Located on the Med, pretty Narbonne city is about an hour’s drive from Castelnaudary – and we’d never been there. So we filled up with petrol and headed east in our little Renault Twingo in search of some different scenery and perhaps a sea breeze.
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.
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.
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.)
Munching in Montech; walking with Wendy; boiling heat and bingo in Grisolles; Aperol spritz recipe
Daughter Wendy drove 4.5 hours from Marseilles to spend two nights on the boat with us: the first in Montech and the second in Grisolles.
Summer itinerary; travel travails; party people; broken bones; fetching the Twingo; music in Montech
Summer plans
So, after two months in Durban, what’s on the cards for the next four months in France aboard Karanja? Nothing hectic, it must be said. We’ll start the cruising season by heading eastwards along the Canal de Garonne to Toulouse, and spend a week in that lovely city. Then we may continue along the Canal du Midi to Castelnaudury for a few nights, before retracing our steps back to Montech. There, you can join the Canal de Montauban, which takes you to – you guessed it! – Montauban.
Comrades and parkrun; musseling in on Umdloti; Sunday seafood extravaganza
It’s almost mid-June, the nights are starting to cool in Durban, and it’s time to fly north to France. But what a memorable last weekend!
Mauritius, Madagascar and Mozambique – how exotic they sound! And after eight days of prolonged pampering at sea, we were itching to go ashore at Port Louis.
#1 Port Louis, Mauritius
It’s only a four-hour flight to Mauritius from Durban, so it may be surprising that this was my first visit to this African island.
From Perth’s port of Fremantle, it’s eight straight days at sea to Mauritius. Roy had been looking forward tremendously to the many sea days on this cruise – around 15 in total – and he wasn’t disappointed.
What can one say about eight days at sea? On Day One, the prospect seems endless… endless in a good way, if you’re a hardy sailor such as Roy; but if like me you’re already popping the Kwells and calculating whether your stock is sufficient to last all the way to Durban, it may not be an unalloyed delight.
That said, after a couple of days of wind, high swells and general queasiness, I’m happy to report that the sun came out and the Indian Ocean unruffled its feathers, settled down and suddenly turned the mesmerising shade of blue that it should be.
After three months with the family in Perth WA, how comes it that Roy and I are indulging in such an extravagantly long cruise?
Well, my Chief Planner of Travel & Leisure found a ship that could take us from Australia to South Africa – the Viking Sun would be docking in Fremantle port during the 28-night Sydney-to-Durban leg of her Miami-to-London world tour.
