The Canal du Midi

wpid-psx_20140801_170447.jpgHaving decided that we would stay in Carcassonne for another night, we also decided to have a quieter day. After another mostly pastry breakfast (I’ve decided I like pain au rasin) Mark offered to do our laundry so I headed just over the road and booked to hire bicycles for the afternoon so we could have a ride along the canal. By the time Mark got back with our hopefully not shrunk washing (the dryer apparently only took 20 minutes) I had put some paint on a couple of the sketches I’d done yesterday. To paint I had just sat outside in the shade on a bench beside the Canal.
After a salad lunch we picked up our bikes and headed off down the canal, my knees initially felt a bit strange but came right and it was good to be doing just a little bit of the trip we had originally intended.

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After a few km we stopped at a quiet lock and watched a few boats pass through. A couple of largish fibreglass rental boats entered the lock, one efficiently managed by three rather obese gents with bare tops while the other struggled a bit to get into the lock. When the lock keeper started emptying the lock the second boat caught it’s deck rim on the lock and was tilting at an alarming angle before the lock could be refilled. As interested onlookers it was quite fun but for those involved it was a real panic.

More later!

One thought on “The Canal du Midi

  1. Hi Quilliam and Mark,
    Good to know you have been biking without too much trouble. Better being onlookers than stuck in a boat in the lock! Weather continues to be fine for your trip?
    Keep those wheels turning.
    Judith and Ian

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