Wednesday 23 rd August - Chausee-sur-Marne to Vitry-Le-Francois

Our spikes held well and we left just before 9.30 a.m.  The locks all went well with no problems until our fourth one which was deeper than all the rest at 3.56 m deep.  This lock was made for commercial barges and therefore the bollards were too far apart for the likes of us and without the facility of a sliding pole we had to attach to the bollards halfway up in the slime of the lock walls, the idea being that we move our lines up as we ascended.  As these locks seem to fill from underneath somehow instead of gushing out at us at great speed it made for a much calmer ride!
We made very good time and arrived in Vitry just before midday.  However the berth was extremely tight and it took us over half an hour to get fully secured.  Some lunch and a siesta, then Skip went into town searching for the ever elusive restaurant for the evening (and of course, a bit of shopping!).
The restaurant we had fancied which was closed on our previous visit turned out to be only open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.........today is Wednesday!!  How is that for luck?  Other than that a kebab house or two, a pizzeria and a mediocre brasserie were available - we decided on the brasserie.
We turned up just after 8 o'clock and had a not too bad main course of assorted fish, followed by a very good cafe gourmand (a small strong coffee with a mini selection of their desserts).  The whole effect was somewhat spoiled though by the staff stacking up the tables and chairs.......at 9.30 p.m!  As  Crew is a slow eater, this was not appreciated!
We walked back to Aphrodite and enjoyed digestifs on the back deck.

13 km 5 locks 2 1/2 hours