September 15, 2022 A short distance in travel today as our time on the canal begins to wind down. We moored near a path down to the Mediterranean after lunch and some of the group walked or biked down to the shore. The remainder of the day we just relaxed in the shady location we had moored the boat.

Morning reflection.

A great view to start the day.

Insect on the wall above my wife’s bed. The poor thing had lost a leg by the look of it.

Pathway next to the boat.

It was a great place to spend the night.

Ready to leave.

All is right in the world.

Every foot of the canal we have traveled has been brown muddy water.

Our day was a lazy day on a canal in France.

Port Cassafieres where we be mooring tomorrow night so we can return the boat the next morning.

A very little boat.

This and the next three images are of an interesting water control structure we passed thru.

A large amusement park alongside the canal.

It didn’t open until 8 PM, and some of the “kids” aboard wished it was open now.

Two loops in a row on this coaster.

I’ll just call it a fling thing.

None of us could figure out what the ride these two towers were part of did.

Lunch mooring.

Europe is very big in recycling. This style of bin is always for glass containers.

This style is for plastic bottles, etc, metal cans and pasteboard, etc.

Jeff at the helm. he can do magic with the boat.

The variety of boats on the canal is amazing.

We moored in a nice shady spot and some of the group took off to see the Mediterranean.

It looks like visiting the seashore was exhausting for at least two of the group.

We have two people who have birthdays this month, so tonight was party time.

Birthday candles on a cup of ice cream.

it was also a way of celebrating the relaxing, yet fun times we have had over the past two weeks.

September 14, 2022 Intense rain during the night, one cabin had a leak. Several stops today, plus we passed through the famous Fonseranes 9 Locks, and tonight we moored alongside the canal several kilometers east of Portiragnes.

Very early morning reflection. Note the reflection of the soft drink cooler in the glass.

Is this the famous baker’s dozen coming out of the oven?

And a typical morning reflection photo.

As we were cruising down the canal, the people aboard another boat started screaming for us to stop. It turned out there was a dog in the canal, but not from their boat. Once rescued, and wrapped in towels aboard our boat it was decided the best thing to do was leave it with the next lockkeeper as there was a phone number on its collar.

Some distance down the canal we saw a man walking with an empty dog leash in his hand. It turned out to be the overjoyed dog owner..

It is not a traffic jam, it is a boat jam before the Fonseranes 9 Locks.

The wait to enter the locks was 3 1/3 hours.

Lock after lock after lock.

Filling one of the locks.

The crowds gather to watch the boats go through the locks

We walked all the way down with the ropes.

13 years ago we passed through this same set of locks, though then we were going up instead of down, in a driving rainstorm. This photo is from that trip.

The beauty of the locks.

A failed attempt to bypass the locks.

Walking to the large aqueduct across the l’Orb river .

Beautiful aqueduct, beautiful woman.

View after walking across the aqueduct.

Only by descending the stairs to the rive aver walking some distance is the true majesty of the aqueduct revealed.

Preparing to cruise across.

Not very wide.

Afterwards we went through some very deep locks.

The gates giver a sense of how deep this lock was.

Looking back into the lock.

While on the aqueduct we had passed this graffiti covered building.

The opposite of graffiti.

My guess is this bridge was originally constructed in 1708, then modified in 1768, hence the oversized 6.

Lift bridge, only one we passed under during our two weeks on the canal.

Love how they plant flowers seemingly everywhere.

Beautifully restored boat.

What it might have looked like before being restored.

Another rust bucket of a boat.

A different type of house boat.

Sad to see.

Happy hour.

dinner fixed on board the boat, and thus ended the day.

September 13, 2022 Short day today arrived at Colombiers about 1:30. Took 245 photos along the route, posting 38 of them. Highlight of the day was going through the long tunnel, then mooring and walking back through it.

Morning reflections

A gray overcast day.

The answer to yesterday’s question. In order to reach the shore power outlet we had to turn the boat around, which means we have to turn it around again the morning when we leave this morning. Thank goodness we have Jeff at the helm because he always makes these maneuvers look so easy even when they aren’t. We have a 14.95 meter long boat and and the wind can really affect how it handles.

It is needed because there are boats that are obviously exceeding 8 K/M.

A great way to experience the canal.

Now that is a house boat.

We very seldom see rip rap along the sides.

Sometimes the canal is narrow and other times like now, it is very wide.

Some boats demand that you take a photo.

Where people did their laundry in days gone past.

From vineyard to winery.

Grape harvester.

With the trailer following

Low bridge

Closeup of the stone and brick work of the bridge.

Another interesting boat.

Tunnel ahead

sound horn before entering.

Tunnel interior. I could have written, the light at the end of the tunnel, but I didn’t.

Black raspberries.

Everyone loves a tunnel.

I am going to walk that way.

It is very steep climb at the other end of the tunnel to get to the top.

However, the views are worth it.

the Romans erected mileage markers on their roads. This is one of them.

Their is more to the tunnel than meets the eye. There is a road on top, then the Canal du Midi tunnel. Below the canal tunnel is a railroad tunnel and below that tunnel is a water tunnel.

Sometimes our boarding plank is just long enough.

Sightseeing boat that was going very fast with a large bank eroding wave.

If you reach out to touch always remember to duck.

Moored for the afternoon and night.

Nothing like a photo of a sign to document where we stayed.

By evening all the spaces were filled.

Happy hour.

The mains. Both courses were fish.

Dessert. What a difference a night makes. The previous night was one of the worst meals I have ever had in France, while tonight i had one of the best. C’est la vie.

September 12, 2022 This morning we traversed Canal de la Robine and Canal de Jonction before once again turning onto Canal du Midi. Once on Canal du Midi we have some 40 kilometers to sail on before encountering the set of locks.

Morning reflections.

It really is real.

Almost like entering another dimension.

It looks just as awesome on the return trip.

The day’s first duck.

Traveling a short distance on the Aude River.

What’s not to like about a trip on the canal.

Drydocked and refurbished. It looked like they were getting ready to refloat it today. Unfortunately we could stay a watch as we had miles to go before we sleep.

Traffic light at a lock.

This lock was so deep it had pipes for the lines.

How they work.

Proof you can teach new sailors old tricks.

The cleats on the four corners of the boat anchor the lines.

There are little things wrong the boat, this is one of them. The cleat was broken when we took rented of the boat. I makes it harder to tie off the line at times.

Our journey will take us beyond Beziers.

Grapes, grapes and more grapes along today’s route.

No people with baskets picking these grapes for wine..

Entrepreneur alongside the canal. Unfortunately we didn’t stop

Where you are sitting sometimes determines whether or not you need to duck.

Note the smashed grill on this boat.

Aqueduct and overflow with towpath from the late 1600’s.

.

Our stopping place for the night appears in the distance.

yes, it is the right place.

Our spot for the night. Note the direction we are facing versus the boat in front of us. So who is going the wrong way? Tune in tomorrow to find out.

This local winemaker was having a free tasting. I really liked his viognier, admitting it was better than the last one I made, though I think my first batch was just as good as his. Had to buy a bottle as the wife also really liked it, but most of it is mine to drink, babe.

Palm to face! I took a photo of the truck rather than the electric motorcycles they were displaying. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you’re an idiot.

Local beer before dinner.

Dessert. Unfortunately other than the 9 raw oysters for the appetizer, what came after that and before this dessert wasn’t nearly as good.. Can’t win them all.

September 11, 2022 Spent the morning in Narbonne then left about 2 PM and traveled approximately 4.5 kilometers up the canal to a lock where we moored for the night.

Morning reflection in the canal

Some 100 years ago there was a large laundry built over canal directly behind us next to the lock.

Sunday morning breakfast of bacon and eggs enjoyed by our shipmates while we walked around the old city area.

Expresso machines in a shop window.

Yesterday afternoon this street was packed with people, early Sunday morning it nearly deserted.

Too early for the shoppers to come out.

A great idea on how to use an old chair seen in front of a flower shop.

Old city area architecture.

Typical street in the old city area.

The place to get your poodle coiffured.

The sign says it all. If you can read French, which i can not.

We were lost for a time in the maze of tiny narrow streets, then suddenly there was the cathedral in front of us.

The back of the cathedral offers distinctively different views from the front.

It is hard to get it all in a photo.

Trying for a natural frame.

Interesting style.

The transept back here was never finished.

This was not supposed to be a bird photo, but these pigeons just had to fly in and land to get in the photo.

Don’t get too excited about another gargoyle gallery. This cathedral had a very poor selection of gargoyles. This one is obviously a dog.

This one resembles a cat and was the next one over from the dog.

A person with an iron collar maybe?

A hound with its head broken off?

Another animal with its head missing. That is all the gargoyles I could see that were worth photographing.

When you wander you never know what you will stumble across.

Back on board the boat, an aperitif to salute the day.

Leaving Narbonne.

Bridge under a bridge above a walkway beside a canal.

No problem with where to go.

Giving the Capt. time away from the wheel.

The night’s mooring alongside the canal near a lock.

A nice quiet, shady spot.

Here the water level was a little above normal.

Our meal was fixed aboard the boat.

Good food, good friends, good times.

And we even had ice cream for dessert.

The mooring even had a guard cat.