September 2019

 A wonderful reason for a family celebration was the 25th wedding anniversary of Charo and Andy.

It seems so long ago!

Our friend Sue, made the heroic journey down from Uzes on her own, and staying at an hotel in Castelnaudary, we collected her each day, and took a welcome break from boat maintenance, and house hunting, to go sightseeing with her. As she arrived on Ni's birthday we all enjoyed a splendid evening meal at the Maison du Cassoulet in Castelnaudary.

Celebrating with Bubbly at Villsequelande

Beautiful big, ripe grapes at Villsequelande.

Mechanical grape picker

Co-op cave at Villesequelande in full production!

Leaving Villesequelande.

 As there was only one lock between here and Bram, we decided it would be a good idea for me to drive the car to the next lock, where I would meet Ni, help with roping up through it, then drive up to Bram. Here I would leave the car until we reached Villepinte. This broke the cycling journeys Ni had to make back to retrieve the car. I had wanted to do this, but it was decided that I would find it too difficult to lift the electric bike into the boot of the car. Shame, as I enjoyed cycling along, especially on the electric bike!!!
 

Peaceful mooring at Villepinte

Leaving to collect car from Villesequelande.

 We were beginning to feel quite emotional as we left each of these little villages we had come to know, and love so well. Knowing this was the last time we would take this canal journey we savoured each glorious day.  It felt very sad, but we knew that it had to be done. Each lock, or staircase of locks proved the point again that we found it hard and tiring work.

As I strolled around with Tashi that evening I enjoyed the light of the setting sun, clean air from the mountains, and calm of the evening on the canal.

Another quiet mooring at Ecluse Guerre

Ecluse Guerre

'My mountains' (The Pyrenees)

After having spent 4 years with these incredible mountains suddenly appearing, then disappearing as we followed the contour pattern of the Canal du Midi, I don't know if I could bear to ever be far away from them. They call me home. Must have been a mountain goat in a former life!

Ecluse Moulin Vivier at St.Martin Lalande

This was our last stop before going into Castelnaudary. Another of our favoured 'green bank' moorings. This one has no electricity points, nor water taps, so can't stay too long. Although we can manage for electricity with our solar panels, as long as the sun shines. But even with a full water tank the most we can manage is 3 to 4 weeks, and that's being very careful with every drop. So it's a last gasp into home port! The upside about this mooring is the lovely walks alongside the canal, and up through the apple orchards towards the main road to Bram. Because of these orchards the farm shop smells delicious when entered with all the different types of apples for sale. They also stock vegetables, honey, eggs and a variety of other goodies. So with that and the bread and wine at the moulin (mill) shop we are well supplied.
There is also a garden centre just a few yards down the road, which is handy for stocking up with flowers at the beginning of the season. They have such a variety and at a reasonable price, with very friendly, helpful staff.

There is a staircase of three locks here so it also provides good entertain to watch the hire boats negotiate entrance and decent, or ascent of the flight. Good value all round really here.

By the side of the lock there is a small fenced off garden area which at this time of the year is covered by a carpet of wild cyclamen.

Cyclamen.

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