On the canals to Abbaye de Vaucelles, 12th century

 

Abbaye de Vaucelles, 12th century

May 8, 2022 by Gary Kirkpatrick

May 7, 2022

The Abbaye de Vaucelles gives you the feeling of being a monk in medieval times, with its stone structures, vaulted ceilings and chilly cellars, the peaceful gardens (forget the work involved), which specifically includes herbs mentioned in the Bible. Perhaps it was those Biblical herbs that had me sneezing as soon as we came near the garden just past the statue of the monk.

The site sits deep in the countryside. It was dark that night at our mooring except for the safety light at the lock just ahead. There are cultivated fields all around, just a few houses in the village, whose bridge was built in the 12th century. Under that bridge flows the Escaut River, called the Schelde once you cross into Belgium. It flows all the way into the North Sea at Antwerp, where it is a wide river with a raging tide. Here the source is not far away from its origin in the hills, where in a few days we will take our boat through a tunnel that is five kilometers long.

Bishop’s residence

The complex was founded in 1131 by Saint Bernard near Cambrai, in northern France. It was Bernard’s 13th monastery, and was to become the largest Cistern monastery. It retains some of its structures. Others were destroyed by the German Army in WWI to keep its food stores from the Allies. The Abbaye, then privately owned, sat on the Hindenburg Line. There was additional destruction during the French revolution, as a result of the Church’s support of the monarchy. It was used by local peasants after the French revolution. The Bishop’s palace was purchased by a woman who lived there with her daughter.

The Gothic church it once supported measured 137 meters in length x 64 meters at its widest. You can see its dimensions outlined where it stood.  Some books from the library, which had 20,000 to 40,000 volumes in 1257, are kept in Cambrai. The Lagoutte family bought it in 1971. They restored what they could and opened it for visitors. It was bought in 2017 by the regional government in 2017.

When Bernard died in 1153, there were 103 monks and about 300 lay brothers who performed the tasks necessary for the running of the monastery and its substantial production. In the 13th century they built the large church, two cloisters and other buildings.

In 1254 King Louis donated a thorn from the Crown of Thorns. At the end of the 13th century , the abbey, placed under the protection of the popes and kings of France, built the aforementioned monumental church, two cloisters and numerous buildings. In the next century the monastery suffered during the Hundred Years War, a war of religion. It was attacked on several occasions, looted, sacked and rebuilt. It was plundered in 1482 and 1543. In 1555 the Truce of Vaucelles was signed here, leading to the end of war between France and Spain. For more information see their website https://abbayedevaucelles.fr/l-abbaye-et-son-histoire

The brewery at the Abbye. They have 4 or 5 beers on tap, jars of pate, as well as smoked sausage for sale

 

We sampled beers made at the Abbaye. There were 4 on tap.

Sculpture made with shredded paper.

Categoriesblog, Blog 2022TagsAbbaye de Vaucelles, France tourismLeave a comment

Arras Via Boat

Arras, site of major WWI battle

May 1, 2022 by Gary Kirkpatrick

The Battle of Arras was a major WWI battle. We toured the extensive caves created for the efforts of the British to surprise the Germans dug in the trenches.   It’s a guided tour, of course. You could easily get lost even with the wall markings still largely in place.   The English/French guide was very good, and there is an audio guide that kicks in with additional information while you walk to the next section.  

Before 1916 the French manned the Arras line, then the British moved in. They brought in coal miner volunteers from New Zealand, called sappers, to dig towards the German lines. Their efforts produces extensive tunnels, . The idea was to allow some 24,000 troops to exit the tunnels close to the German trenches, to gain the upper hand by surprise, in coordination with a French attack. Tunnel tactics date well back in time, to thousands of years before the common era.

The battle took place 9 April to 16 May 1917. It was part of the Nieville Offensive, conceived by the French general of that name. The British assaulted from Vimy to the north-west to Bullecourt to the south-east. The Canadians captured Vimy Ridge. The Third Army advanced along the Scarpe River, which we took to get here. Per the guide the French did not move for several days, contrary to plans, and the British troops paused the attack after its initial success, allowing the Germans to recover. Nonetheless the British advanced further than any previous effort in the trench warfare phase of the War. The blood bath continued until late in 1918 when the US entry in the war helped turn the tide. We visited one of the cemeteries on the edge of town, meticulously maintained to this day.

Arras was nearly flattened by German bombing. Most of the populace fled, leaving just 1200 behind when the battle began.

Place des Heros, Arras

Place des Heros today

Hotel de Ville (City Hall)

Hotel de Ville now- beneath are caves also used during WWI.

In the chalk caves beneath the Hotel de Ville, Arras

Photo of soldier projected onto the cave walls

On the Road Again- On our boat on the canals of France

 

April 27, 2022 by Gary Kirkpatrick

We departed our winter mooring of Valenciennes, near the Belgium border, heading south on the Schelde River, known as the Escarpe in France, then to the Canal du Nord. We are now on the seldom traveled Scarpe River, whose ancient locks are too small for modern barges and thus the lack of that sort of traffic. Even few pleasure boaters seek its pleasures, for in France canal boating is not terriblly popular among the French. It’s mostly us foreigners.

We spent the first night in Bassin Rond, near the town of Paillencourt. There’s room for three boats our size on a well maintained pontoon. We were welcomed by our winter neighbors, whom we’d just met in Valenciennes as they were readying their 15 meter barge for summer’s outing. They told us how pleasant a mooring this is so we followed them a day later.

We walked to town of Paillencourt the next morning, a Sunday. The bakery was open, with fresh bread, pain au chocolate, tartalettes and more wonderful treats awaiting. They even had a corn flour baguette-shaped bread. It’s just past the town’s WWI-WWII memorial. There the deaths were numerous during WWI. Several civilians murdered by the Nazis are listed. Down the road there is a plaque to a pilot who died when his plane crashed in May, 1944.

The locals, or at least some of them, were happy to say hello. One in particular wanted to try out his very limited English and even offered to buy us another coffee as we sat outside in the sun. He’s the one who told us about the plaque down the street. His wife joked with us about her husband’s gift of the gab and that he appeared to know everyone. This is not a surprise, I suppose, given that we are in a small pond after all. There are just some 1000 residents.

He tried to remember our names. Mine was the most difficult for some reason. After three efforts I gave him a hint. That did not work. Then I said, “Macron.” “Nooooo” he said. This is the second time I’ve had this reaction, the first in Valenciennes when I joked with the cashier, saying “Macron” as I signed the credit card receipt. I have read that there is a lot of support in northern France for Le Nazi. My take is that people in some areas are more worried about economic issues than being associated with a person with a racist past. They do not want to support any more immigrants- they have many indeed.

After two nights in the Bassin we continued on the Canal de la Sensee, passing large barges being loaded with grain. After a bit we radioed the next lock. He had told us to enter. He returned a bit later to explain that two barges were coming in behind us. Normally the large craft enter first while the smaller ones wait for the barges to completely stop. The two came in behind us very slowly, and given the size of the lock, there was no problem, even given that the one to our side just had the captain aboard. Behind us a woman with purple hair handled the huge lines, gave a big smile and waved hello. That made me feel warmed all over.

In the lock on the Canal de la Sansee

The friendly lock keeper gave us the remote control for the locks on the Scarpe River. He said there were additional instructions at the first lock. After we entered the Scarpe River, we came upon the lock and no instructions in sight, or we missed them. The lock did not operate. The phone number he gave us led only to a recording. After 30 minutes we were still waiting for a reply so I wrote to our winter neighbor. He gave us a number that worked. Soon we had a proper explanation. We thought we were supposed to touch “Avalant” not “Montant.” Montant means going upstream, that is going towards the source of the river, and that is what we are in fact doing. Our error. After it would not open I did try Montant but apparently once you make this mistake they have toreset the system. Finally we entered the lock to find the two rods that fill the lock and open the gates. I pulled down. Nothing. Another VNF truck had come by so I looked at the driver. He said you push up. We had not been told that. I supposed I would have tried that eventually.

We went through another lock without incident, but the third would not open at first. After about 30 minutes I tried again. The gates opened, it filled slowly and gently. We stopped for the night in Blache-Saint-Vaast.

Lock on the Scarpe River. It looks fierce but was quite gentle.

Categoriesblog, Blog 2022TagsCanals Europe, canals France, Picardie2 Comments