We arrived in the Montauban Marina shortly after lunchtime. Luckily, since the marina is a good hike from town, there is a collection of restaurants and snack bars right at the port so we could grab something to eat. A quick conversation with Lennie and Di resulted in a Thursday night dinner invitation for more of Di’s delicious curry so we were set for our visit to town.
Montauban was founded in the 12th century where the Tarn and Tescou Rivers meet and was originally surrounded by defensive walls. They restricted the growth of the city, however, and new neighborhoods and churches were soon built outside. During the Religious Wars of the 1560’s, the churches were burned and dismantled with the materials used to build new city walls. The city returned to the Catholic Church in the late 1600’s and a new cathedral was built.
The Pont Vieux, built over the Tarn in the early 14th century
with the steeple of Saint Jacques in the background
Place Nationale, the heart of town
Not wanting to spend five days in town before Tim and Christine were scheduled to leave (we wanted to be near a train station), and being pretty far from town, we decided to return to Castelsarrasin, spending two short days underway. We didn’t leave until about 11 Saturday morning for the 9 locks up the Canal de Montech and then five more locks up alongside the Pente d’eau to reach a bankside mooring in the small village of Escatalens about 3 pm. Then it was just 3 locks and 2 hours to Castelsarrasin. Monday morning my first guests would be on the train to Nimes and my next guest, Kevin Murray would be arriving in the afternoon for an extended stay.
On the way to Escatalens, a “Green Tunnel”
I am not sure if it is a good or bad thing that I know where you are visiting :-) I am loving your photos and hearing about the great time you are having. Say hello to Don and Laura for me!
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