L'Avenir - cruising Europe's inland waterways

Beziers from the aqueduct over the River Orb After the excitement of Fonserannes locks we initially planned to stop in Beziers for a few days. 'Stay until next week,' we were encouraged repeatedly. 'For the Feria'  (the festival of the bulls). Since bullfighting has been banned in some parts of Spain the event in Beziers has become even more popular with up to a million people crowding into the city for a week each August. The streets are jam packed every night with competing styles of music and dancing, fireworks, light shows and horse riders. All very noisy, spectacular and enjoyable we were assured. The event does centre around bull fighting however, which remains well supported in this area of France.Whilst we have never been to a bull fight (nor would we go) we have seen bull running in small towns. The young bulls weren't injured but they were teased and seemed very confused and frightened. The old city (which we'd explored previously and is certai...

'Roman Bridge' Narbonne Before we say goodbye to the canal du Midi I need to backtrack a little- almost to Le Someil (the photogenic village with the antiquarian book shop and the narrow arched bridge). A couple of km from the village we turn off onto the Port Nouvelle Junction and descend 8 locks in 5 km onto the River Aude - the river which flooded last year causing such destruction and deaths. This year the Aude is shallow and care has to be taken to keep carefully to the required course to avoid running aground. After 600m we leave the river and enter the Canal de la Robine which leads to the city of Narbonne and then on to Port Nouvelle on the Mediterranean. Umbrella pines at junction leading to Canal du Robine  and Narbonne Being in a hurry on our way south in 2015 we had ignored this canal but as it's unlikely we'll be back this way again by boat we decided to make the detour. And we are happy that we did. Narbonne is certainly worth a visit. T...

Le Someil - village shop inside the green barge Last year we travelled on the Midi in September which, due to the hire companies offering large end of season discounts, was crazily busy. We expected August this year to be similarly dodgem-like. When we travelled south in 2015 it certainly was; sometimes we'd spend hours queuing for locks. However, whilst there are still many (more than enough) boats, it has been quieter than anticipated. The first big hire base is at Castelnaudary and nearly all the boats leaving from there choose to travel towards Carcassonne. The hirers are given a quick driving lesson around the large basin, shown how to mediterranean moor (back into a space) and sent on their way. The very first obstacle to confront them is a 4 lock staircase just to get out of the basin. The good news is that it is going downhill and in a sheltered spot and so not as daunting as it would be going the other direction. As mentioned previously, despite the fewer numbers ...

La Viande Txoigitxu - an expensive dinner. This plate cost 62 euros Most people who have eaten restaurant or cafe food in a foreign country will have probably experienced the occasional 'surprise' dish. Perhaps the surprise was in the excellence of the food, perhaps disappointment in the standard or, worst of all, it's an 'oh good grief what the **** is this I've ordered?' And do I really want to know? We've experienced all three over the past couple of months including some truly dire pizzas but then a bad pizza is never really that unexpected; I'm of the opinion now that if it takes more than 10 minutes to make and serve it counts as above average on the pizza edibility scale. Nowadays, many people unfamiliar with the language on a menu will use their smart phone and Google translate which is sensible. For us, maybe we don't have a phone with us, or there's no internet connection, or we (I) assume we know what the word means. Sometimes w...

The Canal du Midi begins at Toulouse and ends, 240 km later, at the Etang de Thau close to the Mediterranean. It is, by far, the most popular canal for holidaymakers and there are many, many boat hire bases along its length. At times it can be quite chaotic. Last year we travelled as far as Carcassonne in September and experienced queues at most locks and full ports. According to the capitaine at Carcassonne, September is the busiest month as the hire companies discount their rates and just about every boat is out. That is a lot of boats.To be honest, beautiful as this canal is, we weren't really looking forward to it. The Canal du Midi is over 300 years old and characterised by curves: picturesque arched (low and narrow) bridges, oval locks and the winding waterway itself. The locks ( sometimes doubles, trebles or more) can be tricky to negotiate and during the summer you will usually need to share with one or two other boats. Going downhill is normally much easier than goin...

Place du Capitole Toulouse The port in Toulouse is semi-closed this summer in that its pontoons have (mostly) been removed for upgrading. The capitainerie remains open however, so it is possible to reserve a mooring on the wall on the other side of the canal, if access to electricity and/or water is required. The main problem with that side of the canal is that it is in full sunshine for most of the day and this year that's a major drawback. We decided instead to stop just past the port under the trees. There are quite a few bollards and it is free but no services. Not entirely drawback free either - it's right onto the towpath which, in a major city like Toulouse, could be problematic. We try and take sensible precautions by making sure things are put away, locked up and so forth and we also stop where there are other occupied boats. The canal is slightly shallow at the side there so we had to tie up a bit out from the edge which added one layer of difficulty for anyon...