Solvay 105 had registration NF3073F and was built in Choisy-le-Roi in 1931. The information on this page was obtained from Vagus-Vagrant.fr unless otherwise stated.
Solvay 105 was put up for sale in 1976 by Solvay, following René Lafarge's transfer to Solvay 123. It was bought by Michel G., a well-known actor who initially intended to use it as his home, but with the idea of turning it into a traveling theatre under the name Cristal Canal and a new registration number, P 16549F. This project struggled until 1999 without ever really getting off the ground. At the end of 1999, Jean-Max J. and his wife Christelle acquired it, keeping its name. He perfected the layout and installed a beautiful room with red armchairs in the converted former hold. They toured France performing with two actors until 2016. In 2016 that Gérald D. realised one of his dreams: living on a barge and, to top it all off, turning it into a theatre barge. He decided to rename it Nez Rouge (Red Nose) with the number 105 above it. After renovations, it became his home at 13 Quai de l'Oise, in the 19th arrondissement of Paris. It has been for sale since July 2024!
On the INA website, there's a very interesting video from ORTF - Nancy, broadcast on December 7, 1968, on the program "Nationale 4," titled " From Millrace to Lock in Nancy Saint Catherine ," and filmed in Void, Toul, Dombasle, and at the Nancy Stock Exchange. This is a still from that film taken in Toul coincidentally approaching the mooring we use below the écluse downstream of the top port:
Solvay 105 in Varangéville:
Two photos taken from the film "Les chemins qui marchent" by
Jean Calvel, the SOLVAY 105 is seen in discussion with another boat. Location
unknown, but I think the place can be found!
Suggestion is possibly Niderviller, after the Altmühl port, the entrance
to the trench, with the 105 heading towards Strasbourg and crossing the train
heading towards Nancy, but not sure... before rail traction, so in the time of
the tugboat?
On the Grand Canal d'Alsace in 1964. It had recently left the Vitry-le-François shipyard, where it was modernized: a modern cabin made of hardboard and red Formica, and a Baudoin DK4 engine (100 hp) replacing its 30 hp Deutz. Solvay then decided to test the 100 hp engine on the Grand Canal d'Alsace, with the 105 from the Vitry shipyard and the 112 from Chalon-sur-Saône. This information comes to me from Michèle Mangin, whose father left writings about the time he sailed on the Solvay 112:
This is Solvay 105 in Givet:
Here is the cover of the September 1985 issue (#158) of NC-Kroniek, the Solvay company's internal Flemish-language magazine ; it shows, from left to right, the Solvay 105, the 75 and the 79. This photo dates from 1976. These three Solvay barges were stuck in the port of Antwerp due to the major Belgian barge strikes. They remained stranded for over a month! It was the captain of Solvay 122 (Alexis H.) who went to retrieve them and brought them up the Rhine and Moselle rivers to Dombasle; as he held a boating licence, he acted as their pilot, since none of them had ever sailed the Rhine before. No more Solvay barges sailed to Belgium after these strikes.
The photograph which was used for the magazine cover:
Solvay 105, Solvay 70 and Joinville in Brussels, during the
1973 strikes:
An old photograph provided by Hélène Vasseur; the people
posing are unknown, as are the location and date:
When Solvay 105 was first sold she was renamed Cristal Canal and re-registered as P16549F and turned into a theatre boat. A postcard of Strasbourg written in 1992 shows her moored there:
This is an undated photograph of her looking rather sad:
and these photographs are from 29/11/2009:
Some more pictures of Cristal Canal, these were taken at Sempigny:
Here she is on 8 January 2012 near Reims:
Gérald Dahan: “I’ve realized my dream!”
Surrounded by his two biggest fans, comedian Gérald Dahan gives us a tour of
his new floating theater, a place of love and whimsy…
It was aboard the “NEZ ROUGE” (Red Nose), the astonishing theater boat he
recently acquired, that the famous impressionist welcomed us. Between
rehearsals for his new show, “Dahan présidents” (Dahan for Presidents), in
which he skillfully parodies the foibles of future presidential candidates,
43-year-old Gérald Dahan tells us about the dream he’s living.
Beside his wife, Claire, whom he gazes upon tenderly, sits his two-year-old
daughter, Élisa, on his lap, making her burst into laughter. Or perhaps it’s
the other way around…
France Dimanche (FD): Delighted with your latest acquisition,
Gérald Dahan (GD): More than ever! I’ve realized my dream: living on a boat that’s also a performance venue. From January 12th until after the
second round of the presidential election, I'm performing my brand new one-man
show there, adapted to current political events, and goodness knows, they're
packed! You have to keep up the pace, because in the morning you write a
sketch, and by the evening it's already outdated. The Guignols are no longer
just on Canal+, but on all the channels, in the flesh! It stimulates
creativity, and the show really does change every day. I'm having a blast!
FD: You also host many artists.
GD: That's the goal. I wanted a cultural space dedicated to humor, music, song,
film, theater, mime, and shows for young audiences. To offer both a launching
pad for young talent and to host established artists. We've had guitarists
Jean-Félix Lalanne and Norbert Krief (Trust and Johnny Hallyday); singers
Michael Jones, Renaud Hantson, and Jean Guidoni; Actors Christophe Malavoy and
Thierry Samitier; comedians Sandrine Alexi and Christophe Alévêque. They all
want to return because there's an incredible connection with the audience and
the acoustics are fantastic.
FD: How did this desire to live on the water come about?
GD: The turning point came two years ago when my wife and I said "I
do" on a barge, actually. I loved the unusual aspect of getting married
that way. And that experience confirmed our deep desire to live on the water.
We visited loads of them, and I came across this 40-meter-long barge that used
to transport coal and soda ash and was nicknamed "Red Nose" by the
bargemen because of the red stripe on its bow. In 1986, Michel Galabru
converted it into a theater, before selling it to a couple of traveling actors
who crisscrossed the canals of France for over fifteen years. They even came to
perform on it after I bought the barge. Last June, I drove 500 km to bring it
back from the Jura region, and then we renovated it from top to bottom for
three weeks with some friends. It bears the number 105, which has become my
lucky number. Because the night before visiting it, I slept in hotel room 105.
My meeting at Paris City Hall to present my project took place in office 105.
When I took my fire safety training, the first question was whether I knew the
maximum number of decibels allowed on board. I had absolutely no idea, so I
answered 105, and that was it. So, in December, for its inauguration, we
welcomed 105 artists.
FD: Your youngest, Elisa, must be thrilled to be playing the role of a cabin
boy?
GD: She's over the moon! She already came to my tours, but now the audience is
coming to her home, and I can tell you she's one of the biggest entertainers
backstage. At two years old, my daughter cracks me up! She greets the audience
with a hat, commands the stage, already possesses all the stage presence of an
artist, and has a remarkably keen sense of observation, which disarms us. She
always finds a way to draw attention to herself. I feel like I'm seeing myself
as a kid again, except I was already five years old, and she's already
hilarious! Just for fun, I even made a poster of her on the Nez Rouge stage
with the title "One Baby Show," crossed out with "Sold Out and
Only Backstage!" She's fully embracing this adventure with us.
FD: Does Claire, your wife, also have her sea legs?
GD: She'd never really been on a boat. I, on the other hand, was lucky enough
to sail a lot with my dad when I was a child. So, meeting Claire changed
everything: my life, my region, my job, my environment… When I met her, she was
running a newspaper in Chambéry. She went from the mountains to the water, and
above all, she had to adapt to the world of entertainment. It was a real
upheaval, but also a great joy! It was obvious, just as it was between us right
away. She was pregnant less than two months after we met, and we got married
the following year… It's like the Joe Dassin song, "La fleur aux
dents" (The Flower in the Teeth): "There are the girls we love, those
we could have loved, and then one day there's the woman we've been waiting
for…"
FD: What's missing from your happiness?
GD: I consider myself very lucky to be able to accomplish so much. I've always
lived my life this way, fulfilling my childhood dreams, and I believe that's
also part of becoming an adult.
FD: Do you plan to travel with the barge?
GD: Yes, of course. Since it's an excellent boat that sails very well, we'll be
coming down to the Avignon Festival next year, and also going on tour with
several artists, all staying on board, since there are several cabins. What a
pleasure to feel at home everywhere, to open the door and be somewhere else!
Being able to travel with your own theater gives you an incredible feeling of
freedom. And we'll return to 13 Quai de l'Oise, in the 19th arrondissement of
Paris, its home port, where it wasn't so easy to get it moored… You could even
say it was a monumental task! Since the first time I visited it, last June
26th, I've been dedicating myself to it entirely, night and day. But the result
is clear: an ever-growing audience. In fact, we're sold out every night, and
people leave delighted with the show, but also with the venue. A wonderful
reward!
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