From Mas d'Argenais we headed to the charming port of Fontet, which is also a
park home and has well tended parkland around the port, and all
facilities. Unfortunately the lake, which is used from swimming the summer,
was closed due to a bacterial infection. But we could use the outdoor
shower to cool down. We went with friends to Marmande for a Chinese
buffet lunch, than after relaxing in the shade of port side trees,
wandered around to the museum of matchsticks models at Fontet. These
truly amazing structures have taken years of dedicated work to construct
and care for. Their centre piece being the Palace of Versailles for
which they dim the room lights, and light the interior of the Palace and
play appropriate music, adding a video of fireworks. A charming little
museum run by three dedicated men, one who presented me with a heart
shaped souvenir made from match sticks, which he made while we watched
the video.
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| Fontet mooring. |
Sadly we said 'goodby' to Jenny and Simon, who we've not seen since they, and we, left Holland. Goodness knows when we'll meet up again. Jenny, looking reminiscent of the Mermaid of Copenhagen, came to wave us on our way!
Between the two ports we passed a fabulouse looking house:
and solid looking pigeon loft:
Hooray, made it to Castets-en-Dorthe, the end of the Canal de Garonne. The only further place to go is onto the river towards Bordeaux. We will not travel there as its tidal and salty, not good for our 'Old Lady' . The port was very fully with just enough space for us. On wandering around the village I spotted a magnificent pigeon loft in the grounds of a chateau. These lofts historically built to encourage pigeons to roost in, as the people had a double use for the birds, eating them and using their dung to fertilise the crops.
The Capitaine here was very helpful issuing us with a colour brochure full of information on local events, markets and waterway hints. He also kindly takes orders for deliveries from the boulangerie, which is much appreciated (but did encourage us to order pain au chocolate, which we wouldn't otherwise have ordered, not good for the waistline!).
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| Castets-en-Dorthe mooring |
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| Pigeon loft |
And so we retrace our journey to Bordeaux, hopefully stopping at places we missed out on our way down. One such place was the charming little hamlet of Caumont-sur-Garonne.
As this is also an Aire, there were more camper-vans (21) than boats - only 3!
Now we are retracing our steps back to Castelnaudary, and when we got to Villeton we found the moorings completely empty, and the restaurant/pizzeria closed for winter. As several boats passed by and the temperature was still 37.1C we found this very odd. Some stopped as they wanted food, so they carried on. Obviously the restaurant owner made enough money from the summer season guests, and has gone off to enjoy the fruits of his labour!
We were held up in Buzet-sur-Baise by the mini-tornedo which hit early in the evening. The sky went dark, then the wind blew, so we battened down the hatches, quite literally and watched the storm rage around us. The fallen trees jammed the canals, and electricity was cut stopping lock operations, so the pompiers were called out to install emergency generators.
Our second visit to Agen allowed us time to go around the Musee des Beaux Arts which was a real treat. The museaum founded in 1876 is housed in four Renaissance carefully combined mansion houses, opening onto inner courtyards. The collection comprises paintings, scultpures, furniture and pottery/china, from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. The miniatures, and collection of scent bottles, and ladies ornaments from Roman times were amazinly intact. Wearliy we wondered back to the boat, just stopping into the Cathedral to rest for a while, but weren't at all prepared for opulence of the interior. Every surface was decorated from floor to ceiling with colours or gilding. A nun stopped by seeing our amazement and offered an explanation for the images. She told us it was originally an undecorated collegiate church. After the banning of following religious practices, the figures were added to help keep the faith. They depitct characters from both the old and new testament, and also include other religions. So after the Revolution Napoleon decreed that the church be open to the ordinary people, and now it belongs to the townsfolk.
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| Relaxing after a day out in Agen! |
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| Lamagistere |
One of our favourite moorings, empty now, but even when we stopped back in August there were only a few other boats moored. A wonderful place for us as there is a disused quarry now a lake, with landscaping around the perimeter, and a good walking surface where we can take Tashi for a stroll. The tree give lots of welcome shade in the summer heat. And basics can be had from the shops just a short cycle ride away. What more could we ask for, heavenly!
Our return stop in Moissac was at the quay down on the river Tarn. Comfortably hot at this time of the year, which was just as well, as there no trees to provide afternoon shade. However it did prove to be more useful a stop then we had envisaged. There were hundereds of little fish 'tiddlers' nibbling away at our hull. You could hear their tap-tap-tapping day and night. They are better than any anti-foul as they cleared the weeds from our hull completely. So now we are thinking of a way to keep some fish onboard in a tank, and lowering them in a net to gobble up any more weed that grows!
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| Peaceful river mooring, Moissac |
