I managed to cover 31 km today. For about 60 km the locks are hand cranked by a travelling lock keeper. I had to make an appointment for this. As it happens I am paired up with a very slow old tug, which goes at half the speed I can go. We did 9 locks together today. Tomorrow we’ll be doing the last 8 of the manual locks and then I can speed up again through the automatic remote controlled locks.  It was cold in the morning but by 11 o’clock I had peeled my heavy parka off and later my sweatshirt. It got into the low seventies and the same is promised for the next days. Going slow has its advantages, you get to see more. This is beautiful country. The corn has been mostly harvested and the fields plowed for the next harvest. I arrived in Verdun at 4 p.m. Very nice city. This town is where the largest and longest battle of the 1st world war was fought. 700,000 people lost their lives in the 6 month period in 1916.  I needed a hair cut badly. The last one was in Monte Negro in late June…

I called Namur to be sure about the closure of the Meuse. I need to be in Namur before the evening of the 15th. I plan on being there on the 14th and then meet Dirk jan, my oldest nephew, from Haarlem, there and he will take some of the bulky items from the boat to make room for my friend Ce Ce. And then I will train to Paris on Saturday and meet Ce Ce at the airport on Sunday morning.