Bye Bye Buzet

After our visitors left a sudden executive decision was made. 'Enough of this heat. Let's head north.' Of course we can't just 'head north' by boat due to the not so small matter of a mountain range in the way. We first need to go east - all the way to the Mediterranean. Since that decision snapped from idea into action the heat has built up into a wave and swept north - all the way to Scotland. There's no escape. Yesterday Paris suffered in 42 degrees and Edinburgh had its hottest ever day of 31.6.

We have loved our summers on the comparatively (with the Midi) quiet Garonne. The attractive small towns and villages have some really good markets - Castelsarrasin, Moissac and Valence d'Agen in particular and then there are the night markets- food stalls, communal eating and live entertainment- which are less frequent but not to be missed. Add to that various summer events organised by the village social committees which always welcome visitors and then the bigger attractions provided by the towns which we sometimes happened upon and more often just missed. I've just found out, for instance, that Sting is playing a concert here tonight and The Black Eyed Peas tomorrow. Unsurprisingly they are sold out.

And then there is the friendly, welcoming, ever-helpful boating community some of whom live year round on the canal; others, like us, who return year after year and others who operate businesses. The Garonne seems to be one of those places where people drift in and then find it difficult to leave.

So, decision made, we ate our last fish 'n chips, once again failed to win the port quiz, enjoyed a final great couple of nights' music with Sandra and Terry's 'Felixstatic' and said our fond goodbyes to Buzet.