The night at the edge of the field near Berry-au-Bac is quiet and pleasant. It is warm, stars are above me and only a few noises penetrate the clear June night.
Only in the morning, the sun has already risen early in the east over the channel, I hear the humming of a ship. But these are only two houseboats, which I saw the evening before at Berry-au-Bac on the shore and which continue their way towards Reims. On the outskirts of the town the mill is now also going into operation, perceptible by another hum in a higher pitch.
I pack my stuff into the bike bags and push the bike over the embankment. This gives me the necessary energy boost for the morning stage. During my breakfast, there are two cars passing by on the bike path. In the meantime, a VNF employee has also started to mow the already short embankment lawn even shorter with his lawn tractor. All in all, working for VNF also seems to be a pleasant job, on many green river banks and lonely locks with little traffic. Because there is not even a path here, only mowed lawn as underground.
Well, maybe this will change again after a few kilometers. So I have to put up with the effort for a while. The river is less clean than the channel yesterday. Many algae cloud the water, also the vegetation is stronger. After a few kilometers there is an iron girder bridge, which has been on the hump for several years. It seems to have actually been built for a railroad, because besides the pitted road surface there are also old railroad tracks in the bedding. But whether trains have ever driven over it is questionable โ nothing suggests that the bridge, which rises high above the flat land, is connected to it.
This leads with curves and many holes to a road that crosses the canal again. And from there on there is a sandy path closer to the canal. Still in sight of the road bridge I discover a small square from which an open embankment reaches directly to the bank of the Aisne. A stick to set up my bike with is easy to find. It had been collected as firewood for a small fireplace. Now it serves me as a bicycle stand. After the refreshing bath I continue on the hilly path. This is probably not an official path, only the fishermen use it to get to the different fishing spots on the river bank.
