We left the marina bright and early again today to beat the rush into the first lock. We were on our way at just about nine am. We traveled along with no incidences through the beautiful countryside. We came up to a closed lock and while we were tied up we noticed a machine that was pulling out dead trees was tipped over onto its side, over another machine, and half in the water. While we watched, they used a third machine to pull it out.
An Englishman came to talk to us about the lock. He was living with his wife on a very narrow boat, much like the narrowboats found in England. His wife was kind enough to give me a tour through their boat. It is definitely narrow, and it’s still more than a foot wider than traditional narrowboats. We went through several locks with them. A little later we spoke with a man from Australia who was going in the opposite direction.
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Englishman's
wife (above) on the narrowboat and the Englishman below.
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At several locks there were small stands selling souvenirs and snacks too. While we were waiting/shopping at one lock, I noticed a staircase carved high into a mountain. I assumed that there would be beautiful views from the top and asked if anyone wanted to go for a hike. Barbara was game and we climbed up there and were in fact, rewarded with beautiful views.
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Views
- this and next two pictures |
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The
path we hiked to the top of the mountain
|
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Looking
down at the lock from the mountain
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After
passing through a small town, we suddenly found a barge that was
lying straight across the canal! It
had apparently broken loose from its mooring in the stern. They had
drifted across the canal, blocking it completely. So,
we tied up alongside an empty barge, and David, Michael and I went on
shore and walked up to the half moored barge. David
got onto the half moored barge, walked to the end and grabbed hold of
the line that had come loose. He
threw it to Michael and I and an Englishman who was there as
well. The
three of us managed to pull it back across and tied it up. Then we
continued on our way.
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The
barge when we came upon it.
|
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This
was the barge after we retied it.
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We
came to the small town of Paraza where we walked around and found a
wine cave where they were having tastings. We
stayed there for a while, sampling the wine and talking to some folks
from Seattle who there as well. They
were telling us about their very large, very nice Leboat boat.
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Wine
tasting (above and below) |
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First
we saw the sign.....
|
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Then
we met the very lovely dog! |
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Lunch
(above and below) |
Just
after leaving that town, the river made a sharp left turn, went up
for a bit, then made a sharp right. The canal was shaped like a
giant U. As we were coming around the bend of the U, we
met an oncoming boat and we had to put our boat in neutral so as not
to hit them. Then the wind caught us and we ended up
angled across the canal. Michael and I got off the boat
and Barbara threw us the bow line so we could pull our boat back to
the right direction. We got it heading straight and were
walking alongside it as David drove until we could find a safe place
to get back on. Naturally, just at that moment, some idiot
decided he just had to pass us. David came close to shore
so we could hop back on. Michael tried to jump back on but
he couldn’t get hold of the boat or get his feet on and he fell
into the water between the boat and shore, up to his waist. He
was still hanging on and I was screaming to David to stop. I
was afraid he’d get crushed between the boat and the shore. I
reached down to try to grab him by the belt at the back of his pants
and then my left leg slipped down into the canal up to my hip as
well. David moved the boat on away from us, we pulled our
wet selves out and lay there laughing and relieved that no one was
hurt. We got back on board and cleaned ourselves up.
Soon
after we got to the town of Ventenac en Minervois. Michael
decided to take a nap on the boat. In the town, there was
a wine tasting and you could buy wine if you brought your own
containers. We filled two containers and it cost less than
2 euros!
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She
is filling two old beer bottles with rose |
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Our
boat |
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The
place where they let us fill up our bottles with wine. |
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| Store on a boat! |
Then
we wandered around for a while taking pictures before heading back to
the boat. Our
next stop after that was the beautiful town of LeSomail. This
is almost what the Disney version of a small French town would look
like – little canal side restaurants, art galleries, even an
antique book store. We
wandered through all of them. Finally
we ended up back at our boat, where we found Michael back up and well
rested. We
took off for our final destination of the day, Argeliers.
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Paper
creations in an art display (above and below) |
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Looking
at the canal from a bridge in Le Somail |
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Antique
book store
|
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| In La Somail |
We
arrived in Argeliers, which is a very small town, but the canal area
is extremely quiet. There is no marina, just bollards or trees
to tie up to. We went further up to see where we might dock,
but the better spaces were behind us. So, David made a U turn
in the canal, and then made a second U turn so we would be facing the
right way in the morning. We took a walk through the town,
bought some donuts and then gathered chestnuts that we found.
Next a little happy hour before dinner at a restaurant just near the
boat.
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Coming
into Argeliers (house on left is the restaurant where we had dinner
when the man almost drowned) |
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View
from our boat in Argeliers |
The
restaurant we went to was right along the canal, just a bit further
up than we were. The waiter/owner was adorable and friendly and
spoke perfect English. He explained the entire menu to us and
we ordered and ate the most delicious dinner! We had just
ordered dessert, when suddenly a woman started screaming and running
toward the restaurant. She had come from one of the boats
docked along the canal. Of course, she was screaming in French
so we had no idea what she was saying, but everyone in the
restaurant, including our waiter and the chef went running toward
her. You have to understand, that there were only four tables
with patrons sitting outside the restaurant with none inside.
We are literally in the middle of nowhere - there's the canal lined
with boats and nothing but fields on either side. Except for
the restaurant and some lights on boats, it's pitch dark. David
and Michael both ran toward the woman too. Barbara and I were
left alone in the restaurant so we walked down there as well.
It turns out that an 84 year old man had tripped and fallen into the
canal. The screaming woman saw him but couldn't swim.
David said that when he got there, people were shining lights (likely
cell phones) on the water. David saw the guy's face in the
water when suddenly a young man who'd been at the next table, ripped
off his shirt and dove into the dark canal and grabbed the old man.
David and another guy helped pull him from the water. He was
very still and both David and Michael thought for sure he was dead.
We were all standing around this poor old man who was wrapped in a
blanket. Luckily, he began talking and moving a bit so
hopefully he'll be ok. It took a very long time for the
ambulance to arrive. As unfortunate as it was that he fell in,
it was heartwarming to see so
many people jump into action to save an old man. As I named
this blog entry......What a day!
Below
are random pictures we took today......
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The
canal going over a river |
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Inside
a lock
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