Bonjour mes amis,
The last that I wrote we left off in Carcassonne, and our friends Ann and Dave had left us after a week on the Canal du Midi. We met our next guests, my sister Veronika and her husband Neal, in the same beautiful city a few days later. After a few action packed days at the port of Carcassonne visiting the medieval fortified castle, enjoying a cassoulet dinner, and going to the market in the lower part of the city near the port, we sailed on to finish the second half of the Canal du Midi.
The last that I wrote we left off in Carcassonne, and our friends Ann and Dave had left us after a week on the Canal du Midi. We met our next guests, my sister Veronika and her husband Neal, in the same beautiful city a few days later. After a few action packed days at the port of Carcassonne visiting the medieval fortified castle, enjoying a cassoulet dinner, and going to the market in the lower part of the city near the port, we sailed on to finish the second half of the Canal du Midi.
This half of the Canal Du Midi was different. For the first part when we navigated from Sète to Carcassonne the locks were automated but there was always an éclusier, or lock keeper operating the lock with their game boy like contraption, and one person from the boat was always expected to get off the boat before the lock and help tie up into the oval shaped locks. From Carcassonne to Toulouse the locks were still automated but there was no éclusier, except at the chain locks (3- 4 locks in a row). One person in the boat had to climb out and push buttons on a control panel to prepare and operate the lock.
We usually had one to two rental boats joining us in the locks. Rental boats are very plentiful on the Canal du Midi, even in May and beginning of June, and they have very little training before they are given the keys to their big boats. One such rental boat with two couples in their seventies was quiet memorable. The crew members on the boat were from Catalan and spoke the dialect of the region, so I could understand Spanish words sometimes, and other times could not figure out what language they were speaking. The first day our fellow travelers from Catalan followed us in several locks, and then we lost track of them because they stopped further down the canal from us for the lunch hour when the canal closed. We were relieved because their driving was erratic, and they came very close to crashing into us several times.
However by the late afternoon we passed them again, and they hurried to catch up with us in the lock. They wanted to be in the locks with us for some reason! Maybe because we knew what we were doing? The old Catalan man with suspenders who was driving the boat came roaring at full speed into the lock where we were already tied up, and went full speed forward and backward while the elderly Catalan woman from their boat who was bravely standing at the top of the lock tried to lean over veering backwards and forwards trying to catch the rope from her elderly friend wobbling at the front of this boat jerking back and forth. We were sure she was going to fall into the deep lock as he crashed into us or the side of the lock. The shocked lock keeper finally went over to check on the elderly gentleman in suspenders driving the boat, and talked to him for a long time about his dangerous driving. We noticed the next day, when they hurried to follow us again, his friend was driving, and was a much better captain of the boat. We figured that “suspender man” wouldn’t give up his job as captain until he was given an ultimatum by the éclusier!
We met another couple from Massachusetts with a rental boat, from the same city as Neal’s family. It is really unusual to meet Americans on a rental boat. We usually see a lot of British, Australians, Germans, Dutch and some French, but very infrequently Americans. It is quite an expense if you have to fly all the way out here, and then rent a boat for a week. If you do fly to Europe, unless you have come several times, you wouldn’t want to spend all your time on a canal stopping in little villages. You can usually tell someone’s nationality by the flag that is being flown on the boat, even if their boat is a rental, although we had trouble figuring out the catalan flag on the boat of “suspender man” for awhile. But even before we see their flag we know that they are British when they drive down the middle of the canal, and push our boat into the trees. Maybe it is because they think they own France since the Hundred Years War, and thus own all the canals? (Sorry Aileen and Mike, we know that you do not drive like this! Maybe it is the Scottish influence?) We can usually spot the boats with Dutch captains because they often moor outside of the ports because the mooring there is free and the Dutch are known to be very thrifty. We can tell if they are German, because Germans tend to be rule followers, but they sometimes drive the boats too fast, maybe thinking it is the autobahn? It’s fun to people watch along the canals!
However by the late afternoon we passed them again, and they hurried to catch up with us in the lock. They wanted to be in the locks with us for some reason! Maybe because we knew what we were doing? The old Catalan man with suspenders who was driving the boat came roaring at full speed into the lock where we were already tied up, and went full speed forward and backward while the elderly Catalan woman from their boat who was bravely standing at the top of the lock tried to lean over veering backwards and forwards trying to catch the rope from her elderly friend wobbling at the front of this boat jerking back and forth. We were sure she was going to fall into the deep lock as he crashed into us or the side of the lock. The shocked lock keeper finally went over to check on the elderly gentleman in suspenders driving the boat, and talked to him for a long time about his dangerous driving. We noticed the next day, when they hurried to follow us again, his friend was driving, and was a much better captain of the boat. We figured that “suspender man” wouldn’t give up his job as captain until he was given an ultimatum by the éclusier!
We met another couple from Massachusetts with a rental boat, from the same city as Neal’s family. It is really unusual to meet Americans on a rental boat. We usually see a lot of British, Australians, Germans, Dutch and some French, but very infrequently Americans. It is quite an expense if you have to fly all the way out here, and then rent a boat for a week. If you do fly to Europe, unless you have come several times, you wouldn’t want to spend all your time on a canal stopping in little villages. You can usually tell someone’s nationality by the flag that is being flown on the boat, even if their boat is a rental, although we had trouble figuring out the catalan flag on the boat of “suspender man” for awhile. But even before we see their flag we know that they are British when they drive down the middle of the canal, and push our boat into the trees. Maybe it is because they think they own France since the Hundred Years War, and thus own all the canals? (Sorry Aileen and Mike, we know that you do not drive like this! Maybe it is the Scottish influence?) We can usually spot the boats with Dutch captains because they often moor outside of the ports because the mooring there is free and the Dutch are known to be very thrifty. We can tell if they are German, because Germans tend to be rule followers, but they sometimes drive the boats too fast, maybe thinking it is the autobahn? It’s fun to people watch along the canals!
This second part of the Canal Du Midi from Carcassonne to Toulouse was just as pretty as the section from Sète to Carcassonne. There were not as many vineyards along the canal but instead we saw fruit orchards, and fields of sunflowers that were not yet big enough to flower. The cathedral ceilings created by the plane trees lining the canal were just as stunning, however. There were not as many interesting feats of architecture like we saw on the canal from Sète to Carcassonne, but the bridges heading toward Toulouse were more beautiful. They were all made of red brick like most of the buildings in the city of Toulouse, called the rose colored city, la ville rose.
Among the places where we moored in this second half of the Canal du Midi were Castelnaudery, famous for it’s cassoulet, a bean dish with duck and pork sausage. We didn’t care too much for the town which was pretty nondescript but the port and the capitainerie were very nice and well equipped. We stopped in some other small harbors like Montisgard, and Baziège, and moored a few times alongside the canal seeking some shade under the plane trees. Many of the ports on the Canal du Midi, are in an open basin with no trees, and boats sit out in the hot sun, soaking up the heat, so it is wonderful sometimes just to pull up alongside the canal under the shade of the plane trees for a break from the brutal sun. Since the bridges are so low along the canal, Chris had to put our top down to pass under them, and so we often traveled without shade between the locks. Although, Chris is a real trooper and for my sake and for the sake of our guests, he would put the top up as soon as we passed through a lock so we would have shade until the next lock which was only a kilometer away, so there was a lot of up and down motion with our canopy to keep Liz happy.
Among the places where we moored in this second half of the Canal du Midi were Castelnaudery, famous for it’s cassoulet, a bean dish with duck and pork sausage. We didn’t care too much for the town which was pretty nondescript but the port and the capitainerie were very nice and well equipped. We stopped in some other small harbors like Montisgard, and Baziège, and moored a few times alongside the canal seeking some shade under the plane trees. Many of the ports on the Canal du Midi, are in an open basin with no trees, and boats sit out in the hot sun, soaking up the heat, so it is wonderful sometimes just to pull up alongside the canal under the shade of the plane trees for a break from the brutal sun. Since the bridges are so low along the canal, Chris had to put our top down to pass under them, and so we often traveled without shade between the locks. Although, Chris is a real trooper and for my sake and for the sake of our guests, he would put the top up as soon as we passed through a lock so we would have shade until the next lock which was only a kilometer away, so there was a lot of up and down motion with our canopy to keep Liz happy.
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It has been very hot for the past few weeks, just as hot as in Maryland during the summer, but without the comfort of air conditioning that we all have in our houses and cars in the south of the US. Just think of our steel hulled boat soaking up the sun all day when it is 90 degrees or more outside, and not a cloud in sight, and how hot the cabin inside might get.. At least in the midi it does cool off once the sun goes down ( which however is not until 10:30 at night), and the mornings are cool. I have been making a lot of salads, or using my crock pot to cook dinner. It is just too hot to cook. I talked Chris into buying a portable air conditioning unit to cool the salon of the boat, and it has helped a little, especially with the cats. I was more worried about them, than for us.
Our favorite city where we moored on the Canal du Midi is Toulouse. It is at the very end of the Canal du Midi where it empties into the Canal à la Garonne. Toulouse is where we have decided to spend the winter, so we will have a lot of time to explore it, and really get to know the city. It is the fourth largest city in France, but as you walk around the downtown area, you don’t feel as if it is too large. It is a university town, home of one of the oldest universities in Europe, and has a lot of cultural events, and museums. The Port St. Sauveur, where we plan on mooring for the winter, is a very secure area in which you have to have a key to enter, and the facilities in the capitainerie are new. Within easy walking distance from the port is everything we need, a good bakery, three grocery stores, and a laundromat. It is also only about a ten minute walk from the old downtown area and parks of Toulouse. My sister and I really loved all the cute little boutiques which had interesting clothes and jewelry, and Neal and Chris found a lot of little bars that served good beers while we enjoyed shopping. There is also a great bike path along the canal that we will be able to enjoy this winter. In fact Toulouse is really a bike friendly city, with a lot of bike paths and cyclists everywhere. It reminded us a lot of Gent, Belgium, which also is a university town. Our cat, Cosette met the love of her life in Toulouse, although this cat won’t be there for the winter, malheureusement. A tiny boat was moored next to us in the harbor with three people inside, a husband, wife and a sister, and on top of this little boat sat a black and white cat for most of the day and evening. Cosette would stare out of the window for hours at this cat, but, helas, it was not to be.
It was a sad day when we had to say goodbye to Veronika and Neal in Toulouse, but that was not until after we had a second week of traveling with them on the Canal a la Garonne. (more about that in my next post). We had such a fun time with the two of them, we hated to see them go, and Neal is such a good shipmate. I could really just relax from line handling for awhile and I knew that all was ship shape.
We are slowly making our way to Bordeaux where we will meet our next guests, our son Alec and his girlfriend Brittany, and we are very excited to see them. We plan on seeing a stage of the Tour de France with them in Dordogne, and visiting the lavender fields of Provence. Two things on my bucket list!
À bientôt mes amis. Grosses bises! Kisses to all, one on each cheek ;) I hope you all stay cool, and have a wonderful summer! Keep in touch and try to come to see us on the canals and rivers of France where it is blazing hot right now.
It was a sad day when we had to say goodbye to Veronika and Neal in Toulouse, but that was not until after we had a second week of traveling with them on the Canal a la Garonne. (more about that in my next post). We had such a fun time with the two of them, we hated to see them go, and Neal is such a good shipmate. I could really just relax from line handling for awhile and I knew that all was ship shape.
We are slowly making our way to Bordeaux where we will meet our next guests, our son Alec and his girlfriend Brittany, and we are very excited to see them. We plan on seeing a stage of the Tour de France with them in Dordogne, and visiting the lavender fields of Provence. Two things on my bucket list!
À bientôt mes amis. Grosses bises! Kisses to all, one on each cheek ;) I hope you all stay cool, and have a wonderful summer! Keep in touch and try to come to see us on the canals and rivers of France where it is blazing hot right now.