To Compiègne with CroisiEuroup

Friday and another hot day, no early starts this holiday and breakfast was 8 until 9am.
We set sail at 9am backwards. These boats travel as well backwards as they do forwards as we had been moored for the night on the Canal Du Nord and we had to join the river, bit of a delay at the junction as a commercial boat went by.

It wasn’t long before we passed this pair, when the locks were lengthened it became uneconomical to operate the smaller boats so some owners bought a second boat, modified it so they fitted together and pushed it, doubling their carrying capacity.

Its good to see that loading shoots are still in use and it wasn’t long before we passed under this new bridge at Pimprez built along side a new loading wharf.  

We were soon passing through Ecluses De Bellerive with the old lock cottage now standing well back from the modern lock.

We would soon be meeting more commercial traffic and or course you always meet one in a bridge hole.

Then on through Ecluses De Janville  before passing an old barge that is now a floating museum, I have a feeling I may have visited it at some point, then following

the right hand fork in the river, the left looks to be used for moorings, to find our mooring for the night at Compiegne .

After another four course meal with wine we were off on another coach excursion, Firstly to the centre of Compiègne where we walked around the town and visited the church, Eglise St Jacques.

The reason for the wooden panelling around the columns is because the marble started to breakdown, so they covered it with wood. We continued our walk around the town passing many fine buildings and this stained glass window in a plain wall at the side of a shop.

We then went inside the Musée et Domaine Nationaux de Compiègne which was the residence of the king and queen, not only did we see the furnishings, lovely wooden flooring but also the vacuum cleaner of the day.

Following this it was a short coach ride to the Memorial de l'Armistice  where peace was declared following WW1 where there is now a museum and reconstructed railway carriage with some armaments outside. Taxis were used to good effect carrying troops for a surprise attack. There is also a first class scale model of the railway carriage. 

This rounded up the excursions for the day and we headed back to the boat for our late afternoon cocktails and a three course dinner, with of course more wine.

 

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