L'Avenir - Cruising Europe's Inland Waterways

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...

The day we arrived in Toulouse the Tour de France was hurtling towards the city. In the hour and a half it took us to cruise the last 5 kilometres and negotiate the 3 locks to the port the cyclists were about 60 km closer. We have seen the Tour before. Some years ago we were lucky enough to be in Paris for the finish which was exciting - the atmosphere that is. Despite positioning ourselves early, where we thought we'd see plenty of the action, by the time the cyclists appeared the crowds were so thick and comprised of apparent giants that we felt lucky to glimpse the top of a helmet or the flash of a leg. I say we but one of us gave up and repaired to a bar to watch all the action on tv. The best thing about the day was that the roads all remained closed for hours after the race finished and it was quite magical strolling around a Paris bereft of traffic. Having learned from our previous experience, this time we decided not to try and watch from the finishing line. Instead, ...

We have cruised the section of canal from Buzet to Toulouse many times - it's a little hard to find anything new to say about it. We always enjoy the section as far as Montech but after that it's long, straight and frankly a bit tedious. This time we had stops in  some of our favourite places. Serignac Eglise - twisted spire The pretty bastide village of Serignac where it's good to see the restaurant in the square expanding and clearly doing well. So well, we thought, that they could afford to serve foie gras as an 'amuse bouche.' Except it wasn't an 'amuse bouche' it was someone else's starter given to us by mistake. We insisted on paying (as we'd eaten it) but they were more insistent that we shoudn't. Market Hall Valence d'Agen Valence d'Agen The day to visit Valence d'Agen is market day (Tuesday) when there are stalls in the  2 market halls and throughout the streets. During summer there are lots of oth...

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 ...