In-Seine-ity!

Bonjour from Port van Gogh, a riverside mooring in the River Seine.  We are 15 miles from Paris centre now and the skyline and sounds are changing as we draw closer to the city.  Here's a brief update of what we've been up to:

Wednesday 5 June - Cergy to Reuil-Malmaison
We left Cergy this morning with Ken & Katie from  "Stardust" and had a lovely cruise in the sun - boy was it hot - but we ain't complaining.  We continued in the River Oise with the current with us but, as soon as we turned into the Seine, we were punching a 3.5 knot tide which is quite something for a single engine boat like ours.  Skipper loves his engine (he has been known to talk to it!) and doesn't want to give it a hard time unless absolutely necessary.  Seriously, though, it's all about ongoing maintenance and tlc so it's less likely to let you down when you need it - and Skipper is a trained diesel mechanic so he knows his engines!

Ken (aka Mr Ken) & Katie on "Stardust"

We passed some lovely towns built up into the hills - Herblay in particular was stunning - a nice leafy suburb of Paris - with a pricetag to match I imagine!  So far, The Seine seemed to be pretty benign.

After 7 hours' cruising - and only one lock - we moored at Reuil-Malmaison halte nautique (a pontoon or mooring with limited facilities) but that was fine as we didn't need power or water.  It was a lovely quiet, leafy spot in a backwater off the Seine - very tranquil.

Thursday 6 June - Reuil-Malmaison to Port van Gogh (aka Port van Trough!)
We left in beautiful conditions - warm and sunny and the water was like a millpond.  We had a 1.5 knot current and after shortly rejoined the Seine.  Plan A was to head for the Canal St Denis but when we arrived at lock number 1 we met a red light (meaning either a barge is in the lock or something's coming from behind us).  However, an hour later we were still waiting patiently and our VHF requests to enter the lock were pretty much ignored.  Then we saw our friends Garth & Catherine on "Venture" enter the lock and we figured we could go in behind him - but the lock-keeper said a firm 'non' by showing us a red light.  Skipper was furious and lost patience, deciding to go for our Plan B, Port van Gogh.

We'd heard from Garth & Catherine that this wasn't a great mooring being in the tideway of the Seine so open to wash from commercial and leisure traffic.  But, worse, the 'facilities' were gross: an 8ft square cabin containing one shower and a hole in the ground for a loo!  Err, which century are we in??? And they want to charge for that!  Well, I was less than keen to go there as you can imagine.  Nonetheless, we arrived and took a mooring alongside a barge and at least we have power so I'm able to blog!  The wash is pretty regular from the passing barges, etc., but the locks close at 7pm so we're hoping to get some sleep tonight.  We'll be off early to beat the commercial traffic so we can safely rejoin the river.  Now I understand people's reservations about navigating the Seine!

But we've only 15 miles to go to Paris-Arsenal marina, slap-bang in the middle of Paris so it'll be worth it - can't wait to see the skyline and Eiffel Tower - from our own boat!  However, I am told there's a ladder in the lock as you go into the marina and, unless there's a bollard or something else, I'll be scrambling up that at some point!

I may be offline for a few days as our friends, David & Rochelle Lewis, are visiting from Whitstable.  Really looking forward to seeing them so, until the next post, hope you're all well and enjoying the blog.

F&M
xx