Neuville-Day to Reims

Neuville-Day to Reims (Cruise runs Saturday to Friday)

Highlights: The Montgon Flight of locks- Intensely rural scenery - The Champagne Capital of Reims

You'll be joining the barge on Saturday afternoon at our mooring in the village of Neuville-Day in order to enjoy a well earned drink and possibly even dinner at San Souci, a pleasant little hostelry there. I enjoyed several beers at this establishment two years ago and was delighted when the owner delivered fresh baguettes and his 90 year old mother to the barge in the morning. I'd forgotten that the previous night I'd promised her a ride on the barge! It is a very quiet and dark location and if the skies are clear, the star show can be spectacular, particularly if the heavens are reflected in the perfectly still water below the barge.

On Sunday morning we begin the descent through part of one of the highlights of this navigation, the Montgon flight of 27 ecluses (locks) that lower the barge slowly between the towns of Le-Chesne and Attigny. The full flight means a lot of hard work for the crew, taking up to seven hours to cover what is little more than nine kilometres in distance. Luckily today we are descending through just a few of these. One thing you'll notice as we drop through the ecluses it that virtually every one has its derelict lock-keepers cottage. Last autumn when I passed through this flight, the overgrown gardens were so bursting with fruit that it would have been a crime not to go 'scrumping'. As a result, we feasted on apple and fruit pies for weeks and weeks afterward. We will be following the stunning Canal des Ardennes, which is in places, a little like you might imagine the Amazon to be, with foliage that has utterly overtaken the waterway's original boundaries. Through from Pont-a-Bar the canal is predominantly rural from beginning to end and wild remote moorings the norm if we so choose, or we can stop at some of the small towns and villages we encounter en-route. Berry-au-Bac

This evenings mooring is the small town of Attigny where we'll stop for the night. It's a pleasant little town and provides the opportunity to head off into the surrounding countryside for a bike ride. There are lots of small villages, quiet roads and if the weathers fine it's a wonderful way to soak up the scenery. If you fancy a longer ride, the town of Vouziers can be reached by following the tow path of the now silted up, Vouziers branch Canal.

On Monday we are cruising through some particularly wonderful overgrown stretches of canal and have a very good chance of spotting bird life including the usually elusive Kingfisher. Our destination today is the Town of 'Rethel', where you might choose to dine ashore, possibly enjoying some of the town's famous white sausages known as 'Boudin Blanc de Rethel'. There is an excellent restaurant that specialises in local Ardennes cuisine.

On Tuesday, after a leisurely start we'll cruise onward to Asfeld, tonight's mooring. You can take a walk to see the villages extraordinary seventeenth century brick built baroque church while I prepare tonight's dinner which if weather permits, we'll enjoy outside on deck.

On Wednesday we'll cruise through to the beautifully manicured rural mooring provided and maintained by the villagers of the small hamlet of Variscourt. After lunch we'll head on to tonight's mooring at the important canal junction with the 'Canal de l'Aisne a la Marne' at Berry-au-Bac. Tonight we'll moor on a grassy canal bank and if the weather permits enjoy a bbq. Alternatively, two restaurants lie a short walk away. Berry au Bac was the scene of a very important first world war battle in which the very first petrol driven French tanks were used. A large memorial lies a couple of kilometres bike ride from the mooring.

Having consumed a hearty continental breakfast, on Thursday morning we'll be steaming toward Reims skirting the Champagne cereal plains as we do so. Our final destination for the week and in complete contrast to the wild and woolly Canal des Ardennes is the fabulous Champagne city of Reims. Tonight would be a great chance to splash out on a meal in one of Reims' chic and fashionable restaurants.

The City of Reims is famed throughout the world for its involvement in the Champagne industry. It is highly likely that you'll visit the 'odd' Champagne cave in town, possibly even forcing yourselves to drink the odd glass of the celebrated liquid? But not too soon, because there is so much to see and do. Reims' Notre- Dame Cathedral is spectacular with a facade containing some 2300 statues. It's 38 metre high nave has borne witness to the coronation of French Kings from Clovis in 498 AD until Charles X in 1825. It contains no less than two UNESCO world heritage monuments, the stunning 'Palais du Tau' and interior of the 'Basilique St. Remi'. I have details of a self guided 2 hour walking tour if you are interested in following it. Reims is a wonderful vibrant cosmopolitan city to explore at your leisure. I would recommend that you consider staying a day or so longer in order to fully appreciate all the city has to offer, maybe booking a hotel in town?

After breakfast on Friday, I can organise you a taxi to take you to the station. Reims is about an hours TGV train ride from Paris. Joining us in Neuville Day will require you taking a TGV train to Rethel and a fifty (ish) Euro onward taxi ride to Neuville-Day

IMPORTANT NOTE: Unforeseen circumstances sometimes affect our cruising schedule. These can include, but are not limited to: illness, floods, weather, canal closures, canal maintenance, lack of moorings, bureaucracy, strikes, civil disturbance, acts of god, the engine, and whims and fancies of both skipper, guests and crew. All of these things might cause last minute changes to the above and cruise routes. Although rare, we reserve the right to alter any and all routes accordingly. Flexibility is the name of the game and any such changes cannot be considered grounds for cancellation of the cruise.

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