The Canal de Garonne.

On Thursday 24 May we departed the marina at Saint Sauveur, Toulouse, just before 10:00am and passed through the 3 locks and under the 14 bridges taking us around the old parts of Toulouse. We then entered the basin at the Port de l’Embouchure where there is a short connecting canal to the Garonne. (When the Canal du Midi was first constructed, small boats navigated up the Garonne from Bordeaux and cargo was transferred to large barges in this basin.) However we turned sharp right into the Canal de Garonne which was constructed 100 years later to allow the large barges to go the whole way. We arrived at the first lock 4km down the canal just at lunch time (12:30) so had to moor up until 1:30pm. During this manoeuvre Terry found he could not engage reverse gear from the outside steering position. Fortunately the inside control still worked and we were able to berth the boat safely and investigate. It looked like the problem was inside the control lever unit and so we called the hire base at Moissac. Ian from the base arrived about 15:00 and removed and dismantled the control. We found a screw had worked loose and jammed the mechanism. (When we arrived at Moissac, Ian said that two other boats of the same type had experienced the same problem since we did!)

We were under way again about 15:45 and negotiated 4 more locks before mooring for the night at the Lespinasse lock near Gangac-sur-Garonne. The canal in this region runs dead straight for many kilometers at a time, with the railway line close by on the eastern side. Our mooring spot coincided with a large shunting yard and we had an old factory on the other side. Not the most idyllic surrounding but we made the most of it with a BBQ tea and tried to ignore the sound of the trains passing in the night.

Location for Lespinasse. N43º42.626’ E001º23.165’ Altitude 135 metres.

The next day, Friday 25 May, we were under way at 9:55 and continued down the long straight stretches of the canal punctuated by locks and small villages. We stopped for lunch at Grisolles where there was supposed to be water available, but the tap was far from the canal – and the moorings, such as they were, were right beside a fertilizer works. So after lunch, with Terry biking for about an hour, we pressed on to Montech where we took a berth at 16:00 with shore power and water.

Location for Montech. N43º57.680’ E001º14.183’ Altitude 111 metres.

Saturday 26 May. Heavy rain and thunder over night with steady rain all morning. (The local papers later reported that 80mm of rain had been recorded in 24 hours.) Everyone slept in till after 9:00, thankful for cozy mooring. During the day we did laundry at the Capitainerie, took a walk to the chain of 5 locks and the “Pente d’Eau” (water slope) which works on parallel with them and is used by large barges. A local restaurant barge runs cruises which go through the locks and back up the Pente d’Eau. Had the weather been better we may have taken a side trip up the Canal de Montech to Montauban, but we decided against it. In the evening we dined at a nearby restaurant which was excellent.

Sunday 27 May. Morning calm but still overcast. After breakfast put on another load of laundry, visited farmers market and explored the town. Under way at 10:00 and negotiated the chain of 5 locks and stopped for lunch at 12:30 near Porquier, 8km and an extra single lock later. Drifting down stream the GPS indicated the current running at about 1.5km/hour. Under way again at 14:00 and berthed at Castelsarrasin at 14:50 with shore power and water on the quay. The basin was very wide and there were two curious small rafts with nesting houses for the ducks moored in the middle. In the evening Denis watched two otters climb out of the canal to graze on the grass on the bank amongst the ducks.

Location for Castelsarrasin. N44º02.394’ E001º06.733’ Altitude 80 metres.

Monday 28 May. Went into ‘centre ville’ in the morning, but it was the Pentecost holiday so most of the shops were shut. In our five weeks on the boat we will have had not only five Sundays when virtually everything is asleep, at least in the non-major cities, but also *four* public holidays – ditto: May 1, Labour Day; May 8, Armistice Day (WWII); May 17, Ascension Day; and May 28, Pentecost!

The weather was still wet and squally – and decidedly cold (11.5 on one thermometer in the town at 10.30am, and felt it) but we were getting ‘cabin fever’, so in the afternoon Denis and Judy took a train to Montauban, a 12 minute ride. Montauban is quite a big town situated on the river Tarn, with some attractive bridges. However like Castelsarrasin it was mostly shut. We found a cozy restaurant/bar open and had a late lunch. After further exploration of the town, which has some nice squares with modern sculpture and fountains, and another with arcades reminiscent of the Place des Vosges in Paris, we took the train back to Castelsarrasin.

Tuesday 29 May. Morning clear and calm after a cold night. Terry cycled off to the Hertz office to arrange an earlier pickup of the car for the next phase of their trip. We were under way at 11:15 and negotiated the first 4 locks in a chain before stopping for lunch within sight of the “Pont Canal” at the entrance to Moissac. We were under way again at 13:45 and berthed in the basin at Moissac at 14:45. This was where we were to hand “Winifred” back to France Fluvial but we had a couple of days in hand. Terry and Ann are now planning to leave by car on Thursday with Denis and Judy leaving by train early Friday morning. In the meantime, Moissac proved to be an interesting town with the river Tarn close to the canal and connected to it by a triple lock. Nice BBQ dinner served on the aft deck: actually warm, dry and calm enough to dine outside!

Location for Moissac. N44º06070’ E001º05.276’ Altitude 80 metres.

Toulouse and Albi.

On Sunday afternoon, our first day on Toulouse, we walked first to the railway station which took longer than we expected as we had got used to the scale of small towns and villages. There we picked up time tables so we could plan a trip to Albi. We then walked back to the main square, the Place de Capitole and the tourist information office, where we picked up the Little Train for an orientation tour of the old part of Toulouse. As usual this was very worthwhile. The views from the banks of the Garonne were the highlight for Denis with a number of graceful stone and brick arched bridges designed to withstand the tremendous floods to which the river is prone. Ann cooked an excellent Cassoulet on board.

The next day, Monday, Judy and Ann visited a hair dressing salon in the morning while the guys did laundry. In the afternoon we located an Internet Café, checked out the shops and explored the town. Toulouse is an interesting town with many ancient buildings, streets of elegant apartments with cast iron balconies and modern infrastructure including a new Metro system. The streets were crowded with lively students and the significant north African population in the city centre seemed to us to be well integrated.

Tuesday we all took the train to Albi, about 1 hour northeast of Toulouse. The weather was fine and warm and we found Albi to be a very beautiful and interesting town. We visited the amazing Cathedral St Cecile, so austere and forbidding on the outside, with sheer brick walls and tower. But on the inside it is decorated with painted ceilings from the renaissance, a huge organ and walls covered with strange geometric frescos. A mediaeval mural either side of the altar depicts the 7 deadly sins on 3 levels, the angels above, humanity in the middle and the sinners getting their just deserts in hell in graphic detail at the bottom. A huge Choir occupying half the floor space consists of intricately gothic carved stone and dozens of polychrome statues of saints, including Judith.

Other visits of interest included a whole museum dedicated to Toulouse Lautrec, who was born nearby, with hundreds of his works well-displayed in a section of the Palace de la Berbie, the fortified building where the bishops of Albi lived. There was also a museum dedicated to the explorer La Perouse, born in Albi, who arrived in Botany Bay just after the First Fleet. His ships were wrecked soon after near present day Vanuatu with the loss of all hands. This museum was on the other side of the river Tarn, which gave us a chance to walk across over two of the bridges giving wonderful views of the old mills.

On Wednesday we did some more sight seeing and shopping, used the Internet Café and cashed some Amex traveler’s cheques which the bank was very unwilling to do in spite of having a sign on the front door stating that they would. Judy had to apply her commercial experience, and her best powers of persuasion, in French.

In the afternoon we had a drink with the New Zealand owners of the Xavierre, a very nice barge moored nearby for some six months, who had just arrived to spend their fourth summer cruising in France. In the evening we dined at “Le Petit Montard”, serving specialties from the Savoy region. This required a little brazier on the table on which we BBQd various meats on top and grilled raclette cheese and potatoes underneath. One of our most memorable meals for our last night in Toulouse.

On to Castelnaudary and Toulouse.
Tuesday 15 May. Under way from Villesequelande at 10:15. Weather showery at first then cleared. Moored for lunch just past the lock at Bram at 12:30. Moored for night near St-Martin-Lalande at 16:40. 21 km covered plus 7 single locks. One of these locks had the strange name of La Criminelle. The agriculture is now 100% wheatfields, not large by USA or Australian standards but quite impressive.
Location for St-Martin-Lalande. N43º18.755’ E001º57.465’ Altitude 172 metres.
Wednesday 16 May. Morning raining with heavy overcast. Under way 10:00 and moored at Castelnaudary at 12:20. Only 6 km run but 6 locks, including 3 singles, a triple, and a staircase of 4 locks leading to the large basin at Castelnaudary. We enquired at the Crown Blue Line base before we found the good mooring past the first bridge on the north side. We were at last able to find an Internet Café where we could upload blog postings covering the trip as far as Narbonne. Castelnaudary seemed like a nice town and we all had cassoulet for dinner as it terms itself the “Cassoulet capitale”.
Location for Castelnaudary. N43º18.755’ E001º57.465’ Altitude 172 metres.
Thursday 17 May. Ascension day so virtually no shopping in Castelnaudary. (Third fete day in less than 3 weeks!) Topped up water and under way at 10:30. Weather drizzle with moderate westerly wind. Traveled 11 km with 5 locks, including a double and a triple staircases. Berthed at La Segala at 14:45 for the night. Small village which had been a canal port for the large brickworks nearby. After dinner on board we invaded the local bar and chatted up the locals as well as the Brits off another canal boat. Interesting evening.
Location for La Segala. N43º20.467’ E001º50.129’ Altitude 193 meters.
Note. Since La Segala is the same level as the highest point of the canal at Naurouze, the altitude should be 190 meters.
Friday 18 May. Terry had to ride 2 km to nearby village of La Bastide d’Anjou for the bread. Under way 10:30. Stopped at Naurouze to view the water works constructed by Pierre Paul Riquet to feed water from the Black Mountain to the Canal du Midi. Weather cool and misty rain. We had a lunch stop at 12:30 and moored at Gardouch for the night at 15.13. Weather cleared during the afternoon with a few patches of sun. 15 km run with 4 locks including a double. The locks are now descending which tends to be quicker than going up.
Location for Gardouch. N43º23.476’ E001º41.521’ Altitude 193 meters.
Saturday 19 May. Under way at 9:30. Weather calm, overcast but warming up. Moored for lunch at Montgiscard. Indicated altitude now 160 metres. Under way again 14:00 with weather deteriorating to steady rain. We were keen to locate a supermarket as we had been unable stock up at Castelnaudary due to Ascension day. However the market and nearby mooring which had been described to us in some detail was not to be found and likewise the mooring spot with full facilities at Castanet, which looked like it was only a toilet block for cyclists. So we pressed on in the rain to Port Sud at Ramonville-St-Agne on the outskirts of Toulouse. This is a marina and housing development a little like Gulf Harbour in Auckland. We reported into the Capitainerie, a lady in a raised control tower, and were allocated a visitor’s berth with power, water etc. While everything was wet Denis took the opportunity of giving Winifred an external scrub down.
As we had to dine out we asked the Capitaine of the port to find and book a restaurant (with some difficuloty, being Saturday night) and taxi. We got dressed up and were duly delivered to the vast dining room of a local hotel where there was only one other table occupied. Then commenced what can only be described as a “Fawlty Towers” experience. Terry and Ann ordered main courses only, which were promptly delivered to the table while Denis and Judy waited for their entrée which arrived about 15 minutes later. There was then a further wait before Denis and Judy’s mains arrived, even though Judy had ordered the same main as Ann. No Michelin stars for this outfit!
The same taxi arrived to take us back to the boat, which was lucky because we had left an umbrella in the back seat!
Location for Port Sud. N43º32.489’ E001º29.418’ Altitude 159 meters.
Sunday 20 May. The morning was clear and calm at first but a fresh breeze and cloud built from the SE. Under way at 10:15 as we were expected at Toulouse before 12:00. The canal passed through the suburbs of Toulouse with many people out jogging and cycling along the tow path. There was also an almost continuous row of barges and house boats along the eastern bank making navigation difficult. The most exciting moment was when we rounded a bend into a narrow aqueduct to find a large excursion barge halfway across and we had to make a quick reverse dive for the starboard bank. (“Winifred” doesn’t like doing anything quickly or in straight lines! and Judy says she likes ti ‘go for a swim’ every so often!)
We eventually arrived at Port St Sauveur and moored temporarily on the eastern wall of the basin while Judy and Ann found the Capitainerie and we moved to a marina berth with full facilities where we planned to spend the next 3-5 days.
Location for Toulouse. Port St Sauveur. N43º35.754’ E001º27.369’ Altitude 159 meters.

Narbonne to Carcassonne.
Wednesday 9 May. Topped up with water before departing Narbonne at 9:00 to retrace our steps back to the Canal du Midi. At lock Ronel the automatic lock would not close due to a mechanical problem and Judy had to call the lock keeper on the intercom. It took him 30 minutes to come from south of Narbonne. We stopped for lunch at Salleles d’Aude and completed the rest of the locks on the Canal de Jonction in company with two other boats, a group of Brits and a group of Germans. Soon after turning left into the Canal du Midi we moored for the night at Le Somail. This is a pleasant village featuring a museum of hats, which was remarkably interesting and a wonderful second hand book barn. An Internet Café near our anchorage enabled us to catch up on our email but they would not allow us to upload a blog posting from the thumb drive so that will have to wait. We dined ashore and had a very pleasant evening.
Location for Somail. N43º15.995’ E002º54.216’
Thursday 10 May. Under way 9:00. Weather fine. Smooth run of 20 km with 7 locks to Homps. One lock decorated by keeper’s sculptures of the chainsaw and welding torch school. Stopped for lunch at Argens-Minervois. Beautiful wine country with many old stone winery buildings. Homps is a big hire boat base but we were not too impressed.
Location for Homps. N43º16.134’ E002º43.166’
Friday 11 May. Under way 10:00. Weather cool with light easterly breeze and partly cloudy. Stopped for lunch at the Aiguille lock near the village of Puicheric. Moored for the night at Marseillette at 16:00 on a quiet bank under a canopy of trees. We enjoyed a BBQ dinner at a conveniently located picnic table.
Location for Marseillette. N43º12.297’ E002º32.689’
Saturday 12 May. Moved up to nearby jetty for water at 9:45 and under way at 10:00 with run of 8 km and no locks to Trebes, where there was a triple staircase and we berthed for lunch. Under way again at 14:00 and negotiated the triple lock with an intermediate basin at Fresquel and then got held up at the St Jean lock where the lower gate would not close. We watched with interest for 1.5 hours while a team of 3 lock keepers eventually located and removed a large clump of earth and weeds which was jamming the gate. We eventually moored in Carcassonne at 18:00, just before the bridge and lock by a nice grassy strip.
Location for Carcassonne. N43º13.047’ E002º21.155 Altitude 110 metres.
Sunday 13 May. After breakfast checked into the “Capitainerie”, paid mooring fees for 2 nights and picked up a water hose adaptor and laundry key. We then set out to explore the town and the famous old castle known as La Cite. We had difficulty finding the tourist information office and there was no public transport available for the 2 km climb but we made it there on foot, in strong wind and under heavily overcast sky. We eventually arrived just on 12:00 to find that the “Little Train” tour which we wanted to take had closed for lunch until 14:00, so we had some lunch (rather dry pizzas) and took a tour of the castle with audio-guides, which was very interesting. We then took the “Little Train” tour which was also very informative. The original Roman walls and towers are still clearly visible although many other structures have been added over the centuries. The “medieval” streets within the walls of the Cite are lined with rather tacky cafes and souvenir shops, although there are a couple of classy hotels as well. The restorations carried out 150 years ago under the supervision of Violette le Duc are a bit suspect as to their authenticity but on the whole the place is very impressive and worth a visit.
Back at the boat we caught up with the laundry and dined out at a nearby café which was very pleasant. The wind had been fresh Easterly during the day but the evening was reasonably fine, warm and calm.
Monday 14 May. Final shopping and laundered towels before topping up with water and departing Carcassonne at 11:15. Wind fresh Westerly with stinging rain. After passing through the lock and town basin we moored up at 11:45 to wait out the weather. Under way again at 14:15 after lunch Weather cleared to fine but wind still cool fresh Westerly. Agriculture seemed to be transitioning from 100% grapes to mixed land use, with grains, beans and other unidentified crops. 16 km covered with 5 locks, one of them a double. Moored for the night at Villesquelande, 17:30. Weather sunny and warm in a nice sheltered anchorage.
Location for Villesquelande. N34º13.059’ E002º13.794’ Altitude 131metres.
(I started including the GPS altitude readings because we were approaching the highest point of the canal at 190 metres, where the water flows East to the Mediterranean and West to the Atlantic.)

Return to the West.
Wednesday 2 May. After breakfast walked into Agde for sight-seeing and shopping. Impressive black stone church. Judy purchased sun hat and earrings. Back on board 12:30 for lunch. Under way 15:00 and moored at Portiragnes at 16:15. Nice village with interesting sign over baker’s shop. Weather closed in with heavy rain in the evening.
Location for Portiragnes. N43º18.33’ E003º19.681’
Thursday 3 May. Weather wet and cold. Under way 10:00. Moored at Villeneuve les Beziers 11:00 to take on water, 800 litrres at 1 Euro per 100 l. Decided to stay the night and took shore power at 4 Euro. Explored village in the afternoon.
Location for Villeneuve les Beziers N43º18.997’ E003º17.63’
Friday 4 May. Steady rain over night. Topped off water and under way 9:30. Passed through Beziers and stopped for lunch at the top of the Fonserrannes staircase locks. Watched hotel barge Anjodi locking down. Under way again at 14:30, wind fresh NW and cold. Moored at Columbiers for the night at 15:30. Pleasant village and very good dinner with excellent wine.
Location for Columbiers N43º19.823’ E003º11.750’
Saturday 5 May. Under way at 10:20, wind still fresh NW and cool. Stopped at western end of Malpas tunnel for Denis and Judy to walk to top of hill for view of the Etang de Malpas, a lake which was drained in Roman times to make a circular fertile basin with unusual radial fence lines. Great views of the country but wind very strong. Under way again at 11:20 and berthed at Capestang at 13:20. Had lunch and picked up 16 amp power adaptor from the yard. Under way again at 15:30, mooring for the night at Argeliers at 17:30. Weather clearing but wind still fresh NW.
Location for Argeliers. N43º18.824’ E002º55.093’
Sunday 6 May. Under way 10:15 after very windy night. Sky clear but fresh westerly wind. Took left turn into Canal de Jonction, heading south. Covered 6.5 km and a series of 4 locks before stopping for lunch at Salleles d’Aude. After lunch proceeded through the double lock at Gailhousty where the lower chamber is actually a dry dock and a large hotel barge was being painted by a young and enthusiastic crew. There followed a few anxious minutes while we negotiated some tricky bends where the canal crosses the river Aude with strong currents and sand banks then a couple of narrow bridges before we entered the Canal de la Robine for the run down to Narbonne with only a couple more locks. We moored in Narbonne at 17:00 and dined in town. Our first taste of the famous Cassoulet: bean casserole with sausage, duck and other ingredients which are possibly best not known!
Location for Narbonne. N43º11.87’ E002º59.898’
Monday 7 May. Remained in Narbonne, catching up with laundry and shopping. Explored the town, including the Archbishop’s Palace and church of St Just. This was very impressive but was never built to its full intended size as it would have extended beyond the protective city walls. We also visited the only remains of the original Roman city, a series of underground storage chambers. Found an Internet Café and made a long overdue blog posting.
Tuesday 8 May. Together with Terry and Ann, we took the train to Collioure, an old fishing village with a number of historic castles. The history of Collioure is too complicated to describe here, but in more recent times (100 years ago) it was the base for a group of modernist painters, including Picasso. We enjoyed a very nice lunch and walk around the breakwaters and an old chateau/fortress before taking a quick dip in the Med and catching the train back to Narbonne. Weather fine and warm.
On the whole we felt Narbonne was a nice city and great to visit.

The Canal du Midi at last.
On Friday morning we drove with Ann and Terry to the boat yard at Capestang, a trip of about 1 hour, for a preliminary inspection of the boat and to deliver the bulk of our luggage. “Winifred” is a very solid steel barge, 13.9 meters in length and 4.12 meters beam so there is plenty of room for 2 couples. We completed our shopping list and returned to Montpellier and located the “Hyper Market” for our provisioning. This left the Opel station wagon bulging at the seams, including a bike and clothes rack hanging off the back.
Dinner that night was at a small bistro near the main square where there is only one item on the menu: “Entrecote”. This turned out to be very nicely cooked steak, served finely sliced, with frites, and washed down with the house wine. The streetside ambience was a complete contrast to the previous evening but we voted the food much better.
On Saturday morning we did the final shopping for fresh fruit and veg, checked out of the hotel and motored off to Capestang once more. After emptying the wagon, Terry and Judy drove off to Bezier to return it to Hertz and came back to Capestang by taxi. Official hand-over was 15:00, but a problem with our 12 volt to 230 volt inverter caused a delay. Eventually found that the 12 volt socket was reverse polarity which had caused internal fuse to blow! The boat yard provided some replacement fuses, but by then we decided to stay put for the night and get underway in the morning. Dinner on board.
Location of Capestang, N43º19.883’ E003º02.573’
Sunday 29 April, under way 09:15. Weather warm and calm. Passed through tunnel at Souterrain de Malpas. Canal lined with huge plane trees which were shedding flowers and pollen which tended to get in the eyes and stuck in the throat, but look great. No locks until just before Beziers where we stopped at the top of the Fonserannes staircase for lunch. Descended the 5 locks without trouble and berthed for the night in the town basin at Beziers. Dinner on board. Basin area separated from the town by the rail tracks and station so we were not tempted to explore. Found shore power now disconnected and anyway, the plug on our lead did not fit 16A sockets!
Location at Beziers, N43º 20.086’ E003º13.043’
Monday 30 April. Filled water tanks and under way at 11:30. Stopped for lunch at Villeneuve le Beziers. Weather still fine and warm. Passed through interesting flood control works at the river Liberon and berthed for the night at Vias. Walked to supermarket at old town on north side of river. Terry arrived first back at the boat on his bike (“Winnie” ) to find nearby boaties (English and Australian) rescuing Winifred which had carried away the anchor spikes due to boats going past too fast. Rewarded resuers with bottle of NZ Sauvignon Blanc which was well received. Learned the trick of mooring to the massive tree roots which line the canal at water level. Dinner on board.
Location at Vias, N43º18.139’ E003º25.367’
Tuesday 1 May. After breakfast we went for a walk with Ann to Vias Plage – rather tacky, but on the way we spotted a laundry, so returned to boat, collected Terry and laundry and carried our laundry into Vias Plage. Just as we handed it over it started to rain very hard so we had to have a drink in an adjacent bar until the rain passed. However the downpour continued and we wound up staying for lunch until the laundry was done. Denis continued on for a short swim in the Med, which was refreshing but spoiled somewhat by the overcast conditions. Under way again at 15:00 and moored near Agde at 16:00. Inspected famous “round lock”. Dinner on board.
Location at Agde. N43º19.130’ E003º27.574’
Note. We had originally intended to proceed past Agde to cross the Etang de Thau to Sete, Carnon and Aigues-Mortes. However we were advised that the Winifred was not licensed for the Etang de Thau which was disappointing. As it turned out the weather deteriorated and we could have had a very uncomfortable trip and got weather-bound there so maybe it was for the best.

Montpellier. After our last night in Paris we did not need to rush but we took a taxi to Gare de Lyon because of the luggage. The TGV left on time at 11:24am and we were able to get a snack on board as the familiar French countryside swept past. We arrived in Montpellier three and a half hours later and although the Citadines hotel was said to be quite close we took a taxi as it was very hot and we did not fancy getting lost with the luggage. We found that a modern tram runs right past the hotel with service every 5 minutes during week days with 3 stops to the railway station and 4 to the town square at La Comedie, 10 Euros for a 10 trip ticket. The hotel was clean and modern with unlimited free Internet access. There was a good market just across the street and a variety of cafes nearby. Antigone and Polygon complex is new enough that it feels a little “unlived in” compared to most French towns, but given time it may blend into the older part of Montpellier although it probably will not last as long. After a short walk around town we settled for a meal at a café near the hotel, which was rather disappointing. On Tuesday 24 April we caught the TGV to Marseille for the day. The weather was fine and sunny and the trip across to the Rhone and through Provence was very interesting. From the station we descended the grand steps and followed the road to the centre of town and down to the waterfront where the fish market was still in full swing. We then signed up for a bus tour which would allow us to get on and off during the day. The first stop was at Anse des Auffes where we had lunch at a recommended restaurant, Fon Fon, famous for its Bouillabaisse, 45 Euros. We settled for the fish soup, including 2 servings, and a nice wine which was very enjoyable. The service was excellent from a team of uniformed staff, obviously a high class establishment. We walked to the next bus stop around the Corniche road with fine views of the Isles des Frioul and Chateau d’If, the setting for The Count of Monte Christo. The bus then took us to the Notre Dame de la Garde, the church which dominates Marseille from the highest peak and which is surmounted by a huge gold statute of Christ. We made it back to the station in good time for the return train, only to find it was “supprimé” which Judy’s dictionary told us meant cancelled. We rebooked on the next train and had a picnic supper on the steps outside the station while we waited. We eventually arrived back in Montpellier, caught the tram back to the hotel and so to bed. On Wednesday 25 April we planned to visit the famous Pont du Gard and Nimes. We took the local train to Avignon and booked onto a local bus. While waiting we went for a walk around the town, starting with coffee in the square, to the Rhone at the old bridge and back via an exhausting set of 170 steps and the Palais des Papes. The bus terminal was extremely grotty and the bus gave no indication of passing the Pont du Gard. We were dropped off in the middle of nowhere and had to ask the way. Obviously the tourist industry is geared to tour buses and private cars and they do not expect or want visitors who use public transport. The new visitor centre however was tasteful and the aqueduct itself was awesome. While you can no longer access the highest two levels you can cross the lowest level and steps and paths provide great views from either side. It was a hot day and a few lads were swimming and jumping off the cliffs, which was supposed to be forbidden. Eventually, back in the bus to Nimes, we found that we went to Uzes then back to Pont du Gard, so we could have had an extra hour there, but we had an interesting view of the countryside so we did not fret too much. In Nimes we purchased out train tickets back to Montpellier and went to explore the town, the Roman Arena, a mini version of the Coliseum in Rome, and La Maison Carree, an impressive Roman temple, now a museum, which was closed. After a drink at a café near the station we arrived to find that once again our train had been “supprimé”, but a helpful official said we could board another train leaving immediately, and so we arrived safely back in our hotel. Thursday 26 April we explored old Montpellier and located a recommended restaurant near the forbidding church of St Pierre with the strange rocket shaped towers supporting a high stone canopy over the door. We had a very nice lunch at a café near by then walked on as far as the “Chateau d’ Eau” and the aqueduct that used to supply water to the town, then back via various back alleys to the hotel where we found Ann and Terry had arrived. For dinner we all went to the restaurant near St Pierre, and although the ambiance was charming the food was somewhat disappointing.

In Paris.
The Eurostar trip was fast and smooth and before long we were at Gare du Nord. We took the Metro to Hotel de Ville (change at Chatelet) and found the hotel La Bretonnerie without trouble. Checked in and went for a walk around the Marais district…talk about Gay Paris, this was much more so than we remembered. The gay crowd were out campaigning for Segolene Royale with the first round of the Presidential Election the next day. Eventually dined at Le Philosophe, very pleasant.

Next morning we were up early and on the Metro to Gare St Lazare where we caught the train to Vernon, then by local bus to Giverny to visit Monet’s house, gardens and lily ponds. Very attractive, although a bit early for the best of the flowers. Not too crowded however. We had a light lunch at a nearby café and walked back through Giverny, visiting a private museum of old engines and machinery which Denis found interesting. We then walked back to Vernon along an excellent cycle path and had time for a drink before boarding the train back to Paris. Dined at a Corsican style restaurant, nice but not memorable.

Saturday 21 April. We walked to the Left Bank and walked about, buying some books, checking out restaurants for our wedding anniversary dinner. We did some laundry and in the evening walked back to the Left Bank for dinner at Pres de Verre which was ‘inventive cuisine’, relatively simple but memorable. (We had never eaten parsley ice-cream before.) We then walked on to Le Petit Journal, a very small subterranean jazz club where the trad band almost outnumbered the customers. We enjoyed a couple of sets then walked back to the hotel at about 1:30am, very late for us.

Sunday 22 April. We caught the Metro to the Left Bank and bought some picnic supplies in a street market. We went almost as far as Montparnasse then walked back through Les Invalides to the Parc du Champ de Mars where we joined many Parisians on the grass enjoying lunch in the unusually warm sunny weather. We bypassed the Eiffel Tower and crossed the Seine at the Pont d’Alma and browsed the shops in the Avenue Montaigne, marveling at the prices and thankful it was a Sunday and they were shut. We eventually reached the Parc de Monceau where there were even more Parisians basking in the sun, then caught the Metro back to Place des Vosges where an excellent youth orchestra was busking and we purchased a CD. Then back to the hotel. We had dinner in a bistro near the hotel where many of the clients appeared to be gay and the waitress fussed over them in a very intimate way. Back to the hotel for a fairly early night,