Over the Top

We are now basking in beautiful autumn sunshine in the town of Moissac (yet another town on the Compostelle Trail-have just been asked if we are pilgrims!!) on the Garonne. Well, to be precise, Moissac is on the River Tarn but, since Toulouse, the canal has been following the River Garonne and the two rivers meet here.
The Canal du Midi became much quieter after we left Castelnaudary as the bulk of the hire boats cruise between there, Carcassonne and Buziers. That is the most picturesque section of the Midi but also the most hard work, particularly climbing upwards towards the summit as we were. What a relief to get there - I need new gloves for next year; the ones I've been wearing are now full of holes from hauling on ropes.

We spent one night on the summit pound where there is a lovely, shady park with a magnificent avenue of plane trees and an obelisk to commemorate engineer Pierre-Paul Riquet who conceived the idea of a canal linking the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and went on to design and build it over 15 years from 1662. Sadly, Riquet died a year before his canal was finally completed.

Last of the uphill locks

From thereon it was all downhill - the landscape anyway. Some of the locks on this section are very deep as they have been modified from double locks to single ones. I'm not sure how you get your ropes up to the bollards as, being self operated, there are no keepers to help (not that they ever did in this area of France). There are still several double/treble locks in existence but they are keepered - and thanks to the one who closed the gates on us -literally- knocking a bit out of the back of the boat.
Anyone who passes this way should call in for a meal at the restaurant in the lockhouse at Castanets- delicious.

Lock cottage on the Garonne

Then on to Toulouse. We had, once again, arranged for the useless piece of metal masquerading as an air conditioner to be picked up by courier from the port there and returned to the company in the UK who sold it to us. Waiting around for non appearing couriers to collect it has been the most annoying ongoing saga of this summer - a week in Lyon and a further 2 weeks in Avignon. Goodness knows how long we'd have been in Toulouse if it hadn't been for the amazingly efficient port capitaine Syliviane and her staff who sorted the firm out in no uncertain terms. I suspect she was concerned we were on the verge of tossing the thing in the canal.As it was, we waited there for 3 days but Toulouse is a lively, interesting city and we met up again with some great friends we'd made earlier in the summer. Sometimes I think summer cruising is a bit like a moveable feast; aperitifs and meals in all sorts of interesting settings with both new friends and 'old' ones we've met again and again over the years.
After Toulouse the canal becomes the canal du Garonne and changes character. The winding waterway of the Midi straightens as do the locks which become straight sided rather than oval. There is virtually no traffic at all. Most people are now either heading for their winter mooring or have already tucked up their boat. There are one or 2 hire boats around here at Moissac and lucky them - the weather is perfect. Long may it last.