3rd - 10th September 2017. On to Meaux, still on the river Marne, and on to Lagny-sur-Marne. In Paris we turned left on to the river Seine, then upstream to join the river Loing at St. Mammes.

When we arrived in Meaux, there were five boats here, including Puddleduck and Oribi, but the others all left us! We hear that the Marne is to close at the end of this week for three weeks, which is a surprise. There is still plenty of time to get to the river Seine though.

From Meaux we were on the Canal de Meaux à Chalifert, which runs alongside the Marne. We managed to pick over 400 walnuts there, mostly from the roof of The Puzzler.

Our next mooring, back on the River Marne, was Lagny-sur-Marne, which was an important centre for the Resistance in northern France during the second World War. The bridges from the quay to the jetty are apparently removed in winter, which is a nuisance for continuous cruisers.

We visited the 13th century abbey of Notre Dame des Argents , which was also visited by Joan of Arc in 1430. It is interesting how the houses here are built directly on to the abbey.

The sun is shining in through all the stained glass windows, and reflecting on to the pillars.

The pictures are painted on to the glass in these older stained glass windows.

We were told that these windows are more recent, with each piece of glass being a different colour.

While on the next canal section, a barge, carrying containers, filled the waterway. Barges do not seem so big out on the main river.

Back on the Marne, we are now in the outskirts of Paris, with trees everywhere, and some very fine houses to be seen.

As we approach the River Seine, this sand barge is a sign of things to come!

The junction of the rivers Marne and Seine is dominated by this enormous Chinese restaurant. We have just come down the Marne, from the left, and are now going up the Seine, to the right of the restaurant.

The Seine is built up for a long way upstream from Paris, but this mooring, just 20 kilometres from the junction, was recommended to us by friends. A mini oasis amid the houses!

Further on, there are many smart houses along the banks.

There are also large communities of residential barges.

When the wind blows, it can be quite bleak out on this river!

I think that Endurance is the largest barge we have seen on the Seine.

However, Exelmans comes a close second. He swung his stern in to the bank behind us, and then quickly off-loaded his car with his own crane, before continuing. He left his wife with the car, throwing the car keys to her, across on the bank. Luckily, he could throw well, and they did not end up in the river!

After we had moored above the lock at Bois-le-Roi, a double barge squeezed in behind us. There was just room for him, or rather, them! They were a pair of barges lashed together, with one pushing the other. The captain craned their car off the barge VG, ready for an evening out.

There was an interesting sunset over the lock that evening.

Next day we completed our journey on the Seine, turning on to the river Loing at St. Mammes, to moor at Moret-sur-Loing. Last June this mooring was under water.

Moret is upstream from the mooring and the town bridge crosses the river Loing here.

Moret was badly flooded last June, as can be seen by the height of the water level, marked by the red arrow, well above Andy's head, by the town bridge.

50 yards upstream of the bridge, to the right of a small island, would not have been the place to stand then!

28th - 31st May 2016. Down the River Seine to The Arsenal in Paris. We saw the Notre Dame Cathedral, L'Arc de Triomph, the Eiffel Tower, Jardin des Tuileries and Musée d'Orsay, before heading out of Paris on to the Canal de L'Ourcq, to escape the floods.

Our last night on the Seine was on a houseboat mooring, in a suburb of Paris, Athis-Mons. The people on the next door barge were very friendly.

As the Marne joins the Seine, in Paris, there is a large Chinese restaurant, right on the junction. The weather has not been kind to us today.

We rose up three metres from The Seine in the lock at the Arsenal. Remember this measurement!

Having been given a temporary mooring, outside two barges, we set off to see some of Paris, before the rain comes. The Bastille Monument is quite near to the North end of the Arsenal port.

Crossing over to the Île de la Cité, the Palais de Justice lies ahead to the right. There are a great many trip boats of all sorts on The Seine in Paris.

The Notre-Dame Cathedral also lies on this island in the middle of the river. Can you spot Andy among those in front of the building?

The carvings on the frontage are truly wonderful.

Once we are inside, we continue to be impressed by this building.

As there is a service in progress, we are all in silence, and this creates a terrific atmosphere in the cathedral. The singing of the congregation is lovely too.

This is part of a frieze, which has been carved to tell the full story of the life of Jesus.

Outside the Cathedral, there was a large marquee with an exhibition to celebrating local breadmaking. All the ovens were in use, with baguettes being produced en masse.

Just over the road was a very moving exhibition in a museum which told the story of the deportation, mainly of Jews, from France to concentration camps during the Second World War. The numbers involved are quite horrifying.

Back at The Arsenal, we have now moved The Puzzler to her proper mooring, here on the right, outside another barge. It is much easier to get to the dockside here.

On Monday it rained all day! We are using the metro instead of walking everywhere today! The Arc de Triomphe is our first visit.

There is quite a strong police presence in Paris at the moment as the city is still on terrorist alert. We are all out of the rain here under the Arc de Triomphe.

Next stop is the Eiffel Tower, reaching up to those clouds, which seem very close today. We walked on across the Seine from here, to walk on the South bank, then back to the Jardin des Tuileries. Perhaps it was the weather, but neither of these impressed us very much. Jardin does imply some display of flowers, rather than empty flower beds!

On Tuesday we went to the Musée d'Orsay, as it had been recommended as being more manageable than the Louvre. We only had to queue for half an hour in the constant rain to get in!

Once inside, we were impressed by the fine structure of the building. There are rooms displaying both art and sculptures which lead off the main hall, at all levels.

This was our favourite picture here at the Musée d'Orsay. It is by Eugène Bernard (1850 – 1921) and is of Peter and John hurrying to the sepulchre on the morning of the Resurrection. The two disciples are so real in it.

Van Gogh is well represented here in the Musée d'Orsay, and Starry Night seems to be everyone's favourite, judging by the crowds who want to see it.

Apparently Claude Manet had his own lily pond, so that he could concentrate on this, for many of his famous canvases. This one is called Water Lilies in Pink Harmony.

Meanwhile, back at the port, the River Seine has risen by over three metres, and is now on a level with the full lock at the Arsenal. As it could well be still rising, we decide to leave by the “back door” at the other end of the port!

This 2 kilometre long tunnel leads us through to the canals of Paris. It does not look very inviting, but we are expected at the first lock at the far end of it.

There are four double locks to go up, to reach the next level, and our lock keeper obviously wants us through as fast as possible, with every paddle up to fill each lock! Carrying on up the canal, we are now on the Canal de L'Ourcq, and stopped, without incident, for the night in the suburbs of Paris. With this amount of rain, we would be very unlucky to have any trouble at all!