My sister, Melissa (Missy) had been in Paris for several days and was taking the TGV from Paris to Bordeaux. I took the train from Agen and we met up in the train station. Since we only had a couple of hours, there really wouldn’t be time for much sightseeing so we mostly just wandered around the streets near the train station.
The ornate Bordeaux train station and city tram
We did take a stroll through the Basilique St. Michel whose construction started in 1350 and took about 200 years to complete. The church steeple is dwarfed by the nearby Fléche St. Michel, at 375 feet the tallest tower in southern France. Too bad about the scaffolding.
By late afternoon we were back on board, preparing to get underway.
Wednesday we were heading back to Valence d’Agen and after about 5 hours and 3 locks we were tied up in time to take a little stroll through town. It was a rather harrowing trip as there was still alot of debris in the canal, much of it just under water and invisible, so there was a pretty constant banging as branches struck the hull. No damage was done but it sounded like someone striking a drum when we hit something! Valence was very familiar to me now, but it was a beautiful day and the flowers were putting on quite a show.
Thursday morning it was off to Moissac. I had contacted Anthony, the capitaine, a few days before to make sure there would be a spot for us as it was now high season, the weekend and, with the canal reopened, boats were starting to move around. We were tied up just after lunch so there was plenty of time to revisit the cathedral and cloister, the third time I’d been there this year.
My sister climbs out of the crypt in the church.
We were in no particular hurry as we didn’t need to be in Castelsarrasin until Sunday so we spent Friday just hanging around town, visiting the market and taking in the sights.
Saturday we set off around 11 am. Since it was just 6 k to Castelsarrasin, we motored past and stopped for the night at San Porquier, just 7 k further up the canal. I hadn’t stopped here before but we found a very attractive small village just a short distance away. Since we were tied up by about 3 pm there was plenty of time for a visit.
The church and city hall
A very attractive house that had obviously had some recent maintenance.
It was just a short trip and only two locks back to Castelsarrasin so Sunday morning we set off at the ungodly hour of 11 am and were tied up in Oldtimer’s resting place for the winter about 1 pm.
The flowers in Castelsarrasin were looking pretty nice, too.
Missy was off back to California Monday morning and I really didn’t have any time to mess around as I would be leaving the boat on Wednesday for my flight home Thursday. There was just time to get the laundry done and get things cleaned up before I headed to the train station for the return to Toulouse where Air France would whisk me home.
The plan was to return at the end of October to do a little maintenance and complete the winterization.
Aah, I'm glad you spent some time in Moissac. My favourite place in the south there. Your photos are beautiful and remind me of how lovely summer is. We are in the midst of storm Ciarán at the moment and I am longing for spring and cruising days already.
ReplyDeleteI do really like Moissac and the cathedral and it's cloister are magical. The capitals on the columns are a wonder.
DeleteI'm in France now for a couple of weeks to winterize and I hoped to get some maintenance done but the weather has been pretty bad, though nothing like up north. I'm ready to return to the nice Southern California winter weather!