JUNE 2016

After we left Castelnaudary we stopped at a mooring (PK59) called Le Fort. "It's so beautiful and quiet" everyone told us, just by a lock, with a few passing boats, and the sound of bird song ......   The first afternoon a very elderly man arrived by car, parked up discharged a dog, put his 4 rods by the canal side, settled back into a comfortable chair by the back of his car, got out a radio and proceeded to play pop music very loudly!   The second afternoon, no sign of the fisherman.  "Oh, good" we thought. No such luck. A 4.x4 arrived and disgorged a man in smart plus-fours and checked shirt.  He reached into the back of his vehicle and got out an instrument - a French horn (what else would it have been) and proceeded to march up and down the tow path practising his hunting calls. Apprently there is a different sound for each animal being hunted!

Our next stop was Le Segala where we were told the Not family have been making "cassoles" in their pottery beside the canal since 1820.  Its a big brick oven fired up once a month, and everyone is warned to ensure that the ovens on their boat is big enough to house one before purchasing!

The lock at Renneville offered nothing more than safe mooring tied behind a restaurant peniche.  There was only one stone quay and we left enough space for his nightly return, but we amazed, and entertained at the skippers skill at turning the ship round each night. He did this by tying the front of his boat to a fixture on the lock gate and levering the boat around until the back was in the right position, then he reversed onto his mooring. Very impressive.

A party of school children and their teachers arrived at the lock on bicycles to watch the procedure. I was worried about the childrens safety, and danger of falling into the lock, but there were no dramas, all under control!

Renneville lock

 There was an air of excitement as we reached the highest point along the Canal du Midi.

Col de Naurouze

Situated at 190 metres, Naurouze pass is the watershed between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Set in a park of cedar and plane trees with an octagonal basin at its centre. Built in the late 17th century, by Pierre Paul Riquet, in his work with the canal.


At Negra there is a small chapel, inn, and old stables, as this was once a staging post for the passenger boats.  On some of these old passengers boats, the passengers had to disembark at multiply locks taking their luggage with them and join their boats at the end of the descent or ascent!   The angel overlooking the alter is the work of the Polish sculptor Joseph Pyrz.

And so on to Montigiscard, founded in the 13th century by Alphonse de Poitters. There is a Gothic church with a typical Toulouse bell-tower. More and more villages now have the attractive looking 'brick' walls. These arent really bricks but tiles being flatter than bricks, oblong and laid horizontally. Some were rendered to ensure more waterproofing. Much rendering has now fallen away, but several villages are under-going sympathetic restoration.

Montgisard church bell tower

After a beautiful 24Km cruise we arrived in Toulouse, then we had the worst fright of our cruising time, the gear box stuck in 'drive'. As we pulled in to the port, Ni couldn't stop the boat and we were heading straight for a small pontoon end with a barge on the one side and an even more expensive looking yacht on the other. Luckily the bow thruster was working and Ni managed to guide us into the pontoon which took all the force and stopped us. After realising we werent complete put of control idiots, everyone at the port was very helpful and hauled us back to the pontoon which was reserved for us. On investigation Ni found that a metal rod had slipped behind the gear levers hence jamming it.   So that rod, and anything else moveable in the engine compartment has now been removed! Photo shows tiny pontoon end, which took all the force, to the left of red barge Lyneve. The man on Sea Horse was begining to get very worried as we approached, and we're not surprised as there was no way we would have got into the small space 'beside' him! However we seem to have got a way with a black mark from the rubber edging!

Port Saint-Sauveur, Toulouse

So we chose quayside electricity and water as opposed to shade from the trees!
And so we left Toulouse.
 

We 'green banked' the next stop at Fenouillet, which was noisy with the railway track on one side and a factory yard on the other, but at least we had shade under the trees.

After that came Grisolles, not much good mooring available and no water nor electricity available, but a small town with shops.

New market buildings replacing wooden ones which burned down.

19M mooring space at Lacourt Saint Pierre!

Another typical bell tower of the region.

 After that we stopped  to meet up with Nigel Beachem who is going to install a new solar panel system for us. It was a very tight fit to get into the mooring, 19M space with us at 19.95M. Our stern inched in in front of Sirius bow, and bow overlapped the smaller boat in front. As there is not much current along the waterway here it didnt matter at all.

Such a friendly little village, with just a population of 1,104, the school children taking their morning break in the adjacent park under the shade of the trees. Just like it was 50 years ago in the UK.   They were playing a French version of Monopoly.

The branch off the Canal de Garonne, canal de Montech, which had been closed since 1990, has been put back into service and it is now possible to reach the port of Montauban. Although there are 9 locks in 10 Km it was a complete joy. It had straight sided locks with poles which we could put our ropes around, and we were handed electronic 'zappers' which we pointed at the lock gates to operate automatically.  Why cant they ALL be like this?!!! Each lock operation took only about 5 minutes, instead of others taking 15 or 20 minutes.