Agen to Meilhan+

Sep 11

After Angie's short trip to England (and not even a pack of cheddar to show for it given it was Easyjet sans suitcase) we pushed off to the West.  A bit overcast so the photos of the ecluses and aqueduct will have to wait for the return trip.

We got into the Serignac wharf and spent a couple of days idling, a nice village.

Serignac church - with twisted tower

Serignac - Angie still eyeing up winter boltholes

Sneering at Kes

Rather than hog the free elec/water we moved on towards Buzet, crossing the River Baise which is 'navigable' - perhaps next year - though rumour has it four barges are trapped by lack of water..

Baise aqueduct

River Baise

We green banked at Buzet - the Port seemed to have semi-closed for the Winter and it definitely felt a bit gloomy for a winter mooring. On tick over we continued on to L'Mas de Agenais where we squeezed onto a good mooring with a Kiwi/Aussie couple on 'Somewhere (a nice Delta barge) in time for the start of the Rugby World Cup. After a few pleasant evenings agreeing the deficiencies of Northern Hemisphere rugby (over a beer or three) we left during the rugby interval (only 3 days to survive).

Then it was Meilhan sur Garonne, full again so we greenbanked alongside 'Ailsa', another Sagar who we hadn't seen since Strasbourg. All the shops were on top of the hill so re-provisioning was carried out with much moaning (especially when on the first trip all the shops were shut).  Angie is wearing a NZ Rugby shirt and is being chatted up by all the local men (they just want the shirt :)

Meilhan port

After much too-ing and fro-ing (and advice from the local bargees) we decided not to continue to Castets at the end of the Canal (3 hours motoring) as the general consensus was it was both a grotty piece of canal and mooring was poor so we continued on for a few bridges to a turning point and did a 180 deg turn towards the East.  Perhaps the obvious onset of Autumn decided us. Next target is Carcassonne.

Castelsarrasin to Agen

Sep 11

We seem to have spent a lot of time covering not a lot of ground over the past two weeks.  From Castelsarrasin we were on fresh ground, we stopped at a canalside service station and Peter refuelled by jerrican (360 litres in the sun which was a good mornings work) and then we pottered off to Moissac going over the River Tarn (a big river) on a suitably big aqueduct.

River Tarn aqueduct

River Tarn

Moissac was an attractive town which would make a good wintering spot if it wasn't the most expensive spot along the Garonne.

Moissac

Moissac Port

River Tarn moorings

Before everyone complains about the excessive number of pictures of ecluses and Ports - firstly after a month or so it all blurs so a picture helps identify places names and secondly, I wish I had had photos of some of the ports before having to decide on wintering spots (so this is a service to our bargee followers) - the defence rests.

Moissac is mainly famous for its Abbey and Cloisters (not sure the Cloisters are better than Salisbury though)..

Autumn is here with the plane trees shedding their leaves and the ground covered with conkers around the horse chestnuts.  The weather is mostly hot with the occasional violent thunderstorm to lessen the humidity.

Moissac lift bridge

In Malause we donated a surplus UK size spanner to a French couple fixing a problem with their ex UK hire boat - which turned into a fun evening on their boat swapping stories in franglais - a mutual interest in birds they had some stunning photos, but too much whisky and wine consumed as usual in these events enlivened by  'discussion' over the merits of NZ wine vs French plonk.

This part of the Canal de Garonne is less manicured than the Midi and quite attractive.

The next stop, Valence d'Agen, was another nice mooring, luckily with a barge we can moor to higher walls than most, so we had lots of room and just managed to reach electricity and water points. A booming little town with a good market and three old wash houses.  Given most of them were still in use well into the last century, one wonders what the English equivalent was - or did English reserve mean knickers etc weren't washed publically in a communal spot?

Valence d'Agen wash house

Finally into Agen - the least attractive spot so far but on a main line train station as Angie needed to get back to the UK for a few days.  Not sure train/bus/plane/hire car is better than driving back the whole way.

Agen port

We found a green bank mooring and Peter was left to shop, cook, wash and iron for 5 days (Angie thinks it is a good refresher in appreciating her usual efforts) - unfortunately there wasn't a Pizzeria/Bar/Restaurant within easy walking distance.  Judging by the performance Kes put on when Angie arrived back, Peter wasn't even an adequate dog sitter/walker. A big mistake by Peter as he rashly got Angie 'Sky Movies' to balance out his Sports packages (something to do do with the Rugby World Cup). Now she is so busy catching up with rubbish films that she has missed, the wheelhouse hasn't been polished for a week!!