Eight days later ….. Bet you thought we'd fallen into the sewer that is the Canal du Midi and passed away! But no - we are still going!
In retrospect, one week would have been enough for first-time canal-ers; but we have made it to Day 11 with three days to go. Our little boat only has enough battery power for the lights, so to charge the computers, phone, iPad, iPod and toothbrushes, we need to plug in a lead whenever possible. So far, we have had three nights with power in Narbonne and two nights with power in Carcassone. So I am preparing this email at a little village called Trebes, using power we accessed yesterday. We are using a USB dongle/stick/key for broadband Internet on the computer and a SIM card for 3G access in the iPad. Both are working well.
When I last wrote we were on Day 3, having gone downstream from Homps (pronounced Omp) towards Narbonne.
At last some sun. Motoring along at 2,500 rpm past beautiful plain trees, hundreds of years old.
Finally arriving at the southern city of Narbonne, heading straight into the city lock.
And avoiding the "city rapids".
Finding a mooring right in the very middle of the city .... amazing! If we had entered the city by car, it would have cost us a small fortune and taken a lot of luck to get accommodation on the city square.
It was quiet when we arrived, but this whole section of berths filled up very quickly as the evening went on. We stayed three nights in Narbonne; two by choice and one because the lock keepers went on strike and the whole Canal du Midi stopped working for 24 hours. So we had lots of time for sightseeing.
Narbonne is situated on the ancient road that the Romans built from Rome to Britain. Here it has been exposed in the town square ... It is called the Via Domitia.
Also in the square is the Archbishops Palace, which is now the town hall. This stuff is really old! It is very difficult to get your head around just how old it is. And it is a bit Spanish looking because we are very close to the Pyrenees and Spain.
The internal courtyard.
The cathedral was built in 1272....... that's old!
Very little light for photos inside.
The courtyard that joins the cathedral to the Archbishop's Palace.
Then it's back to more recent concepts - Les Halles - the food halls.
Open 5 days per week; the fresh regional produce is amazing. The best olives I have ever had in my life. Marinated garlic, fresh olive tapanade, meats, cheeses, fish, cakes, bread, fruit, vegetables..............
.... and of course...... tapas, wine, coffee, beer.
And we made friends ..... meet Michael (formerly from Canada and before that from England) and Claudia from Trieste, Italy (Paul's birthplace). We all got on like a house on fire - in three languages.
Then it was time to head off upstream - in the opposite direction. Let me tell you.... transversing the locks uphill is 10 times harder than going downstream. This is how it's done!
Firstly, your boat enters an empty lock. The water is at the lowest level. The driver needs to scamper out of the cabin onto the deck, in order to throw the front rope to the crew member, who jumped out of the boat onto either a slippery grass bank or a rickety wooden plank, some time back and ran up the canal path to arrive at the top of the lock only seconds before the boat and driver arrived. The crew member then needs to catch the rope, flip it around a capstan in the correct direction and in the correct manner (no medals for sloppy work here) while the driver scarpers to the back of the boat and throws the second rope which the crew member also catches and ties off, returning to the first rope to undo it and reposition it for the driver to hold while she goes to the back rope again. Then the water starts to pour into the lock. Very fast. Very hard. You have to hold the boat against the side of the lock so it doesn't swing out into the current and hit the other two or three boats in the lock. Nine or ten of these for the day - and then we call it quits! It is exhausting to do it properly.
This is the grocery barge ......… yes, a grocery shop on water.
These are tow of the villages we passed as we "worked" our way upstream.
I'm about to run out of power. More later. Farewell.
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