We are (nearly) all going on a Boar hunt!
The next morning we decided to go for a walk down the canal but opted to leave Mitzy in Vincent for a rest. At the bridge at Saint Oulph we opted for the 10k. As we turned the corner we came across a 'Danger Boar Hunt Season' sign then a bit further we met the hunters!!! Half a dozen men appeared wearing bright orange jackets with dogs wearing cow bells and radio collars which quickly surrounded Luna. As she whimpered Mike quickly picked her up - although they only wanted to say hello it was quite intimidating. The rest of the walk was uneventful although we could hear the shooting and barking in the woods. The walk took us back through the pretty town to Vincent and Mitzi.
From Mery-sur-Seine we decided to head for the lakes in the 'Parc naturel regional de la Foret d'Orient'. We drove round the lakes to the top and parked at an aire just outside Dienville. We took a brief walk around the marina.
The whole place had an 'out of season feel' as the restaurants were shut and it was all quite scruffy! After lunch we drove to the small campsite in Dienville which was great apart from the bells! Dienville has a stone church with bullet holes made in 1814 during the Battle of Rothiere. The chuch is obviously very proud of its heritage and chimes the hour every hour - yes all through the night. At 7am it seemed to practise for the rest of day so no lying in for anyone.
In the morning we decided to head to Lac-Der-Chantecoq. We stopped at Giffaurmont-Chamaubert which was another dead out of season marina so after lunch headed to Sainte-Marie-du-Lac-Nuisement. As it was still raining we decided to visit the museum which was quaint and slightly dated however very informative. The lake was formed in 1974 to prevent Paris flooding by controlling the waters of the River Marne. Three villages were destroyed and the museum has a scale model of the flooded plain and the original wooden framed church which would have been submerged.
The local people lost farming land but gained tourists as the lake provides water sport opportunities and has a number of 'sand' beaches. The museum helped explain the local architecture of wooden framed houses which line the streets of all the villages we had driven through.
We decided that we did not want to stay by the lake as none of the lake aires provided lake views so we chose a France Passion at La Chaussee-sur-Marne. We are now parked in the garden (listening to the rain) of the small producer of champagne - Bertrand-Lapie. We had a fun private tasting where we learnt about his wine and Ratafia, the raisin tasting aperitif.
