Corbie

By Sunday evening we had to move on. Jobs done, including some cobweb clearing by Helen, & both needing to fill up with water & get some shopping. So we (ie Adrian, as the designated telephoner) rang the central control at Amiens and requested to go through the lock at 9.30am. He was told that travaux (works) were starting in the Corbie pound to pull out the weed by digger and that mooring was restricted.

The eclusiers arrived at 9am and we were off again – 16kms and 2 locks this time. At the second lock we experienced our first traffic jam! Had to wait for a boat coming upstream! Shock horror! We really have seen very little other ‘traffic’ this year.

The countryside was lovely and we saw cows and a donkey in the fields beside the canal. A kingfisher streaked ahead of us.

The weed varied. In some stretches we saw what we would call the usual weed with water lillies in evidence. In others it was the thick invasive stuff and no sign of water lillies etc.

As we approached Corbie we could see the huge digger working away; scooping up vegetation and mud from the bottom of the canal and loading it onto barges to be taken to be emptied into containers and be taken away for disposal. We had to wait to be called past by the workmen. Bit scary going past the digger which hardly seemed to stop! Our preferred mooring by the campsite was off limits so we had to moor beside the factory in front of the lock. Its a grain silo / factory and so very busy and noisy now that the harvest is in. Between that and the diggers working away from 7am until about 8pm it was not a peaceful place to be. A real contrast to the weekend.

Helen and I had decided it would be nice to have lunch in town. So we all high tailed it up to the square. But it was Monday and very little was open. We found a bar which didn’t do any food but was happy for us to get a take away from the turkish sandwich place around the corner. The guy even brought it to us at the bar! Not exactly a wholesome lunch but very welcome nonetheless…….

We shopped, filled up with water, plugged into electricity and did some washing. On the Somme there are few places which charge for mooring – Cappy is one (1euro per metre) so we didn’t stay there! In designated halte nautiques there are bornes where you can access both water and electricity. Cost is 2 euros for 4 hours! This was the first time we had ‘plugged in’ so we both made the most of our 2 euros.

We had a light supper on Vrouwe Olive, watched some more tennis and went to bed. The lorries and diggers started again at 7am.

Adrian and I decided we would leave Corbie on Tuesday. Helen and Chris were staying so that Chris could get a haircut – under duress! So we did some extra shopping, had lunch together in the Caroline Restaurant beside the lock and then we set off on our ownio. The lady in the boulangerie asked if we had tried the local sweet delicacy – we had just had a little laugh together about that very item lined up on display. She explained it was a kind of apple and almond paste pastry. Never got the name of it but have our own name for it! We bought a couple for supper later.