31st August - 8th September,2016. On to Crévic, up the 50 foot rise in Réchicourt lock, through Niderville and Arzviller tunnels, down the Arzviller inclined plane and on to Saverne.

The flowers on the bridge in Crévic were the best yet!

Shannon was very apprehensive about these feral cats. She was probably wise to keep her distance!

Réchicourt 2 lock, ahead of us, is the deepest Freycinet (standard) lock in France, at 15.385 metres, or just over 50 feet. This lock replaced 6 locks in the 1960's.

There are two small cruisers in with us, so Andy has a floating bollard by our side doors, while I have a rope round a tall steel pole at the front. The lock is quite gentle though, so we had no need to worry.

Looking up at the top gates is enough to worry anyone! My steel pole is just on the left.

Shannon had no problem with the plank, when we needed it on a sloping wall mooring.

The countryside in this summit level is fairly flat. The canal has a lock free pound of 33 kilometres, between Réchicourt 2 lock and the inclined plane at Arzviller.

There are a few boats about, but this hotelboat is certainly the biggest so far!

Moving on through Niderviller tunnel, there is a deep cutting before Arzviller tunnel.

The railway tunnel is parallel to the Arzviller canal tunnel, rather like Standedge Tunnel on the Huddersfield narrow canal in the UK.

This section of canal used to be solid rock. Down to our left are the 17 abandonned locks, while 3 kilometres further on, we get to the Arzviller boat lift, which replaced them in 1969.

We had thought to spend the night at the top of the inclined plane, but this is forbidden, so we were straight into the caisson, which travels down this amazing boat-lift.

Here we go!

Looking back up, the black guillotine gate, through which we entered the caisson, can be seen, firmly closed.

Some of the lock cottages are very attractive. Shannon is minding The Puzzler in this lock!

Lutzelbourg stretches along the canal, and is a lovely village. We are saving it for our return journey, in a few days time.

This is a very pretty valley. We are sharing locks with a locaboat of friendly Austrians.

Several of the locks had this wooden trellis, above the top gates. This could have been left from the time when boats were towed by little trains, and it was used to guide the boats into the locks.

Saverne lock is lovely, and we were impressed by the whole town. There are flowers everywhere. Saverne is our destination on this canal.

This horse pulls a water cart, which travels the town, looking after the flowers.

There are a variety of attractive buildings in Saverne.

The museum is situated inside the old chateau. The most interesting part was about the life story of Louise Weiss (1893 - 1983), who campaigned all her life for women's rights.

29th - 30th August. On from Liverdun to Nancy where we visited Stanislas Square and the Musée de Lorraine. The Son et Lumière in the square was wonderful!

Leaving our mooring, we sailed past Liverdun, which can be seen on the hillside above us.

On to moor in Nancy. The main port is on the right, for those who want to pay for water and electricity. We are on the left, with an attractive park beside us.

The flowers in the Godron garden were in a different class to those on The Puzzler. This garden was laid out in 1758, on the orders of Stanislas, the last duke of Lorraine, and was Nancy's first botanical gardens.

Place Stanislas is considered one of the beautiful royal “places” in Europe. This 18th century square and the surrounding buildings are on Unesco's World Heritage List, having been built in 1755.

Many of the surroundings of the square are gold embossed, and look fantastic.

Time for a rest!

After a picnic lunch in the park, we walked to the Porte de la Craffe, which is the oldest fortification in Nancy, built in the 14th and 15th centuries.

Then it was back to the Eglise des Cordeliers, which is now part of the Museum of Lorraine.

This church was built in the 15th century.

This was the mausoleum of the Dukes of Lorraine, and there are many carved statues of them, with animals at their feet.

In the church the “old” is best represented by this ancient carving of the Last Supper.

And the “new” is shown in the painting of the Burning Bush, on a screen, by Bruno Carbonnet in 1996.

Every evening there is Son et Lumière in Stanislas Square, with pictures projected on to all the buildings around the square. This shows the town hall in daytime, followed by some of the projections. It was fantastic!

27th - 28th August 2016. Pagny-sur-Meuse, Toul, then on the river Moselle to Liverdun.

Andy and Shannon are relaxing in Pagny.

On to Toul, where a moat surrounds the old centre of town, with a splendid cathedral too. From Toul we continued on, down the river Moselle. We moved on to moor in an inlet of the Moselle, just below Liverdun. This town climbs the hillside up from the river, with the old town situated right at the top. This is a fascinating place and well worth a visit.

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.