Canal du Midi
We had rather a hectic departure from Hure, as we
had to close everything up before setting off
to meet Leslie and Bob and Murray in time to ferry them from their hire
car location in Beziers to Colombiers where we our canal expedition with
Canalous was to begin. Finally they made
the trip by taxi, which turned out to be the better idea after all.
Despite dire warnings from the Canalou
brochure that early arrival would achieve nothing, we found that all the other
early arrivers who ignored this advice, were ahead of us in the queue , and
hence we were not cleared for departure until 7.45 p.m. which actually was a bit
late. This added to the frustration of
some members of our party, who were keen to set off and this was not alleviated
by the fact that there were many annoying problems with the boat, some of which
were immediately obvious and some of which appeared gradually.
Nevertheless it was a beautiful night and
the music from the jazz quartet playing
at the port where we were moored floated over the water as we ate our selection
of cold cuts and salad on deck. The firework display brought the evening to a
close although my nodding head prevented me from really paying attention.
A good night’s sleep on very hard beds
followed although Leslie discovered rather late in the evening that her bed had
been drenched by causes unknown (later ascribed to a leaking wondow).
We wait to see what else would go wrong. A
Gallic shrug was required.
We set off after breakfast from Colombiers. As occurred last time on the Canal, boat
driving (steering?) was declared the province of the males on board, an
agreement not disputed at all by Leslie and me, whose dignity was in no way
impeached by our roles as takers of photos, and makers of beds. First stop was
the village of Poilhes where, joy of joys, there was a vide grenier in
progress. We had frequented many a vide grenier around Hure in search of
glasses, plates and furniture to furnish
our house. At this one we just wandered, buying nothing ,except a book of
Christian names (Jack – is he hoping for more pattering feet, I wonder. A series of miracles would be necessary.)
On to Narbonne
We stopped that night at the junction of the Canal du Midi and the Canal de la Robine which leads to Narbonne and ultimately to the Mediterranean. We dined on board under the stars. On Monday morning, we waited for the technician from Canalou to explain to us how to operate the hotplates. Despite being fairly expensive to hire for the week, the boat is not in tiptop condition. There is a long list of things that don’t quite work or which leak. Nevertheless it is roomy and, if you like rock hard beds, quite comfortable. Repairs completed (or some of them), we set off to tackle the 11 locks on the way to Narbonne, stopping to eat at the only restaurant we find open but which offers a very good meal nonetheless. We arrive in time for the last lock, which should close by 7, only to find the lock keeper had taken an early mark. Tuesday morning saw us exploring the main sights of Narbonne and eating in their fabulous market. It was round about then that we realised that our canal trip was scheduled to finish in Carcassonne, which was further away than Homps, our original finishing point. So we left Narbonne, a beautiful city at 2 to push our way back to La Somail, a very picturesque town on the Canal du Midi.
Narbonne at dusk |
Narbonne by night |
Lunch in Narbonne Market |
Murray had by now mastered the steering of
the boat and his apprenticeship completed, he took us admirably in and out of
locks. His dependence on the up-thruster
which propels rapidly when turning
seemed appropriately limited. The up-thrust, when used, mostly when
navigating in and out of locks, sends out a horrendous bellowing, recalling to
us a mug lair on a motorbike. Other
members of the joint captaincy seemed less restrained. Indeed our navigation is
not without moments. We collect more than of our share of tree branches in our
travels and on one occasion, Jack overcorrected so much that we seemed likely
to enter a lock backwards.
Safely returned to the Canal du Midi at
Somail, we berthed for the night and the next day set off up the hill to the Chateau de Paraza
for an early morning’s tasting of rose, white and red wines. We supplemented
our existing stocks.
An itinerant epicerie |
We had planned a birthday dinner for Murray, celebrating during the day with multiple chorouses of Happy Birthday, sung loudly (without appreciation) by Leslie and me, and the venue chosen was the town of Puicheric, which according to the map/book provided by the boat company had a restaurant, and all the appropriate shops. As it was not on the canal, we sailed past the first time and had to turn the boat back in mid stream. Leslie boarded her wheel chair, and the rest of us walked/pushed up the road to the village. Unfortunately La Crise had struck: nothing was open. Nevertheless we had a few conversations with fellow travellers on bicycles who were looking for a pizza shop 5 kilometres away, and with some helpful locals. Returning to the boat we raided our supplies in the dark and feasted in the dark on what we had. Fortunately we had bought bread earlier in the day and Leslie had purchased in the Narbonne market, an enormous gateau for Murray.
Chateau de Paraza |
Carvings at L'Aiguille |
Towards Carcassonne
With two days to go we set out early, and arrived quite soon at our next double lock, l’Aiguille, a wooden lock decorated with sculptures in both wood and old agricultural metal. There were also moving scenes that were activated on approach.
That night we moored at Trebes where we found a Laundromat and did some much needed washing, drank a few wines in the bar and had dinner in a restaurant on the banks of the canal.
Plane Trees cut down near the canal |
Burning must take place on site |
Scenically the Canal du Midi still lovely.
There are signs everywhere of the damage cause to the plane trees along the
edges by the canker stain disease. This disease is easily transmitted and
cannot be cured so ultimately it is believed that all the plane trees will be
lost. Many trees have already been cut
down and burnt on the spot and many others are marked ominously with crosses
and red or green spots. However there have also been many replantings of plane
and other trees so the arborial heritage will be gone but trees will still line
the Canal in the future providing much needed shade. Even in early September,
temperatures are in the high 20’s. Across the fields can be seen wind turbines
turning elegantly in the wind.
On Friday morning Jack went by taxi to
Carcassonne where he wanted to check on minor repairs to our car which had been
delivered there (at a cost) by the Canalou company. We set off late in the boat after his return
to our final destination and as we were required to return the boat at 9 am, we
entered the town on Friday afternoon, and took the chance to go back to see
Carcassonne’s old medieval city. It was not the first visit for me but it was for
Leslie, Bob and Murray. Travel in a wheel chair on the cobbled steps was
difficult especially for Bob and Murray who took turns to push Leslie when the
terrain proved too difficult for her to manage.
We didn’t see a lot of the city but had dinner there in one of the many
restaurants. Lit up at night, the medieval
city is certainly beautiful.
On the following morning, we said farewell
to our boat, which had been very comfortable despite a number of maintenance issues that
caused inconvenience along the trip. We
loaded up the car with all our luggage and Leslie, Murray and I set off for the
train with the intention of meeting up
in Montpellier after Bob picked up the hire car at Montpellier airport. When we arrived at the station, we took up a
position in the brasserie opposite the station waiting for Bob and Jack in
the (now) two cars. When Jack finally arrived and announced that Bob had been
lost in the trip to the city, we were most concerned. Despite considerable
anxiety on Leslie’s part, one-man search
parties by Murray and Jack and multiple phone calls (and a trip to the
Commissariat by me and Murray to report his being missing), some hours later he
ambled up calmly having parked his car at another station entrance. Harmony
restored, we set off to Italy.
Trebes |
Our final meal near the Canal |
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