The Canal de la Marne au Rhin (Est): Einville-au-Jard to Nancy.

Saturday 20 May 2017.

Under grey skies we left Einville for probably the very last time and continued westward to Nancy. Luckily a smattering of rain as we passed through Dombasle-sur-Meurthe

The old quay at Dombasle-sur-Meurthe

 

Mr Postman.

was as wet as we got, past St-Nicolas-de-Port and its amazing Flamboyant Gothic basilica with its links to Joan of Arc,

over the viaduct which takes the canal across the Meurthe river, through a couple of double locks

and, with an abrupt about turn, we moored up beside a large Intermarche, where we stocked up on the necessary including two jerry cans as our one seems to have disappeared (only to be found the next morning buried under the life jackets in the forepeak – why I had not stored it in the engine room is beyond me). About an hour later with the contents of two groaning trolley loads stashed in the saloon

we did another one-eighty degree turn and headed for the Port de Plaisance Saint Georges Nancy where we moored up on the short finger with nary a nod of welcome from the three card playing long stayers on the boat alongside, whose cigarette and cigarillo smoke permeated everywhere. At about five o’clock we made our presence known at the captainerie where we organised water and electricity and, with it still being pretty cool, decided to have an early spagbol and do some planning.

Sunday dawned beautifully with a pastel sky rising in the east but shortly thereafter the river fog moved in with all its portend of a fine day ahead. Waiting until it had warmed up somewhat we eventually unloaded the bikes and rode into the city for a coffee and a chocolat at our favourite people watching place on the magnificent Stanislas Square.

Having found the Free Mobile shop and confirmed their opening hours for the morrow, we continued cycling through the city streets, some not so salubrious and some truly stunning. We also happened upon a huge supermarket which had a Sony ‘point and shoot’ on special – not as good quality as ours that had started malfunctioning but it will have to do. It also sold live crabs.

Back on board it was time for a late lunch of Cuisse Carter with very tasty free range chicken cuisses Lynn had found the day before and then it was back into Stanislas Square, through the gardens thronged with people enjoying the warm, sun filled day and on to the old quarter

where, much to our excitement, the magnificent Eglise St Epvre, closed for renovations on our last visit to Nancy, had reopened in all its sandstone glory – this church must have the most stunning stained glass windows of any we have yet seen and the Gothic arches are a glory to behold. 

All this magnificence had quite exhausted us so we crossed the street to the Le Ch’timi beer pub where we savoured an Orval and a Leffe Blond and watched the world go by before returning to Elle for a quiet evening marred only by the racket coming from the group of ‘live-aboarders’ (freeloaders?) who had once again gathered on the boat next door.

The entity managing the Nancy Port de Plaisance really should do something about the situation there – people who cruise their boats are of a different ilk to those who take advantage of the relatively cheap ‘rent’ offered by living on a boat in a port in the middle of a beautiful city. The vessels of the latter group are usually dreadfully tatty

An example of 'tatty'.

Our neighbor - another morning after.

and it is no wonder that more and more cruisers are either mooring against the opposite wall or simply by-passing the port completely. If they are not going to charge proper, in-season, daily rates to the long stayers as they said last year they were going to do this year, then the least they could do to encourage cruisers into the port is to cluster the large group of long-stayers into their own section and have a section reserved exclusively for visitors. We will never stay in this port again while the status quo prevails – and to pay €42.30 for the two nights would have been perfectly acceptable under different circumstances but just added insult to my secondary smoking cough.

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Enough griping - we depart on the morrow.