Last day on the canal - and it's sunny!

This is exactly how I imagined the canal tour to be. Sun. Blue sky. Nice friends. And good food. Our last day of sailing on Canal du Midi brought the good weather to us and the girls even dressed up in bikinis. We had lots of locks to do today, but we all enjoyed it and here and there cute lock dogs/lock cats greeted us.
In the afternoon we reached our final destination Castelnaudary after sailing a distance of 157 kilometers and passing more than 60 locks. This we celebrated with a magnificent dinner at Restaurant Le Belle Epoque. Bonen and me couldn't resist the cassoulet with duck and goose and some of the girls had a fabulous Maigret de Canard (duck breast). Even the wine (Chateau Sainte-Eulane, Minervois La Livinière 2007, La Cantilène) was the best on the trip, and then we had several good wines.

The castle of Carcassonne

The grey and cold weather continued today but we persevered and visited the enormous medieval castle of Carcassonne. Actually, the oldest fortifications here are 1700 years old but much of what we see now was built in the 13th and 14th century and then extensively renovated during the 19th century. Very interesting.
I felt a bit sick yesterday and it continued today. I think I have a little bit of fever, so taking it a bit slower than usual.
After lunch onboard we left the harbour and continued towards Bram. The weather slowly grew a little bit better and the late afternoon was actually quite nice. We had dinner at the very simple yet charming restaurant Chez Alain - a full menu with three courses and free wine costed no less than €12,50!

Shifting weather on Canal du Midi

The 3rd of May started sunny and warm but grew darker and colder. But we warmed us with an interesting wine tasting at Commanderie Preissan, in the cellar of an impressive mansion.
We had a delicious French lunch on deck and then sailed along the canal to a small village. Now the sky opened itself and it poured down. The wind also picked up. So we stayed on the boat and cooked dinner and played games. Nice as well.
The next morning, the 4th of May, the weather was even worse. Very strong wind and torrential rain. We started driving West but after an hour or so the boat base called and warned that weather would turn really foul and that we should seek harbour. After a tough mooring manouver we found safe haven in Homps. More games, reading and socialising kept us busy. When you have such a nice bunch of people onboard the weather can't stop you from having fun. In the evening we ran through the storm to a restaurant for a great meal.
The next morning the sun was visible for a short time, the rain had stopped and the wind was somewhat weaker. Nice! So we continued Westwards through a number of cute villages. At every lock we were greeted by the lock dog who always seemed to be a very sociable four-legger.
The landscapes here are stunningly beautiful. Unfortunately due to the weather I don't have as stunning photos, but here are a few.
In the evening we reached Carcassone with it's large fortress. Of course we played the game Carcassone while being here :-)

First days on Canal du Midi

Our first two days on Canal du Midi has been fabulous. Of course, the French closed down their country completely the 1st of May, Labour Day, including all the locks on the canal. Nobody cared to tell us about this when we planned the trip, even though I called them two days in advance just to check the opening time of the locks. so first day we could only sail 30 minutes...
But we met an Australian crew that was stuck for 39 hours in front a closed lock, so we were lucky. And we found a lovely restaurant in Portiragnes (where the first closed lock was) and a farmer that sold us his own fresh strawberries and wine. You have to adapt :-)
The next day we managed to make it through all the locks as the first boat, just in time to pass the beautiful aqueduct over the river at Béziers and then climb the Fonserranes lock stair (six locks in a row) before they closed for four hours. The sun was shining and we had an al fresco lunch on the fly bridge. Later on we visited the medieval villages of Colombiers and Poilhès.
Capestang was our port for the night. This ancient little town has an impressive cathedral with an incredibly cute square in front of it. Of course we had to have a pastis at Café de la Paix under the platans. Then a delicious dinner in the backyard of an old winery.
This morning Hanna joined us so now the crew is complete. Time to sail on!