Still Cold, Still Wet Nancy to Crévéchamps

When we travelled on the Canal de Vosges with Ria and Dave last year in the heat of summer, we marked the cool shady spots on the charts for future reference without thought for what use those notes would be if we returned at a time when the rain was unceasing and the temperature uncivlilised.    With new leaves barely visible in the trees, and so little sunlight penetrating the clouds that we were in a perpetual state of wondering what time it was, it was hard to believe we were in the same place.   It retained it's magic though, in a cold, wet, misty sort of way.

Speaking of magic, one day, we'll find out what it's like when a plan comes together, and I wonder when we do, if we'll like it at all.

We did manage to leave exactly on time this morning after first attempting to remedy yet another newly acquired leak in Mr P's injection system, the result of which had cast such a pall over the harbour that even though the sun was barely visible, or in truth not visible at all through the smog we had created, that Remy the duty Harbour Master got himself into such a tizz he may well have evicted us had he not liked us so much, or perhaps had we not already been underway.

How could we have known that our departure was the closest we were going to get to being on time, and the closest we were going to get to seeing the sun for the entire day?   We entered the first lock exactly in accordance with our shedule, to be trapped within it's confines for an hour waiting for it's faulty gate to be opened.   An hour is not a long time in one's lifetime, but it is a very long proportion of a lunchtime, and a quick calculation after our release confirmed that we would be wise to postpone our previously arranged appointment.

Besides, we were having so much fun climbing a long flight of locks in the icy drizzle, why would we want to share our day with anyone?