When we installed the new hatches on Laurin I dreamed of laying in my bunk at night and being able to see the stars above me, I didn't really expect to wake up in the morning looking up at trees! In fact when we first dreamed up this adventure going through the French Inland waterways was not even on the radar, it seemed a bit of a cop out and I always expected that we would go across Biscay. In the end though it seemed the most practical and family friendly option. We would not be limited by the weather so much and we would get to the Med much quicker than we would day hopping round the outside, the idea of doing long legs across Biscay having gone out of the window after realising that the kids would need a much gentler start to our adventure. The rivers and canals of France have been both a joy and frustrating at the same time. Beautiful scenery, fantastic entry into Paris, and a great day at Disneyland, coupled with endless lock frustration and the often boring chug chug chug of motoring for days on end. It will be interesting to see how we decide to return at the end of our adventure.
As well as probably more electronics time than we anticipated, the kids have played outside lots, and Esme's legs sport bruises which I'm sure are similar to the ones I gained in my childhood summers.
The kids have also become more resourceful, playing endless imaginative games and despite the many arguments, actually playing together far more than they would ever have done at home. Patrick is sure that Esmé will follow in our footsteps and become an engineer. She was gutted when she broke her fishing net, we left her to it and the next thing we saw it was fixed... Esmé style!
The day we left Joineville we saw absolutely stunning scenery, motored over aquaducts, and finally arrived at Froncles which was also a campervan Aire.
The kids all played together at Froncles and the comedy moment of the day had to be listening to AJ teaching Esgar how to play chess... despite the lack of a common language.
Today we were heading for Chaumont. The Danes had already left when we popped our heads out at 8am so we left shortly after at 8:15. It was a dull and miserable day but Patrick was enjoying the lack of heat.
We went through a number of very tall locks which were at times a little tricky... and dirty!
And the kids stayed down below, first doing school which today included a few academic games on the electronic devices followed by learning how to play draughts.
We had lunch on the way and then when we eventually arrived at Chaumont I rushed off to the supermarket to stock up. The kids and Patrick joined me later on to be my pack horses and we eventually got back to the boat at about 6pm where we stowed the food and I made on of our favourite dinners of Thai Green Curry and Noodles.
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