Bikes Beat Boats - Marne Canal, Joinville - August 19th

Take it from me, bikes beat boats on canals. Not only are they faster- not necessarily an advantage, I grant you - but then you don't have to keep stopping for locks. The first few may be fun but I am sure they become a bind. Though that's not my point. Men in boats look silly. They insist on wearing a captain's cap and sit proudly behind the wheel - it's always men driving - while his lady friend basks. Neither seems to ackowledge the rest of the world unless the other party is also sitting behind a huge wheel. Maybe they compare as they power along in their separate worlds -another gated community. The boats are generally huge. Their engines chortle away blowing bubbles from the back.And they all have flags.

To me they look like floating egos. I think these are captains-of-industry playing at captains-of-canals. Of course I may be wrong and I am a tiny bit biased.