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<\/a>the ancient boat lift, now disused, that replaced the original lock flight<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Chris waiting for the big lock descent<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>and down we went, 13m fall, with sliding bollards in the wall to hold onto<\/p><\/div>\n
Then, on to Dunkerque, where Chris left to return to the USA. It was a wonderful experience to have him with me, and to get caught up on his adventures, as well as sharing this one.<\/p>\n
<\/a>carilloneur in the belfort of the cathedral in Dunkerque.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>the bastion behind the beach where many waited for embarkation<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>the bells of the carillon<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>the wide beach where queues of soldiers waited for the little ships to carry them away<\/p><\/div>\n
The French canals are wide and have a significant amount of commercial traffic, but not difficult to deal with. I had a backwater mooring in Dunkerque, and this allowed time to deal with several boat issues. I was also able to visit the museums of the area that remember Operation Dynamo, which was the evacuation of some 338,000 soldiers from Dunkerque from May 25-June 4, 1940. An amazing story, and one that mustn’t be forgotten. Boats like mine were involved to assist in evacuating, and the ‘little ships’ are honoured still.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I know this is a little past the date, but represents the part of my journey from the Belgian-French border. We had a little problem with a mud bank, which caused a delay as I cleaned the engine filters, then … Continue reading