After a journey of 1,343 km, starting at Tarmonbarry on the Shannon in Ireland which included transporting the boat from the Shannon to Dover in England by road and ferry, crossing the English Channel, travelling down the Canal de Calais, AA river, Canal de la Sensee, Escaut River, St Quentin Canal, Oise River and the Seine, we have arrived in Paris!

We have had a month of perfect weather (it rained once for an hour) however while we were waiting in Clincy on Friday night to cross Paris to stay in the Arsenal Marina for 10 days, it bucketed down!!

Statue of Liberty in Paris you can only see it from the water

Nuala and I got as far as Clincy without any major issues and the boat ran perfectly. The only problems we had are that one of the window screen wipers and the engine temperature gauge stopped working. I have fixed the wiper and gauge will have to be replaced. (Anyone reading this who knows boats will know that these are only minor problems. It is quite common on boats that things break down so the reality is that it’s a great boat)

Nuala steering the boat past the Eiffel Tower in the rain

On Saturday morning, 26^th April at 10.30am we decided not to wait any longer, put on our wet gear and set off in the rain. We arrived at the the Arsenal Marina without a hitch three hours later. We travelled through the heart of Paris and along the base of the Eiffel Tower cruising for 27 km and going through one lock. There was surprisingly little river traffic (we think as it was Saturday, a lot of the barges were not working) until we got close to the Eiffel Tower and Ile de la Cite, then the tourist boats were like flies.

C’est la Vie under the Eiffel Tower

We managed our way around them, even when they broke the red lights on the one way system around the Ile de la Cite. So now we are safely tucked up in the marina feeling very proud of ourselves. At this stage, we are thinking of all the people who have helped us get here – from family and friends, people we have worked with in Ireland, the Dover Delivery team, professional people who have hauled, lifted and fixed our boat and the people we have meet on the trip who gave us valuable advice. You all know who you are, so give yourselves a pat on the back and share the success of the adventure today with us.