Le Fin!!! The End!!

Dear Family and Friends  

Our friends Keith and Margaret from Edmonton arrived for a 2 week visit near the end of September. We took the train to Bordeaux to meet them which gave us an opportunity to see the city as we wouldn’t go that far on Calypso. Even though they arrived with colds – which they kindly shared with Phil – they were still able to take part in cruising and tourist activities. It was wonderful to have help in the locks - made it a holiday for us!! They seemed to enjoy cruising along the Canal du Midi and the Canal Lateral à la Garonne admiring the little villages, the serene canal and the changing country side even though at times the weather didn’t cooperate.  As members of a wine club at home, they loved sampling the different wines native to France. After a week in Paris and travelling to Tours and Bordeaux, they were slightly French-fooded out but we still managed to have a few gastronomic treats – the famous cassoulet among them. But for the most part Keith’s new favourite dish - and best ami - was the beautiful French omelet! 

    Rows and rows of vines! 

    Ready to Harvest 

We enjoyed a short stay in both Castelnaudary and Toulouse. Both cities were wonderful but the captain and I especially loved Toulouse. After Paris, it is our favourite large city and I hope to go back someday. It is known as the Rose City because a lot of the buildings are built with red brick as opposed to the lighter limestone bricks of other towns and cities in the south. It also has amazing parks, pedestrian only streets in the heart of the city and museums and art galleries. Not to mention the incredible churches and monasteries.   

Toulouse has the Vierge Noire (Black Madonna) 

                                                   And fabulous parks and green spaces 

          And sits on the banks of the Garonne

Bordeaux is similar to Paris in that many of its buildings are from the 1840’s Napoleon III period. Built at the mouth of the Garonne river, much of its prosperity came from being a major trading port to and from the rest of the world.  

With Keith and Margaret in Bordeaux 

                                                          Monument to the Girondins 

          Bridge over the Garonne River at Bordeaux 

We had one more amazing adventure when we rented a car and the four of us headed off on a whirlwind tour of the upper Lot and Dordogne Rivers, down to Albi and back to Moissac where the boat is moored for the winter. OMG – how gorgeous! We had the most amazing hotel room which looked across to Saint Cirq Lapopie, one of the most delightful villages ever. But it was rivalled by Rocamadour which is built right into the hillside above the Dordogne River.  And the icing on the cake was Cordes, a  hilltop village with a steep climb to the remains of a castle at the top. Stunning – all of it! We didn’t have enough time to do Albi justice so I am definitely going back to this part of France. I’m hoping to talk my friend Susan and anyone else who wants to join us to do it in the near future! Walking or biking would be the best way to see it the next time. 

 Rocamadour  - built right into the hillside

                                                   Saint Cirq Lapopie – gorgeous view from our hotel

            Saint Cirq Lapopie is stunning 

.                                                                       ... and fabulous 

       The Lot River – notice the lock on the right  

                                                               Climbing to the top of Cordes 

We are still overwhelmed by what a great summer it was. We saw and did so much that at times it is hard to take it all in. From the charming Canal du Nivernais, the mighty (read terrifying) Rhone, the Carmargue, the Mediterranean and finally the Canal du Midi!! Our side trips to the Cote d’Azur, Cathar country, the Black Mountains, Perpignan and Collioure on the Med and the Dordogne and Lot Valleys were awesome – we couldn’t pick a favourite – they were all great. I’m in sensory overload just thinking about it! 

After four summers travelling through 3 countries, 25 different canals and rivers, approximately 3100 kms and over 600 locks, we have reached our final destination! Our goal was to get to Carcassonne and Castelnaudry in the south of France and we did it! Sadly, Calypso is up for sale but we take heart knowing that the next couple who own her will have as much fun as we did. 

Our lovely little Calypso was a very comfortable home on the water, giving us all the amenities we could wish for as well as fostering a life style that finds us living in the great outdoors - something that’s not always possible in Canada. Our aft deck became a second living room where we drank our coffee every morning and ate a lot of our lunches and suppers. On cruising days the Captain sat perched at the wheel on the captain’s swivel chair and the Matelot sat beside him on her folding chair tucked in beside the steering station and the starboard rail. On non-cruising days we both sat in our folding chairs reading, researching and drinking but mostly people-watching. It was an absolutely delightful experience in every way – both the great times and the scary times.   

   

                                                                Our lovely little Calypso 

Along the way we met so many amazing people - some of whom will become lifelong friends - cruised through a multitude of wine regions, visited stunning historical monuments, villages, towns and cities. It was also an amazing learning experience. We came to appreciate the different nuances of culture, language, geography and economical regions within the same country – something you can only know if you’ve lived in the region as a local for a period of time. Truly we’ve accumulated a lifetime of memories to relive and recall during our golden years.  

So, we sign off what is likely our last blog for some time with mixed emotions. Sad to leave our beloved Calypso but excited about what the future may hold. We don’t know what form the next adventure will take but we are certain there will be one! It may not be as monumentally challenging as buying a boat and cruising with no prior experience, but it will involve travel, meeting new people and seeing new places. And who knows - another blog may appear for your reading entertainment!  

Much love to all 

The Glad to Be Home Captain and the Snuffling Matelot Who Misses Her Little Calypso

..... and we came home to this??????????????????

                                                                   Edmonton in November

Living like a local!

Dear Family and Friends   

So there we were, sitting in Carcassonne for a month. What better place to just sit and enjoy living like a local in the south of France. Carcassonne is a good sized city dominated by La Cité, a fortified castle and walled town perched on a hill above the Aude River and overlooking the La Basse Ville. The lower town, which was also walled at one time, sits between the Canal du Midi and La Cité. Carcassonne has its origins as a Roman colony in 118 BC, moving through the centuries changing hands between the Gauls, Barbarians, Visigoths, Spanish Arabs and finally the Franks/French. The Count’s Castle and the majority of the buildings date from 1130 AD. It was saved from destruction in the 1850’s and has since been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is truly spectacular.

 

                                                                Carcassonne – beautiful walled city 

       River Aude 

While we were moored in Carcassonne, we met a lovely English couple, Jan and Brian Elmes, who cruise on their sailboat for several months each summer. They travel to and from the boat and England by car which also gives them a second mode of transportation as they cruise. They were delightful company and generously offered to include us in a couple of excursions. We headed south of Carcassonne to the heart of Cathar country and climbed up to Chateau Peyrepertuse (say that 10 times really fast!!). It sits atop a rocky outcrop several hundred metres above the valley formed by the junction of the Corbières and Fenouillèdes rivers. It held out against the Cathar Crusaders until 1240. This is also the heart of the Corbières wine region – yummy!!  

     Chateau Peyrepertuse – amazing 

                                                               Walking in history’s footsteps 

We also drove along the Gorges de Galamus. Beautiful limestone rock formations within deep gorges. There was an amazing tiny settlement built into the side of a rock wall – you can only wonder how did they get there and once there, how were they able to build it? The gorge road was built into the side of the gorge and was very twisty. Jan and I both got quite nauseous. But it was seriously stunning.  

      Stopping for coffee in Quillan 

                                                                   Chateau Puilaurens

                                                                                          Say what???? Gorges de Galamus

Another day we drove through the Black Mountains along a scenic route through the gorges and included a stop at Mazamet. Unbelievably, in the 1800’s Mazamet was the world centre for processing sheep’s wool and skins. Shipments of wool came from all over the word especially from Argentina. We couldn’t quite fathom why there, but it just proves that with will and determination, business entrepreneurs can make amazing things happen. It is still a centre for processing sheep’s wool as well as tanneries and dye works. Driving through the countryside also reinforces how much of France’s economy is agriculturally based. The largest being grape vines and tobacco if what we saw was representative. The market loves vices.  

 

      Black Mountains are gorgeous 

                                                      Picnicking beside a water reservoir  

In  Carcassonne we met Malcolm, a retired ex-British Airways pilot and Andrea, a Dutch business woman who live aboard their beautiful barge Tinpan. Andrea’s galley rivals my condo’s kitchen!! How envious was I???? As they are both keen golfers we are hoping that they will visit us once we are settled back in Nanaimo. We also have our fingers crossed that Robert and Christa, Marian and John and Jan and Brian come for a visit. We are anxious to show them how beautiful Canada is but how different it is from the ancient European countries.  

While our stop in Carcassonne was prompted by the unbearable heat, it was a very good decision. We had unexpected adventures as well as planned ones, met wonderful fellow boaters who we hope will be friends for a life time. Our entertainment on board Calypso was sitting on the aft deck watching the hire boats make their way through the canal and locks. We call them “bumper boats” as that is what they do best – bump into everything and anything. The hire boat renters are known as “whale hunters”. Picture them standing at the bow/prow of their boat, harpoon (ie: boat hook) in hand ready to fend off anything in peril in front of them. The spiked front end can actually do a lot of damage to the paint of a boat, so Phil and other boat owners are forever yelling at them to use the blunt rubber end if they need to fend off. But mostly we try to stay out of their way!! 

So here we are – one more blog to go. We will cruise the final two weeks to Moissac where we will leave our beloved Calypso to await new owners who will take her on new adventures. Hopefully her next owners will know more about boats than we did and her new life will be less stressful than living with two neophytes. She was very patient with us and gave us four amazing summers of cruising from northern Holland to the south of France. We will miss her! 

Much love to all

Captain Extraordinaire and the Sensory Overloaded Matelot.

The South of France is glorious!

Dear Family and Friends

There’s hot and then there’s South of France hot!! August was absolutely glorious – blue skies everyday and temperatures in the high 30’s and low 40’s. The only downside is that when we were either in the locks or waiting to enter the locks, the sun was merciless. One day, Phil and I both thought we were going to pass out – we were dizzy, nauseous and sweating buckets. We drank water by the gallon to keep hydrated. However, we have reached the Canal du Midi – our long awaited and much anticipated goal!

The Canal du Midi is as pretty as we had imagined. Sadly though there were a number of places where the fungus attacking the plane trees have left them leafless and stripped bare. They’ve cut down the worst affected and are beginning a replanting of disease resistant trees in their stead. It’s seriously sad to see that trees planted in the 1600’s when the canal was being built by Pierre-Paul Riquet are now in peril. Much of the charm of the canal will be changed and of course the much needed shade that they provided is gone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Beautiful plane trees line the banks

Sadly some are blighted and will soon have to come down

       What a bored lockkeeper does in his spare time!

Capestang was very pretty and is famous (to fellow boaters) for its very low, arched stone bridge. It was a hoot sitting on our aft deck watching some of the hire boats bounce from side to side as they negotiated their way under it. The underside of the bridge is scarred with various colours of paint and rubber left behind by boats that missed the centre path. We, of course, were brilliant!! No prob.

Our next major port of call was Narbonne – an ancient city that was founded by the Romans in 118 BC and was the capital city of Gaul. They’ve excavated part of the Via Domitia - a road that crossed through France from Beaucaire (which is near Arles) to the Pyrenees. The Canal de la Robine splits the city into two sides, with a dramatic difference between them. The north side was very prosperous and well kept while the south side was run down and quite grubby. Interestingly, the south side has the best restaurants! One day we tried to have lunch at a lovely little restaurant near the main square. After waiting forever, the waitress finally took our order. Not complicated – we just wanted an omelet! We waited and waited and were somewhat dismayed as food was delivered to tables whose patrons had arrived after us. Phil was making faces like a person dying of starvation and had a little girl at the next table in stitches! The waitress finally cottoned on to the fact that we weren’t eating and were desperately trying to make one glass of wine last a lifetime. She took our order again and gave us a free glass of wine on the house which on a very, very empty stomach went straight to our heads! Needless to say we staggered back to the boat – a habit that is becoming all too familiar.

      Capestang’s  famously low arched bridge

Narbonne – houses and shops over the canal

       Narbonne’s lovely mooring

While we were there we had a delightful visit with Robert and Christa - our Dutch friends who took Phil up in the airplane (Blog 1). They had friends who have a summer place nearby so they were able to nip into Narbonne. Poor Phil wasn’t feeling at all well, so we weren’t able to take them out to dinner to say thank you for hosting us in Holland but we hope we can reciprocate when they visit us in Canada.

Leaving Calypso in Narbonne, we hopped the train to Perpignan, a lovely Franco-Spanish city that once was the capital of French-Catalonia. It is quite a prosperous city with well-to-do visitors wandering the traffic-free red marble tiled narrow streets filled with shops and stalls and, of course, the ever present restaurants. It was our first opportunity to try Catalan-style food. We lucked out again and arrived during a summer music and dance festival which was fabulous but it also meant that with thousands of extra visitors, the menus were set and we weren’t able to try paella at the recommended restaurant. But we did have their featured menu and it was great - especially the cold gazpacho with its amazing flavours.  Our hotel for 2 nights – once a 15^th century mansion - was right in the centre of town and we could walk to all the major sights.

       Perpignan – gorgeous hotel once a mansion

Perpignan – beautiful gardens

                                               Every inch of space is used - even the side alleys

              Later, our first gazpacho – yummy!!!

Then we continued by train the short distance to Collioure – our very favourite place to date, although Villefranche is a very close second. Phil especially wanted to visit Collioure as it has been a magnet for artists since Matisse settled here in 1905. Phil wanted to wander the streets where Matisse and his disciples painted the harbour, the colourful fishing boats, the mighty Chateau Royal built by the Knights Templar and the Église Notre-Dame-des-Anges. Thousands – well not really but it felt like it – of restaurants. We chose one that was one street back from the beach – it was out of the very hot sun and just a little less hectic. Phil ordered the plat de jour, a gambas and calamari (gross!!!) dish that he loves. I asked the waitress what else was on the menu and she rattled off something in very rapid French. The only word I got was porc – great, I’ll have that. It arrived and was seriously delicious – amazing flavours and textures. After the meal I asked the waitress to tell me what it was – slowly – so I could understand. It turns out it was pork cheeks!!! YUCK. Thank goodness I didn’t know that beforehand or I would never have ordered it and would have missed out on a fabulous dish.

         Collioure – fabulous harbour on the Med

Collioure – view from the fort on the hill

After 4 delightful days off the boat, we headed back to Narbonne to continue our journey back up the Robine to the Midi. Some celestial formation must have crossed our moon in whatever house, as things started to go wrong from day one! Heading toward Gailhousty lock, we were cruising nicely behind another cruiser when a hire boat coming out of the lock and driven by a Russian suddenly veered at a 90 degree angle right into the other cruiser amidships and bent the steel railings right over! He then veered towards us! I grabbed onto the railings for dear life while Phil had the presence of mind to steer gently into the boat’s stern and push it away before it could damage our little Calypso. My hero!!!!

Then the next day, while going through a triple lock, the engine overheated and we had to shut her down – in the lock! – and wait until she cooled off. This happened several times over the next few days. Add this to the ongoing saga of the battery charger, the unbearably hot sun and we were seriously frazzled. And worried of course. Phil tends to go to the worst possible scenario first and I of course try to think positively even in the middle of a major disaster. When we arrived in Trebes, the hire base mechanic came aboard, and bless his little heart, after determining that the impeller itself was fine, he resealed the casing and – Ta da – Calypso is sailing right through those locks now. Simple solution but vital as when air gets into the system, then water can’t cool the engine and things go downhill from there. Luckily it didn’t overheat to any extreme. We were able to catch it just as the temperature began to rise so no damage to the engine.

Now – all we need to sort out is the charger! Piece of cake as it turns out. When we arrived in Carcassonne, we took the train to Moissac, picked up the battery charge, returned to Carcassonne and hired a local mechanic to install it. As Phil was telling him our tale of woe, he asked, “What kind of charger?” Phil told him it was a very good and expensive Waeco – actually, the third one! “Aha” says Loic, our mechanic. Apparently Waeco chargers are famous for not liking the engine being started up while plugged into shore power. And of course for 2 years running, that’s exactly what happened. Each time we arrived to pick up the boat in the spring, we would plug into shore power as we live on the boat while the spring maintenance is finished off. Then of course, the mechanic starts up the engine after the servicing to make sure all is well and promptly blows up the charger!!!! We always unhook the power before we take off (it’s embarrassing to sail away while still plugged in as we’ve discovered to our dismay!) so it is a very easy fix that didn’t involve any expense other than to hook up the new charger that they provided under warranty. When we get home, we will send a scathing letter to Waeco asking them why they don’t at least warn you in their manual – would have saved everyone a lot of grief. We are learning that boats are renowned for niggling problems that can be easily fixed.

             Beautiful Carcassonne  - La Cité is amazing

                                             Le Vieux Pont leads to La Cité – walker’s only

So, as you can tell we are in Carcassonne. The next blog will extol its beauty and virtues. We decided that Carcassonne was as good a place as any to sit for awhile. Cruising in the distressingly hot sun was too much, so here we sit awaiting Keith and Margaret’s arrival and then we will continue cruising to Toulouse and beyond. Including a much anticipated stop at Castelnaudary so we can compare cassoulets de maison!

À bientôt

Much love to all

Captain Worry and his cool calm Matelot

The 7 hour lunch and other stories

Dear Family and Friends

We left Avignon in glorious sunshine, held our breath as we made our way down the last of the Rhone near Arles and released it once we hit the Petite Rhone and the Canal du Rhone à Sete. One last hurdle – there is a huge lock at St Gilles and both of our navigation references made note of it. So we were slightly nervous but really – after the ‘Day from Hell’ – how bad could it be? So we entered it with trepidation wondering would our ropes be long enough, how fast would the water be released, worry, worry, worry. So once again we moored up, secured Calypso to the lock wall and signalled we were ready. The lock gates closed, the water level dropped – a metre!!!!!! – and we sailed out. Looking slightly confused we asked ourselves – “What the heck was all the fuss about????”

     St Gilles lock – NOT scary!

                                               Back to very narrow canals

The next week was very interesting. Aigues Mortes - ‘Place of Dead Waters’ -  is an impressive walled town, very near the Mediterranean (Med for short), with typical narrow streets and lots of cafes, bars, restaurants and shops. We are now in Carmargue country: shallow lagoons – étangs – lie just inland from most of the coast separated from the sea by narrow sandbars and are semi-salt. This is the land of black bulls, white horses and pink flamingoes. The étangs are also the breeding grounds for shellfish – miles and miles of oyster beds especially. Too bad I hate seafood!

     Aigues Mortes

                                                Carmargue white horses

                                                                                         Carmargue black bulls

We left AM and were heading to Carnon to meet up with British friends Keith and Maureen. They had said there was good mooring and the map showed a lovely harbour just off the Midi. We made good time and turned off into the side canal. Ooooh, this looks very shallow and I don’t see any boats our size – oops, it can’t be here. Back up Captain! No, it’s OK – I’ll just go up to the bridge and turn around and we can go out bow first – lot easier. Which we did and which then became a struggle to counter the current that we hadn’t seen and we were now lodged against a small dock with metal sides (Grrrr). Calypso now boasted a lovely new long scratch on the port side – actually it matches the one on the starboard – no biggy! However, no matter how hard we tried the current was too strong for the bow thruster and motor to overcome so Wonderwoman came to the rescue. Quickly hopping off the boat onto the dock, I gave it a mighty push to overcome the current and then stretched my short little stubby legs as far as they would go and hopped back on as Captain gave the engine a burst strong enough to get us to turn away from the dock. Ho hum -    all in a day’s work!

We made our way to Frontignan in time for the annual muscat festival – what a hoot. You bought a wine glass for 2 euros which allowed you to taste as many of the wines from the producers’ tables as your little head and stomach would allow. Did you know that on a hot summer day, wine goes to your head faster than say – a cold winter’s day in Edmonton?? Good thing we weren’t leaving the next morning.

      Frontignan – traditional fishing boat sail past

                                                 Muscat traditional parade

                                                                                       And jousting

OK– one more hurdle to go and we are seriously home free. The Étang du Thau is a very large, massive pond and the winds can get up to strong gale force readings. So the books and every boater you meet say, “Wait for a nice day with no whitecaps.” Do I look stupid? Of course I’m not going out there with anything approaching more than a gentle breeze. John and Jan, another British couple who live in France permanently, have done this about 35 times so we’ll just follow them. Which we did but we left them just before the end of the étang to stop in Marseillan. What a gorgeous little harbour – right across from us on the other side of the quai is the Nouilly Prat distillery which we toured and then bought a bottle of Amber NP which isn’t sold anywhere except Marseillan.

It was also a great stop as we got talking to an English lady who has a house there and she directed us to a good seafood restaurant. The Captain l-o-v-e-s seafood and I’m sure there’s something on the menu I can eat. So we went and I ordered the local fish special for the night and Phil ordered moules gratinée – mussels topped with cheese. The cheese smelled awesome so I mustered up enough courage to ask to try one – the little one in the corner, please! OMG – it was fabulous! So we went back the next night and I had seafood all on my own – in for a penny, in for a pound! Except the squid – no way in H am I ever trying that!!!!

Since you know me so well, you must suspect there’s more to the story. Yep! We checked the weather before leaving Marseillan and were told – no prob! The idiot must have been on drugs! As you can guess the water was choppy, we were tossed around like a cork and I was not – repeat – NOT calm. The Captain sent me below – no better down there as now I can’t stare Death in the face. Luckily it was only a short distance. After what seemed like hours but was only probably 45 minutes, we reached our destination – TaDa – the Canal du Midi!!!!

 

     Etang du Thau’s oyster beds

Marseillan harbour

      Noilly Prat distillery casks

We headed for Vias – a canalside mooring in the country but not far from either Vias itself and Vias plage – the beach on the Med. Jan and John were still there so we met up and we asked them to walk down to the plage and join us for lunch. Vias plage has a very gaudy carnival atmosphere - eating places, tourist shops and thousands of holiday makers in string bikinis! I felt I should be wearing a burka so not to compete! J We ate - where else but a brasserie selling moules et frites – it’s really like one word as they go together in France like fish and chips in Britain. We had a wonderful visit with them – talked and talked and drank and drank. Lunch turned wine tasting, into a crepe for a snack, more wine and then 7 hours later (!!!) we all staggered home.

      Vias plage

Jan and John and Phil

Well, I’ll leave the rest for a later blog – I can feel your impatience – “Is she never going to finish this story?” Actually not – there’s lots more to come including our side trip to Perpignan and Collioure! Stay tuned!

Much love to all

Captain Seafood and his Mussel Eating Matelot