L'Avenir - cruising Europe's inland waterways

Castets en Dorthe We have had 3 new crew members over the past couple of weeks. For the first week the heatwave continued and the second was constant rain and thunderstorms. Not sure which was worse but as our guests were from Scotland perhaps the rain was more bearable. Our original intention had been to continue upstream on the Canal du Midi from Toulouse. This would have meant dismantling our windscreens and taking down the canvas canopy in order to fit under the low bridges. We decided it would be just too unpleasant without the shade as well as going up some deep locks - hard work at the best of times. So, we turned back along the canal de Garonne. Even though we (but not our guests) have travelled much of this route several times nothing is ever quite the same and occasionally it is an altogether different experience. You don't want to hear about what was the same so here's what was new for us. Tarn at Moissac Down on the Tarn We've passed through Mo...

 This was our second visit to Toulouse. Last time we didn't see a great deal of the city as we were pretty well confined to port waiting for the elusive courier to pick up our dud air conditioner. So we were keen to get out and about- The port is situated less than a km from the centre and so very convenient including for the one with the gammy knee as this city has embraced cycling in a big way. There are great cycle lanes and bikes for hire everywhere. The city centre is pedestrianised but unlike many towns bikes are permitted as well.   Toulouse is known as The Rose City thanks to its lovely pink building bricks which are particularly attractive in the sun's glow. And glow the sun did whilst we were there. Most days were around 35- 38 degrees so our sightseeing involved a large amount of searching for shade. Here's a list of some of what we did. In no particular order and almost certainly not what you'll find on Trip Advisor's list of top 10s. 1. Shad...

 Firstly, apologies for the long delay an posting an update. We've had a stretch of energy sapping heat when the only sensible thing to do is abandon the roasting decks and 40 degree interior of the boat and find a park (preferably with a fountain) or, if that's not available, any old tree will do. When even Les Toulousains are visibly wilting and begin conversations with a sigh and a complaint about 'la chaleur' (the heat) you know it's a little unusual. 'But you're from Australia. You should be used to this,' people say all the time failing to take into account the fact that we don't live inside a 13m steel oven in the heat of an Aussie summer.   Some of you may remember our previous experience with an onboard air conditioner - come to think of it that saga was concluded on our last visit to Toulouse - but we fleetingly toyed with the idea of buying one again. By fleetingly I mean as long as it took to read the price ticket - the cheapest on...