note the slightly twisted and leaning tower? in Mouzon
The first 10 days of cruising has allowed me to really get back into the exploration of France. First with friend Steve C aboard, we headed up the Meuse towards Verdun. This is the section that I explored with Pat and Kerry last fall, but what a difference in the river at flood, rather than in drought! The leaves are still just hinting, but the afternoons in the sunshine are really welcome, and spring-like. We moored, by ourselves, in the center of Verdun. (Last fall, the moorings were stuffed with boats awaiting rain and returning water levels, as the canal above Verdun was closed). A couple of days provisioning and exploring with Steve, and then he had to leave.
I then continued up the ever-narrowing Meuse river, through increasingly canalized sections, to Commercy, where I awaited my next guests, Kathy and Dan M. We set out, after awaiting the burning off of morning fog, further up the canal/river, eventually arriving at the junction of the Meuse canal and the canal Marneau Rhine Est, and a quiet village mooring at Pagny sur Meuse. A very sleepy village, but looming above are vast stone quarry workings, where a huge amount of building stone and other stone products are mined. Then, onward through a 0.8km tunnel and a flight of 12 locks, to Toul.
With a full marina, just outside the walled city, Toul is really full of history.
