by Pam Graham
August 2013
Our regular cruising correspondents, Pam Graham and Len Druce, report on a another cruising adventure, this time cruising the canals and rivers of France and Germany ...
Whilst away from Australia, we had two weeks with our friends Jill and Keith on their canal boat on several small and one large canal. We joined them on the French side of the Rhine at Colmar, which stands on its own Colmar Canal. This is a busy city with a strong tourist flavour and many beautiful buildings and sights to see. We did the usual things that tourists do and took lots of photos, admired the architecture, drank the wine and ate the food. Unfortunately, after spending most of the first day in the town we only just made it back to the boat as a storm hit, complete with hailstones. The storm abated the following day and we were able to get away by 11am.
We slowly made our way against the flow of water, beside a tree-lined bank with tow paths giving us hindsight into life in bygone days when barges were towed by horses. There was even evidence on the old bridges where the tow-lines wore grooves in the stones. Today they are places for cyclists, joggers, skate boarders, fishermen and walkers.
Deep Blue Damsel Flies with turquoise bodies and deep blue wings darted around and often settled fleetingly on the boat’s rails. Swans, ducks, coots, moorhens were to be seen as we passed by.
The first lock was automated. We pulled a rope in the middle of the canal a little distance before the gates which opened and when inside you got a warning signal gates closing and another when gates opened again. We tied up for the night by the bank, two metal posts, a proper deck and a walkway so we went for a walk before cooking the evening meal.
Next day found us heading for Breisach in Germany and we crossed the Rhine river to get there. This is the highest point of the Rhine that is navigable and after a night in the
marina and a look around the very picturesque town we left to enter the Rhine Canal. This
time we saw swans, cormorants, Mallards, and Shelducks all before lunchtime.
The first lock had floating bollards to which we tied, the third one had hooks in the lock wall. We took a very narrow channel into a delightful village called Kembs and we tied up in the marina for the night. Excitement when we saw some coypu, (similar to otters), very playful and excellent swimmers. That night we played our first game of Boules and lost badly, I think these two have been practising!
Saturday 10th August we had a slow journey and pulled into a working dock for the night, which was very quiet. On to Mulhouse where we took a berth in the marina. This was right in the city, near a museum which we visited on our arrival.
Next day we went everywhere but the most interesting features of this city were the buildings with ornate painting called “Trompe L’oeil” (trick of the eye). Looked more like genuine carved stone and wood without close inspection. Quite remarkable. We also saw the “Gossip’s Stone” which was awarded to the worst gossip in the town and had to be worn round their neck like a pendant (very heavy) for a period of time.
As we had limited time we decided to take the car and drive to Strasbourg, a very interesting city with its European connections and tiny historic centre. The next three days saw us driving along the Wine Route in Alsace from north to south, sampling as we went ...Yummy!
We were privileged to see storks perched high on a church spire in their nest, apparently rather earlier than expected.
16th August saw us on our way again. J & K were so grateful we could stay a few days more as this would help with the locks they had to traverse!!!! Little did we know what was ahead of us ...
First day we passed through 25 locks!!!!! First lock I dropped the rope into the water!! 2nd one was difficult because you had to hook your loop of rope over a T bollard on the top of the lock wall which was way above you and out of sight when you were finally in place. 3rd lock Pam got it right. Whoopee!
The next 12 locks passed quickly and we were helped by teams of lock stewards. First one was a pensioner, must have been for his pocket money! Ha! Ha! Then came a twosome on scooters, two university students who scooted between locks and tried to arrive in time to take your lines. Hee! Hee! These wanted to try their English on us too.
Our friends allowed us to rest the next day and we organised a superb meal at a local restaurant called “Le Chalet D’Or” (house of gold) Yes, the prices were!!!!!
Third and LAST day we did 15 locks ... Phew!!! We were exhausted. We’ll know next time but they may not be so keen to have the ‘oldies’ aiding and abetting them in the future. They are 10 years younger than us and it showed.
