Autumn Sightseeing

So after months of laziness and after hundreds of requests (well none actually) I will once again take up my pen and bore everybody with an account of what we have been up to since our last missive.

On our return to France after our adventures on the narrowboat in the UK, we had to make ready for a trip down the canal to Meilhan to attend Malcolm’s (BODY AND SOUL) 70th birthday party. Also to this bash had been invited our very good friends Nicci and Peter of AURIGNY, but as their boat was miles away on the Canal du Midi we offered them a few days on Riccall as we travelled there and back.

They joined us by motorbike at a little Halte Nautique, Lagruère, where unexpectedly Ken and Rhonda also dropped in (by car) and we all had a jolly supper at the restaurant. The following day we set off for Meilhan passing CONNIE, also en route to the same party and said hello to Charles and Caroline who had stopped for a late lunch.

When we arrived in Meilhan and had moored into our reserved berth we said hello to all and sundry boat owners and settled down to some serious socialising. Late that evening we discovered to our horror that the do was to have a 1920s flavour complete with 1920s clothing. Some intensive research on the internet the next morning then ensued to discover just what men did wear in the 20s. Ladies’ wear is OK, we all know about that – long and lean and boyish (spot on for me then! – Louise) but the men’s kit was not so easy. However, we did a rootle around and managed to put together an outfit each of reasonable authenticity (to a blind man on a galloping horse anyway). But you must judge yourselves from the pictures. Everyone had made such an effort we were glad we had too and hadn’t let the side down.

The lunch time party was great with lovely nibbles provided by Malcolm’s wife Lucie and helpers and the main course was excellent fish and chips provided by a mobile fish and chip van from nearby Moissac. What a great idea of Lucie’s for feeding 60 guests.

Excellent musical entertainment was provided during and after the feast by Malcolm on piano, his brother on clarinet and a wandering minstrel or two on double bass. Also having a go were a couple of young lads whose voices, self-confidence and skill were way beyond their age of 13 or 14. Later on, Malcolm’s vocalist daughter joined in too – a real family do.

The weather held until about 6pm when rain stopped play which was a shame, as many people returned to their boats, so we decided with so many friends around we would stay on at Meilhan an extra day and enjoyed catching up with some and having a lovely lunch at the nearby restaurant, courtesy of Peter and Nicci.

So next day we returned to Lagruère for an excellent evening barbeque then a morning farewell as Peter and Nicci set off on their motorbike to return to Aurigny around 4 hours drive away, and we returned upstream to Buzet. A really great 5 days ‘holiday’.

We took a couple of day trips by car, including one to a town called Condom (we just had to have a look at it!) which wasn’t too exciting in the event apart from its wonderful sculpture of the three (4) Musketeers, but nearby was a charming hilltop fortified village called Larrassingle and another lovely village with a completely circular central ‘square’ – Fources. One of the main aims of this day trip was to stock up on some excellent wine, a bottle of which Stuart and Christine from HILDA MAY had given us when they came for drinks.

There has been no chance for us on Riccall to get onto the River Lot this year. The river/canal situation here is very complicated: we are moored on the Canal Lateral a la Garonne at Buzet. The River Garonne flows in a roughly parallel course a mile or so away. The River Baïse is essentially a tributary of the River Garonne but has to pass under the canal to reach its confluence. The River Lot is another tributary of the Garonne but a little further downstream. So to get onto the River Lot, which is beautiful, from Buzet you have to descend two locks onto the Baïse, travel down the Baïse for about 4 kms, descend a lock onto the Garonne, travel 4 kms on the Garonne, and then ascend a lock onto the River Lot. Now everyone says this is all very worthwhile because the Lot is so lovely, but the problem is that if the Garonne is low, as it has been all this summer and autumn, there is not enough water in it to enable Riccall to traverse the 4kms downstream. But we have friends on PEABODY, Ced and Suzie, whose boat draws less than Riccall and who made it onto the Lot in the early spring. Their problem was, and still is, that they cannot get back off the Lot until there is more water in the Garonne river!

We joined them on a Tuesday morning and had a truly lovely cruise up the Lot as far as Villeneuve sur Lot, then moored for the night and had a barbeque in the mild evening air. The next day Ced returned us to our car and we drove back to Buzet. So we have had a little taster of the Lot and very nice it was too.

Shortly after that Jane and Guy, our mooring ‘neighbours’ on our pontoon at Buzet on their wide beam narrow boat ROSE OF TRALEE, came for supper and then a few days later Ken and Rhonda (SOMEWHERE) came for supper and stayed the night.

Next in the list of autumn out and about-ing was a day trip to Condom (yes, we just couldn’t miss that one out!) and another on ROSE OF TRALEE onto the Baïse, the other river in the area that we can’t do due to Riccall’s draught. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip, even if Alex did manage to take a bit of the shine off ROSE’s bow as he brought her into moor!

While making last minute touches to the preparations for our next visitors Nick and Gail of MAGELLAN one morning a few days later, we received a text from Judith of NOORDSTER, moored just half a kilometre upstream from us in the second Buzet port. The boat was aground and she wondered if we could help with any suggestions. We went along there on our bikes and after several attempts with ropes strung across the canal and well-intentioned but useless help from hire boats we gave up, and had to leave poor Judith to try and enlist the help of the VNF. We couldn’t stay longer as our visitors were driving over shortly for lunch and we knew they would be with us for most of the afternoon. However, when they left after a good lunch and chat, we texted Judith to see how she was doing. No luck with the VNF, so we offered to go up in Riccall and pull NOORDSTER free. So we extracted RICCALL from her fairly enclosed mooring and trundled up to NOORDSTER. Here we drew up alongside and tied slightly loose ropes for and aft. Then with a heave backwards then forwards NOORDSTER slid of the bottom and into the channel so fast that Judith was left on the shore! Fortunately Terry, acting as temporary crew, was still aboard NOORDSTER so Jude had to shout instructions on how to start the engine then get the boat back to a place where she could get aboard. All of this, much to the amusement of the crowd of motorhome gongoozlers who were looking on!

Meanwhile, we had unhitched ourselves, done a 180 degree turn in the wide section beyond and were heading back to our own port. The whole operation took less than an hour – amazing!

The American couple Walt and Gail on LES VIEUX PAPILLONS are moored here in Buzet for the winter and invited us round for what they referred to as ‘drinks’, but curiously asked us if we were vegetarian! So, intrigued, we set off for what we would normally expect to be a couple of hours at most, but Walt kept bringing more goodies to eat and different things to drink, including $100-a-bottle Tequila, so we didn’t leave until after 10.30! Still it was a great fun evening and no way did we need anything more to eat or drink that night!

Another 70th birthday party arrived the next week – Ken’s of SOMEWHERE. Rhonda had booked a table for 9 of us at a lovely little restaurant lockside a short distance downstream from here. Le Pichet et La Chope (Pitcher and Jug) is owned and run by a Belgian couple and we have eaten there before – jolly good too. Alex doesn’t really like drinking at lunchtimes so he elected to drive – it’s only 15 minutes away. Louise had been hunting for a suitable gift(s) for Ken and had found a lovely ‘coffee table’ book on the Ile de Ré and a barbecuing apron, and Alex had come up with some English beers. As we were getting ready to set off, Louise jokingly tried on a pair of pink hotpants which she had bought in the UK for the French summer. Knowing that Ken really admires Louise’s legs (comments on which have even been made on their own blog!) Alex suggested that she went dressed like that! Er no! The compromise was that she wore a calf length brown skirt over the hot pants, then when we arrived Louise handed over the presents to Ken and said that she had one more present for him, at which she proceeded to undo and drop the skirt! Well that brought the house down – Ken was gratifyingly amazed, but one of the male guests, who we had only met briefly before, was transfixed – open jawed!!! Anyway, everybody thought it a good joke and Louise sat next to Ken so he could get an eyeful until the afternoon cooled off a bit and the skirt went back on!

All in all a busy few days, so we did nothing the next week until we set off for a few days helping Gill and Brian near Gaillac with their new house plans. We then drove to Bergerac via lovely Monpazier and Cahors and spent a night in the best chambre d’hotes we have been to for 17 years, near Monbaziac. In fact, when we were shown our room Alex wondered if the price had actually been €55 per person rather than for the pair of us! Actually we probably wouldn’t have minded too much if it had been, such good value was it: huge bedroom, queen sized bed, generous en-suite bathroom, separate en suite loo, private outside patio with table and chairs, shared swimming pool, other outside seating areas and shady terrace, use of barbeque with own food if required (which could be stored in the fridge till required), the list goes on, and a very pleasant English couple running it.

The next day we had lunch with Sue and Richard Adams (Louise and Sue worked together at Fenwicks) at their small farm near Duras, then found ourselves another B & B near St Emilion. This one wasn’t such good value, but facilities for us to cook our own supper somewhat made up for it.

And then – we drove up to the Ile de Ré. We had been very impressed by the book we’d bought Ken on this island, though initially we had no idea where it was! It turned out to be an island off the coast opposite La Rochelle. There used to be a causeway over to the island, like Holy Island, but that has now been replaced by a huge bridge - €9 charge to get onto the island, but it’s free to get off again!

It’s an amazing place with a lot of old fortifications, but its main claims to fame are its mussel and oyster beds and its sea salt production.

The villages are small, the houses typical fishermen’s cottages in the main, all painted white with GREEN doors. It doesn’t seem to matter what shade of green, just so long as they are all green! Its easy to get lost if you stray from the main road, but the villages are not very big, so you soon emerge into the daylight again as it were, and wonder where you have got to. Between the villages, each with its own little harbour, are the mussel and oyster beds along the shore line and a bit further inland are the salt drying lagoons with sluices to let the seawater in, then hold it there while the water evaporates, leaving the salt crystals.

At the end of the island, needless to say, is the lighthouse, up which we could and had to go and what a view from the top!

It is the most charming place – a world of its own somehow, away from the run-of-the-mill rest of France and a delightful destination.

Although we had a list of 4 chambres d’hotes on the island we hadn’t booked anywhere, hoping to do so ad hoc. Then Louise spotted a hotel which had been listed in the Tourist Information handout, and before Alex could blink, she’d popped in and booked a room for the night – not expensive, but breakfast at €8 each a bit much for us – after all, you only get bread, maybe a croissant if you’re lucky and coffee! We dropped into the local supermarket and bought cornflakes, muesli, orange juice and milk. Alex sweet-talked the hotel staff into a spot in their fridge for the milk and orange so that was OK. In the morning we just had breakfast in our room (we always carry spoons and bowls in the car) and coffee and tea in the local café. Cheapskates? Us?

The previous evening we had had a nice meal in a local restaurant with rather a nice bottle of Ile de Ré wine. Our waiter was a really nice young man who spoke excellent English. We had earlier helped him to get his outside menu lit up (!) so he was happy to chat, and told us where we could buy this wine at the cooperative cave on the island and that of course it would be much cheaper than the €17 we had paid in the restaurant and only available on the island.

As we were leaving the island, we had one last village to look at and almost by chance we also found the cave close by. Indeed the wine was only about €4 a bottle for 12 or more so we bought 2 dozen.

We left the Ile de Ré over the magnificent bridge and headed off on a wild goose chase into the suburbs of La Rochelle where Alex thought were some WW2 submarine pens to be seen. Well we didn’t see them – more research required. All we got for our trouble was being flashed by a sign that said we were in a 30 kph zone and that we now had a fine and points on the licence for exceeding the limit! and the cheapest diesel we have found in France so far. So you win some, you lose some.

We drove down the coast a bit, then out to a nice restaurant at the very end of a spit of land which juts out into the ocean, where we had a lovely seafood lunch, then further down the coast and a ferry across what is essentially the mouth of the Dordogne and Garonne rivers. The diversion to avoid the €29 charge would take hours so the audience is somewhat captive – plenty of people were clearly prepared to pay this extortionate charge for a 20 minute crossing. And then after a tedious hour and a half’s driving we found ourselves negotiating the Bordeaux ring road at 5pm on a Friday evening. I mean, how good was that!

An hour and 20k later and we were at last on the homeward stretch of motorway when a sign popped up saying that our exit, No 6, was closed and the alternatives were either to take No 5, 20kms before ours, or No 7, 30kms after. So a rather tedious end to the journey as well, but hey ho, it’s all fun really, especially some of the backwoods roads our GPS takes us on. At one point we were sure we were on the canal towpath, not on a proper road!