Oldies On Tour

Saturday 3rd July

Being a very hot night, surrounded by Pine trees and of course on the water, leaving the windows open wasn’t the best idea, however we either took our chances or slept in a sauna; we took our chances and boy did we suffer, we were both bitten by midges, we both suffered and disturbed each other during the night.  When morning arrived it was a welcome relief, and as we were still on mains with water on tap, straight into the shower.

Apart from the “midges” last night, we are in a very pretty and peaceful spot and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast discussing amongst other things whether we were bitten by “Midges” or “Mosquitoes”; I said Midges and ChristIne said Mosquitoes, who knows, but they “nipped” us!!!

Off we went, our next stop “Le Somail” where according to “the book” there is a grocery shop on a Dutch barge, which is very important as we need a few basic provisions.  The other place of interest is an “Madame Gourgues antiquarian bookshop shop”: this village was also a staging post during those heady days when there were passenger boats plying their trade transporting people from end to end, a four day trip.  We travelled the two and a bit kms arriving in time for an early coffee, but no, chores had to be done first so off we pottered to the water-based grocer and replenished our cupboard with wine, and oh yes, some other minor essentials.   Opposite the grocer’s barge was the wonderful book shop mentioned, so naturally had to pay a visit.  Goodness me, how many books are there here, the aisles  between the bookshelves were quite narrow as they had squeezed in extra shelves, at the rear there was a mezzanine floor, probably held up by the book shelves below!! And naturally full of books.  They seemed to have everything, well in French anyway.   I know Hay-on-wye is famous for secondhand book shops but I reckon this shop held as many books as all the shops in Hay put together.   If that wasn’t enough, in the centre they had display cabinets showing the rare valuable editions, naturally under lock and key!!!!

Back to Daisy for coffee and a brandy before heading off to Argens where we hoped to find a pharmacy.

Apart for a short stop for lunch, we motored on and arrived in the original Marina where we knew we could get help in finding an open Pharmacy, being Saturday afternoon we were a little worried.  With their help they located a chemist and they organised a taxi for us.   

We don’t know how lucky we are in Spain where you can get medicines over the counter with little problem, but we were informed that here no antibiotics, whatsoever, are sold without a prescription, oh dear after all that, so back to the boat with some herbal stuff instead.

Back on board and we headed out, our intention was to leave before the “fresh intake” of boaters got going.  We watched several of them receiving their “instructions”, made us wary hence our eagerness to be out in front!!!

Arrived at our next lock accompanied by two other boats, the canal from now on looks more spectacular so we are pleased about that though to achieve it the original builders have added many more locks for good measure!!!!!

My little problem became more of a bigger issue so when we arrived at Homps, we moored up for the night.   When we collected the boat we paid extra to get mobile WiFi, and after dinner, thanks to “Martin”, who sorted me with a U.K. VPN, we were able to watch the Austrian GP qualifying on Channel 4; many thanks Martin.  ChristIne was also able to join “the girls” for the usual Saturday “chat”.

With my little problem and knowing I would be “up-and-down like a fan dancers draws” we decided to make up the spare bed using the plastic seat covers from outside, just in case!!!

We both had disturbed nights unfortunately and in the morning we woke up to rain; whatever next!!

Friday 2nd July

Yesterday we considered staying another day here in Bezier but to get to the centre of the historic town, which is a mile or so away, and after climbing the hill last night we had second thoughts!!!  I do have to say it was certainly worth the climb last night, we had a very enjoyable evening and after COVID, it was great to see all the locals out enjoying themselves either in the cafes and restaurants or just wandering through the park with all the effigies with their children; it was more like life used to be, just hope all the close socialising doesn’t bring on a new outbreak.

Again we got up to blue skies and blazing sun, another “hot ‘un”, defiantly factor 50 on our noses, but unfortunately we can’t hang around as there is a given time to traverse the staircase and it started at 1000am: if we missed it we would had to wait ‘till 1600hrs.

Today we are heading upstream and arrived at the first lock, just round the bend from the staircase 3rd in the queue, but fortunately they are very big locks so they got all 3-of us in ok.

This first lock was gentle, only took us up about 2-meters and we now headed towards the staircase. Whilst going in ChristIne was told she had to get off “Daisy” with her line and walk, but by this time we were in, still that was her instruction so she had to scramble from the fly bridge to get ashore.  The female lock keeper we think was a descendant of “Hitler”, barking out orders, “don’t do that” or “don’t do this”, all three of our boat crews were given their instructions by “Adolfina”, anyway we were in and attached.   By-gum, there is no quarter given by these lock keepers, the deluge of water hitting us certainly throws the boats around, no wonder they don’t recommend plastic boats on the French Canals.

Whilst all this was going on and I “cruised” between the chambers, ChristIne climbed the 100 plus steps!!!   As I said earlier we started third in line to access the locks, but with all the shuffling that went on, we were first out at the top, result or what, we knew the other two boats were slower due to too much “faffing about” on their part.

Irrespective of our thoughts regarding Adolfina , we must say the whole crew of lock keepers were extremely efficient.

Yesterday we used the parasol they gave us between bridges as the sun was too strong.  Today we did the same but the wind was a little stronger.  Whilst ChristIne was on the helm and I was downstairs fetching something, I heard a clatter and as I looked behind me a saw our parasol disappearing under the water, sunk without a trace; Oops, add it to our bill!!!

We stopped for lunch at a village called “Poilhes” because according to the “book” there was a shop selling assorted provisions, so kill two birds with one stone.  We waited ‘till after 1400hrs as we know the French like their lunch hour but shock, horror, they didn’t open ‘till 1630hrs; we needn’t have stopped!!!!

Mid way through the afternoon we were really missing the parasol and the sun was beginning to get to us “up-top” on the fly bridge and we started to look for a night mooring, but to no avail.   We were heading for Capestang;  good moorings and as we know, a great restaurant, but alas there was no room whatsoever.   There were a good number of “Linssen” boats all together, perhaps they were the “Linssen owners club” having their rally; whatever it was our, plan was scuppered🥵🥵🥵 so on we travelled.  To alleviate the situation, we re-located to the helm inside the boat, oh yes, we should have done this before, much more comfortable.

Next we noted another restaurant en-route so I looked it up, it was called “Le Chat Qui Peche” (The Fishing Cat) ah yes, with a name like this it sounds promising, and the reviews were all very good as well, so that was our next destination.   Oh dear, another business failing to grasp what they could have, passing trade from the canal but of course no where to moor; disappointed we moved on and eventually found a mooring on the junction with the Narbonne.  Had to pay €20 for the privilege but we were hot, tired and hungry but the good news was, it included electricity and water, so long showers were the order of the day.

Adjacent to our mooring is a very odd, dingy looking hut, that purports to be a food outlet, to call it a restaurant would be an exaggeration, but enquired nevertheless from the man who took our money.   He told us it served “Mauritian Cuisine” and that it was “very good” so after our showers and a couple of aperitifs, we ventured in.  What we had missed when we first had a look was that there was a decking, partially hidden overlooking the other boats moored.

The guy who served us also doubled up as a broker, shipwright, mooring attendant and now waited at table.  It turned out he was from Leicester and had moved to France over 20-years ago.   

Looking at a rather limited menu we took our chances and ordered, a bottle of wine to start to dull our senses if the food wasn’t quite what it should be, then 2-Mauritian dishes with rice.   Firstly we chose “pork dishes” but were informed pork was off but they can do the same dish with “chicken” instead, oh well, whatever.  They took a little time to materialise which we took to be a good sign, freshly cooked.  After a few mouthfuls our faces lit up, the food was excellent, any preconceived ideas were put behind and the old saying about judging a book by its cover came to mind.

The deserts, though fairly plain were homemade and very tasty as well, so overall a big thumbs up from us.

Back to the boat for crib, ( I lost again c xx) no tv you see, then bed as very tired, worn out, but happy as we had eventually travelled 41-kms

Thursday 1st July

Still attached to the trees this morning, no one came and cut the ropes for breaking the rules!!!!  A nice quiet isolated spot, and in spite of being under the trees no mosquitoes, what could have been better.  A leisurely Breakfast whilst deciding where to go next.  The natural place is through Agde and then head into the Camargue proper.

“OK Cast off ChristIne”; I said “I have” was the reply, nothing happened, we were glued to the mud; couldn’t go forward, couldn’t go astern, and using both thrusters, couldn’t go sideways.   ChristIne was pushing with all her might on the boat hook, but to no avail. The downside to a quiet canal is there are few boats going by, in fact “zero” were about, we were on our own.

Using the two thrusters to port, to starboard, back to port etc., we eventually managed to “un-stick” the boat and then on full throttle, go astern and escape.  Decision: no more morning by trees!!!   It wasn’t as if we were against the bank, there was a reasonable gap so should have been safe🤔🤔🤔

Half an hour later we were on our way to Agde but were re-considering whether to go on or not as this part of the Canal du Midi isn’t very spectacular, in fact it’s boring, nothing to see.

Whilst “en route” we came across a un-masted yacht with a red ensign so stopped and had a chat. This couple were taking their yacht to the Mediterranean, then onto Spain where they were intending to leave it and use it as their Spanish holiday home.   They had sailed down through the Bay of Biscay onto the Garonne through Bordeaux where they had their mast taken down, then into the Canal du Midi.  They had pre-arranged to have the mast transported by road and have fixed tomorrow in Agde.   We were curious how they got on as their boat had a fin keel and we know canals can be quite shallow in places.  They said they had touched bottom several times but had managed to power through the soft mud.  It’s good to see the canal being used exactly as it was designed for when construction began in 1667: opened 15th May 1681; joining “two seas”.  We wished them good luck and headed on.

According to the canal guide, the main attraction for boaters in Agde is the 3-way lock, it’s use depends which route one is travelling. Our first port of call was for water and on the approach to Agde there is a sort of Marina with facilities so hooked up for water and had lunch.   As we sat down we were “disturbed” by someone calling us, he was the “guardian” of facility and charged us €5 for the privilege.  Chatting to him he warned us that if we went through the 3-way lock and on into the Camargue, we may get caught up with the winds, being so open and as Daisy is a gutless wonder, our decision was made, head back to Bezier.

We headed back, passing those two trees and following a very large holiday boat, zig-zagging it’s way along the canal slightly slower than us and eventually we arrived at our first lock.  In and out no problem but we had several more to do before we arrived at the “Port of Bezier”.

We arrived eventually, moored up, paid our dues and dined on board then headed up to the historic district, wow, what a steep climb.  Eventually, and after several stops along the way we arrived at the main square and I have to say it was worth the effort.    This beautiful square had effigies of all sorts of animals with water running through them and at the top end a fountain with numerous “spouts” sending water high into the air.   Naturally there was a statue of Pierre-Paul Riquet , who was responsible for the building of the Canal du Midi, who was born and lived here.

Wednesday 30th June

We woke up to another glorious morning, though still rather windy and for breakfast, it’s back to normal as we are both full from the gastronomic delight of last night.

Our target today is to get to Beziers, about 20-kms but there are two obstacles that could hold us up.   Firstly there is the single lane, 160-metre “Malpas tunnel”, this is then followed by a flight of locks dropping 20-meters, known as the “Fonserannes Staircase”.  The issue with the staircase is that there are set times to travel through them so arriving at the appropriate time could prove difficult, still we shall see.

Winding our way through several villages and numerous vineyards before we came across the Malpas Tunnel.   The “hype” in the book suggested it would be difficult to navigate being wide enough only for one boat, and sounding your horn was essential, but to us it looked  rather like a big bridge as we could see out the other end!!!  We were expecting a long tunnel similar to the ones in the English canal system.   We think had we blinked, we would have missed it!!!

Onwards and upwards heading towards Bezier passing similar scenery as we wound our way along the canal when suddenly we arrived at the top of the “Fonserannes Staircase“ .  Our canal guide book is very informative but along the canal itself there is very little to identify where one is.  Unlike the U.K. canals where every bridge has a number to identify your position, there is nothing and that’s why we were surprised we came across the locks so quickly!! 

We arrived too early so moored up for lunch until we could pass through.  The times going downstream, that’s us, are 1300hrs to 1530hrs and we were in pole position but alas, no, 2-big hotel boats took precedence and therefore we were in the 3rd flotilla, still we got through.   We have done many staircases on the English Canal system and they are hard work, well for one of us!!  but going through these was easy-peezy , there were two very nice lock-keepers on hand to press all the right buttons, all we had to do was loop a rope onto the bollards and hold on.  We went through the staircase in about 40-minutes without raising a sweat.

Our journey continued navigating through 5-more maned locks, through Portiragnes and was now was heading out towards the Camargue region, you never know, we might be lucky and see some of the famous ancient breed of the white horses, alternatively we could stumble on black bulls seen in this region🤞🤞🤞🤞

It was getting late now and this area doesn’t have many moorings, we have steel pegs of course for such eventualities but we weren’t too fussed having to knock them into the ground, instead we found 2-suitable trees to tie onto, and this is what we did “in the middle of nowhere” as the song goes.

We had had enough, out in the baking sun all day is tiring and dinner was calling.  Instead of the 20-kms we had originally planned to do, we travelled 35-kms, no wonder we were shattered.

After yesterday’s gastronomic feast, we were down to earth tonight, cold meat salad, followed by a game or two of Crib. (Hazel I lost every game accept one!😢😢😢😢😢Christine)

We have just read in the canal’s manual, “It Is Forbidden To Tie Up To A Tree” Oops 🤭🤭🤭🤭 that’s just what we’ve done, to late now😁😁😁

Tuesday 29th June

The sun was shining as we woke up on our first morning after a reasonably comfortable night in our new surroundings.  A good sized comfortable bed was only spoiled by the limited amount of bed covers causing a little grief in the middle of the night to one of us, hmm!!!

During the customary cuppa in bed we suddenly realised we had cereal, but no milk, bread for toast, but no butter or marmalade, oh dear🤭🤭🤭 and as we didn’t see any shops whilst walking about last night, headed off “before” breakfast with a plan to stop at the first place we came to with a shop.  Our chart told us the next shop was in Ventenac-en-Minervois, three and a half kms further downstream.

Arrived and moored up ok then headed to the shop which was on the quayside. We found a shack selling all manor of general groceries etc., but was very small so headed into the village.   Again up hills, again nothing, as dead as a doe-doe, so it was the shack or nothing.  To be fair we got what we needed so we’re happy, Christine could have her porridge and I had the usual Bran flakes but the shop also sold fresh baguettes, so naturally we had to have one which we enjoyed for breakfast.

We’re off, winding our way through the countryside, passing numerous vineyards but no wine to sup as we went😡😡😡, note to self, must get some as soon as possible, after all we are in one of France’s major wine region. 

When we collected the boat from “Locaboat” christened “Daisy” incidentally!!!, we noted all their other boats moored in their Marina and as we chugged along at 8-KPH, we passed another boat rental company, and their marina was also full of hire boats, we presume COVID has caused all this, but as I say, every cloud and all that, the canal isn’t busy!!!

Our next stop  30-km’s further on at Capestang, an old canal port that has re-invented itself into a mooring destination with bollards on both sides of the canal, plug-in points and water points. This place has history going back to Roman times but that’s for another time.

After lunch we decided it was time to un-leash the bicycles, one was supplied so obviously we were “forced to get a second”!!!!   The last time I had been on a bike was about 5-years ago and I fell off so this was a challenge that has to be taken.  So with Sat Nav set for the local “Intermarche” and set for “bikes”, we were on our way.   Apart from the Sat Nav falling over in the basket, it was plain sailing as we wobbled along, well we were going down hill which helped!!!  We arrived but first I had forgotten my pesky mask so I waited outside whilst Christine bought me a packet of them.   That’ll teach me to forget them, these are heavy, thick and just plainly awful.

Shopping complete including fizzy and plain water, wine, Pastis, bleach and washing up liquid; all heavy items that had we to get back to the boat.   Fortunately these old fashioned bikes had a shopping basket on the front, though I’m not too sure if they were designed for such weight!!!  so off we wobbled even more than before when we spotted a sign pointing to the canal for pedestrians, obviously a different route than we had on Sat Nav, still we went that way.    Travelling twice the distance, navigating steps and a reshuffle of our loads as the basket on Christine’s bike came apart, we arrived back on Daisy, still the good news was, neither of us fell off.   Will we use them again?? I wonder!!!

Back on board and we’ve decided to stop the night, we are opposite a restaurant that seems to have a nice menu, so we may be tempted.

Daisy has a way of her own, steering in a straight line takes all our concentration. I suspect she is keel-less and a rudder the size of a small spoon, her reactions to the helm are extremely slow but to ensure she goes where you want, one has to anticipate when to correct her but hopefully we have the measure of her now and she will do as she is told🤞🤞. The prop is electric running off batteries and they are charged by a generator, a sort of hybrid, halfway to being eco friendly I suppose.  

The lure of the restaurant was too much so we went across, fortunately they had a spare table as they were booked up and by the time we had settled into our aperitifs, the restaurant was heaving, obviously very popular.

After a superb meal washed down with copious amounts of local wine, we staggered all of 20-meters back to the boat and bed.

Saturday 26th June 

We were away by mid morning with a plan to stop the night in Tarragona but stopping in Xalo (Jalon) for lunch at a small restaurant were we especially enjoy their “Menu del Dia”,

Parking in Xalo on a Saturday morning is difficult as they hold a rather large “flea market” and with people seeming to come from everywhere, finding a space was, to say the least, interesting especially as the majority of the Spanish park, shall we say, un-reasonably!!!!

Walking into “Del Hierro” we were surprised to find it empty, maybe everyone was at the market!  We went in with the intention to have change, have something different from previous occasions, we always had the same.   After careful consideration and much pondering, guess what, we had the usual; not in our plan!!!

As usual we thoroughly enjoyed the food, some atmosphere with other diners would have been nice but hey, one can’t have everything in life!

We arrived at our hotel early evening, checked in and decided to stay in as we were both tired and not hungry enough to search for food.   Obviously ChristIne had foreseen this and had brought a “little picnic” for us to have in our room whilst we caught up with the qualifying for the Styrian Grand Prix.   

I would now like to say we had an un-eventful night, but alas no.   We were woken up by probably the loudest clap of thunder we’ve ever heard and if that was not enough, it repeated itself, over and over again.  It was so loud we missed the torrential rain that accompanied it; Naturally there was lightning as well!!!!!!

As is the way in Spain, we woke to blue skies, brilliant sunshine and no sign of the wet roads, so after an enjoyable breakfast we headed to Andorra, a place we wanted to re-visit.

Several years ago we had stayed there in December on our way to the U.K. but leaving (or entering) on the French side, the Pyrenees are bigger and higher and being a large ski resort with most folk arriving by air through Toulouse airport, the authorities needed access so  the “Tunnel d’Envalira” was completed in 2002.  The road, “El Pas de la d’Envalira” over the top gets blocked by snow so when we went in December we were forced to use the “toll” tunnel.   Disappointed as I was, there was no choice but I vowed to return to drive over the top one summer.  This was the summer and boy was it worth it.  The scenery was stunning, the excellent road twisted and turned its way as it went higher and higher until we arrived at the summit, 2408-meters.  Naturally we had a wander round but boy was it cold; shorts and lightweight shirts didn’t “cut the mustard” and to make things worse, the bar/restaurant at the top was closed.   On reflection, as we drove past the ski resorts everything was closed, only open in the winter perhaps.   So back in the car.

Whilst in Andorra we noticed the price of diesel, around €1.03, unfortunately we had only filled up a little earlier; got that wrong!!!  But at the summit there were 4-petrol stations within 50-meters of each other so we had a “splash” put in before descending.

On the way into Andorra we noticed the queue of traffic waiting to get out, it must have stretched about 7km, so we didn’t hang about in case there was a similar queue on the French side, but when we approached the boarder crossing, we just drove through, result but unfortunately further down the road there was a bit of a queue as there was a French Police road block.   Again as we approached we were just waived through, we suppose they were looking for someone special, not a couple of oldies!!!

Motoring along nicely when Sat Nav mentioned a 12-minute delay ahead because of an accident and when we hit the back of the queue, Sat Nav lit up very red and It took us an hour to get passed where the accident was.

When ChristIne had booked the hotel, she told them we would be a late arrival, good job as we were but not only due to the accident, but also due to the “cock up” by Waze.  Waze directed us along a narrow track with many potholes which also doubled as a tow path and naturally we followed it to the letter.   After a couple of km’s ChristIne pointed to an old rusted gate in the trees saying this was the place, but Waze said to carry on, which we did until it told us we had arrived at our destination; a lock and a Lock keepers cottage??? Fortunately there was a cyclist coming along so I stopped him to ask.   He told me he had ridden his bike along this route, every morning and evening and hadn’t heard of our hotel.  I must have looked very disappointed so he got his ‘phone out and googled it and was surprised to find it was back along the track by the rusty gates we had seen.  A three point turn and back to the rusty gate.   I got out and of course the gate was locked but in the distance there was a building and someone there so a loud shout to get their attention and someone arrived with a key and explanned this was not their entrance but that she would come in the car to show us the way.   Apparently this has happened before and always when Waze is used!!!

Five minutes later we were checked into this rather grand old farm house called the “Chateau de la Prade”, but don’t be fooled the the “Chateau” bit, a Chateau it was not!   They didn’t do food so we drove to the next village and had a rather mediocre meal though with excellent wine.

We had a very comfortable night in this rather grand room, enjoyed a nice typical French breakfast before heading to the boat yard in Bram.   Though we were collecting the boat in Argens, we are leaving it in Bram so decided to take the pain of the 1-hour taxi journey at the start, that way, when we leave the boat we are straight into the car and away. 

Our start time was 1400hrs so plenty of time to-get across and be ready for our “lesson” on the ins-and-outs of the boat and instruction on how to drive it.   

With all the formalities out of the way we were off, our target was to get to a village about 4-km’s away, moor up and sort ourselves out before getting really serious.

It was a windy journey, the boat had some interesting foibles but we arrived at  “Paraza”, not where we were heading for, we missed that one!!! Still an ideal mooring for our first night.   

After dinner we wandered up into the village, steep hills and nothing at the top, dead!  So back to the Quay where we had a glass of local wine in the only bar before heading to bed