High and Dry

Some pictures from the lift out. All very nerve wracking. Not enjoying living onboard for these last few days.  Will add to this later. Busy packing and winterising.
And the trains aren't running. We finish as we began.....
Apologies -I never did get around to adding to this post and here we are one week away from returning to France for the 2019 season. Looking forward to being back onboard - once she's afloat again that is.

Midi Madness

Castelnaudary

There are 2 directions to navigate a canal- upstream (uphill) or down. A tip for the prospective hire boater - should your choice of canal be heavily locked (e.g. the Midi) then (in my opinion) think about booking your route in the downhill direction. You probably have only a week and you undoubtedly want that to be as relaxing and enjoyable as possible. Downhill is less physical, less stressful and less likely to result in accident, dispute or divorce.
I don't know if hire companies have a price differential according to direction but they certainly do depending on when you hire. I haven't checked for myself but several eclusiers (lock keepers) have told me that prices in September this year were discounted by 50% resulting in almost every boat available being out on the water. One result of this is a lot of waiting around in queues for locks and so, to move everyone through as quickly and with the least use of water as possible, the eclusiers pack as many boats in each lock as possible. Sometimes tempers can become frayed. So, be patient and (Tip 2) go easy on 'le vin' at lunchtime.
Our plan (yes, we had one for a change since we had guests) was to travel as far as Carcassonne where we would drop off our crew before retracing our steps all the way to Castelsarrasin on the Garonne where l'Avenir would spend the winter. Our friends had one week to spend with us so we checked back on our log from 3 years ago, when we last were on this route, and the 105km from Toulouse to Carcassonne was definitely do-able. I don't mark locks on the log- just dates, times and moorings so it was a bit of a shock to look at the charts and remind ourselves just how many there are and not just single locks either - doubles, trebles and even a quadruple. Having the extra help on board would be most welcome although we'd have to do it all again (the hardest section uphill) on our own on the return.
The waterway was relatively tranquil as far as Castelnaudary - one of the Midi's major stops. The town's main claim to fame is as 'the home of cassoulet' - a delicacy I don't find particularly appealing in temps of mid 30s but I am sure would be very welcome in winter. There is a well-run and attractive port popular with a number of cruising liveaboards who return here to spend their winter. Just through a pretty curved stone bridge at the end of the port is an enormous basin with a small island inhabited by ducks, a swan (only one I think) and some coypu (beaver-like animals). A track runs around the basin and is popular as a shady place for a walk or cycle. The basin is also home to one of the major hire boat companies.We now realised a flaw in our 'plan'. Our stop coincided with changeover day when the week's new hirers take over their boats.

Following a hire boat

One criticism some make of the hire companies is that they don't give their customers much in the way of instruction - usually just a quick run through of the controls and a scoot up and down the canal or, in this case, around the basin. To be fair I suppose they only have limited staff - enough to take a couple of boatloads out a time - and lots of customers waiting. On this particular day, in blazing sunshine, those customers were being given a comprehensive lesson in the art of queueing which, admittedly, might be considered good practice for the week ahead. If you've ever had to wait in an airport car rental office after the arrival of an busy plane you'll be familiar with the scene. Tired, glum holidaymakers slumped on top of their suitcases (which is probably about as much use as a large suitcase and its contents will be all week on a boat with half a dozen others all with their bags as well). Perhaps their time might be more usefully spent viewing a video of what to expect going through a lock (maybe they do have one once they actually get inside the building. I don't know). Next morning we were all jockeying for position at the lock to take us out of the basin. and it's a zinger - a quadruple. That's 4 locks in a staircase. When the gates open after the lock operates you move through them into the next lock and so on.

Coming down the quadruple

As everyone travels at much the same pace we were with the same cohort of boaters all the way to Carcassonne, a crossing point for hirers travelling the other direction - the unfortunate 'uphillers'. The port was jam packed with hire boats and chaotic at times with boats coming and going through the lock and the trip boats trying to run their business through the melee. The Carcassonne lock is reputedly the second most popular visitor attraction in town after the the Citadel.
We said goodbye to our friends and then spent a couple of days gathering our energy for
the long climb back up throught the locks. We visited the old city last time in Carcassonne but I felt I couldn't not go again even though, to me, it's much more alluring from a distance. I had a quick walk through the crowds inside the city and after a rest in the cool shade of the church where I was lucky to hear part of a recital I wandered around the ramparts. Most visitors stick to the tourist shops and cafes leaving the ramparts relatively peaceful and so not completely devoid of atmosphere. 
(Sadly, I don't have any new photos since my brand new camera was dropped (not by me) into the canal whilst we were waiting in a queue for a lock. Most disasters occur in or around locks. The 'dropper' quickly and bravely (or in fear of my ire) followed the camera into the murk and, amazingly, managed to retrieve it. At the time of writing it remains in a bag of rice as no one is game to try it out.)
The return journey (undocumented pictorially by me) was extremely hard work in hot weather. The bow thruster gave up the ghost half way. 

A hot day spent cramped in a tiny locker - fixing the bow thruster

We had to share nearly all the locks (usually with 2 other boats) as far as Castelnaudary which was sometimes stressful, a couple of times damaging and, on occasion, hilarious (or should that be hysterical). We remain, as yet, undivorced.

Now for the lift out.

Back on the peaceful Garonne

Back on the Midi

Most people, if asked to name one canal in France, would answer the Canal du Midi. There are about 8500km of navigable canals and rivers in France and the Midi is only 241km so why is it so well known? Perhaps because it has been a setting in many a TV programme or film.We see it in paintings, postcards, posters and calendars. In short it is photogenic. Most canals are straight but the Midi has curves, not only in its course but also in the shapes of its ancient (350 year old) hand-hewn, stone locks and low bridges. As it winds its way through the south of France it flows close to Mediterranean beaches, passing quaint villages, and then the medieval, fairytale-like  citadel of Carcassonne. Fields of sunflowers follow the sun, grapes ripen in the vineyards and a boat drifts through the dappled shade cast by the stands of old plane trees lining the banks.

Oval lock Canal du Midi

Low bridge - Canal du Midi

 Ok I'll stop there. You get the picture. It's the one they put in the brochures for the hire boat companies. The one with one boat (or maybe 2 because you'll be wanting to make some friends won't you?). The one with empty locks and smiling boaters. It's the same picture I had in my head many years ago when we first bought l'Avenir in the Netherlands. I wanted to come straight to France and make for the Midi. We didn't as it happens (I'm happy to say) but many do.
The Midi is undeniably a most interesting and scenic waterway. It dates from the mid 1600 s and is a marvellous feat of imagination, engineering and sheer hard work. Its UNESCO World Hertiage status is well deserved. Sadly, one of the main features of the picture I just described to you is disappearing year by year - the plane trees. 3 years ago when we last were on the Midi there were long stretches of canal denuded of plane trees; they were being cut down and burned in huge bonfires beside the canal. Many of the remaining trees were daubed with red paint which meant they too were condemned. It was distressing to see and I'm sorry to say this continues. The trees are infected with a fungus which  kills them and they were and are being removed in an attempt to prevent it spreading. This seems not to have been possible. More and more trees are being removed and replaced with different varieties of saplings. These will take many years to reach maturity. In the meantime (and probably forever) the character of the canal is changing. There are still stands of plane trees but less each year.
Constructing the canal was a monumental project designed and overseen by Pierre Paul Riquet. It took 12000 workers (many of whom were women) 15 years of hard manual work. Sadly Riquet died before its completion. It is hard to imagine how difficult life must have been toiling on the construction or, later, working on one of the man/horse hauled boats through non mechanised locks. Believe me, it is exhausting enough travelling on it nowadays particularly in the summer heat and with the added ingredient of the hire boats. Yes, unsurprisingly, the photos in the brochures are not entirely accurate. There are more than one or two boats. There are hundreds.

Leaving Toulouse

We picked up our guests/crew from Toulouse which is where the Midi begins. From there it's all uphill (always harder) to the summit. On this stretch the locks can be quite deep and most are self operated so someone needs to get off the boat on approach in order to press the buttons and take the ropes. There is only one hire base in operation at Negra so it is relatively quiet.

Negra - Chapel

Boatman's Chapel - Negra

Negra has a nice little boatman's chapel beside its lock which is worth a look. There were once 6 chapels along the Midi but now only 2 remain consecrated. This one was the half way mark for the mail boat which also carried passengers between Castelnaudary and Toulouse. The building next door was once an inn but is now the hire base office.
We made the mistake of stopping at the the village of La Seragla on the summit of the canal. The mooring was completely taken up by a peniche turned gite (named 'Avenir') and an abandoned ancient cruiser so we were forced to try and moor against a broken down bank where it was shallow and rocky and we needed a gangplank to get off. To to all the motorhome holidaymakers seated in a row along the canal in your fold up chairs, watching, arms firmly folded - thanks for your offers of help (not one). What is it with these people? They always look so bloody miserable.
The small bar/restaurant in the village had no free tables, there was no boulangerie and overnight the water level dropped leaving us aground. So altogether not a successful stop. With much scraping and screeching of metal we finally got underway. At least it would be downhill from now on. Into the first lock. Press the button. Gates close and then nothing. Was this an omen?

First downhill lock - Canal du Midi

Coming soon ( I hope) -Midi Madness