Today was all about rain and manually operated locks. We left Dun-sur-Meuse right at 9am and the lock wrangler was waiting for us. This was the first of 9 manual locks on the way to Verdun. Each of the lock operators has a series of locks they man. Of course Devany, the engineer, had to help them crank the gates open and closed ;) The lock operators would open a lock for us, then jump in their trucks and meet us at the next lock. I can think of much worse jobs. When it gets busy on the canals in the summer season each lock has its own operator.

We’re seeing more and more evidence of World War I the closer we get to Verdun. Just outside the village of Consenvoye we saw the Deutscher Soldatenfriedhof Consenvoye Cimetiere Militaire Allemand 1914-1918, with 11,000 German soldiers buried there.

After cruising for most of the day in light to moderate rain, we arrived in Verdun just before 5pm. Tomorrow will be WWI history. Everything will depend on the weather. It’s raining hard again.