On the canal de Garonne

 

 You can imagine our dismay when we arrived back on the boat after a Christmas holiday in Canada - to snow  - and even worse - ICE!

Not at all what we expected - in the south of France! The canal was absolutely frozen for a couple of weeks - strong enought to walk on by all accounts, although we didn't try our luck on that. 

Snow covered ice on the canal.

Shortly after that we discovered the water seeping away from our canal pound (between the lock in front and the one behind us) as there was a fault in a gate which allowed the water to trickle away. It wasn't long before we had to push ourselves further away from the canal bank in order to stay level in the remaining water; I think we may have been resting on the bottom for a short period of time, but as we have a flat bottom, we had no problems. 

Friends in barges just behind us found themselves at quite an uncomfortable angle and had to resort to propping up bed legs and table legs to maintain reasonably horizontal. I  imagine cooking was quite a challenge - things skittering off work surfaces without warning. 

Soon enough we  were back to normal, and even managed to have a few out door coffee sessions and the occasional barbeque in the warm sunshine of early spring.

We have – almost by accident – acquired a “stationnement’ at Caumont sur Garonne, where we headed originally. (Parked up behind our friends Charles and Caroline - originally from the Canadian yacht Itza Purla and who now live on the barge Connie).

The VNF  (Voies navigables de France) who manage and maintain the canals in France decided that all canal users ought to be tracked. (Or possibly realised somewhat belatedly that all the boats that use the canal are a source of revenue. Somebody has to pay for all those trees that have to destroyed and canal banks that have to be replanted.) They came armed with cameras and GPS to take note of who we are and where we were and how long we stayed in one spot. 

Soon we were told we had to move on barges and boats could stay in one place only for 30 days, otherwise they have move 10 meters. Which is usually perfectly OK – except if one gets lazy and wants to stay put. Or if one wants to continue the ongoing work on the boat – as we did, well, as we still do; it is definately more convenient to stay put in the same place, especially as we have a source of electricity and water nearby. 

Sara, Caitlyn and Breanne, Portugal

 We duly applied for a temporary “stationement” (cutting a long story much shorter) hoping we could stay in our customary place for another three months.  When the contract (in triplicate – and in French - who said we’d have a paperless world?) finally arrived several months later - we discovered the authorities (VNF) had awarded us a contract for  five years (with a very modest yearly fee). 

So now we have a base home from home. 

When we wish to move on, we can still untie the lines, fire up the engine and make way, but we are legal on the canal; we also understand that this is also acceptable by our insurance, should we wish to winter over in the same place.

We had some splendid times over the summer.  

My daughter whisked us off on a fabulous holiday in Portugal, where we enjoyed sun, sand and sea together with two of my grandchildren. We wangled a few sailing days between the northern Mediterranean coast of Spain and the fabled island of Corsica with Charles and Caroline on Itza Purla, and even had time to explore some of the mountains and hillside villages on the southern end of that island. 

Sap from fir trees

We’ve also enjoyed a week or two looking after friend’s dogs and cats, getting our ‘pet fix’ where and when we can.

Assorted friends and relatives came to visit us over the months, enjoying, we hope, the local wines along with gourmet treats of delicious breads and cheeses, fois gras, cassoulet and duck, to name a few;  finally cruising friends flew in to assist us on the uphill battle with the locks on our way past Toulouse to this, our winter port on the Canal du Midi, in Cathar country.

Fiona and Chris came to visit last year on the Midi - this year it is all uphill again - just a different canal!

Portugese castle

Markets are particularly popular in the summer time.  Stalls and vans are ranged around or under the ancient covered market squares of Bastide villages, overflowing with local produce (some of it - chickens and rabbits in particular - alive and kicking); fruit and veg, haberdashery and hardware, clothes, shoes and cushions are only a fraction of the enticing articles on display. 

 There is an abundance of foie gras, specialty cheeses including goats cheese, local yogurt, honey, preserves, olive oils, chutneys, locally grown prunes and olives bursting with flavour. 

There are white breads and brown breads, both paysanne and baguette; wines abound – red, white, rose and sparking, in bottles, jugs and boxes, together with Cognac and Armagnac. All manner of fowl (duck and goose being especially popular in the winter season) on display, side by side with vans or stalls offering the juiciest selections of pork, veal and beef (lets ignore the horse and rabbit) and often one can see locally hunted venison, together with sausages, mussels, oysters, fabulous paellas and selections of fish. Pies, pates, chocolates, coffee, teas and flavoured chocolate drinks - the list seems endless.

Cork from a cork tree

Hunting appears to be very popular in our rural area. The local "Chasse" can be heard popping away at anything and everything that moves, and seem to be particularly active on quiet Sunday mornings. A van will rush up and park next to a convenient field gate, and a man will throw open the back door, allowing a number of dogs of mixed breed, size and age to tumble out, each one baying with excitement. Off they go across the fields and farms for a morning's entertainment, and woe betide any stray creature that may cross their path. Rabbit, duck, pigeon, deer are all fair game in season (and "they" say - even songbirds and your favourite pooch may not be immune to the ravages of the hunt). At the end of the season the local hunt group will host a special gourmet dinner - for a mere 20 EU per person one can dine like a king on locally grown venison and game.

In the summer months we can meet with friends several times a week in one or another nearby village square to enjoy a night market, squeezing into a place on a bench or chair at the long tables set  up by the local Marie. 

Live chickens and pidgeons at market

 Various vendors sell food – with choices ranging from mussels, pizza, paella, salads, fries, duck, beef and sizzling pork - with varieties of cheeses, ice creams, strawberries, or fruit bowls to follow. Local vineyards sell their wines, by the bottle or by the glass (a bottle of water can cost nearly as much) and small cups of that strong coffee so beloved by the French are available.

Local musicians and bands arrive with their equipment to entertain (some better than others) and as the night wears on most of us manage to strut our stuff on the dance floor. The French still do ‘tea dances’ – and love to practice their fancy footwork - so often a pleasure to watch. Small children accompany their parents and grandparents, and groups of teenagers may be seen joining the dancing later in the evenings – all comers well behaved and all appearing to have fun.

Vide Grenier are also a common attraction and the one held in our village is especially good.  The term, loosely translated means 'empty your attic'. In Caumont the single road through the village (there is after all only one shop in the village it is so small,) is blocked off in the early hours of a summer morning, ensuring vendors adequate space to set up their wide ranging variety of tables and stalls. Parking thereafter is at a premium and one may have to walk over a kilometre or even from the next village to get to the scene of excitement. 

Barges in Portugal

 Who said one man's trash is another man's treasure? Well - here you may have it - whatever you want. Shoes, jewellery, crockery, books and furniture jostle with toys, house wares, tools, linens, the overflowing tables lining both sides of the street. 

In the bright sunshine deals are struck and happy, smiling customers carry away their booty. At the end of the day children struggle with armloads of toys; baby carriages overflowing with clothes are pushed away; school desks and chairs are lugged off by sweating dads; wine racks and tools, teapots and towels find new homes. Contented stall owners pack up in the waning light, and by the next morning the village has returned to it's normal sleepy routine.

Wild pigs roam Corsican mountains

Between all these wonderful holiday breaks we worked on the boat – painting and grinding, grinding and painting! We now boast fresh new paint on decks, the back patio and on the superstructure. We had already explored the bilges, scraping away what little rust we could find and re-coating the metal with that nasty grungy grease. 

The galley is functional with a new cooker and a household fridge freezer, a tiled shower has been installed, and a washing machine arrived to take up space in the head. Mike continues to work his magic with electrical fittings and water hoses. New cupboards line the walls, fresh paint adorns the bedroom, and still we have plans for more. 

Mountain village, Corsica

By October we were firmly ensconced in the Port of Castelnaudary for the winter season (October through till April 1) where there are several other boats whose owners also live on board permanently. The VNF use the winter months to do repair work on the ecluse gates, and often on the canal banks where they get washed away. 

Molly and  Doug came to visit

Now they also have to do a great deal of work felling and replacing many of the majestic plane trees that line so many kilometers of the winding canal banks, providing much needed shade and whose roots also keep the canal banks strong and solid. The beautiful 200 year old trees have a diseaase - which we are told was brought into the country by American ammunition boxes during the war. 

It will be very sad to see the changes as time progresses, and other less attractive trees spread along the canals.