Off Again, May 7-12

 Kevin Murray, my next guest, is retired from the Australian Air Force. In the air as a navigator, he graduated to more administrative positions, serving in several capacities around the world including military attache. He and friends are considering buying a barge after a narrowboat experience in England and he posted on the Dutch Barge Association forum asking if he could catch a ride for educational purposes and to decide if this was something he really wanted to do. I responded to his post and here we are, two old guys cooped up on a small boat for about 6 weeks. What could possibly go wrong?

Luckily, all has gone very well.

Kevin arrived Monday afternoon a few hours after Tim and Christine’s departure. We used Tuesday to get him moved in and do some instruction on how canal cruising works and set off to the west Wednesday morning. Well, we tried to depart. 

The engine starting batteries are the same one’s that came with the boat when Cathy Jo and I bought it in 2015 and there’s no telling how long they were on the boat before that. They had been acting up a little on the trip to Montauban but Wednesday morning they refused to turn the engine over. I used jumper cable from the house batteries to get Mr. DAF humming and we set off through the first lock to the grocery store pontoon. There is an auto parts store (pieces auto in French) just around the corner from the supermarket. New batteries purchased and galley shelves stocked, off we went after lunch; first stop Moissac.

We stopped in Moissac several times last year but I wanted introduce Kevin to the cathedral and cloister so we stopped a little after 2 pm. and made a visit.

This tableau is in the church.

You can read my description and see pictures of the cloister from last year at

https://donandcathyjo.blogspot.com/2022/09/le-canal-de-garonne-aug-20-24.html

Thursday morning we set off for the 26 K to Valence d’Agen. We visited this town last year by bicycle from Pommevic but there is a small marina in Valence so we were tied up by 1:15 pm.

While preparing this entry I was going to refer back to a posting about our visit to another one of “the most beautiful villages in France”, Auvillar. We cycled there from Pommevic last year, Cathy Jo’s last real cycle ride, but looking back I realized I only made passing reference to it. Thursday afternoon Kevin and I rode there from Valence.

After crossing the canal and the river plain, a bridge crosses the Garonne and the road climbs a steep hill to the village. We locked the bikes up at the bottom of the hill and climbed up.

One of the village streets with typical brick and half-timbered construction.

The very unique round market

One side of the church has seen “remodeling”

The porch near the tourist office gave a great panoramic view of the Garonne valley, including the Golfech atomic power plant.

Touring complete, Friday morning we set out for our next destination, the small city of Agen.

La Pente d’Eau, Montech

 Built in 1974 when water transport was still very active, two diesel electric engines attached by a beam went up or down a slope about 13 meters high pushing a pool of water to carry a boat. To let the boats enter or exit, a huge hydraulically controlled, watertight gate was lifted. The idea was to eliminate the five locks on the main canal and save about an hour for commercial operators. The whole operation didn’t last long, however, as a series of breakdowns put it out of service in 2009 and it is now a tourist attraction with an “interesting” paint job.

The Wiki Page

The two locomotives with a peniche between on the slope

Montauban and Back, May 5-7

 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

 

 

The interior of the church of Saint Jacques, built and rebuilt many times between the 13th and 18th centuries

 

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”

 

 

First Guests, April 30-May 5

My first guests, long time friends Tim and Christine from Oak View, Ca. arrived Sunday, April 30, escaping the May Day madness in Paris. They would be staying for a week, leaving Monday, May 8. Since Monday was a holiday and the canal locks were closed, we wouldn’t be departing until Tuesday. That gave us a day to wander the streets of Castelsarrasin.

The obligatory first stop was one of the churches in town, Saint-Saveur. Construction originally began in 961 when the town first appeared on maps, later as Castro Sarraceno. It was completely rebuilt between 1245 and 1270 but has undergone several renovations in the 16th, and 19th centuries, with the front steps and porch added in 1901.

The ceilings were tastefully decorated.

A majestic organ

We also got a good laugh from the name of this street. We’re not sure what happens there but it must stay there….

Tuesday morning at the crack of 9 we headed down through one lock to the conveniently place pontoon right outside the big grocery store. It’s always a great thing when you can roll the shopping cart right down to the boat. Shopping complete we turned around and headed back up the canal for our first destination, Montauban.

We had to travel through 9 locks going up, the last 5 in quick succession alongside the Pente d’eau ( more on that later) before turning off onto the side canal that travels down to the River Tarn and the city of Montauban. Not wanting to wear ourselves out on the first days underway, we stopped about 3:30 at a small mooring in the hamlet of Lacourt St. Pierre. A small grocery/bar/tabac, a church and a nice shady park were all that was there but we decided we weren’t in a big hurry so we decided to spend Wednesday there and more on to Montauban on Thursday.

The Lacourt church. those bells rang every half hour from 7 am to 7 pm.

Thursday morning we were planning to get underway about 10 as the locks don’t open until 9:30 when Tim mentioned that a big boat was coming down the canal. It turned out to be good friends Lenny and Di on Elysium. We first met them in Briare in 2021 and then we tag teamed our way down to the Garonne last year with many raucous evenings. They were also on their way to Montauban. We would meet them there.

Back to France, April 25-May 1

 

Tuesday morning my friend Ines drove me to the airport shuttle bus and, after a relaxing hour or so in the airport lounge and lunch, Air France whisked me across North America and the Atlantic Ocean to Paris. Arriving around 11 am I only had an hour and a half to make the transfer to the flight to Toulouse which turned out to be in another terminal requiring a bus ride. Then the security people decided my backpack required a more thorough check and I thought I was going to miss the connection. Luckily it all worked out and I made the flight, landing in Toulouse at 2 pm. Unfortunately, due to the tight connection, my bag didn’t arrive at the same time, but a courier managed to find me for it’s delivery the next evening and all was well.

Oldtimer was something of a mess but it really only took one day to clean the outside. However, due to the chaotic departure last year, there was quite a bit of cleaning on the inside yet to do. Just like housework.

I was also greeted by a Fete Foraine just across the canal. The real fun began with the carnival midway cranking up starting Wednesday about 3. Luckily I have earplugs because the noise is pretty bad. They begin their day around 3, go a little quieter around dinner time and then crank back up until a little after 11. Between the earplugs and jet lag I’ve been able to deal.

They’re lined up for the “Turn It On” ride.

Picture from my back deck.

So far everything has been good with the boat. The engine started a little reluctantly, not surprising considering it’s been more than 7 months since it last ran, and when it finally caught it ran fine without too much smoke. Both the electric toilet and the hot water heater worked without a hitch. The wheel turned the rudder and the bow thruster did its thrusting thing without complaint. The horn even worked!

I have put the boat up for sale through H20, the brokers that sold Odysseus for us and through whom we bought Oldtimer. https://h2ofrance.com/for-sale/aakship/ There is a saying that the two happiest days in a boat owners life are the day they buy a boat and the day they sell it but that will definitely not be the case for me. It was a very difficult decision; the completed paperwork sat on my desk for two weeks before I could bring myself to send it in but I really can’t see a way for me to keep the boat that doesn’t involve waaaay too much work and stress. (If you look at the listing, those are not pictures of the interior decoration as it is now. I wasn’t able to provide inside picture for the listing as I wasn’t here yet so they used ones from the previous listing.)

I managed to put together a pretty full cruise schedule with family and friends until I leave in late July. My first guests, Tim and Christine, who have sailed with me on Oldtimer before, arrive Sunday the 30th, escaping the possibility of May 1 chaos in Paris. They will be here for a week, then I will be joined by Kevin Murray, a guy from Australia I met through the Dutch Barge Association forum, who will be aboard for at least 3 weeks. He was supposed to be followed by an old friend, Yvonne, also from Australia whom we met in 2009,  but she just fell and broke her hand so will be unable to make the trip. I informed Kevin and it sounds like he may be up to stay aboard if it works out. We’re about to become very well acquainted! 

Since the canals are closed for the May Day holiday, We won’t be getting underway until Tuesday at the earliest. I think our first destination will be Montauban, back to the east about 25 k. After that, who knows?

I realized this week that in all the turmoil of this fall I failed to post the map and statistics for this years voyage.

I’ll take care of that now.

 

As in the past, you should be able to click on the image for a larger one. I did not draw all the pretty lines this year, just the stopping places.

We travelled 

1190 kilometers

247 locks

206 hours on the engine in 67 travel days.

And an update.

I have had several people contact me for the trip this year. If you’re interested please let me know soon as I plan to finalize plans in the next couple of weeks.

The Future of Oldtimer

 I hope this finds you all well and that you had a happy holiday time. I traveled up to Portland to enjoy Christmas with Cory, Darwin and Audrey. There’s nothing much better than a three year old at Christmas.

Now on to future plans…

I have decided I am going to have to sell Oldtimer. I would have a hard time cruising alone and I really don’t want to do that anyway so the barge will be going on the market.

Before that, however, I have several small projects to finish as I left the boat in a hurry last October. Also, I would love to take one last cruise.

If you have thought about taking a canal cruise, now would be your opportunity to spend a week or so on the French waterways. I envision a trip starting around the beginning of May and finishing up the beginning of July. The weather should still be ok and the waterways not too crowded. Traveling would be limited to the area between Bordeaux and Toulouse on the Garonne Canal, maybe including trips onto the Baise and Tarn Rivers.

If this is something that would interest you, get in touch for details. I’m just starting to make plans now and I would love to hear from you.

Stay safe,

Don