24th July 2009 - Vernonnet to Paris
Up at 0600hrs in an attempt to make the first lock of the day (Mericourt) by 0700hrs! We had gained two more Seine cruise boats through the night, I had felt a little movement but not enough to wake me. We slipped our ropes and eased out of our berth and proceeded upstream on a beautiful French morning. We had just 150km left to run to reach the centre of Paris

Beautiful morning!	Mericourt Lock



Outskirts of Paris
There is not really a lot to say about this cruise into Paris, you need to see it yourself to appreciate the surroundings but never the less it was amazing. The first sight of the Eiffel Tower, the many barges, cruise boats and other pleasure cruisers on the river - it is a fantastic experience! Our planned first stop was just next to the Eiffel Tower at a spot called Halte de Plaisance, we reached this at approx 1730hrs and secured to the pontoon only to find that in actual fact we were in the wrong place and the Halte de Plaisance no longer existed! Oh well, we slipped from there and moved 100m upstream and secured to the river wall behind a number of barges. What now then? I had booked Tara on a flight from Birmingham to Charles De Gaulle airport and she was due to be in Paris at about this time, unfortunately I had lost signal on my phone and as it transpires so had she so we had no communication and I was getting more than a little anxious. Tara's mum and dad had also arrived from Ireland for a short break in Paris and they were all due to meet at the airport and make their way into Paris - you see why we needed to be in Paris for today now!

Getting closer - I can see the Eiffel Tower!	There she is - we have made it :-)
We decided to proceed further on through Paris for 7km to a recommended marina called Port de Paris-Arsenal which was on the entrance to the Canal St Martin. As we cruised upstream I received word from Tara and her Mum and Dad, they were safe and had arrived at the hotel in Paris. We had a short wait out on the river before being locked up into the marina, as we went into the lock I lost complete control of the Port engine from the fly bridge so down to the helm for the remaining few metres out of the lock and into the marina.....hmm... as we left the lock I lost the Port throttle control from the helm too! - it would not engage so now we were in a tight marina not knowing where were going and only one engine! With some nifty rope work and plenty of fenders we managed to get alongside at the top of the marina, albeit on the mooring for a cruise boat which was due back shortly!

The River Seine through Paris - spectacular
Time was against us so before too much investigation could take place we roped Sanity back to raft up on another trip boat so to vacate the berth. We are losing oil from the port gearbox, nothing too serious (until it's all gone, which it had!) so after a top up we were able to move down to the waiting berth at the bottom of the marina, just as Tara, Ray and Celia arrived, so we made fast for the night safe in the knowledge we would be in Paris until at least Monday.
		We made it!!! Looking back on the previous eight days there have been many low times, although Eric has thoroughly enjoyed every moment, and also times where I thought my body could not go any longer without sleep, but to be here now in Paris is a fantastic achievement for me, my Father, Andy and of course our thirty year old motor cruiser :-) A lovely meal in the Grande Blue restaurant on the marina and more than a few glasses of wine made a fantastic finish to our outbound journey. The plan for Saturday and Sunday is to cover as many of the sights of Paris as we can manage in just two days, and of course to spend as much time as possible with Tara as she is flying back on Sunday afternoon.
Port de Plaisance de Paris-Arsenal