2. Calais to Bassin Rond 21st July to 5th August 2024.

21 July. Calais Marina to Calais Basin. (2.2km, 2 tide locks and 2 lifting bridges in 40mins) Leaving Calais Marina was also quite complicated. Not only do you have to wait for the tide times to get out of the Marina, but you also have to time it for when the lock gates can open from the Calais harbour through to the Calais Basin to enable you to then get onto the French Canal system. Thankfully there was a very helpful young lad in the marina office that got us all sorted and booked the time slots. Once through the locks we then moored up in the Calais Basin for the night.

22 - 25 July Calais Basin to Arque Marina. (46.7km, 1 lock and 5 lifting bridges in 6 ½hrs) We had to wait for a lady called ‘Dorothee’, to open 5 lifting bridges and then a lock. We had arranged to meet her the next day at 10am at the first bridge, she then drives along with you to the other bridges to open them. She drives a white van and there is a road that runs along side the canal for most of the way. It probably took us around 3 - 4 hours or so with Dorothee accompanying us. Quite an interesting start to the French Canals. We have to pay an annual licence fee to use the French Waterways (for 2024 it cost us the equivalent of just over £600 for the year) and Dorothee works for the waterways authority called the 'VNF'.

It felt strange to finally be out on the canal system on our own. We left the Calais Canal and entered the larger water way - the Canal Neuffesse - via a short stretch on the Aa River. We were now faced with the huge Commercial Barges. When we saw the first barge coming towards us, it looked very intimidating, and the force of water being pushed by the bow of the boat was a sight to see and feel as it went past us. Thankfully Ayhan was at the helm, and I had every confidence in him. The Commercials have been nicknamed 'Beasties' by our fellow bargees!

Ayhan had a few potential over-night stops planned for the days route, but seeing how big the commercial boats were and the wake that they created, we decided to head for another marina rather than to moor on the side of the canal. We arrived at Arques Marina at 4pm. It had been quite a long day but it was also good to finally be doing what we have been planning to do for years.

We stayed for 2 full days at Arques marina so that we could explore Saint Omer and Arques towns. The weather was gorgeous too. Saint Omer is a lovely town to explore. We had to walk to Arques town and get a bus to Saint Omer, so it was all good experience, learning and trying out my very useless school French that I have mostly forgotten.

25 - 26 July. Arque marina to to Aire-Sur-la-Lys Marina - Canal D'Aire - (15.6kms, 2 locks in 3hrs). As soon as we got back out onto the canal we came to our first colossal lock. Prior to getting to the lock we have to call on the VHF to ask them to open the lock for us and my French isn't good at all, but I managed to make myself understood. I had never experienced a lock like it, we were like a little toy boat in a big pond. We were going upstream, so it meant we were at the bottom of the lock and had to keep moving our lines up from bollard to bollard until the water took us to the top.🫣 We made it! Phew!!😁 After this lock we went past the old Fontinettes double boat lift which was assembled between 1871 and 1888 to replace 5 locks which enabled boats to limb the 13m difference between the Aa river basin and that of the Lys.

We went to this new marina at Aire-Sur-la-Lys just off the canal, and we had actually been warned by another boat owner at Arques marina, not to go there, but we had no choice as places to moor are far and few between. We realised why he warned us against the marina as the swell coming into the marina from the commercial barges was really quite disturbing. We decided to put two longer lines, one from the bow and one from the stern to help reduce the sharp back and forth of the boat from the wake produced. This did help and after about 7pm the commercial traffic stops until around 6am. We had wanted to explore the town, but didn’t want to leave our boat due to the harsh swell coming into the marina.

26 - 29 July. Aire-Sur-la-Lys to La Bassee. (33.3kms, 1 lock in 4 ½ hrs). We got up early and left before the 'Beasties' began producing the swell! We only had one lock today and there were no 'Beasties' about, so it was a quiet day. We moored up at a place called La Bassee, which although not the most beautiful of towns, it had a very handy supermarket nearby and it was quite quiet and gave us a bit of time to rest for a couple of days and do some chores.

29 July - 2 August. La Bassee to Lille on the Canal De La Deule ( 27kms, 1 lock in 3 ½hrs). We knew that getting a mooring spot would be pot-luck. When we arrived the only one space was taken, but Ayhan managed to find a hidden metal bollard that had got overgrown by a hedge and weeds and we then found a mooring ring in the wall. For some reason, the council or whoever, had cut all the metal bollards down, so they obviously don't want too many boats!!?? Anyway, we had a place and we were happy to be here as my 60th birthday was in a couple of days and I wanted to be somewhere where we could find a nice restaurant to dine in.

We spent four full days at Lille. The town has a Flemish history with Flemish architecture and influence. A lot to see and explore as well as laze around and people watch. It was very hot whilst we were there as well as raining at night a couple of times. We found a perfect restaurant to eat in for my 60th, the food suited both Ayhan & I, so it was ideal.

2 - 3 August. Lille to Douai-de la Scarpe (43.7km,1 lock in 5½ hrs). From Lille we returned part way down the same canal De La Deule and then onto the Dunkirk Escaut to a small place called Douai-de la Scarpe. It had been quite foggy in the morning on the canal and we saw more commercials especially at Douai, where it seemed to be a big 'Beastie' Mooring spot! Douai was just an over-night spot off the canal - nothing special - and we managed to fill up with water too - always good to get water when you can.

3rd - 5th August. Douai-de la Scarpe to Bassin Rond. (33kms, 3 locks in 4½ hrs). The next day we went onto the Canal De La Sensee and then the Canal St Quentin to get to Bassin Rond. Bassin Rond was a bit like being on a small lake. We moored in-front of a lovely couple - Rachel & Ray - who live on their barge all the time and had just arrived at the Bassin to permanently moor there. They helped us tie up and invited us to their boat for dinner, which was lovely. Rachel is a great cook and when she discovered Ayhan was Turkish, she did the most amazing Turkish food for us. It was a lovely evening and we moored there for two nights and invited Rachel & Ray to our boat the next evening. Boating is a very friendly and sociable lifestyle. Rachel also had a car, so took us to the supermarket the next day so that we could do a bit of a stock-up. Brilliant!

Whilst we were having supper with Rachel and Ray, our good friend, Paul turned up on another Piper boat - Josephine Florence. His wife, Pauline had returned to the UK for a few days and he had his sister and brother-in-law with them. They were at the other end of the basin so we said hello to each other as he departed on his boat the next morning. They came over to France a few days before us, so we had finally caught up with them.