September 2018. A final summary of nine and a half years of living on our narrowboat, The Puzzler.

We moved to live on our narrowboat, The Puzzler, in April 2009, having sold our jigsaw and toy manufacturing business. We spent the first two years cruising around England, with two very cold winters on the Peak Forest canal, but in very good company.

 In April 2011, The Puzzler was transported to Ireland, with several boating friends suggesting that we keep an online blog about our experiences, so that they could decide whether or not to go too! As a result, this record of our travels began. In Ireland, we overwintered in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland, and during the summers, cruised practically all of the rivers and canals in both parts of this beautiful Emerald Isle. This map shows where we went, during our three years in Ireland.

Moving on in April 2014, The Puzzler had a long road journey across Ireland to Dublin, then across the Irish Sea to Holyhead by ferry. Having crossed North Wales and England by road, it was on to the ferry again, to get to Holland, on the other side of the North Sea. We rejoined her at Warmond, near to Leiden, and set off to explore The Netherlands. Again the map shows where we went in the next year, with our winter mooring being at Schagen, in North Holland. As there are so many small waterways in The Netherlands, I could not show them all, but have instead marked places which we reached with The Puzzler.

Once more it was April, in 2015, when we left Schagen to head south towards France. We took the short route across the east of Belgium, via Maastricht, and entered France on 2nd June. This next map shows all of our travels in this wonderful country. There are no small cruising circuits in France, and all the waterways are huge, by British standards. We cruised practically all of these routes shown at least twice, and in some cases, more than that! We learned to keep out of the way of barges of up to 3000 tons and quite enjoyed their company on our travels.

The final map is of Belgium,with both our preliminary passage in 2015, from The Netherlands through into France, and our final journey in August 2018 to Nieuwpoort, on the coast of Flanders.

Here is a cruising summary for the ten years we have lived on The Puzzler. Although we used kilometres on the continent, I have converted them to miles, for a better comparison of distance travelled.

 2009      728 locks + 1273 miles = 2001 lock/miles
 2010       607 locks + 982 miles = 1589 lock/miles
 2011      160 locks + 1093 miles = 1253 lock/miles
 2012       231 locks + 831 miles = 1062 lock/miles
 2013       212 locks + 838 miles = 1050 lock/miles
 2014       119 locks + 1667 miles = 1786 lock/miles
 2015       682 locks + 1555 miles = 2237 lock/miles
 2016       878 locks + 1608 miles = 2487 lock/miles
 2017       671 locks + 1098 miles = 1769 lock/miles
 2018       578 locks + 1510 miles = 2088 lock/miles
In total   4866 locks + 12455 miles  =  17321 lock/miles

So soon we will be back to living on dry land. The strangest thing we find about being in a house is that it does not move!

Many thanks for reading our blog and all the best for the future.

6th - 14th May 2018. On to Lucy-sur-Yonne, where we are tempted to stay in France! Next it is a visit to Châtel-Censoir, then on to Les Rochers de Saussois, at Merry-sur-Yonne.

Moving on from Clamecy, the sides of the valley rise to cliffs in places. Andy's beard comes and goes!

We spent several days in Lucy-sur-Yonne, which is a pleasant village. This is the first boat that we have seen for days!

We were tempted by this idyllic canalside property.

Wouldn't The Puzzler look good at the bottom of the garden? However, we decided it was not to be.

The Château de Faulin is in this field near to Lucy, and is an impressive building.

The village of Châtel-Censoir lies right above the canal, and it proved to be a fascinating old village.

The collegiate church of Saint Potentian lies at the top of the hill, and dates from the 9th century.

Inside, the chancel is built over the 9th century crypt, hence the unusual height of the altar here.

Carrying on, the canal is almost like an English canal in character, as it winds along the hillside.

The river Yonne appears beside us at intervals, as we share its valley.

In places the valley opens out, with this being an area of arable crops.

However, soon, we approach the Roches de Saussois, which are spectacular.

This rock is used by people who want to practise their serious rock climbing.

This will be our route up to the top. I am very pleased to be fit enough to climb up, as last time we were here, I had to admire our crew climbing, while I stayed on the boat.

It was rather off putting, to say the least, when this climber decided to do acrobatics on his rope, which was directly above us, as we ascended!

We can see The Puzzler far below us, once we reach the top of the cliffs.

Looking on down the canal, Merry-sur-Yonne can be seen over to the left. There is a good restaurant there, at the campsite, which is not to be missed!

When we were here last, in October 2015, this was the route down from the top for Andy, Debbie and Matt. Happy memories!

This time, however, we found a much safer route down, beyond the highest cliffs. The pine trees lined our descent, and were really pretty, with all the new growth.

25th - 30th April. Through three tunnels, down the flight of 16 locks, then on to Villiers-sur-Yonne

Having passed the lake, there are three tunnels before descending the 16 locks. There are no lights in the tunnels, which is unusual for France.

This cutting after the third tunnel is reminiscent of the Shroppie!

There was even one lock with traditional balance beams, although they would be too high for easy use. We completed the first 8 locks in record time, then had to wait for half an hour for a boat which was coming up the flight. We started at the same time, but we made much better time! It does help that we only need to use one gate at locks.

All the trees are really green now, as we continue our descent.

A pottery shop at one lock was followed by some unusual sculptures, alongside the canal. They are unusual, to say the least!

Did this martian annoy someone?

I think I prefer the steel ones.

What a pretty lock cottage!

The canal widens out below the 16 locks, and we actually shared the mooring with another boat, for the first time on this canal. It is really quiet.

Most of the time, the canal wends its way between trees.

Sometimes, though, the river Yonne can be seen from the canal, across at the far side of the valley.

We are passing some pretty villages. This is Dirol, with a lift bridge too, which was open for us. There are push button controls at lift bridges on this section of the canal, so they are easy to operate, without having to call VNF.

The plane trees are very attractive here.

Near Asnois village we gave this log pile first prize for the best stacking!

On to Villiers-sur-Yonne, where we spent five days on our own. The canal is really quiet due to the canal closure before Auxerre. Opinions vary as to when it will be open again, and it could be as late as the end of May.
Què sera sera!

The trees in Villiers, which is over the canal bridge, have had a haircut, and look very French!

From the top end of the village, there is a splendid view over the valley of the river Yonne. Yes, the mown grass is in a private garden!

Going to the left at the canal bridge and crossing the river Yonne, we visited the hamlet of Sur Yonne, which has many attractive old houses.

The most famous structure here is the “Corps de Garde”, which is the only significant remains of the 16th century fortifications of Sur Yonne, when the hamlet was independent of Brèves.

11th - 17th July. Upstream to Abbeville, where Martin and Jenny joined us, then up the canal de la Somme to the Chateau de Long, Samara, Amiens, Corbie, Chipilly, Cappy and back to Peronne. A busy week!

The station at Abbeville is an impressive building. Martin and Jenny joined us here.

We visited the Chateau de Long, where we had a guided tour of the ground floor. Our guide was the current owner, who has lived there for 15 years, and she was most enthusiastic, having done much of the renovation herself. It was all very impressive.

This deer and fawn was my favourite statue in the extensive gardens.

Inside one greenhouse there was a tropical collection of exotic plants, but it was rather too warm for comfort!

We moved on to Samara, where this Bronze age village is a part of the prehistoric park in the Somme valley. Here archaeology was brought to life, with fire lighting shown, using a flint to strike marcasite to make a spark. Hunting and the many uses of the hides obtained are all demonstrated at this fascinating place, which celebrates 600,000 years of prehistory in the Somme region.

Shannon decided that if she were not allowed to go on outings with us, then she would impress us by being a living statue!

Carrying on into Amiens this view, as we approach on the river, gives the best view of the cathedral.

The Notre Dame Cathedral of Amiens is enormous, being twice the size of Notre-Dame de Paris, and is the largest Gothic edifice ever built. It is interesting that the two main towers are different to each other. We really enjoyed our visit here. 

The detail on the front facade is amazing, having been carved originally in 1475.

At that time all the figures were in colour, and this fantastic evening light show brought it back to the way it was then, with high-definition digital images. Sorry about the dark, but it is after 11pm!

For part of the show, a cloud effect covered the top part of the facade, making us all feel giddy!

Never mind posing for a photo, Shannon is watching the show!

As a real contrast, this skyscraper was built after 1945 and is said to be the first one built in France.

Andy and I saw this concert in front of the Town Hall, while Martin and Jenny enjoyed visiting the Jules Verne house. This is a lovely city.

Next morning we went up Amiens lock, with Martin crewing for the deepest lock on the Somme. Well, he is a sailor after all!

We were allowed to see inside the command centre for the whole of the River Somme, which was fascinating. Every boat on the system has its own named marker, which is moved as the boat moves.

Stopping on the top town mooring, we eventually found the base for the punt-like boats known as barque à cornet, for a trip round The Hortillonnages. Do not make the error which we nearly did, and think that it is the small trip boat operating on the main canal, which is just a water bus.
 

The punt takes us on a magical tour through the small canals of this large area of market gardens, as well as decorative gardens, all aiming to win the July competition for the best waterfront.

Our last visit in Amiens was across the river to see the medieval waterside district of St Leu.

Moving on to Corbie, Jenny had a burst of energy and leapt up the climbing frame in the park!

In Corbie, once again there is a splendid town hall, with the flags by the war memorial. We enjoyed a good meal at the restaurant, La Table d'Agathe.

On Saturday morning we visited this statue at Chipilly. It represents an English soldier supporting his wounded horse, and is a very moving memorial.

The weather continues to improve and Jenny too proves her nautical skills, showing great concentration.

At Cappy we played boules again, with Martin throwing the winning boule.

Back to Peronne, where the mooring was busier than when we were here last.

On the way into town this flower bed represents the memorial flowers of both England and France, poppies and cornflowers. No doubt this is to commemorate the centenary of The Battle of the Somme.

The Historial de la Grande Guerre is to be found in Peronne castle, and made an interesting finish to a memorable week. Jenny and Martin leave us tomorrow.