Langres - Fortified hill town, Haute Marne and nearby the source of the River Marne.

Here we are next to another Piper barge Kokoro at Langres, well below Langres in fact; its quite a hike up to the town and consequently this area is a little haven of peace with only boats and camper vans. The quay soon gets filled up with boats looking for a mooring.  Ports have been few and far between up until now on this canal and since we left the River Saone - not helped by three unoccupied boats moored here permanently.  Two of which look so neglected that I doubt they will ever be used again. Shame they are taking up space that other touring boats who pay their cruising fees would appreciate. 

Outer walls Langres

Leaving Langres another barge (Tjalk) is turning in a winding hole as Langres was their turning back point.

We have lovely neighbours on Koroko with beautiful dog Emma.  So altogether a relaxing few days near an interesting busy town.  The weather has cooled to the low 20's so I have taken the opportunity to paint the top deck with non slip paint.  As always the prep is the hard bit, but all washed, dry and taped up and I've painted down one side.

Diderot son of Langres.  He invented and wrote the first Encyclopedia

In Langres there was a redundant tram that used to serve passengers arriving by rail.  Unfortunately almost no one arrives by rail any more so it remains an unused relic and a reminder of the days before everyone went everywhere by car.

The town has monumental fortifications dating for the most part from the 1800's.  1851 springs to mind above one doorway.  There are a few vestiges of Roman and later medieval walls and gateways, but most of these were swept aside during the Napoleonic era.

Here are some photos of the tunnel to the south of Langres

Approaching the tunnel before we arrived in Langres.  All proceeded smoothly through the tunnel as I would expect from Julian's impeccable and confident steering.

We decided to find the Source of the Marne river.  The longest tributary in France, flowing into the Seine East of Paris. It flows out of the ground in the area above the tunnel.  It is quite well signposted and was about 10km from the boat.

It was a very pleasant ride through a watery landscape on a hot day.  Shaded by trees in country lanes.  The Haute Marne is sparsely populated.  There are many golden fields or barley in the mid summer sun.

An old sign marked a cave where a Gaulish soldier who claimed to be the grandchild of Julius Caeser hid, with his wife and child for 7 years.  Unfortunately the Roman army eventually discovered his hiding place.

There are number of large lakes near here that have clean beaches and good swimming facilities ie sandy bottoms!

Just made up some plant boxes for the boat.  They dont show up very well here and as we are in July there wasn;t much choice in the Garden Centres.  There are Pinks and Ivy.  Hopefully both will survive a 3 day absence soon.