The Marne River 31 August to 1 September

6 km upstream from Arsenal marina Nick and I turned left onto the Marne River and went through our first of many tunnels. The tunnel is 240 metres long.. Some of the little yellowish lights were out – I felt like I was in the ghost train and that something was going to caress my face from the dripping black shadows. Spider web hung in great cloths from the cobbled backs overhead.
The most amazing wildlife we have seen so far was only a couple of hours out of Paris when Nick spotted two castors (like big beavers) swimming with their moustaches out of the water. They were as long as a Labrador would be whilst swimming, from the tip of their nose to the end of their tails. We transited 5 locks before tying up for the night on the Marne River at Chalifert lock as the lock keeper was not there when we arrived at 1830. The surrounding forested hills presented a great opportunity to try our new Shimano bike shoes. Having cleats is fantastic –you get a seemingly free little push along. At the top of one hill we made out the gaudy tops of Disney Park so zoomed down for an ultra quick tour through the streams of pedestrians walking between exhibits with armfuls of show bags. On the way back we grabbed (aka thieved) a few cobs of what we thought was corn from a field – later to discover it was inedible maize. The funniest thing was watching Nick cycling along with 6 corn cobs down the back of his bike pants to form a heavy knobbed bulge. I think any gendarme would have been too embarrassed to ask!
Then we discovered the greatest downhill single track ride. It wound through the dark forest undergrowth in a narrow tunnel over humps and dips, faster and faster over the descending ground, breaking out into grassy clearings before being swallowed up again. It switched back so that we reached the bottom of the hill on a quiet gravel road close to the canal. We had to do it twice it was so much fun, but completely exhausting getting to the top again! We were so hot we both when for a swimming the Marne and Nick put a mask on (not that it helped much) to check for damage from a loud thunk as we left Paris and hit a big floating log most likely. The water was bracing and Nick found no evidence of damage on the propeller.
From Chalifert to Charley, where we tied up for the night of the 1 September, we transited seven locks and gained almost 30 metres elevation. The high rolling hills are becoming more often raked with vineyards. On this evening Nick and I phoned Marg to say happy birthday at 0500 NZ time (doh!). We rode down the snig tracks of the extensive forestry blocks, and stopped to sample the tight bunches of blackening grapes. I got a puncture that could not be repaired so walked my bike the last km or so back to PC. Later on Nicko rode back into town to phone Marg. He was gone when night fell. PC was tied to a gangway and poles in the river along a deserted bank. I settled into reading the river guide books we have on board. I came across some information that said strange occurrences were know to occur in a "devils house" and the locals gave this house a wide berth. Even though I figured we’d passed this hours back I closed all the curtains on PC and had a glass of wine to chill out. When Nick returned he verified that it was only a km upstream and got all spooky too. So much for the return of my warrior to protect me! The next morning we passed the "devils house" and both agreed that although it looked neglected it was superb in its gaudy brickwork and cat gargoyles but the day was bright by that stage.