Tournai and leg it

Leers Nord to Bassin Rond

107 km

12 locks

3 lift/swing bridges

25 hours

Entering Tournai was like entering a huge lock that snaked right through the centre of the city.

The moorings were exposed to the large ships, so you tended to sway as if at sea whenever one passed. Worse still was a small speed boat with five men toking on big cigars, the wake from this boat was horrendous and they passed by a few times even doing donuts on one occasion. Tracy pointed out that your brain felt like a floating island pudding, and indeed it did but one being poked with a stick.

Our moorings in Tournai

Ships passed by frequently

The main square in Tournai was picturesque (see photos) with displays of water that shot up from the paving at timed intervals, surrounded by café bars and the like. Unfortunately, the short journey from the boat to the square was far from appealing. We had to navigate past dog muck, puddles of urine, human sick, and litter, not to mention the smells. In all our years we have never seen anywhere as filthy.

Water feature in Tournai town square

Tournai town square

As we were waiting for a package from England, we were now planning our journey around train stations. The next destination was Peruwel, which would keep us from straying too far from Kortrijk. On arrival, the port de pleasance was full so noticing stumps just outside, we moored to them against a sloping wall.  To get on or off the boat you had to drop a plank then quickly run across grabbing the plank on the other side before it got swept away, such was the amount of movement.

Our sloping mooring in Peruwelz

It was early evening when we arrived and after tea decided to go for a drink at the bar in the port de pleasance, we had earlier met a really friendly Austrian couple (Peter and Margaret) and invited them join us. We were glad we did as they informed us that the Canal Pommeroeul-Condé was closed, consulting our map later that night we spotted the teeny-tiny red x noting this fact.

The next day, after an eight hour round trip, we were back at Peronnes junction and heading for Valenciennes.

One of two huge locks we ended up doing twice

Luckily, they had floating bollards to tie to - a fantastic invention

At lunchtime, Tracy noticed a place to moor not indicated on the map, tucked away from the initial wash of ships that passed. We were only going to stay for an hour but decided to stay for the night, this proved to be a good decision. The village was called Mortagne du Nord and was right on the borders of France and Belgium, the locals were friendly and helpful and after stocking up with supplies we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening getting sloshed on red wine and enjoying the warmth and the beautiful sunset over the canal.

Our beautiful tranquil mooring at Mortagne du Nord

Watching the sun go down

The next day we left for Valenciennes. We were on a main shipping lane so other than cement works, or scrap metal mounds, there wasn’t much to see. After what seemed like a long drag we moored up on a lock pontoon to have lunch.  After an amazing lunch of pates and cheese we bought back in Mortagne du Nord we were comtemplating carrying on our journey. Suddenly, a ship came out of the lock moving faster than a speedboat in a James Bond film forcing the staging violently into the air. At this point, there was a tug of war between the staging and the huge wake from the ship. The staging then crashed back down snapping our centre rope clean in two. I quickly jumped up and grabbed hold of the staging pin and held on for dear life.  There was a fibreglass boat moored in front of us and we were inches from smashing it to smithereens. 

Ten minutes after this picture was taken our centre rope was snapped in two

Tracy came running into the kitchen and we both were completely shaken up.  Quickly, we gathered everything together and were off once more with a now very short centre rope.

Reaching Valenciennes, there was no where for us to moor and we were forced to carry on down the canal eventually getting through the lock at Hordain as the sun was setting and with only just enough energy left to moor up with the big ships just outside the lock.

The next day we scouted the area and found the port de pleasance in Bassin Rond just a few hundred metres around the corner. It was lovely and peaceful and a perfect place to stop for a couple of days.

Bassin Rond

A floating caravan at Bassin Rond

Quacking

Moorings in Tournai

Cost: Free

Facilities: Electricity and water were available but we didn’t use either.  They were operated with a slot for 50 cents but we don’t know how much of either you got for your money.

Location: Ten minute walk to the town centre with all the usual shops and supermarkets available.

Moorings in Peruwelz

Cost: Free on sloping wall where we stayed but not sure about the port de pleasance

Facilities: Electricity and water were available for boaters at the port de pleasance not sure of cost.

Location: Supermarket five minute cycle ride away, bar serving food at the port to pleasance.

Moorings in Mortagne Nord

Cost: Free

Facilities: None.

Location: One supermarket ten minute walk away.

Moorings in Bassin Rond

Cost: Free

Facilities: None.

Location: Boulangier 15 minutes cycle ride away or 30 minutes to Bouchain where there was a supermarket and a good selection of other shops.