We are not the type of people that when they travel schedule every minute being tourists scurrying from one thing to another. Today we did as many others in Sète seem to do, walking along the the canals, visiting the jetty, and savoring the delightful food from the sea.

Making the apartment home for a few days. It is not “clutter”, it is having our things out where they are easy to get to.

We are also back to eating like we usually do. A light breakfast, a meal in the late afternoon and a small snack in the early evening.

Closeup of a trawler along the canal. Fishing is an important part of the economy in Sète.

Marina with cruise ships in the background.

Over the horizon is Africa.

It is a long way out the jetty to the lighthouse and the surface is definitely uneven.

A forest of masts.

A small beach tucked into the corner of the jetty.

Once back at our apartment I went online and the significance of this plaque on the side of the jetty. Here is a link to an article in English that explains more about it.

Colors are real. We are so glad we decided to walk all the way out here.

One of the few signs that also had a brief description in English.

Beautiful model posing in front of the sign.

Old man resting in front of the sign.

I thought it made for an interesting photo.

Reflecting on today’s reflection.

Everything a fishing boat needs.

Bins full of nets.

Interesting how fine the nets are.

My wife spied these two jellyfish right beside the dock we were standing on.

We watch for ten minutes or more as the slowly moved around with the unique motion they have.

We estimated the larger one was a foot across.

The two stages of a boats life.

The walkway we took coming back from the lighthouse.

Our meal was a specialty of Sète.

What is a meal in France without wine? Ms. White or Rosé got to pick the wine.

The dish was way, way beyond delicious.

I used the last of the baguette to wipe my plate, it was that good. There is a story behind how we ordered this dish. We saw a sign in front of the restaurant saying today’s special was paella. That worked well for my wife as she is very hesitant to order anything she doesn’t know what it is. Unfortunately they were out of paella when it came time to order, but the server, who spoke French pointed to the dish we ordered and indicated it was very good. When the dish was placed on the table in front of my wife and she saw the cuttlefish tentacles I was sure what was going to happen. All was well in the end when picked them out, put them on my plate. Remarking how good the food was, she added she wouldn’t have ordered it if she knew what it was, but was glad she didn’t because it was so delicious.

An interesting olive tree.

Note to self: Traiteur means takeaway food, not sit down restaurant. You can easily guess how I learned the meaning of the word.

September 17, 2022 This morning we left our canal boat adventure behind and traveled to the town of Sete where we we spend a few days relaxing and doing some sightseeing. We have rented an apartment and the street it is on turned out to the quintessential French neighborhood street with small shops and restaurants galore. All I can say is my wife did a fantastic job of finding this place.

Morning reflections.

just as the reflection wavers and begins to fad, so is our time on Canal du Midi. But change is always opens new opportunities.

Capt. Jeff and one of his deckhands doing some last minute cleaning. I simply cannot say enough about Capt. Jeff’s unbelievable boat handling skills. He was way beyond awesome no matter what the situation, and some of them were very, very difficult due high winds or extremely tight quarters.

The final inspection. We passed with flying colors.

Check out time at the office.

All six of us being very experienced travels, we tend to travel light.

We all rode together in a taxi to Beziers where my wife and I went to the train station and the other four went to a hotel. It was forty minute train ride to Sete. This is the scene at the Beziers train station as the train was some forty minutes late.

I stood with our bags during the trip, but my wife was lucky and got a seat nearby. At the stop after she took this photo even all the aisles were packed with people.

Sete is right on the Mediterranean. Our apartment is a half block off this canal, though much further up the canal where it widens out and is lined with cafes and restaurants.

Our apartment is on the 2nd floor (third American floor) of this building. Our host turned out to be wonderful, meeting us about a half block from the entrance, then provided us with all the information we needed to have an amazing stay.

Band playing for a birthday party a block from our apartment.

The apartment is perfect for our needs.

The kitchen is small but completely furnished, being just right for two people.

Resting her tired feet. We had been out looking at the neighborhood and shopping for a few groceries.

All the stations on the TV were in French so I connected my computer to the TV and streamed an American football game from a college near where I grew up. It is a small college named Mount Union and they have been the small college national champions many times over the years.

I watched the entire game, which had Mount winning 55-7. Technology and knowing how to use it can be a wonderful thing.

September 16, 2022 Our last day on the canal as we checkout tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock. It was just a short trip to the Le Boat base at Port Cassafieres. We got there before noon and we able to dock at a good slip. The day was spent relaxing and anticipating our next 2 and 1/2 months in Europe and North Africa.

Morning reflection

Most people just pile the mooring lines.

Jeff taught us how easy it is to properly coil the lines.

Such a beautiful day to cruise on Canal du Midi.

Same as yesterday as we are backtracking to our destination. Yesterday was a birder day for the birders on board.

Beyond words. What makes it even better is when one of the birders on board spots a bird and we learn something about a bird we never knew about.

Entering the Le Boat base.

My wife, the farm girl, was an awesome deckhand, willing to do anything.

With our last mooring completed it was time for the ceremonial tossing away of my deckhand gloves. Into the trash can they go.

Our lunch at the base. Easy to guess what was whose.

The last happy hour.

Why, you may ask, is the canopy at such an odd angle. It was to to block the wind and it functioned very well.

It sure was pretty waving in the wind.

The last sunset on a most awesomest two weeks.

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.