August 2019

As by 10am most mornings it was sweltering hot, we thought it would be a good idea to make sure that all trips out, for shopping or house hunting, we timed for the afternoons, when we could ride in an air conditioned car, and hopefully linger in a cool house.

Never a fan of grasses in a garden, we found this flower box inspiring:

We wondered how stable this craft was?

 An interesting concept of installation art preaching Tolerance, with each letter of the word spelled out in clay.

So, on to 'The Houses'. The house in Belveze du Razes looked quite normal at first glance, but in fact needed quite a lot of work to make it suitable, (new roof, kitchen, bathroom, and heating). So that was discounted. The house was filled with superb antiques, and to be sold with the house.

Entrance hall with a gentleman's elegant wooden divide into the salon.

Now it was time to move on, and so we stopped at 'Port Odile' (Villesequelande) nicknamed because the Capitaine from Castlenaudary lives in a house adjacent to the mooring.
We were entertained one morning by teams of international rowers racing by us, too fast, and intensive for us to ask what it was all about.

We boaters were all advised to move further away from the bridge, from where the fireworks were being set off. The advertised time for the show was 10.00pm, and very slowly a few spectators gathered on the canal banks. Then suddenly when it was completely dark at about 10.30pm, the street lights were switched off, a hush descended, and the show began!

A spectacular show!

This fantastic show lasted for at least 45 minutes, which for a village of approximately 900 inhabitants, having only one small grocery, one pizzeria/grill bar, post office, school and church, was pretty impressive. It does come into the Commune of Carcasonne, and their Cultural Department seemed to be spending the same amount for such events on the surrounding villages, as we heard, and could see lights from other villages on subsequent nights. Very pleasantly for us the street lights weren't switched back on for quite a few more nights, so we were able to sit out until late enjoying a clear sighting of stars, and more incredibly, shooting stars!

Another rendevous was arranged for a house viewing at Escueillens-et-Saint-Just-de-Belengard! I'm so glad the house wasn't for us. I didn't fancy having to write that out as an address!!! It would be better to demolish the house and begin again. There was so much wrong with it, but on a super site. It had a small garden attached and main garden in steep tiers leading down to a stream and then into a lake. But it had been neglected for years and was very overgrown!

Who knows what lurks in this jungle?

When this digger was unloaded on the opposite we foresaw some noisey works to be undertaken, so were ready to move. But it never happen before we were quite happy to leave some weeks later.

July 2019

Strolling around with Tashi I came across this beautiful bush in Carcassonne. It was most spectacular.

I'm not sure what it is, but with a view to possibly having a French garden, I must investigate this!

We managed to get a good mooring at Trebes behind the quay for hotel boats. Only the fact that one hotel boat, Enchante and the kindness of the skipper, Freddie, offered to fill us up with water that enabled us to stay for some weeks. Ni wanted to get the old disconnected fuel tank out. Again with Freddies help they heaved it out, and as luck would have it, just as it was hauled up onto the bank, a town rubbish truck came along. So with the promise a some beers the men kindly took the tank away for us. Problem solved. Thank goodness for that, as I don't think Ni and I would have been able to lift the heavy weight from the car once we had arrived at the decheterie!

Removal achieved with the necessity of cutting - hoorah!

 Trebes is a lively port mainly due to being a 'Le Boat' hire base. So the restaurants opposite do very well during the summer months. The regular quay side concerts also draw crowds to the town.

A lively lot!

By this time it was getting really hot, and we experienced a heat wave for the following two months. So not a lot of boat work was done.

We decided not to go any further downstream as that would mean more upstream locks to deal with on our return, which neither of us relished. As it was getting rather full at the quay we thought it was time to move on.

Hotel boat, bumper boats and us!

June 2019

The 39metre peniche, Monique, passing Jude's boat dwarfed even Nordster. It came up from Avalon, and is heading towards Toulouse. To get it through all the locks, which are a maximum of only 29 metres, it was cut in half. So at Toulouse it's going into dry dock, to be welded back together. Then it will float back out again, and the owners will continue living in it as they previously did. Apparently they have done this several times before when they 'want to move' from one mooring to another.

Tight fit through bridges, especially rounded ones.

Cut in half!

Front half in lock.......

and out.

Tensioned straps holding the two halves together.

and being joined up again!

It was amazing to watch, the whole procedure taking over an hour for just one lock! Heaven knows how long it will take them to rise the four chambers at Saint Roche lock at Castelnaudary! Incredible to think that those straps are strong enough to hold the two pieces together while in motion. There was an awful lot of manhandling during this whole process. I bet the deck hands are tired at the end of a day. They claim to aim for 10 - 15 kilometres distance a day. Crumbs, that's more than we do most days. Especially if there are multiple locks to negotiate. Thanks goodness our barge is under 20 metres long.

Tashi seems to appreciate her new Cool Mat, which she's certainly going to need, as this past week has really hotted up - to 28/29C.

We finally managed to tear ourselves away from Villesequelande. Stopping for a few days in Carcassonne.

We had good, interesting days and bads days in Carcassonne. We saw an enormously long train pass over the canal full of cut tree trunks. We lost count of the number of carriages.

The supposed 'trainer' for boat rental company Canalous, frightened and amazed us in equal measures. He threw the boats around so fast that the waves rocked and pulled us offshore. Then three successive days he banged along ours, and three other private boats moored down here below the loch. Tempers were getting frayed, not helped by the soaring temperatures, now regualrly reaching 37/38/39C. Too hot to do anything requiring much movement.

It never ceases to amaze us how some boat hirers just never seem to understand their boat movements. They seem to think that you can drive it like a car. Just point the front and the back will follow. NO IT WONT. No-one has told them about the pivot point! Still they prove entertaining on the whole. This one in particular today, where the people after much faffing etc tied up, got on their bikes and rode off into town. 1/2 hour later we looked out and saw their having come adrift was almost blocking the canal entirely. So with Stephanie's help we pulled in back to the quay and retied it. They did have the grace to come and thank us and present us with a rather nice bottle of red wine!

Oops!

We were joined during our stay by a beautiful traditional Dutch Tjalk.

Dated 1884

Carcassonne got in the mood for summer with street decorations.

An unusual use for umbrellas!

Some ex-boating friends, Pamela and Charles, invited us to share their 'house-sit' for a weekend, (but we decided to stay just the day) in the village of Laure Minervois, on the outskirts of Carcassonne.  It was a beautiful old house with a lovely garden and swimming pool. Let's hope we will be lucky enough to find such a gem.

We had a visit from this colourful insect.

We lingered in Carcassonne longer than we had intended. There were two reasons for this. The first was having taken final possession of Val's car, we had to sort out transfer of ownership. At this point, the much famed French beaurocracy took over, and there was much tooing and froing, both travelling and by post, to get everything sorted. So once the car was legally ours we had to submit it for a Control Technique  (MOT). Of course like anything all this paperwork cost us money, and while we needed two new tyres for the car, the garage in their wisdom replaced all four!!! They also replaced the necessary wheel bearing. So an expensive excercise.

The second reason for our delay was prospective buyers for our beloved barge Gesina. They came for a second visit, having initially looked at her in Villesequelande. This time they came armed with questions and a tape measure. They spent the day with us, breaking for lunch among all the other holiday makers. Subsequently all was agreed and paperwork sorted and signed. So that will be the end of our barging days. We don't hand over the boat until March 2020, so there was time for more cruising.

Can't say we were sorry to leave Carcassonne as we experienced the usual trouble with uninvited 'borders' on our boat, both during the night and in broad daylight climbing onboard just to take 'selfies'!!!

May 2019

A beautiful shady mooring at Villesequelande, right outside Odile's house. I bet she loves that!!! Boschplaat, Polaris, Nordster and we all here together. Just Jon and Francis missing.

Apparently it's a favourite spot for picnics. Sometimes whole schoolloads of children arrive for lunch. They were very well behaved!

Tashi at 12 years, after haircut.

Haggis needed!

Beautiful setting for beautiful bridal party photos.

Almost full house, with Niki and Gorette cycling up to join us .But Muriel doesnt look too happy? At least the dogs are enjoying it!

APRIL 2019

Despite the recent drop in temperatures the birds obviously think summer has arrived. Swallows and swifts have arrived today (3rd April) and are swooping along the canal, feasting on the insects. Sometimes they stop and rest on our boat railings, and we can see the beautiful colours of their plumage. They are such graceful birds.

So it's time for us to go sightseeing before we move too far away from Castelnaudary. On Saturday 6th we went up Montolieu known famously for its many bookshops. These presumably arising from the historic printing works, now a village museum. The village 'pet' name is The Village of the Books.

They are real books - sacrilige!

Quaint streets.

Its the loo!

Appropriate shutters.

Apparently the following weekend there is a festival where many of the villages artists open their ateliers. So we will try to visit again next weekend to look around them.

A 'last' winter party on Antonia

 Barbeque at Villesequelande

Haggie & Tashi enjoying the afternoon.

Muriel's T shirts

Sing a-long

 

March 2019

So many events can't remember them all. But we're feeling sad as many we have spent the past three years with over winters are leaving for places back further north, mostly Briare. We will miss them terribly.

Gorete and Niki the two women onboard Puddleduck got married back in Guernsey and hosted a wedding celebration party back here in Castelnaudary. Mike went mad and produced many different balloon shapes for all and sundry.

Muriel was the lucky recipient of this one!

Sally organised a collection to buy a wedding present, and it was decided to buy them their hearts desire - an ice maker. As a joke Sally first presented them with this plastic ice tray!

They did appreciate the joke!

Then came the real thing

After many problems the cake, which had been ordered from Marks & Spencer in the UK, finally arrived and miraculously was still intact, despite being dropped upside down by Steve!

The Wedding Cake!

Jude contacted her friends Sandra and  ?? in Buzet who came and played at the bar l'Indus for her birthday party.

I thought it would be a good idea to hold a pancake race on Shrove Tuesday - 5th March this year. It was a beautiful day and a good turnout with 19 people attending. I bought pancakes/galettes for all to toss and Sally provided tea and coffee.

Nigel trying to give the rules!

In progress

The winners! (Linda, Sally and Jude)

The Book Club this month was held on 7th at the premises of Petra and Paul who have a large house they converted in the centre of Bram and now has gites to rent. Their property is truly a gem in the middle of a typically scruffy French town. Aptly the phrase " One can't judge a book by it's cover" comes to mind.  One really has to poke around to peel away the layers of debris and to find  the gems! We gave the actress Victoria Carling, who lives along the canal from us, a lift to Bram. It was a well attended group, about 20 gathered. Perhaps the sunshine brought us all out.

Over the weekend of 9/10th we finally managed to get together with Geoff and Carina. We haven't seen them for several years when they were running their guest house in Bournemouth. They now have a small house in Grou d'Agde, where they will spend their winters. Having also bought a cute little wooden summer house near Linkoping in the forests. So we hope to see much more of them now they are closer to us. Lovely to catch up with them. Such relaxing people. It completely changed my views of Agde. When we cruised through on our way down here, we just moored at a grotty bank, which was full of down and outs, camping alongside, and all we saw was the old town, which is built of black asphalt rock. Very depressing. Either side of the old town is much brighter! The mayor is now also encouraging artists into the centre and the shops are full of very interesting objects for sale.

Someone else likes Tashi's bed.

Delilah making herself at home!

Tuesday 12th saw the arrival of the previous owners of our boat, Gea and Gerritt Bosma. I was feeling quite nervous, like a pupil awaiting the verdict of the headmaster. But they were as charming as ever. Unfortunately the weather wasn't very kind to them. It rained and was cold. They are on their way down to visit his brother in Benidorm where it will be much warmer.

The first LeBoat of the season passed us by on Friday 15, and after that many more joined them. Hope that's not a foretaste of what's to come!

Earlier that morning I went for preparatory treatment for a tooth implant. I don't know how I got talked into that. I swore I would never had one. Now I know why. Once the anesthetic wore off I was in agony, and the painkillers made me feel as though I was living on another planet! Completely out of it. I spent quite a while in a daze. Then a huge black bruise developed on that side of my face. Of course Ni took lots of ribbing from fellow boaters about the bruising!!!

That evening Sally organised a champagne and wine blind tasting in the quay side boulangerie. Another event enjoyed by all.

Cary was the first to leave port, allbeit backwards!

The following week it was Castelnaudary film festival, with particular emphasis on Britanique. I indulged in three films: The Guernsey Potato and Peel Pie Literary Society, The Bookshop, and Mary, Queen of Scots. A good week.

Saturday 23rd saw the return of the British owned Fish & Chips van, who came over especially for the festival. They will now come back monthly for the season. Such a treat!

As I didn't manage to hold my planned Ladies Tea Party during the winter, I invited all on Tuesday 26th. I had checked the weather forecast beforehand. It was certainly sunny, but the wind had a cool edge to it. Nevertheless we braved the elements for a few hours. Funnily enough not one cup of tea was brewed, just one coffee was made, but we got through a hell of a lot of bottles of champagne. Strange that!?As luck would have it, it was Sharon's birthday, so good timing in the event.

All the port Ladies onboard Gesina.

Wednesday 27th we had a strange surprise late afternoon. A character looking very like Kenneth Connor, knocked on our window demanding to see 'Monsieur'. He was dressed in black, narrow legged  trousers, and what looked like a black frock coat, but was in fact an overall, white shirt, and red ribbon tied in a floppy bow at his neck. He looked like a characature and at first Ni thought it may be a Candid Camera sketch. Looking around he could see no-one else with the man. The The Man gabbled away in French demanding to know how many fire extinguishers we had onboard, and to see them.  Still no identification produced. A very helpful young teenager who had just come out of the boulanerie began to translate the conversation. It transpired The Man was checking extinguishers, re-pressurising them and updating them, on the authority of the Mairie. So there we were €63 poorer and our systems updated. It would have been nice to have advanced warning of this as Ni was in the middle of servicing the engine. During all these goings-on a couple stopped with their bicycles and asked if we could lend them a pump as the man had a flat tyre! Chaos reigned with a household neighbour butting in and producing 4 different pumps. We never knew what happened to the couple!

Someone's in for trouble if they meet this dredger on a narrow bend. At the moment it's heading upstream so hopefully it won't bother us when we finally get going.

Mothers Day flowers.