon level again