The parking lot of the old Gothic church of St. Léger was filled. It could have been Easter Sunday or Christmas Eve. But this enormous church that could seat at least a 1000 worshippers in the times when it was built now barely filled 20 percent of the 500 chairs that are set up in it, for this morning bi-weekly service. The parking lot had been filled with the people going to the country fair.

It was a very inspiring sermon the gospel of the healing of the deaf-mute. “Effata!”

I arrived Saturday afternoon in Charleville-Mézièrres at 4.30 p.m. at k.m. 80 from the Belgian border.  It is still hot, in the seventies. I am in shorts and nothing else. But the weather forecast is for fall weather the rest of this week. There are showers here in the camp ground connected to the marina.

I got stuck in the muck twice and had a heck of a time getting out of it. If you have a boat with over 1.70 mtr or just under 6 ft draft be prepared to get sucked into the mud or scrape the gravel shallows.

This town seems to be more interesting than Sedan. I have no pictures to show of Sedan other than the church service.

Can anyone identify the tree in the two pictures. It looks like a Black Walnut or and Ash. It has these seed pods like a Leguminosa family. It is not a locust not an Acacia. It is the predominant tree along the river banks from the north Rhone and into the Meuse. It bugs me.