Castelnaudary Part Two: Port Stories, 3-7 July

Pizza, fisticuffs and the drunken sailor; Bill, Winnie and Gretige Henriette; antiques and anchovies; back to Chez David

 Castelnaudary – or simply “Castel” to locals or wannabe-locals – is one of the Canal du Midi’s prettiest ports.  We had a great first visit in 2017; click here to read all about that.

Castelnaudary Part One – Getting there from Toulouse, 30 June to 3 July

Port Saint-Sauveur vanishing bike act; champagne at Castanet; Bo Peep and her boathook; my many and multifarious roles; lunch hour rules; important-little-towel philosophy; sympathetic éclusier at Sanglier; Le Diné at Port-Lauragais; the insightful M. Riches from La Rochelle

In the wee hours of our last day in Port Saint-Sauveur, Toulouse, neighbour Hans (Comtesse) had a bike nicked from our shared pontoon. In full view of the surveillance camera, someone had come through the gate – must have had a key – and carried the thing away, lock and all.

Everything Toulouse! – 24-29 June

Welcome to the Canal du Midi; high drama in Bayage lock; Victor Hugo market; Toulouse dry docks; IKEA is cool; double martyrdom at Saint-Sernin; cultural cuisine at L’Ouverture

Having waved off daughter Wendy, who was returning to her job in Marseilles, we set off from Grisolles. Lock Emballens was followed by Castelnau, l’Hers – and it was at L’Hers that Roy resolved to push on to Toulouse, rather than moor somewhere overnight. (L’His decision, not L’Hers.)