Today is actually Christine’s birthday and though last night was the celebration, it doesn’t end here. Today we have arranged to meet up with Holly and most importantly Elton and have an afternoon tea with all the trimmings. To enhance Christine’s day, Jersey Jane was also joining us.
Following last night, the arrangements for breakfast were quite simple, just get there and surprisingly most did, and even more surprisingly, everybody was chirpy, obviously I hadn’t done my hosting bit as well as I should 👹👹 ; That’s everybody except my late night drinking partner, half a bottle of Soberano and 0300hrs was too much. Practice makes perfect Lee!!!!!
It was rather nice as most people weren’t in any hurry and though the breakfast restaurant had closed, we were left alone to continue socialising, and this gave us the opportunity to share out the huge pile of cheese we still had, left over from last night. Some guests probably left with a fortnights cheese in their bags!!!
Having had a late full English, lunch was by-passed as we looked forward to our afternoon tea at the Talbot Hotel in Oundle. The Talbot hotel is a grade 1 listed building from the 1500’s and known then as either the “Talbret or Tabard”, no one can be sure which. Much of the timber-framed building has been incorporated into the current building when the façade was built in 1626. This was a fitting place for Christine to meet up with her Grandson again.
With excitement bubbling the three of us left in plenty of time to get to Oundle, and as things turned out with the weather and traffic etc., it was a good decision. We were gobsmacked by the amount of Sunday traffic; oh dear, all these issues are certainly helping us make our decision on whether to stay in Spain or not!!!!!
The high point of today so far was, not only arriving with a couple of minutes to spare “but” finding a car parking spot directly opposite the hotel entrance.
On entering this oldie-worldly building we were certainly impressed, and after trying a couple of tables in the restaurant we finished in a lounge area, with a huge dining table where we could spread out and Elton would be able crawl about safely; he is not quite walking yet.
Scrummy
Once Holly with Elton had arrived the five of us settled down to a superb traditional afternoon tea accompanied with Champagne whilst Christine was enjoying her grandson. Though we were fortunate to meet up with Elton when he was 6-months old earlier in the summer on Andrew’s boat, it was a long time in a baby’s life, and there were some very big changes. He had gone from being a baby, to a crawling, bubbly, inquisitive, chattering, smiley little boy, a big moment for us all.
The afternoon soon passed by and we had to go our separate ways, but we did make arrangements to meet up before we left U.K. At this point we must thank Jane, as she kindly treated us all to the splendid afternoon tea.
Back at the Holiday Inn and very satisfied with the afternoon tea and food was the last thing on our mind, so the 3-of us headed up to our room where Jane and I enjoyed a Soberano or two, Christine went on to the hard stuff, “a cup of tea”; this was followed by an early night, it had been an enjoyable but hectic weekend
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After yesterdays trouble with traffic, rain, fog etc, this morning was about taking it easy; a late breakfast and a potter to a local location for a coffee and a mooch about. Christine and Karon had decided a walk along the canal towpath was the answer, but after a few short yards she believed me when I said, “it’s too muddy to walk without your boots”, the penny then dropped whilst Jane and I watched on and felt very “smug”😂😂. We then headed to “Darlington’s” a small quaint and cosy tea rooms establishment in the “Heart Of The Shires Shopping Village”, a set of converted farm buildings renovated into an area of “niche” expensive shops; well worth a visit.
Heading back to the hotel we suddenly realised it would be a long time ‘till dinner is served so popped into the “Wheatsheaf” in Crick, a lovely old pub but modernised inside 🥵. The four of us shared a rather scrumptious platter of various starters, and a couple of good real ale 😍😍; just right for the occasion: then back to the hotel.
The “program” for Christine’s party was: welcome drink upon arrival at 1830 hrs and dinner served at 1730hrs, however that didn’t quite go to plan, the party was in full swing by 1600hrs for the majority, just the stragglers missed out!!!
The zoom ladies
I was very apprehensive as to how everything would work out having done the booking and made all the arrangements on line from Spain with who I thought was the contact at the Holiday Inn, in Crick. This apprehension was further raised when we had booked into the hotel on the Friday as their Computer system wasn’t functioning at all well. It was now I realised the person who I thought was a member of the Holiday Inn staff, in fact wasn’t, she was from the “events and conference centre”; probably very obvious but there was no clue given to tell me this; when I rang the hotel direct it turns out I was put through to a central place!
Dan Paula and Tyla
On our return from the pub I met up with Adrian, the person I was told would look after us during the evening and when he took me into our function room; what a pleasant surprise, the tables were laid out as requested, he confirmed our meal menus and the correct quantity of booze ordered 🥳🥳🥳 and the 25 place settings for family and guests; my anxiety level dropped immediately, I could now relax. It transpired Adrian was in fact the manager, and he was not only a very efficient, he was also a very nice chap from Eastern Europe. Marian then “volunteered!!!” to set up a a scrolling picture collection of Christine over the years, many, many thanks Marian, though I fear Christine wasn’t too happy!!!! Also many many thanks to Leisha for producing such a magnificent birthday cake, again. I also want to thank Monica and David, our friends with feet both camps, Spain and U.K. who kindly took the pictures on the night. Where would I be without such good [useful!!!!!!] friends. Anyway Adrian provided a suitable and a magnificent cake stand to display this masterpiece.
After getting into more suitable clothing we went downstairs to join the guests who were already well ahead partying, and by 1830hrs, with everybody present we headed to our function room, collecting some bubbly on the way in.
a few of he guests
Tonight wasn’t a surprise party for Christine and therefore she put her “twopenneth” in and we decided that with the issues over the past two years, we wouldn’t have music etc., we would spread the dinner out over the evening and enjoy catching up with family and friends.
Family table
Our starters arrived on time and to the correct person as ordered and after a suitable interlude, the main course. The wine was flowing very well and the 3-tables were all laughing and enjoying themselves. Two years was a long time not being able to catch up with friends and family but most importantly the grand children.
Tyla Mia and Grandpa
Desert was followed by a cheeseboard, accompanied by several bottles of Port. This cheeseboard was the like-of-which none of us had ever seen before. I had ordered 1-per table, in fact one would have been more than enough for everybody, the vast majority of it went back to the kitchen, still we can share it out tomorrow!!! Then the “piece de resistance” arrived with firework candles shooting up from the cake; Christine was unable to blow them out!!!!
More of the guests
The evening just flew by, suddenly it was midnight and several called it a day and and left but most carried on ‘till about 0200hrs leaving just Lee and myself to drink a bottle of Soberano; we left the room at 0300hrs, unfortunately there was a couple of fingers left in the bottom, never mind “must do better” next time!!!!
Lovely birthday cake, thanks Leisha
The format worked well and by the time the evening had eventually ended, everybody knew everybody. What we don’t know tonight was how many, if any, will actually have a clear head in the morning!!!!
Geoff speaking
Footnote: During the function we only saw Adrian attend to us. He served and cleared everything as we went, he was attentive, helpful, courteous, efficient, polite and worked his socks off as the hotel was short of staff, but thanks to Adrian, the service was seamless. Thank you very much Adrian, tomorrow I will write to your boss and tell him.
Following the “full English” and basic shopping in an empty store also on the direct route, we headed to our isolation address just praying we would receive the PCR test kits and the results by the Friday morning; a tight timescale but hopefully achievable. We were very confident of the results as we had been very careful prior to leaving Spain and whilst travelling.
The rest of Tuesday was taken up by domestic chores and sorting the car out, nothing else happening: day 1-of isolation. We went to bed crossing everything that our PCR tests arrived next day.
Wednesday 1st December
Day 2 of isolation and we paced about waiting for the tests to arrive. We had a text from the courier giving us a time spread of an hour around midday so clock watching was added to pacing about!!!!
About 1300hrs the door bell rang and upon opening, “Bingo”, our test kits were here. We quickly set about reading all the instructions, “very carefully” as we couldn’t afford to do anything to prevent them being accepted. After checking and double checking Christine went first, poking the stick down her throat and up her nose and apart from nearly vomiting and sneezing, succeeded to do the requisite number of turns with the swizzle stick and get it into the pipette. I then followed suit, similar suffering to Christine, before we carefully placed the swabs into the correct pipettes, then the correct pipettes into the correct plastic bag and into the correct posting box. Each test kit had its identity bar code on each item so swapping either part about was a no-no. Once all packaged up we headed to Morrisons where they had a “priority posting” letterbox. Once this was accomplished we headed back to isolation and crossed everything we could to get the negative results back by early Friday morning. We were also keeping up with the progress of our packages, the first little success was when it confirmed it had been collected from Morrisons, 👏👏👏. So now we were back to “just” pacing the room!!!!
Thursday 2nd December
Day 3 of isolation and some carpet is beginning to show some wear, must pace in a different room!!!! But the good news this morning on our tracking app was that our packages had arrived at the laboratory over night. We were over the moon, so far so good. It was now finger-biting time waiting for the results.
With too much time on our hands we started to question ourselves; example, had we swivelled the extended cotton buds enough to get sufficient “stuff” to carry out the tests. Had we not been as cautious as we thought we had, maybe not and we were tested positive etc., etc., etc. we couldn’t settle, we kept checking the results app for an answer, but alas, none available. We were in a friends house, couldn’t do anything, couldn’t go anywhere, couldn’t invite friends in, we were going doll-ally and then around 2000hrs I received the e mail I was expecting, a negative result, wonderful. Unfortunately this then set the hairs running about Christine’s, why hadn’t she had a result, what had happened, had she not carried the swabbing instructions to the letter, oh dear and there was nothing on the tracking app.🥵🥵🥵
After a sleepless night, scanning her ‘phone continually we emerged from the bedroom to make breakfast discussing what the chance was of being caught if we just went anyway. As breakfast drew to a close and our course of action decided, Christine received her email, Negative test, wonderful, we could head to Crick without any worries. I have to say we were very impressed with the service.
With the car packed we headed off. Our first stop was at “Oakham Bites”, one of our normal “pit stops” when in this part of the world, they do the most amazing an fresh bacon baguettes, this place has won many awards and is always busy; a must stop at place!!!!!
Being Friday we expected heavy traffic on the M 25, especially around Heathrow but wrong, there was heavy traffic everywhere, Friday afternoon now must be a bank holiday!! We crawled around the M 25, bumper-to-bumper and eventually got onto the M 1, expecting this to be quieter after all it was still around lunch time, but no, just as busy. At this rate we won’t get to East Midlands airport in time to collect Jane, her flight from Jersey arrives at 1600hrs. We plodded on, stop start and when we got going, we hit road works, slowing us even more. The good news, if there was any good news, was Jane’s flight hadn’t left Jersey due to fog! At least this gave us a chance!!!
As we approached Crick we received a text from Jane informing us she was about to board so this gave us a short window of time to stop off at the hotel, book in and more importantly get the bags out of the car.
Back in the car half an hour later it rained, goodness it rained and that with the traffic, the speed reduced even more and as we eventually approached the junction for East Midlands, all the roads shown on Waze Satalite navigation were red, standstill traffic and we were within a couple of miles from the airport, but gridlock so Waze took us down every narrow country lane, we’ll off the beaten track and though the rain had eased, it became foggy👹👹👹👹 what a journey!!! Anyway we eventually arrived at the airport from the opposite direction and drove through the “quick drop off” lane where Christine was out of the car and I said I would drive round and meet them back at the same place. Blow me down, there was a barrier and it was down so I couldn’t get out of this lane, still I thought this would just rise as number plate recognition would realise I had only been in the lane for no more than 2-minutes, but it didn’t!!!! Of course being in a left hooker, I had to get out and walk around to find out what was going on. By this time there were a couple of cars behind and I was looking for the help button when one of the car drivers came up and asked me to get on with it. I said I was looking for the help button only to be told I couldn’t get out without paying £5; bloody hell, I wasn’t in the lane for more than 2-minutes!! There were three of these pay stations but only one working!! By now there was a queue behind and I was told it cost them £1 per minute after 5-minutes and they were nearing their 5-minutes, panic!!! I tried every credit card I had, both sides, both ways all rejected. The others were tearing their hair out and one in a “bit-of-a-rage” tried all my cards, he couldn’t make them work either. Now I was checking Al my cash, plenty of euros, short on Stirling, anyway I scrabbled about and cobbled to get her £5 in loose change, by now horns were Tooting, fists were being shaken and one kind driver took all my change and said, “get in the car, and get ready, I’ll feed the machine. She didn’t want to watch me have to go round the car after, too long!!! Anyway, I was in the car in time as the barrier went up, phew!!! They should have put a sign up telling us entry into the “quick drop off lane” costs £5.
Oh dear, I had told Christine I would be back, no chance!!! I found a spot to park and rang her; thankfully she had her ‘phone with her and we arranged pickup at the petrol station.
Returning to Crick was easy, no rain, no fog and more importantly, clear roads, well for us going South; northbound was still clogged-up.
Back at the Holiday Inn at Crick we collected Karon and headed to an excellent Indian restaurant on the canal at Stoke Bruerne, where we could at last relax. Tomorrow is a big day, Christine’s 75th Birthday bash.
We cleared the hotel just after ten and headed to the motorway; a six hour drive to Orleans using the Peage; considerably quicker than using the normal main roads but at a cost; 57€ according to “Waze”, still cheaper than a night in another hotel!!!
The hotel pool, too cold to use though!
We left Bayonne in the rain and apart from a few breaks, had rain most of the trip. Fortunately at driver change-over time, we had a bit of sunshine😎. At one of the change-overs we went into the services and bought a snack and drinks and were asked if “would we be eating in or out”; “in” we said only to be asked for our EU covid certificates, oh dear we had left our ‘phones in the car so out we had to go: No messing here!!!!!!! So ate in the car.
Generally we had an uneventful day making the journey until we arrived at the last “Peage” booth and then things changed. If having to insert our ticket several times into the machine to get it to register wasn’t enough, we went through 5-different credit cards before one eventually worked; never experienced that before, they have always been spot-on, flash your card and away you go. Anyway, within 5-minutes of that we had arrived at our destination. It was still raining but fortunately Catriona and Mike had opened the garage door so we unloaded in the dry.
We had a wonderful evening sitting across the dinner table catching up, though with them it hadn’t been too long as we had got together briefly in April.
The evening was going swimmingly when we were shaken with the news that England were changing the covid entry rules and making a PCR test mandatory with a 2-day isolation until the negative test is confirmed. This change applies to all if travelling from another country outside the red listed countries. Job for tomorrow, sorting everything out; flipping covid 👹
Sunday 28th November
After breakfast we debated the changes and implications of the new coved entry regulations and after looking at the government web site which of course, was as clear as mud, we had no better idea. Our Interpretation of the rules varied, we had differing opinions and being in the “window” of doubt, we had to make a decision as to what course of action to take.
After a number of opinions were aired, and a few choice words were spoken, we had a plan of action, albeit expensive as we had a two night hotel and a ferry booked, which will probably be forfeited not to mention the PCR tests to buy. We brought our ferry booking forward to the overnight one to gain a day to allow for the 2-day test result as our original travel itinerary was too tight and potentially we would have fallen foul of the rules.
Anyway, we’ll done Christine working your fingers to the bone making the necessary readjustments at this 11th hour! Goodness knows what the rules will be when we return!!!!
Monday 29th November
After the long awaited catch-up and far too much food, we left on the Monday; not so early morning!!! Prior to leaving we had to complete the “Passenger Locator Forms” but fortunately Catriona was an old hand at this so did them for us, albeit with some difficulty. For some reason my Spanish QR code wouldn’t scan 🤔🤔🤔; probably because we are in France!!!!!
Anyway we eventually hit the road but first had get fuel. On the motorway prices were around 1.80€ but their local “Leclerc” was selling diesel at 1.51€ so squeezed as much in as we could!!
Back on the road to Caen and Christine noticed there was a 1630hrs ferry so the hammer went down; goodness knows if, and if so, how many speed traps we triggered. We arrived at the ferry port at 1550hrs by which time the port had closed, and chatting to the local “Gendarmerie” discovered the ferry was booked-out and full. Obviously “Boris” triggered a stampede as this particular ferry would get into Portsmouth a few hours before the deadline. Now at this point we still hadn’t had confirmation we could bring forward our booking so went to the Brittany Ferry office in the terminal only to find it closed. We asked someone when it would re-open and was told soon after the 1630hr ferry departure. It eventually opened after a couple of hot drinks, a couple of wines and a couple of “fish-n-chip” suppers at 1800hrs. In the intervening time we received a ‘phone call from “Direct Ferry” saying they hadn’t sufficient time to sort everything so we had to go to Brittany direct. The frustration at this point was near boiling point, especially as we had cancelled the two nights in the hotel in Caen, “and” un-believably wasn’t charged!!! Anyway the BrittanyFerry lady behind the counter was most helpful, she changed the original booking and added the cost of the cabin, all in all, a very good result. The only “slight” hiccup was we were pulled out of the line, into a shed and was “asked” in “no-uncertain way”!! to open all doors, boot-lid and glove box. I was ”frisked-down” and one of our cases was removed and scanned. What all this was about we know not, but it seemed as if most SUV’s were pulled; no doubt they had had a tip-off for something. Still we boarded the “Mont St Michel” ferry and dashed to our cabin away from everybody, “covid-safety” was the watchword.
Our hotel for the night!
A very quiet and smooth crossing arriving in Portsmouth around 0700hrs, passport control was far easier and quicker than we had expected and this time customs ignored us 👍👍. We then headed up to Morrisons, arriving just before 0800hrs ready for a good old fashioned English breakfast and some provisions as we headed to isolate!!!
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Unfortunately we missed our departure target of 0600hrs, but we did get away soon after at 0620am!!!! We witnessed the dawn come up as we headed eastwards. This was followed by the usual blue sky with the sun reaching the heat we have come to expect as we passed Valencia, after which we headed north towards Zaragoza.
Gosh that’s a surprise
Normally this is a very scenic drive through the foothills of the Pyrenees, with the sun shining reminding us why we live in Spain. Alas this was not so, today we experienced U.K. weather, snow, yuk. Christine was quick to remind me that this was the “planned” preparation for our month in England!! At this point we had to stop for fuel and getting out of the car was a very great shock, not expecting this!!!!! If the snow laying all around us wasn’t enough, there was fairly thick fog adding to the uncomfortable driving conditions, still we survived as we went passed the 1,000-meter high point of the route passing a number of snowploughs en-route; In fact we were astonished as to how many snowploughs there were about. Not the sought of sight one would have thought one would see so close to the Mediterranean. Anyway after dropping down towards Zaragoza the snow went to sleet, followed by rain, and soon after normal weather with dry roads!!!
Very pretty!
We now stopped at a services and strangely had a superb lunch, a far cry from normal services but it did look new and not too many people about.
It was now Christine’s turn to take over the driving as we headed past Pamplona towards the French Boarder when the heavens opened, just like the “goto fria” * we get at home and as soon as we found a garage close to the boarder, she was very happy to relinquish the driving. This must have been quite something as she hates not completing her two hour stint!!! Anyway we zoomed straight through the border, if there was one!!! “COVID restrictions, what are they”!!! And as we drove into France, the rain stopped; obviously Spain was crying because we were leaving!!!
We arrived in Bayonne and went straight to our hotel, arrived in the room and I am sorry to say that’s where we stopped. Having had such a good lunch, food wasn’t a necessity and besides, the girl guide in Christine came to the fore; she had brought the kettle, tea bags and some cake, so this is where we stopped, watched a film and had an early night.
The Bayonne Hotel
Friday 26th November
After an excellent nights sleep, gosh we were tired after driving through such “crap” weather yesterday, we were completely knackered.
We enjoyed our, leisurely “Petit déjeuner“ before heading out. Bayonne is a city in the Basque Country, (an ideal over night stop-off) in southwestern France. It is located at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers. Just up the road from our hotel is The historic district; Grand Bayonne is characterised by its narrow medieval streets. This is where the Gothic Notre-Dame (or Sainte-Marie) cathedral stands, with its 13th century cloister, and the Château-Vieux. On the other side of the Nive, in the Petit Bayonne district, is the Basque Museum with the History of Bayonne, and dedicated to the arts, crafts and traditions of the region.
Walking along the river
We wandered around the quaint streets but it rained again, so we were forced to buy an umbrella and the only one available at that moment in time was a “Bayonne Rugby Club” umbrella, not my first choice!!! Whilst here, we naturally paid a visit to the magnificent structure of the Cathedral though the inside wasn’t that stunning.
The cathedral in Bayonne
Walking past a very attractive toy shop, I was seduced by a magnetic jigsaw world map; a toy with educational connotations, just the job for a Christmas present for my youngest granddaughter, in I went to buy it where upon Christine spotted something for her new grandson; a worthwhile visit.
One of the tiny streets in Bayonne
We enjoyed our morning coffee in a patisserie, no brandy🥵 and went to the old market where after a walk around admiring the cheese, wine, shellfish and charcuterie “posh” stalls, we partook of a glass of wine or two. The odd thing was, we ordered a couple of glasses of dry white to start and whilst drinking asked what region the wine came from only to be told it was Spanish; what? Spanish wine at a French wine stall in a French Market, in a French wine region; whatever next!!!
Inside the cathedral
Bayonne is situated about 7-kms from the sea and was an important maritime town in the Middle Ages and after Henry the second Married Eleanor of Aquitaine, the area became English and was an important trading route between England and France. So much so that it was fortified in 1177 by Richard the Lion Heart. In 1451 the city was taken back by the French Crown after the Hundred Years’ War . The loss of trade with the English was followed by the river gradually filling with silt and becoming impassable to ships; still it is worth a visit.
Returning to the hotel via a street full of restaurants (we needed to know where to go tonight!) still raining; thank goodness for our umbrella, we arrived in our room where we enjoyed a cup of tea or two.
Lovely area
It was time to head out again for dinner, and yes it was raining still! We walked quickly between the rain drops and found a very nice, albeit expensive, restaurant by the river; shame it was dark, wet and miserable so decided to step inside only to be accosted by the waitress asking us for our code. Code we exclaimed, yes she said to prove we’ve been vaccinated. Oh dear, we haven’t got them with us and we thought that was that, we would be thrown out. Purely by chance, I had taken a photograph of my European Vaccination Certificate and showed her that. Blimey, she scanned the QR code and it worked; nobody was more surprised than me!!! Unfortunately Christine hadn’t done that and it looked like she was going to have to hoof back to the hotel to get hers but fortunately the waitress, knowing I had been jabbed 3-times, accepted Christine’s word and let her stay!!!
One of the old buildings in town
After a nice meal we left, still raining of course and returned, via numerous puddles to the warmth of our hotel as tomorrow we are on the next leg of our journey as we head for Orleans.
*The cold drop (Spanish: gota fría) is an archaic meteorological term used popularly in Spain which has commonly come to refer to any high impact rainfall events occurring in the autumn along the Spanish Mediterranean coast.
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Today is Geoff’s escape day, so up early to do some shopping, I move the car back to the port and notice some of the barriers are still in place, oh dear what is happening today.At 10am the streets were packed with excited children, they re ran the parade again. I managed to escape, by using back roads, and Tom Tom, and finally arrived in the hospital to collect Geoff, yippee
Busy streets
Sunday 11th July
Woke up to the usual sunny day again, but sad nevertheless as we have to return the boat by 0800hrs tomorrow so need to have Daisy “tucked” up in her Bram Marina “bed” by close of play today. In fact it is doubly sad as for the past 6-days the only use we made of Daisy was to use her as a hotel for Christine whilst I was stuck in Carcassonne hospital, rather than heading along the nicer parts of the canal towards Toulouse. Oh well there is always another year🤞🤞🤞
Due to the “restrictions” I have!! plus we were unsure if I would even have been on the boat today, ChristIne took the bold move to ask a couple, fortunately English who we had previously chatted to in Trebes, if they would be able to help her take the boat back to Bram. I think Ray was taken aback by Christine’s directness but after he had time to mull it over with Eithne, they were more than happy to agree, so we waited for their arrival.
As agreed, Ray and Eithne arrived at the appointed time and we slipped our moorings and headed to Bram, 12-kms away and interrupted by 5-sets of locks. Like me at the beginning of our boat hire, Ray found driving this “tub” with its electric motor, “interesting” at the least!!!! Like me, he is used to a conventional motorised prop with a good old fashioned rudder, still we were away and the four of us settled down up on the fly bridge, enjoying the surrounding countryside chatting away like old friends.
Enjoying the trip
Arriving at our first lock might have been an issue as ChristIne and I work well as a team, and I have no doubt Ray and Eithne also are a well oiled team, but here we were mixing up the teams!!! Anyway we completed our passage through this double lock with no trouble so any fears any of us had we’re unfounded. Heading towards the next lock gave us time for a well earned coffee.
The time passed very quickly as we chatted and laughed our way upstream on the canal du midi, passing through locks without delay as today the canal was unbelievably quiet. Perhaps it was change-over day.
We arrived at the fourth lock, the advance party, “the girls” went up then returned as the lock was closed for lunch: yes, the French Lock keepers stop all activity whilst they have their lunch at the prescribed hour. OK, we moored onto the waiting dock and also proceeded to take lunch. Today was typically French, assorted French cheeses washed down with several glasses of local “Vin Blanc”
Lunch over, cleared up, and the lock gates opened so we were off. Again, we were so busy chatting that we nearly missed our destination, Bram!
Manoeuvring “Daisy” into lock
Adjacent to this very small marina is a bar and restaurant, so after securing Daisy up for the last time, the four of us headed to the bar. We tried to persuade them to stay and have dinner with us in the restaurant, but unfortunately this evening was the “Euro Cup Final” and they wanted to get back to watch it, still in the mean time the four of us polished off several more bottles of the local “stuff”, which incidentally is extremely quaffable 😁😁 after a very pleasant early evening, we said our goodbyes, then ChristIne drove them back to Carcassonne.
I had earlier booked a table for dinner, a last supper for the two of us, but as we approached the late afternoon I was getting extremely uncomfortable, so we cancelled and ate on board.
As the evening progressed, ChristIne showered and went to bed, whilst I was watching the final but as the night wore on, I realised I was in trouble. At 0230hrs, ChristIne dressed and whisked me back to casually at the Carcassonne hospital. No one waiting this evening, good, as I walked into casualty and was immediately accosted by a very nice security guard preventing me access. I explained my problem but the duty nurse said nothing could be done for several hours, casualty???? After a few words were “exchanged” they gave us the address of another clinic 10-minutes away and told us they would help. This very friendly security chap even keyed it into apple maps on Christine’s phone for us which was kind. Off we went following the SatNav instructions and as we headed along this country road SatNav told us we had reached our destination, what, there was nothing about here. By now I was feeling suicidal, the pain was excruciating and here we were in the middle of nowhere.
We knew the address was the road we were on so turned round and headed in the opposite direction, past the road we came on and pitched up at a roundabout and to our most welcome surprise, there was a sign pointing to the clinic, hallelujah!!!
On arrival we parked “right outside” the emergency entrance and I was there, sitting on the bell until a nurse arrived. I explained my predicament and she in turn asked for certain papers, which naturally were still on Daisy. At the same time a doctor wandered over to see what was happening, then told me to follow her whilst the nurse agreed whilst I was being sorted, ChristIne would head back to the boat and get all the papers.
Ahhhhhhhhh the relief, thank you doctor; at which point she informed me it was minor, there would be no charging and that I could re-call ChristIne. Fortunately she had only got halfway back to Bram.
After some more treatment we headed back in the early hours of the morning.
Monday 12th July
Up early to complete the boat clearance and after a satisfactory inspection, headed back to the hospital; we had to settle our bill!!!
Our intention was to head back using “Peage” all the way as that was the fastest route. Apart from a couple of comfort stops we we were back home by 1830hrs, a very quick and easy journey.
We are signing off this adventure with a very brief history of this area and in particular the Canal du MIDI.
The Canal du MIDI is a 360-km network of navigable waterways linking the Mediterranean and the Atlantic through 328 structures (locks, aqueducts, bridges, tunnels, etc.) and is one of the most remarkable feats of civil engineering in modern times. It was built between 1667 and 1694, it paved the way for the Industrial Revolution and was an economic boost to the local wine and wheat producers.
The canal was the brainchild of Pierre-Paul Riquet who wrote to a minister of King Louis 14th in 1662 suggesting a waterway was built between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, “Les Deux Meres” this canal is now a world heritage site. Just as a reference point, England at this time had just come out of a civil war and it would be another 76-years before the Sankey canal at 25-Kms long, would be the first canal to be opened in England in 1757, quickly followed by the Bridgwater canal in 1761.
Middle of nowhere
Unlike England fighting each other, Europe in the 17th century was on the brink of a major philosophical change, an Age of Enlightenment one could say. They had the grand idea of manipulating nature for human purposes, and the canal was a chance to do just that. It was during the reign of the famously “ostentatious” Sun King, Louis XIV, and the engineering designs of Pierre-Paul Riquet, together with the toil and sweat of 12,000 workers who laboured for 15 years to build the canal, brought enormous economic benefits.
This area of France prior to the canal, was always a region of significance, starting when the Romans arrived in in late BC and more importantly starting the wine industry.
Fresquel triple lock
With Europe in perpetual turmoil through the centuries, this area was no exception and has been fought over many times from the Religious crusaders in the 1100’s then later by the English Plantagenet kings during the Hundred Years’ War, and particularly with the Black Prince reeking havoc in 1535.
Today the canal is mainly used for pleasure craft and hotel boats and a new economy has emerged to support this though in our humble opinion, there is much more potential to be had if some simple basic business rules are applied.
