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.

Gesina: DECEMBER 2016

Gesina: DECEMBER 2016: 27th December, I can't believe where the time has gone. Since November it's been outings, shopping, planning meetings for the Christ...

February 2019

We have a breakthrough - Nigel has tuned my Kindle into BBC Radio 4, Joy oh Rapture!!!!

When chatting to the man who lives here, and also has a Tibetan terrier (called Gyatso), he gave me the name of the toilettage lady (Joanna at Bain et Biscuits) he takes his dog to. So I booked Tashi in there and now she's looks normal again after her 10 days being muddy and wet at the boarding kennels!

17 February
Today we drove over to Quillan (1.5hours away) to check out the town, as there are quite a few good looking properties for sale there, at reasonable prices. It's a pleasant town. Higher up than Castelnaudary in a mountainous area, with a river running through. This river has a canoe slalom course marked out in the middle of it. The town is a popular tourist place with the canoe facilities, and close proximity to winter ski-slopes. Also its about one and a quarter hours drive to the coast at Perpignan. We wondered if the surrounding mountains keep fog in the valley/town during the winter months. It could also be quite a sun trap in the summer.  Thinking about it from a gardening point of view, it's much more similar to Bavaria or Scotland than Castelnaudary, which has a more mediterranean feel and climate.

Canoe course.

Some of the surrounding hills.

We had a couple of misty mornings, which were quite eerie!

but it soon cleared and the sun shone down on us all.

A jolly good evening was had by all at the restaurent named Le Kory. Mainly Chinese and Malay dishes.

Odile had a house warming party for her lovely new house right by a convenient mooring for us all to stop off at Villesquelande. All our hopes for free electricity and water, plus a dip in her swimming pool were dahsed. However we enjoyed her party.

I think we were the first to arrive and the first to leave, as the party went on 'til the early hours of the morning. Her sons set up a music sound system, and many friends joined in with playing keyboard. A good time was had by all.

January 2019

Thursday January 10th saw me attend my first session with Roselyne. I'm not sure how awake I will be so early in the morning for a lesson at 9.30am! However I'm hoping this will prove to be a breakthrough for me. She comes from Brittany and speaks very clear French, so fingers crossed.
I rushed back from to be in time for Victoria and her husband to collect me to drive to Bram for the annual book club lunch. It was quite a large gathering with 25 of us attending for the excellent meal.
That same afternoon Cary decided to host a Sloe Gin tasting onboard her boat.   What a day!

Friday 11th Odile invited us to the Capitainerie office for Galette des Rois, and presenting a prize to the winner of the best Christmas boat lights. Steve and Jo onboard Somewhere were the winners.

I decided to be brave and visit the same hairdresser as Robyn, (Fanny) in Carcassonne, as she makes such a good job of Robyn's hair. Well worth the trip

Saturday 19th We drove again to Carcassonne to meet up with Clive and Julie's friends, Carole & Gary, plus their two friends. Carole has had a holiday home down here now for over 10years, and the idea was to glean tips from them about living in the south of France, and houses etc in general. They very kindly brought us some books, leaflets and information in general. So we look forward to catching up with them later in the year.

Sunday 20th we joined Cary on her boat for lunch, along with Sally and Glen.

On Wednesday 23rd we drove through a snow storm up to the boarding kennels of La Bedouce. We were both horrified at the condition of the kennels. So much so that in fact Ni wanted to turn around and bring Tashi back out, staying in France while I joined our family for our belated Xmas gathering. But he didn't.

We had a fabulous trip to the UK, visiting Nii and family in Portishead; Andy in Guildford; Auntie Pat also; lunch in Reading joined by Sarah (Taylor) and family, plus Nii with Toby driving over from Reading University to meet us all. Most annoyingly the battery in my camera was flat so I was not able to take the photos I had planned!

On our way back down to Dorset we stopped over night with Geoff and Jill, and were pleased to hear that the sale of their house appears to have gone through, as well as the purchase of a house in Poitiers.
We lunched with the BOFs at the Chequers Inn, Lytchett Matravers with Jackie also joining us. Then drove back through more snow to Portishead
Before we flew out of Bristol we spent a lovely day with Val at her tiny flat in Key Stoke, (Weston-super-Mare).

 

 

 

December 2018

 There was a good show of decorations on the boats this year.

Boschplaat

Heliox

Judging to be announced on 11th January.

We hosted a drinks and nibbles party onboard on 24th december, to provide a break for those cooking the grand feast. All came (except poor Clive who was still in hospital) and seemed to enjoy themselves.
Then the big day finally arrived.

A beautiful sunny Xmas morning on the Canal du Midi in Castelnaudary!

Bubbly and nibbles on arrival!

Some people got completely carried away with their costumes!

The calm before the storm. Tables laid with Secret Santa presents around the tree.

A Secret Santa present.

Lining up for juding the Fancy Hat competition!

Boxing Day saw us all gathering in Quai 10 again to finish the left overs!

On 27th Steve, on Porthos (Potholes!) held a cocktail party, and all were requested to 'dress' for the occasion. It was both Steve's birthday and Elaine's.

Birthday twins. Same day, same year!  Same mother?

Posh frocks

More posh frocks!

Some guests had problems with their outdoor clothes!

Hans seems to be enjoying the attention being paid to an 'adjustment' on his jacket. Which is needing lots of attention from the ladies!!!

Finally a present arrived from my friend Jackie in the UK. Tashi was very pleased to get yet another squeaky toy! This one was definitely more interesting than all the others she already has!

It makes such a lovely piggy grunt!

I can't believe we have only 14 days 'til Christmas! Panic, panic.

We've been so busy enjoying ourselves to organise anything, and now we're both feeling ill and sorry for ourselves, having contracted 'the port' cold!

First off came Jude's pre-Christmas party as she will be away on 25th, held on Saint Nicolas Eve.

Onboard Noordster.

Selection of Sweets for the Bake Off.

Add caption

 Good range of choice for savouries.

Ni's excellent entry. Fruite cake, front left, sitting on union flag. Made to his mother's recipe. Not a winner this time.

My entry - Chocolate and Macron meringue - it didnt win!

On Friday 7th the Bake Off was again held at the quay side Cave, and judged democratically by all! Robyn was winner for the sweets. As usual it was enjoyed by all, with most participating. No-one went home hungry!













New Years Eve again saw us gather at Quai 10 for more fun and frolics!

November 2018

Friday nights at the quay side Cave has again been put on the calendar. And so the winter begins. BBQ this Sunday at the Capitainerie, welcome drinks same place, on Monday evening and being greeted by the Mayor, and President of the Commune no less. I can't used to the idea that I live in a Commune!

Again I go to the AVF group every Wednesday morning, in an attempt to learn to speak better French, or even any French! A lot of the time there is spent looking at written work, which is good, but doesn't help with my spoken French.

Also now I have begun to go with another boater, Tricia, to aquagym, an aerobic class in the super new swimming pool just opened this year, here in Castelnaudary. It is very useful to go with Tricia as she interpretes the finer points of the exercises I dont understand about what we are supposed to be doing with our feet underwater. The instructor is quite good and the main movements, but he doesn't show the details. Also Marie-Therese, my French teacher from the first year we were here, attends the class. And she tells me also what to do. The first week I went Tricia and I had a problem with the locker key, and I ended up locking my arm, with the key, to the locker! This week a French lady told Tricia that she thought her English friend (me) was going to drown in the deeper water of the pool. Poor Tricia, I am a liability to her!

Friday 16th we joined 14 other boaters to have a meal at the Chinese restaurant, The Dragon, here in town. It didn't quite live up to our expectations, but was fun with the group.

Well we had wine, but the food was a bit longer in coming.

Nigel's flamebaded pineapple was quite spectacular.

Saturday 17th began the road blocks in protest at the fuel price increases. The town was grid locked and in siege. You couldn't get into nor out of town. It was the same on the following Tuesday; Intermarche blocked off, Geant also. And the queues for petrol were very long. It is reported that some shops don't have fresh  food available which is going to cause panic and lead to hoarding and complete shortages. Already it is difficult to get fuel for the car!
On Sunday 11th we drove to Saisaac to view some of the houses for sale, as they have a lot of properties for sale possibly in our price range. But disappointingly Ni says the streets there are far too steep for him to contemplate living there. So that's one place ruled out.

A French lady from the AVF group was a theatre set designer, now textile artiste, and she held an open day in her atelier on Sunday 18th to which we were invited. She creates some fantastic things, with most ideas envisaged from nature. Not necessarily to Ni's taste!

On Friday 23rd, Alain bar owner, sent an invitation to his Fete Adieu, entitling it Auberge Espanol. Which basically meant bring your own food and buy my wine! Lots of locals were also there. It turned out not to be Farewell, as the paperwork hasn't gone through to finalise the deal. He now says 20th December will be handover time. We told him that we're not taking party food every Friday until then. Although most weeks we take a plate anyway!

Cake baked by Robyn.

A bottle of English wine, brought by Elaine, and wrapped in a Union Jack!

Alain also invited Mathieu to come and entertain us.

NB all the empty wine shelves!

The days remain sunny and warm, with some beautiful sunsets.

Le Grand Bassin, Castelnaudary.

Its going to be hell come the spring if the canal isnt open towards Carcassonne, as all these hire boats will be heading in the direction of Toulouse!

Saturday 24th saw the monthly visit of the English Fish & Chip van. As usual they were delicious! We took ours back to the boat, not joining others in the bar L'Industrie for more booze! We drank our own, its cheaper.

Sally organised a Ladies Wot Lunch at La Dolce Vita on Thursday 29th November. It was well attended. Mixed reviews. However all seemed happy enough when the Maitre De took this photo!

October 2018

On Sunday 28th friend Val, invited us to a lunch time event, which she called apero Auberge Espagnole! She lived here in the town, and befriended us. She has now sold her house and moved back to the UK after living in France for over 20 years. For a while she has just rented a flat in the UK and has 'lent' us her car for the winter months. Which is a really kind gesture for which we are extremely grateful.

Ali, Ni and Val, taking food for the party.

Pool house party.

As it was such a bitterly cold day and their was no heating available we all just kept our coats on. Val did warn us that would be the case, so all was well, and the alcohol helped!
 
And after Ni's quick trip to the UK to attend his aunt's funeral, we moved slowly back towards Castelnaudary for our winter mooring. We stopped as the usual favourites along the way, Montgiscard, Negra, Gardouch  Renneville, Ecluse Mediterranee and Ecluse Laurens before arriving at our lovely mooring in Castelnaudary!

Us and the solitary bad tempered swan!

I think that he is hoping that someone else will hand feed him cooked spaghetti like Jim did last winter from the back of his boat 'Relax'.

While we were at Renneville we had two wildlife visitors. One was a beautiful black mink who wasn't at all frightened by our presence. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera to hand. But I had it by me when we the second visitor leapt onboard.

Froggy would a wooing go!

In the woods above the canal I spotted huge drifts of wild cyclamen. I've never seen them in such profusion before, quite stunning.

This is a favourite spot for fishermen at Renneville, especially those who like to camp out overnight on the edge of the canal. One day a young man came and set up all his elaborate equipement, rods, line, tent etc and then launched a radio controlled boat to drop the float into the water. I think he spent more time playing with the radio controlled boat than actually fishing. Still it kept him and us amused!

We were very relieved to arrive safely in port, as always. But particularly this year in view of the terrible disasterous floods that Trebes just two stops downstream. We were there this time last year, so there but for the Grace of God goes us. Our heart goes out to all the people involved both boaters and householders. Absolutely terrible.

Such a sad sight......

We dont expect problems like this on the Canal du Midi.  One always thinks that in a flood boats will just float above it. But this was a combination of high winds and just too much water from the overflowing river Aude.    It's the worst flooding there since 1872. The Rhone is renowned for sudden rising waters, but the C.d.Midi doesnt have the same reputation. So shocking!