This was
our first really hot day, and it coincided with a non-automatic section of 22 locks.
The day started, however, with more shower pump problems, which meant more
bailing and sponging. But I won’t whinge any more.
We left
early and through the morning we were accompanied by a pleasant young student
called Maxim:
He comes
from the Langres locality and is studying geology at Dijon university. He has
the canal job for June, then he is off with his earnings on a climbing holiday in Chamonix. I expect
winding all those locks gates will have helped get him fit. And he can study
the geology as he scrambles up the cliffs. He scootered ahead from lock to
lock, getting them ready for us to arrive.
The thing
about these manual locks is that it is good form to lend a hand. Actually since
we are descending, all one can do is close one of the upper gates – here’s the
captain in action:
And here's a
rabbit – not quite sure why.
In the
afternoon, our lock person was a lady called Sandrine – not so chatty as Maxim,
but we did establish that she is in her forties and desperately trying to find
a full-time job. She just has this month on the canal, then a month in a
supermarket – and so it goes on, one short-term contract after another. Not
easy here in France.
By late
afternoon, as we approached Chaumont, back on the automatic system, there
were lots of boys swimming in the canal. The water didn’t look either clean or
inviting, but they didn’t seem to mind. Some even jumping off a bridge over the
canal.
We found a
convenient spot on the dock at Chaumont, with electricity and water to hand,
and put on a wash. I dismantled the shower pump, found the impeller bunged up
with gunge, but even after clearing that out, it wouldn’t work. So we will have
to find a boatyard to fix it or replace it – there seems to be one in a couple
of days. Till then, showers ashore.
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