and back to Carcassonne

Jun 12

We were covering old ground on our way back eastwards - we knew all the moorings, which ecluses were dodgy and even the good shops (time to go North again).

At Castelsarrasin, Peter sorted a cooling problem for a 'share' barge (Bon Viveur) and was repaid with a bag of potting compost - he then then promptly planted his herb seedlings (Mint, Basil, Chives, Parsley and Oregano)  plus some Cayenne Peppers.

St Porquier was a new stop - a nice little mooring provided free by the village. Peter played with the generator (his favourite bit of kit) and did some patch painting of the deck.

At Montech we took the embranchement to Montauban - new territory for us - on our return to Montech moored with 'Tigers Tail' and managed a bottle or two with John.

Motauban 12C Cathedral

Longest weir to date

Tarn entrance - with the Tarn flooding as we watched

The weather was lovely so Angie was sunbathing a lot and we were drinking more both in the village bars and   with fellow boaters.  This meant a food/drink replenishment was needed in Toulouse - one look at the photo and Peter went on a diet!

This was promptly sabotaged by meeting with 'Sirius' and 'Gladys' ex Carcassonne and an impromptu BBQ.

Glady s

Our new routine is for Angie to walk Kes in the direction of travel and be met by Peter who 'single hands' to the next ecluse (apparently he needs the practice) - travelling on from Gardouch the wind rose to a howling gale (90 km gusts) so we moored at the top of the Midi in a cutting (Ocean ecluse) - a nice spot with an obelisque commemorating Paul Riquet the Midi engineer.  It is also where Wellington and Soult signed the Armistice in 1814.

Ocean Ecluse

Riquet obelisque - a bit phallic

Castelnaudary for the weekend - lots of rugby and Peter was juggling his betting book like a Sarf Lunnon bookie (for you Terry).

 Then a slow week, met up with Mike and Sally from 'Ailsa' a fellow Sagar, then back into Carcassonne and a moderate 600 kms since 1 Apr.  Steph (La Capitaine) seemed glad to see us and the temperature is back in the 30's. Colin off 'Linda' stopped en passant to Montauban by train to make sure I hadn't broken anything.

Wet April

What a month - we recorded 28 days of rain/showers without a break - then as though a switch had been pressed - May turned sunny. The first ducklings were mid April, later than we had expected but perhaps they had heard a weather forecast.  We missed the Garonne crossing to the River Lot by a day - not low water as we expected but floods. Probably just as well as the Rivers Baise and Lot were closed to navigation soon after the Crossing was.

Garonne in spate

a River Baise ecluse

In the hope that the rain would stop we pottered off west - once we went past Meilhan we were on new territory - Fontets marina wasn't very enticing in the rain

Fontets Marina

So on to the end of the Canal de Garonne at Castets en Dorthe - we weren't tempted to carry on to Bordeaux on the Garonne (it would have been a very fast trip - perhaps breaking our Rhone speed records).

End of the  Canal

Another church for our collection and there were lots of grandes maisons from the Canal high days.

Castets Chusch - note the puddles

Angie was enjoying the wildlife - her first Hoopoes and Purple herons and the occasional Egret.  On our way back we spent a few days at our favourite moorings, but not a lot of boat movement so plenty of space.  We passed Ken and Rhonda on 'Somewhere', now sold and they will soon be en route back to NZ. The Rivers were still high as we backtracked through Buzet - we managed a pleasant meal in the Port restaurant, but just failed to win the quiz night despite combining with the Marsland's off 'La Chouette'.   A quick visit to the Buzet Cave - just a few of this and a few of that ended up with 30 litres of wine to get on board! We must cut back on the visitors as it seems to evaporate rapidly. Then eastwards again.

Mas d'Agen

The sun shone in Agen - so a little touch up painting.

I knew educating girls would lead to trouble

We are really loitering as we don't have to be in Narbonne until the end of June, so we spent 5 days in Valence d'Agen where we enjoyed the large market, found the second wash house and met Stuart and Christine on 'Hilda May' - a Piper barge - but we let them share the mooring.

Valence - wash house No 2

'Hilda May' broke down with diesel problems 200m after leaving us  - but managed to carry on after an hour or two tinkering with the fuel system.  We pottered on to a new stop in Pommevic (free elec and water) but doomed as the Boulangerie has shut.

Pommevic Abbey

By now the rain was a distant memory (though the Garonne is still closed). The best Fish and Chips in France are in Moissac so a long weekend - Angie sunbathing and Peter and Kes moaning about the sudden 30 degC + temperatures. Angie has booked a hair appointment with her favourite Gallic hairdresser and squandered all the 'housekeeping' in her favourite butcher - just as well we are not 'wintering' here.

to Buzet

A pleasant start to the cruising season - shorts and sandals donned - farewell to the other winterer's and off to Castelnaudary where we arrived in time to see the last Plane tree in the bassin felled - a sign of worse to come.  I doubt the replacements, that will be planted in November, will be fully grown in my children's lifetime.

Castelnaudary

The last Plane tree

A bleak basin

 A quick reversal of plans, given that Castelnaudary was windy even with the trees - so the 2012/13 Winter will be in Carcassonne again - sorry Odile.

Peter had his 66th birthday with Kes commiserating.  Time for a unisex hairdresser and a dye job.

We pottered off to Le Segala, but the stone quai had collapsed overwinter so we pushed on - the water levels seemed a bit low at the top of the Midi but we scraped over the watershed OK.

Parting of the Waters

Feeder channel

 Next it was Villesquelande where Angie enjoyed the last of the good weather for a fortnight.

Then it was a quiet traipse past old haunts

Villepinte sunset

At Gardouch we met up with Settima, a Moody 35 yacht, who was bravely trying to get to Bordeaux with a tirant d'eau of 1.4m (as is the Midi in theory) - so we found ourselves acting as a mobile quai until Toulouse as they couldn't moor to the sides - at least it provided an excuse for some ales en route.

Montgiscard

We were going to get our bottom panted in May at VNF Toulouse, but have deferred it to a DIY at Agde next year, Angie needs the exercise and is the right height to do the keelplate.

VNF dock Toulouse

The weather had altered for the worse so the fleeces and waterproofs were unpacked - at one stage we were hit by a serious hailstorm - massive hailstones and Peter feared for his new solar panels.

Serignac provided the usual free electricity and water so we stayed two days while the weather abated - very pretty in the midst of the orchards but Kes wasn't amused the first day by the bird (aka dog) scaring guns .

Then into Buzet where we are hoping to drop down onto the River Baise. Whilst waiting for the wind and rain to drop, Peter baked gingerbread and Angie found an old Mill building she thought would do up well (over Peter's dead body)!

Carcassonne Spring

Mar 12

And typical Spring weather it is, with a few days of sun - then showers.  Angie came back from England with a bad cold which meant Kes had to continue with Peter's limited dog walking stamina - but that doubled when the fair weather dog walkers from 'Linda' joined in. The canal and town edged into tourist mode on 1 March and we had our first early season plaisanciers through. First a job lot of paint leftovers:

Then the ugliest boat for a while (though very quiet given its electric propulsion)

In a really warm spell we decided on an 'end of Winter' BBQ - which as usual started early and finished late.

Peter was feeling virtuous after changing the antifreeze in the main engine in January but, when he went to sort out a minor leak in one of the header tank feeds, found a nut had dropped off into the tank - so out it all came again - then on re-assembling/refilling a washer dropped in - all out again - and not a swear word heard.  It is not possible to drain anything on the engine without some liquid going into the bilge, so he is now an expert in cleaning that as well! His final piecé de resistance was fitting additional solar panels, where he found the 12V panels were running at 20V so a quick unplanned change from series to parallel wiring. They are doing a great job of charging the batteries so fingers crossed they keep it up for the season.

Back to more cultural activities - the town is waking from hibernation with the pavement cafes springing to life., beggars on the corners and lost looking tourists asking for boat rides. A local town guide offered a trip to the bargees around the 'nouvelle ville' (as opposed to the ancienne Cité) in preparation for his real tourist work - some interesting spots - especially tucked away in courtyards.  In general, the French don't maintain or present their old buildings to a UK standard though.

Lots of old remnants built in

Still keeping good time

Derelict underground chapel - lots of potential but needs updating!

The English speaking contingent plus Stephanie

Another possible winter bolthole for Angie?

After seeing this model, Peter suggested Angie started collecting matchsticks for a potential hobby (for her) building models next Winter.

Cité

With all the shootings around Toulouse, Angie now locks the wheelhouse doors with the onset of dusk (when she remembers) but overall we have been impressed by the peaceful nature of our mooring given we are only 200m from the main Gare.

The seasonal sport of watching hire boats attempting to moor up (with a crew of thousands) has started. A nice Dutch sailing barge joined us to add a bit of class.

and a lovely little Pilot Cutter

Our son has just been on holiday in Abu Dhabi/Hong Kong and the photos have triggered the wanderlust - we are planning another year in the South but we can sense a few 'off barge' trips later in the year.

Our neighbours on Sirius decided to have the stern gear checked 'Yes the propeller is in situ'.

Our last week in Carcassonne was beautiful sun. Angie farewelled her French and Pilates courses and a couple of impromptu gatherings on the quai side meant trips to the local pizzeria for takeaways (who wants to cook after lots of vin rouge) note the Pizzeria gave the ladies a glass of wine each whilst waiting and a pleasant bottle on the house to take with them (only in France).

Then it was off westwards - only one day earlier than planned. Only a 3 hour run (to make sure nothing was going to drop off - Angie extracted us well - beautiful day and only Kes a bit down in the mouth.

Carcassonne - Arctic Weather

Mar 12

2012 started off just as we had anticipated with good weather for the whole of January.  But Angie came back from the UK cursing the medical profession which had decided that she couldn't have knee ops till she was 70 and/or in a wheelchair.

Peter enjoyed the various parties on the French barges celebrating La Fete des Rois (Epiphany) while Angie was away in the UK, but managed to get the token making him 'King' every time - hopefully this makes him lucky for the year rather than the scapegoat. Lots of rugby and the warm weather was great - but then February suddenly turned Arctic for a few weeks - much to our surprise - on the Midi!!

First the snow.

Then the ice.

The central heating decided not to play, so Angie disappeared off by train to Bonn for a boozy week with her family, while Peter and his technical advisor (Colin on 'Linda') sorted it. A little shopping and a little sightseeing in the gaps.

Beuel - Bonn

The fun spot was trying to get a new SFR internet contract running, despite having a French Bank account and a letter from the Capitainerie agreeing our address it took four visits, five bits of paper (a new one each visit, two phone calls and a fax to HQ to get it running.

However, by Leap Day the weather was beautiful again - so Peter went boating.

Angie caught up with the housework.

Kes pushed off his bed

and lots of dogwalking - this is on the side of the Canal du Midi showing Plane trees marked to be felled due to fungal infection (note the ringbarking)

Peter rashly stated that all the maintenance was done - which was promptly followed by a plumbing leak from the guest toilet - now hopefully sorted. Angie departs for the England again next week to have her vision enhanced (well she is the helmswoman) which will let Peter watch the last of the Six Nations in peace. Only 4 weeks to the cruising season = life is wonderful.

Carcassonne Winter

Jan 12

The past month seems to have been a solid round of excessive everything, but with a few of the liveaboards departing for Christmas a tadge quieter than usual.   First it was our Anniversary, back to our cellar restaurant to celebrate 34 years of marital bliss, we must start to spread our foodie wings - a good Thai restaurant is next up.

Then Angie's birthday, Peter was going to cook a birthday cake but keeping anything a surprise on a barge is impossible (and he couldn't afford the candles).).

Then it was on to Christmas - the weather was fantastic as you can see from these photos.

As usual, Christmas Dinner was on the 24th, a bit strange as it was only the second time in 30 plus years we haven't had at least one of the children with us. Angie displayed her usual skill, but we were flagging after the Christmas pud. Luckily one of Angie's stocking fillers was a a course of Pilates sessions.

Full of good intentions we decided that New Year's eve would be quietly spent with a Scrabble board and bottle of champagne, but we were invited out for a couple of drinks at the Irish pub with the residual bargees. Somehow, that turned into celebrating the French New year there (though Peter didn't enhance the Entente Cordiale when he declined to kiss a stroppy french male) and then celebrating the English New Year on Kotare - at 3am after solving the problems of the world we all fell into our respective beds.

The onset of 2012 (12 weeks to the cruising season) removed Peter's dilatory attitude to boat maint - so the engines have been serviced and he is busy working his way through the 'to do' list. He is saving a couple of the difficult jobs for Colin (Linda) to provide assistance/advice. The first boat movement since the end of October as two plaisanciers travelled westwards. Peter has also been in gardening mode, planting up all the bulbs for next Spring.  It has been so mild that all our Geranium tubs are still thriving, with a solitary marigold still flowering. Gardening deprivation is one of the minus points about a barge life, somehow Farmville on Facebook isn't quite the same.

Climbing onto the scales for the first time in 2012 meant Peter went a bit pale (as did the scales) but he will be able to diet in solitary splendour (maybe) as Angie is off to England for 10 days soon for a round of medical checks to see if her knees can be rejuvenated. As it is Epiphany - Angie is busy taking down the Christmas decorations and next up are the external LED lights.