Daughter Wendy had requested that we “go somewhere on the boat this time” – a clear reference to her last visit during September 2017. That was shortly after Karanja’s  epic three-month journey from England to Calais and thence to the south of France – when Roy and I were not keen on going anywhere at all!

Castelsarrasin – click here for my post from last year – may be only 8km from Moissac, but seven locks make it a good three-hour run. After yesterday’s heat, a cool morning with cloudy skies was welcome news.

At the second lock, we were photographed and interviewed by a journalist from La Dépêche (ladepeche.fr) for an article on the subject of VNF Canals. It should be coming out in two weeks’ time, they said – better watch out for that!

Each of the automatic locks between Moissac and Castelsarrasin is activated by twisting a perche, or rod, that is suspended over the canal. As crew, you stand on the prow to watch out for it, and your skipper lines up the boat so that you can grab it, twist it, and then – in our case, anyway – guide it aft so that it doesn’t smack the mast or the wheelhouse. (Does anyone else do this?)

With Wendy on board, there was someone to record these critical moments:

We’d popped into the Castelsarrasin capitainerie a day or two earlier to book the same spot we had last year, directly under the passerelle (passenger bridge) that links the town to le gare (the station).

Despite the sign indicating our booking, including the name and length of our boat, a venerable 111-year-old barge (who shall remain unnamed) had to be requested to move back a few metres. (Here, allow me to refer you to the Facebook group Moored Like a Twat.)

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Anna at the Port de Castelsarrasin Capitainerie is super-friendly – and you can see from the posters how much happens in summer, even in a fairly small town

At number 1 Place Omar Serraut, Le Saint Louis looked fine, but we eventually settled on the neighbouring Bois d’Amour for dinner. Each was offering a prix fixe three course meal (€20) in conjunction with a musical event in honour of the nationwide 21 June Fête de la Musique: 20 to 30 locals line-dancing to mainly Country and Western numbers, some complete with boots and Stetsons.

The food was fine, all things considered: fajitas stuffed with crème fraiche, followed by parika-marinated tender pork kebabs served on sautéed potatoes and topped with a creamy sauce, and then, to finish (or be finished off by), a rich, chocolatey confection .

Morning manifestation

All that was missing from this visit to Castelsarrasin was the tow-path-side pétanque crowd that had enlivened our first visit. In their place, nothing more exciting than a few youths boldly requesting cigarettes; in vain, however, now that Wendy is no longer a smoker. (Well done, Wendy.)

But wait! The peaceful, sunny morning was rudely disrupted  by a series of loud explosions and smoking flares that turned out to be coming from a manifestation (protest) taking place outside the railway station just across the passerelle. “Cheminots vers Service Publique Péril” read the sign. Turns out that les cheminots belong to a railway workers’ union that’s currently on strike.

Homeward bound

As usual, coming down the seven locks from Castelsarrasin back home to Moissac was a lot easier and more pleasant than it had been going up – though no quicker, because we were held up at a couple of locks.

It also helps to have a third crew member to help with ropes, not to mention the crucial role of button-pushing to activate the lock mechanism.