This is Marc Rigolot, a grower and producer of champagne who took us out for the day, showed us his vineyards and cellars and gave very generous tastings of his product! His cellars hold about 10,000 bottles at a time. Just one of the famous producers in Epernay has 15,000,000 in theirs, so vast that there's an underground train to get around.

We are now just a little bit lower in the water.

The camera's at it again but this mural was fun. A Belgian friend caught up with us here to stock up his cellars and took us to Epernay and the famous avenue where many of the 'grand cru' houses are based. Out of our price range....

Just to confirm the previous entry! Can you feel how hot it was although it's now September and we are still only east of Paris.

We turn a corner on the Marne and suddenly we're in champagne country. There are vineyards as far as you can see so we moor as soon as we can and go off to explore. Soon it will be harvest time but first the vines are pruned. This is one of the ridiculously narrow machines they use to get along the vines without squashing the grapes.

This cheapy camera sometimes achieves some weird effects. This is another free mooring on the Marne at La Ferte sous Jouarre.

Now on the River Marne. This is the free municipal mooring with water and electricity provided in the ancient town of Meaux. We'd already had a sneak preview of the place from the Canal d'Ourcq which runs parellel with the Marne for much of its course.

Highlight for me was when the Meaux library took us on request to their subterranean archives where I was allowed to 'thumb through' 13th century illuminated manuscripts.

At last to one of the highlights of the trip - a cruise in Snail on the Seine through Paris. It wasn't the brightest of days so our cheapy phone camera wasn't really up to the job of capturing it. We had been warned that the traffic would be heavy and fast but it was very quiet this Monday with only the odd trip boat rushing past.

We had seen many coypu on our travels in France - they're extinct in UK as far as we know after a thorough cull back in the 70's.

They are great fun to watch with much identifiable family inter-action and they're wonderful swimmers.

This is on the way through Paris and there's one on the lockgate (you may have to squint closely!) showing they can adapt to suburban life too.

Paris moorings are around 70 euros a night for our length of boat so we moor in the Parc de la Villette for free. There is round the clock security in this amazing science and culture park that helps to make us feel safe here in such a public place. It was all converted from the old Paris meat market in the 1980's. The canal that runs through the middle of it still carries a little commercial traffic and there are many Paris trip boats going past us for which we provide an unusual spectacle.

The giant silvery dome of the Geode dominates the park and houses a 'wrap around' cinema. Behind it is the science museum on three enormous floors. Then there's the music conservatoire and museum, open air cinema and the park gardens which contain art museums. Every day and evening in the summer there's free music suiting all tastes going on somewhere in the park. A stay of a month would probably be enough to see it all, our three days just gave us a flavour.

The lack of dredging resulting in such shallow water that even our 80cm draught was too much and thick carpets of weed defeated us before we had got half way up the Ourcq. We eventually found somewhere wide enough to turn and headed back towards Paris. Perhaps we'll have another go next spring when at least the weed will be less.

There were some pretty towns and villages along the Ourcq once we had left the Paris suburbs. We particularly enjoyed this 'trompe l'oeil' decoration on a shed in the grounds of a library.

Before taking Snail to Paris we want to try to navigate the Ourcq, a narrow canal that supplies water to the city. So narrow, only our type of boat can attempt it and consequently it is hardly used by boaters with all the implications for non-maintenance that that implies.

The approach to Paris on the city's canals is not pretty. Miles of shanty towns line the banks with people 'living' in transit vans and wooden sheds. This level of poverty we have only seen before in films about India. To find it in the Paris suburbs was quite disturbing.

Conflans St Honorine is at the junction of the Oise and the Seine. As with most waterway junctions it is full of commercial boats, many of whom have decided to retire and stay here on their barges. Six abreast for a mile down the river, these ex-bargees are a sad testament to the steady decline of commercial boating in France.

Like drowned rats we returned to the boat moored at Creil and hoped for the rain to stop for the evening's firework display in the town.

My daughter came to stay in July at the time of Bastille Day when all France celebrates. In bright sunshine we took the train in to Paris to watch the parades and wondered why there was no-one else around. Then the heavens opened and within minutes Paris roads became rivers. The parade had been cancelled after the organisers had seen the forecast. Unfortunately we hadn't.

Using photos taken by visitors to the boat and some very poor quality pics of our own taken with a cheap mobile that we resurrected, the blog can continue after all.

This is Chantilly, a few miles away from the River Oise (we had visitors with a car) and still famous in France for its horse racing. One chateau was built purely to be used as a stables.

Unfortunately the bishop's anointing didn't extend to mobile phones. The next day I drowned ours in the deep, deep Oise. We not only lost our cheapest contact with the UK but also its brilliant camera had provided this blog with all its pictures. Until we returned to England in November to sort something out with a supremely un-cooperative Vodafone, that was that. And so, this is it.

We have arrived in Longueil at the time of their annual Pardon de la Batellerie festival and are invited to take part. Many commercial barges have stopped for the weekend and are busily draping large flags all over their boats. We find every pennant we've got on board and hoist them from our two masts just in time for the bishop to come by on a highly decorated peniche and give us his blessing for a safe year to come. Every boat taking part gets his fleeting attention and when all have been blessed, the festival really gets under way with much singing, eating and drinking. All very French.

The River Oise will take us nearer to the Seine and Paris. We stop at the little town of Longueil-Annel and take a walk along the towpath. Very pleased we had moored in time before meeting this overloaded barge carrying large and heavy pieces of scrap metal. Their load has presumably moved en route making the vessel take on water and become almost unsteerable. We'll never know if it reached it's destination before it hit another boat and/or capsized!

There is some glorious craftsmanship in the churches in northern France. The two wars gave an opportunity to replace the smashed stained glass with some vibrant modern designs. Some work of past centuries has still survived. This 18th century woodcarving was part of a musical theme around the choirstalls in the church at Noyon.

The bargees are a superstitious lot and often name their boats after disasters both natural and manmade in the hope that it won't happen again, ever. We've seen Titanic, Hiroshima, Vesuvius, Armagedon......

We were advised by a bargee to take a photo of the traffic lights to show we had a green before we go into tunnels. Apparently it's not unknown for accidents with boats who have jumped the lights. Seemed a good idea here on the Canal du Nord.

We say a sad farewell to the River Somme and arrive again at Peronne and that bumpy mooring. The town displays much evidence of its past with buildings still bearing the shell marks from WW1.

Many walks followed tributaries and lakes which we could often see from the boat. They were fully exploited by the locals who built hides and wildfowl decoys. Hunting and trapping is still alive and well in France.

There were many beautiful walks from the lock moorings, this stretch reminding us of the area's dreadful history.

The 'ecluse' here at Cappy is typical of locks on the Somme. Often remote with peaceful moorings either side, the lockkeepers respond in their bright orange vehicles to a phone call when you're ready to move on.

Out with the mop twice a day. This mooring at Pont Remy had become very dusty with the dry, hot weather.

The Somme is just beautiful.

We moored up for the evening near a cemetery. The French go to town with their gravestones. This one made us look twice. The second name on the left is awaiting events.

Half way to Abbeville and we spot a sign for a cafe on the bank. It's lunchtime so why not? The enterprising owner had turned a corner of her kitchen into a bar. Typically French.

Sadly it's time to leave this lovely place so we turn around to head all the way back again. This swing bridge looked like hard work as we follow the trip boat back to Abbeville.

The French often find reading signs difficult as here in StValery.