Provence, Canal du Midi and More

[Steady]

however as many (perhaps all) hire boats pump their sewage overboard I wouldn't be eating anything that came out of there.

That was going to be my next question

 

[VPS]

Still loving your travels and photos and the tips provided by Gem56 and I will definitely be interested in the list of things to take with you, that you are compiling.

Hi - I didn't want to take over this thread so have posted some of my photos and experiences in this thread http://www.australianfrequentflyer....trip-photos/french-canal-boat-trip-78879.html

 

[Paddy55]

Jacques Vert - really enjoying the TR - love the south of France and envious of your Canal Trip!
Keep the TR coming

 

[Fifa]

We saw many people fishing in the canal however as many (perhaps all) hire boats pump their sewage overboard I wouldn't be eating anything that came out of there.

Whenever we ate out in France we never ordered river or fresh water fish for that exact reason!

I believe that river boats in the UK have holding tanks for the sewage and are pumped out at authorised facilities. It amazed us that France doesn't do the same :shock:.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Whenever we ate out in France we never ordered river or fresh water fish for that exact reason!

I believe that river boats in the UK have holding tanks for the sewage and are pumped out at authorised facilities. It amazed us that France doesn't do the same :shock:.

Just as amazing is the lack of holding tanks and pump-out facilities in most of New South Wales and the rest of Australia.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Heading further upstream towards Homps:

We pass many wineries. We just have to stop at one of them.

Our winery visit results in our missing entry to the double lock just downstream of Homps as we forgot the locks now close at 1800, not 1900. So we a forced to moor overnight in the waiting pool just downstream of the locks. Quite a lovely spot:

 

[Jacques Vert]

Things could be worse as luckily there is a restaurant here alongside the lock, so that’s where we went for dinner.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Next morning we are at the lock 5 minutes before opening as we have a big day planned; we want to get to Trebes that night so we can moor at the Le Boat base and replenish our power and water for free.




Some boats have caught up overnight so we end up four to a lock for most of the day:





After a full day we make our 17th lock for the day just before closing and stay the night in Trebes as planned.




There's a strip of restaurants on the opposite side of the canal with a nice ambiance so that's where we head for dinner:

 

[Jim Walsh]

Can't wait to do this with the family. I would love to see some of the menus from the local restaurants.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Trebes to Carcassone

We decide to get an early start the next morning to be at our first lock at opening time:




We are the first boat heading up the canal and have undisturbed water allowing for some beautiful reflections along the way. +1 is fast approaching her 3,000th photo since we arrived in France 3 weeks ago:shock:

 

[Jacques Vert]

Can't wait to do this with the family. I would love to see some of the menus from the local restaurants.

I don't think we have any photos of the menus but I am sure that +1 has some shots of the food among those 3,000+ photos; I'll ask her to see what she can find. Will that do?

 

[Jacques Vert]

There are seven locks between Trebes and Carcassonne, including this triple lock with a waiting pool between the first and second locks.




Usually the lock-keepers make you wait until the boats coming the other way have cleared the lock. However, on this series of locks you can pass through the bottom lock and wait in the pool for the upper two locks to clear.




Not on this occasion; the lock-keeper was obviously so impressed with the performance of well-trained crew that he allowed us to enter the second lock going up at the same time as two boats entered the third lock going down. So when the gates opened the crews on the descending boats were confronted with us pointing the opposite way. The looks on their faces were priceless.

A little bit of organising resulted in one of the descending boats coming into our lock, leaving enough room for us to move into their lock, which in turn left enough room for the second descending boat to move into the spot we vacated. This saved us at least 15 minutes and was much appreciated. This was the only time I saw boats go through a lock in different directions at the same time.


Arriving in Carcassonne:




The port:

 

[Major]

I notice the South African flag on that boat on the left. Are there a lot of foreign flags being flown ?

I saw you had the Oz flag flying on a past photo.

 

[I love to travel]

Thank you for this report, some of the photos are breathtaking

 

[Jacques Vert]

I notice the South African flag on that boat on the left. Are there a lot of foreign flags being flown ?

I saw you had the Oz flag flying on a past photo.

There are a few foreign flags being flown, but not that many. One of our crew brought along the Aussi flag so I pointed out that flag etiquette would require the Aussi and French flags to both be flown as a mark of respect and friendship.

We could not find anywhere that could sell us a French flag of an appropriate size (of course, flying a foreign flag that is larger than that of the host country would be an insult).

 

[Jacques Vert]

Thank you for this report, some of the photos are breathtaking

Thank you; +1 and her new camera are certainly doing a great job. Even I have managed to take a few good shots and I may even let you know if I post one.

 

[Timtammi]

Timtammi, we have just been discussing how 3 could manage the locks instead of 4. Here it is:

1 First thing would be to tie a few knots in the end of the rope (altogether) to form a clump of knots. Sailors call this a "monkey's fist". Look at this link to give you an idea of what I'm talking about https://www.google.com.au/search?q=m...pfwlRIfoDrM%3A. JV says that it does not need to be this elaborate, just a few knots together to give the end of the rope some weight. This makes the rope a little easier to throw to whoever is on land. I would recommend that you only do the knots and NOT the Monkey's Fist because there are some places where you have to put the rope through a ring. If you have an elaborate knot, you can't get it undone in a hurry. Even if you are competent at doing a Monkey's Fist - Don't! Have I totally confused you now?

2 Pass the back rope to the skipper prior to going into the lock.

3 Prior to going into the lock one person gets off the boat and climb the stairs to the top of the lock

4 As you enter the lock, the back rope needs to be thrown to the person on the land to loop around the bollard and then passed back to the skipper. Don't be stressed if it requires a few attempts.

5 The other person then throws the front rope to the person on land, who loops it around the bollard and back to the person on the bow.

6 It is important to note - DON'T tie the rope off in the cleat while you are in the lock. When the lock is going up the rope needs to be brought in and when going down the rope needs to be released as necessary.

Going up in the locks is definitely harder than going down. This is not intended to put any of you off. For us, and everyone else that we spoke to, this is an amazing experience. Many people had only taken the boat for a week, however for us we were so pleased that we had the boat for 2 weeks and could have taken it for longer. There are lots of wonderful little places to explore and fabulous restaurants to try along the canals and I imagine that if you only had 1 week it could be a bit of a rush. I guess it's a "suck and see", however I hope this helps.

We are putting together a list of things to take along with you that make the trip more enjoyable. These items are not mentioned by Le Boat. We'll post this in due course.

I have also taken a video of our passage through the Steps which you may find interesting. If you would like to see it, send me a PM and I'll work out how to get it to you.

Also, commenting on JV's comment re less locks per day, the more locks you do the better you get at it.

Thank you so much for taking the time to think about us and for your well considered thoughts and suggestions, its really helpful for our planning and we are discussing options amongst ourselves. The input is much appreciated and very helpful! At this stage we are leaning towards Burgundy but I am definitely going to be looking at itineraries with a view to how many locks there are..

 

[Jacques Vert]

Carcassonne

We have now passed through 24 locks in two days and have risen to an elevation of ~130 metres; and we are all a little tired. I think 5 to 10 locks a day (depending on the distances between them) is a reasonable task, 12 a day is a few too many.

Carcassonne consists of two cities: the Cité Médiévale and the newer city (Bastide) which is still old with many buildings from the 17th century and earlier.

We visit the world heritage listed Cité Médiévale:

 

[Jacques Vert]

More of the Cité Médiévale:












Those are two of the beautiful plane trees that are a feature of this part of France; I hope the fungus that is killing them along the canal doesn't manage to escape into the "outside" world. So many of the towns have these trees as a feature: providing shade in summer and letting the light through in winter.

 

[Jacques Vert]

There's a theatre that was added about 100 years ago:




Of course every medieval town has a cathedral:







And a couple of nice looking hotels:




And the real estate has become more valuable as restaurants and tourist shops:






I asked the lovely ladies who help you moor (and take your money) at the harbour for a recommendation for a restaurant in the Cité Médiévale and they said their favourite restaurant is called.................Adelaide! I took this to be an omen. Food excellent; service superb, price very reasonable.