Stuck - Lost - 9/11 - and Dreams!
We're still at Dunkerque!
Our friends on the commercial barge gleefully told us that the two locks (two routes) from Dunkerque to Belgium were closed for maintenance.
Usually, we'd just shrug our shoulders and wait patiently. However, I'd just received a personal call that meant our travel plans to the UK (in two weeks time) had to be brought forward urgently.
So we did what any self-respecting people do - we drank beer!
Our first day in Dunkerque coincided with a massive street garage sale. We purchased lots of great gear (for Noel's up and coming motorbike purchase) and this hat for me. In the UK, as well as catching up with family, I was attending horse events to promote my latest book. I needed to stand out, so checked shirts and cow-girl hats were the order of the day!
While we enjoyed a cool one we dreamed about our next boat....
.... which caused us to have another beer!
The beer was our excuse to try and find a fish and chip shop we had visited on our last foray into the European canals. It's an interesting story, we didn't have TV or Radio on board (and still don't!). When we arrived into Dunkerque (on our last boat), it was raining and we sought sanctuary in a Fish and Chip Shop. This is where we first heard about 9/11 - it had occurred 5 days earlier and we hadn't known about it!
After the 'markets' and a quick visit around town we cycled off to find the port. Things had changed since we were last here in 2001.
We reminisced how simple life was then - then realised, actually, it was still pretty simple... boat.. canal... water... bicycles...freedom.
By now we had been cycling and walking all day, traversing about twenty kilometres. Then we made a big mistake and followed the wrong canal-off-shoot... and got lost!
Luckily we found two kindly gentlemen with an Atlas (yes, it was that bad) and they asked us where we were trying to get to.
'Erm, our boat.'
'But where is your boat?'
'On a canal, we think it is that one.' Pointing embarrassingly to a bit of blue on the map.
'Don't you know where you are?'
'Erm, not really'
We've done this before. We jump on our bikes and take off and don't bother to note which suburb we are in. All quite amusing until you've been cycling for another two hours.
With some guess-work and lots of help, (and many more miles) we finally cycled over a bridge and spotted Rouge Corsair.... the relief was immense!
We reminisced how simple life was then - then realised, actually, it was still pretty simple... boat.. canal... water... bicycles...freedom.
By now we had been cycling and walking all day, traversing about twenty kilometres. Then we made a big mistake and followed the wrong canal-off-shoot... and got lost!
Luckily we found two kindly gentlemen with an Atlas (yes, it was that bad) and they asked us where we were trying to get to.
'Erm, our boat.'
'But where is your boat?'
'On a canal, we think it is that one.' Pointing embarrassingly to a bit of blue on the map.
'Don't you know where you are?'
'Erm, not really'
We've done this before. We jump on our bikes and take off and don't bother to note which suburb we are in. All quite amusing until you've been cycling for another two hours.
With some guess-work and lots of help, (and many more miles) we finally cycled over a bridge and spotted Rouge Corsair.... the relief was immense!
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