Colombieres to Castelnaudary (Or….We’ve bought a car!)

Mike photo-bombing Neil, Karen and Buddy at Carcassonne

A hot and sunny 3^rd September greeted us and the day got more exciting as a final phone call and email exchange to Aramis Autos meant we had bought a car!  Online!  Without seeing it!!  So we couldn’t relax and believe we’d bought the actual car until we would see it in the flesh the following week.

This is where the fun (stress) now really began though.  As in the UK it is illegal to drive without insurance but unlike the UK, you have to have your insurance in place when you go to collect your new car or they won’t hand it over.  Mike had already been in contact with our bank to get a quote and promptly emailed over the final details of the car.  He had also made a new best friend at BIBA, a broker specialising in insurance for English speakers in Aquitaine region, and Pierre was very keen to find us a good deal.

Meanwhile, we cruised a long 6 hour day to take us to the tiny village of Le Somail, where we squeezed onto a last remaining space opposite the Locaboat hire base.  A visit to the tourist information was followed by their film about how the Canal du Midi was built – yes, I know, we’d seen one yesterday, but this one was free and we were interested to see how this one differed.  It was set up in English for us and was a really good informative and interesting short film – well worth the visit!  Mike retired early with a slight migraine from car buying stress while I barbecued my tea and spent a quiet evening.

The replanting programme on the left - young Plane Tree saplings.

We were quite excited to see another narrowboat - there aren't many in France.

Things got very busy as we approached the lowest bridge on the Canal du Midi at Capestang.

A hotel barge only just squeezes through, whereas we didn't even have to take the parasol down!

By the time we came across this one we'd seen about six and realised that most of the narrowboats in France are down here, most likely sold on and used as living quarters now.  Not many moving at all.

Arriving at Le Somail

The next day as we moved on towards Homps, we tried various techniques in the oval locks to see which suited us best and find what the best position was for us and none of the bollards seemed to be in quite the right place.  We finally settled on a longish front line leading from a central bollard and driving against it to keep the back end in.  Although the locks are feisty, the surge comes down the middle of the oval keeping each boat into the side, until it’s near the top when it suddenly hits off the walls and pushes you out slightly – just as you think you’re almost done!  Whether it’s the heat or being near the end of a long season of hire boats passing through, we found the lock-keepers to be generally very lazy and unhelpful on the Midi.  They have remote control consoles that hang round their necks (like a cinema usherette’s tray), and we did actually go through a couple of locks where we saw no sign at all of the lock keeper and he just operated the lock via this from his office.  How they know if a boat is in trouble I do not know, but we were mainly very unimpressed with them.  We reached Homps, a small town to the east of Carcassonne that we have visited a few times by car, and pulled into a space on the town quay.  After topping up on fuel and food at the rather good supermarket/garage, we got showered and changed and headed to La Bonne Compagnie for a lovely dinner made by a chef from Shipley!

Finding our mojo in the oval locks.

Despite being out of season, each day we were still accompanied by the speeding, chaotic bumper boats and any hope of a tranquil afternoon under the trees had to be postponed until after 7pm when the locks closed and the bumpers were safely bedded for the night.  Our stop after Homps at Marseillete was no exception and finding ourselves on a low quay decided to black the side of the boat we hadn’t done earlier in the year at Melun.  The task was completed with only a few shouts and waves at people to ‘Slow the F!*% down’ from Mike as I tried to keep the masking tape in a straight line……  One day when he shouted at someone, they actually replied with, “Why?”…… where do you start……….

If the sky wasn't so blue, this could almost be in England!

At one of the locks was a sculpture workshop and we were tickled to see a model of Gromit and the Penguin from The Wrong Trousers :)

Yet again this weird way of coming up a staircase leaving the middle gates open......

Just after breakfast the following day, Thursday 6^th, there was a tentative knock and ‘Bonjour?’ and I answered the call of Ben, who after explaining in French he didn’t speak it very well, was relieved to find we were English speakers, as he was.  He and his partner Bella were on a little dutch barge, Bawer, and their alternator had gone and their batteries were flat.  They were wondering if we could jump-start them.  We were happy to try but told them we’d tried to assist a cruiser in Leicester this way and it hadn’t worked, but if they wanted to give it a shot and had long enough leads we were happy to help.  After them trying to pull their boat to us past trees and brambles, we decided it was quicker for us to reverse up to them.  Sadly, by the time we’d extended the leads to reach, the amount of current going through wasn’t strong enough so after a lot of trying and a bit of smoking cables we had to leave them still broken down and we headed of for today’s target Trebes.

We were very excited to be getting to Trebes because it was here that we’d arranged to meet Neil and Karen from NB Chalkhill Blue 2, who were on a driving/camping holiday to Italy where they had rented a cottage in the hills of Tuscany.  They’d arranged their trip so our paths would cross and they’d be spending a day boating with us as a practice run for them bringing their boat over to France next spring.  By now we had got into our mojo for the Midi locks and we were only held up by a two hour wait at the staircase into Trebes, due to the sheer volume of traffic coming and going.  We had not long moored up when a familiar trio appeared, Karen, Neil and Buddy the dog and we enjoyed some champagne on board before a short walk into town and then back out to Le Moulin restaurant for a really lovely dinner.  The evening got cooler, windier and finally wet and we ended up moving to the inside of the restaurant for dinner.  Back at the boat, I decided it was time to get the winter duvet out – autumn was definitely here!

Waiting for the staircase at Trebes

It was late morning when Karen, Neil and Buddy arrived the next day and we pushed off and began our trip to Carcassonne.  Hoping to show Karen and Neil the delights of boating in France, it didn’t start off too well at the first lock when for once the lock-keeper was doing his job and told Mike that he had to switch our engine off.  Mike explained we needed it to keep control of our boat and the lock-keeper got really stroppy and said it was his lock and those were the rules.  Mike explained that it was our boat and we knew what we needed to do to stay safe in the locks but he wasn’t happy.  It was a bit tense to say the least, uncomfortable at best, but eventually he closed the gates behind us and slammed open the sluices allowing us up and through his lock.  We did admire that he clearly takes ownership of his lock and looks after those that pass through it, but he could have done it in a more pleasant way……..

We reassured Neil and Karen that this was the first time this had happened to us, that normally the lock-keepers are fine, they either ignore you or are pleasant and helpful.

It was really nice having Karen and Neil on board and Mike was quick to hand the tiller over to Neil who took us up and through the last few locks to Carcassonne.  Just below the last staircase before you go up they were taking down some of the diseased plane trees with the biggest pair of clippers any of us had ever seen.

I'm sure we heard them scream :(

Although it had been drizzling when we left Trebes the day soon got very hot and we made sure Buddy had plenty of drinks.

First lock of the staircase into Carcassonne

And the next after rising a few inches in the basin in between.

We moored on a free mooring just before the town centre and then headed into town for a quick explore.  First off we checked the times for the bus for Karen and Neil to get back to Trebes and just had time for a quick supermarket shop and a beer in the square before they headed for the bus and we went back to the boat.

An hour or so later, I nipped out to get some shopping only to bump into Neil at the bridge over the lock – they should’ve been back in Trebes, and Neil went on to explain that having waited for the bus, when it arrived the driver explained that Buddy wasn’t allowed on the bus – only dogs who can fit on your lap are allowed!  So bizarre, as you can take dogs into restaurants here and the waiting staff will fuss them as they serve your food – but they’re not allowed to sit on the floor between your legs on a bus…………  Anyway, they’d then come to the station to find a taxi but had had to phone for one, which hadn’t arrived, so Neil was now thinking he’d need to get the next bus back alone, pick up their car at Trebes and then drive back for Karen and Buddy…. What a palaver and such an annoying end to such a great day……  As it happened, Neil missed the bus as it was early (compared to the previous one which was late), but they managed to get another taxi, who happily took Buddy, and eventually got back to Trebes.

We had a lazy start the next day before heading through town to the Medieval Cite that Carcassonne is famed for.  We really like Carcassonne and it was nice to be there on a nice warm, sunny day compared to the winter months we’d spent there in 2016.  We found our way to the restaurant L’Auberge de L’ise, where we’d had a great meal in 2016 and they managed to fit us in for a lunch on the terrace which was just as good as the last time.

Karen and Neil had also arrived by car and having had a quick look round the bustling with tourists cite, had made a hasty exit back down towards town, so we caught them up and had a cooling drink before walking back into town together.  We then parted ways as they would continue on their way eastwards now and we’d continue west along the canal.

The tourist train at Carcassonne

All of us in the square :)

I do love you darling :)

The morning of Sunday 9^th was distinctly autumnal with overcast skies and leaves blowing across the roof as we made our way through the lock at Carcassonne and wound our way 15km and through 5 locks to a lovely rural mooring at Villesqueland.  The quiet moorings soon filled up and hearing a pipe band we followed the sound through the town only to find that the event had now ended and everyone had gone home.  After the bustle of Carcassonne it was lovely to be in the middle of nowhere and we spent a lovely quiet evening.

Carcassone port

A deep cutting takes you out of the town centre

And peace and quiet is restored.........

The next day we had our second lock-keeper asking us to put the engine off, but his lock-side manner was a bit better than his colleague from the previous encounter and he explained that the flow from our engine running would prevent the gates from closing properly and the lock wouldn’t operate.  Mike just looked at him, smiled and said bullshit, at which the lock-keeper smiled and repeated that we’d need to switch our engine off.  He took a rear line from Mike, but offered to hold on to it around the bollard to hold in the stern as we rose – I was on the front line.  We came up smoothly, as usual the flow pushed us in, until we were a couple of feet from the top when the current became to strong underneath us and came up between us and the wall and the stern started to swing out.  The lock-keeper tried to hold on but 20 tonnes of steel and tonnes of rushing water are no match, so Mike quickly turned the engine on and used it to pull us back in.  The lock-keeper smiled, but no words were exchanged, but I think our point was made……..

At our last lock for the day, we had the most smiley, helpful lock-keeper ever – he was just delightful, helped with the front line and then left us to do what we needed to do.  He spoke a little English so Mike chatted with him as we rose and established that we could moor just above the lock.  Once moored up, Mike got the Ninebot out (for the first time in ages!) and went on about half a kilometre, to find a lovely mooring with an amazing view, so we untied and moved on half a kilometre.  Again, the mooring was only blighted by the bumper boats racing between locks causing a wash that broke over the bank of the canal – I swear this canal probably used to be just wide enough for a narrowboat and they’ve made it wide enough for three widebeams to pass each other!

Not too shabby a view for the night.

On Tuesday we did a very short hop of 5 kilometres and 8 locks as we wanted to be moored up sharpish as we had a telecon with our bank about our car insurance.  Mike had spoken with them on Monday and, as usual in France, it wasn’t straight forward.  Because we haven’t owned a car for the last 18 months, we have no claims.  The French system doesn’t like that.  They want no claims with no breaks, but our bank advised that if they’d accept our no claims up to November 2016, we’d be looking at 1000 euros for one year’s insurance!!!!!  Our last insurance for Mike’s Audi TT in the UK was £218……………

Mike’s new best friend Pierre at BIBA insurance had gone very quiet and we were taking this to be a bad sign……….  Despite us chasing him and him knowing we were collecting the car on Thursday, he’d not provided any quotes.

The call with the bank in the afternoon was very short.  They wouldn’t insure us at all.  And they advised that none of the major insurers would insure us because………wait for it……..you’ll love this……….. “……the car you’ve bought is too powerful for your first car.”   Yes…. That’s why they wouldn’t insure us.  Our VW Tiguan 1.4 is too powerful for our first car.  Because despite providing no claims proof from 2008 to 2016, they wouldn’t accept that and were treating us as having never had a car in our lives and this was our first one!  Not sure whether to laugh or cry we started to panic a bit.  What if we actually can’t get insurance?  We’d need to cancel the car which would mean losing the 1000 euro deposit we’d paid.  But we needed a car, so what would we do?  We’d need to buy an old 1.1 engine wreck and try to build up some no claims before we could get the car we want……  If things are this hard in France, is this the right place for us – we were really panicking and thinking this was very bad news indeed.

To try and clear our heads and think what to do, we cycled 4km and back to the supermarket and then back at the boat, Mike rang Pierre.  Pierred asked for 5 minutes then he’d ring us back as he was just finalising a quote.  Good!  He had a quote.  That was positive.  How many thousands would it be for we wondered………  He called us back and could get us insured for 640 euros – woohoooooo!!!!!  Still expensive but more in line with what friends are paying for theirs so we were very happy.  Good old Pierre, he’d saved the day and by the evening, Mike had made the online payment to him and the paperwork we needed to collect the car had arrived in his inbox – phew!!!!!  For us, the moral of the story is; the bank is a bank, they can get us insurance but they are not insurers so if we don’t tick the right boxes the computer will say no – or ring up an astronomical price!  Pierre at BIBA is an insurance broker and deals face to face with the insurance companies and can explain things to them when they may not be quite so straightforward and thus enables a bit of flexibility to the norm.  We were so relieved, I think Pierre will be sorting our all our other insurances when the time comes……

So it was with slightly more excitement and less nerves that we shuffled up into Castelnaudary the next day, where we spent the afternoon sussing out the car hire place (our first time using a local French company, we wanted to be sure our booking was in order), and on my way back from posting some documents to Pierre I noticed the boat Porthos, with Steve on board.  He’d been moored next to us in Roanne and we hadn’t seen him since April, so I  knocked on the door and then rang Mike and we had a lovely evening with wine on Porthos with Steve and then he came along and had some dinner with us on Quaintrelle.  It’s really nice when you catch up with other friends and it was lovely to hear about Steve’s travels this year.

The scenic basin at Castelnaudary

Unfortunately our choice of free mooring was blighted by being hit with the red resin from the trees.  This lands on your boat and looks like rust spots and doesn't wash off :(  We would spend the next week t-cutting it out.....

Steve joins us for some chicken and chorizo paella :)

Tiguan collection day dawned and we were excited and still a bit nervous.  We picked up the hire car and having completed all the paperwork with no problem, the girl couldn’t get the car doors to open…..  A short wait of 10 minutes til a mechanic arrived and we were off taking a leisurely route on the side roads to visit the Obelisque de Richet – a commemorative monument to Paul Richet who conceptualised the Canal du Midi, and a quick visit to what would be our first downhill lock.

At Muret, on the outskirts of Toulouse, we were introduced to our Tiguan and gorgeous she is too!!  We were absolutely delighted (not to mention relieved) to see it was exactly as described on the specification and after a full guided tour of it and its workings we went to complete the paperwork.  Our hearts stopped on very briefly when our sales person asked how we wanted to pay……….  We had made a bank transfer the previous day and asked that the transfer be made at 3pm that day.  I showed her on my bank app that the money had been taken from our account the previous day, so she she made a quick call as she could’nt see the payment on her system.  Thankfully as she was on the phone the money appeared – it was just after 3pm.  Our bank had done as we requested and not released the cash from the account until we had seen the car.  Another big phew!  Once the rest of the paperwork was completed and they tried to sell us a maintenance package we were given the keys and were off.  I took our new car and Mike the rental for the two hour drive to Buzet where the port would store the car until we arrive in a couple of weeks to collect it.

Mike arrived some time after me as we’d forgotten to reset the satnav to use the autoroute, so he was taken a very long way round the back roads.  So at the port, we had a quick steak and chips at the restaurant and then headed off on our two hour journey back to Castelnaudary.

It was a very long, and fairly stressful day with the traffic in and around Toulouse being horrendously busy and we were knackered when we got back to the boat.  But very happy with this!