Hastiere To France and Givet

2 Locks, 5 miles, 2½ hours, €613 Euros lighter!

As luck would have it just as we were prepping to leave Hastiere 2 cruisers came into view, so we waited till they passed then tagged on.  No radio work you see! and because they are faster means they get to the lock before us ready to just bimble in.

I have left Napoleon at Hastiere lock for retrieval today.  That meant a 8 mile bike ride in the pooring drizzle.  When I got there I was soaked through.  Anyway Napleon is now with us in Givet.

First Lock Hastiere with Napoloen parked up.

100m past this bridge is the French border. And about ½ mile past this is the first French Lock.

Givet Lock

For the first time since early in Belgium the Lockie took our ropes on a long hook and put them on the bollards for us. Most polite. Now I see why>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

It was here we were relieved of €613 for a one year Vignette

Notice the start and end date.  This is for the whole year, but as we are 7/12 through it was only EXACTLY the same price as for the whole year. Gotta love the French!  We did get a free map and a leaflet as well.  Also we got a remote control for the regions locks.  More on that when we use it.

Once through the lock with a bruised wallet we are soon reminded this is still a commercial waterway although commercial traffic has been extremely rare.

Scrap Metal

So here we are in Givet.  I must admit I thought it was a bigger town when we were car shifting with MR.

There is of course a Citadel which we won’t be visiting.

The moorings here are very long split in to Commercial and Pleasure.  On the pleasure you pay but on the Commercial you don’t and no one seems to bother you either.  I have read on one group that there is very little chance of a commercial barge wanting to moor here nowdays.  The wall is quite high so the first night I lifted the dogs up and down but this mooring I put the boarding ramp on the foredeck with the ladder side up so the boys could walk up and down.

The wall at the pleasure moorings are just the same.

Apart from being small Givet seems to be a well kept town apart from the dog poo everywhere. It seems very popular with motorcyclists and a lot of classic cars passing by and motorhomes.

Free Aire

Deb has found a new beer Leffe Ruby

Going back a bit, the fireworks at Hastiere were quite spectacular lasting about 20 minutes.  Oh and remember the UmPha band / bar I forgot to say Juplier was only €2 a pint!

I could go on as I have loads of them.  You had to be there.