Month: September 2021
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Day 34: Negra to (near) Lasbordes
Today I reached the highest point of the canal, the Seuil de Naurouze, at 190 metres above sea level. It’s cool to think that water splits here, some flowing to the Med, some to the Atlantic. I have portaged up over about 80 locks, and now for the next 70 I will be going downhill.…
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Day 33: Toulouse to Negra
I left the rowing club at 8 am and paddled into the centre of Toulouse. I negotiated a few portages and stopped outside the train station, looking a little out of place with my boat on the street. For a few hours I wrote, happily getting interrupted by people asking about my boat and trip.…
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Day 32: Montech to Tolouse
I had a chilled morning with Dede and Manu talking and looking around the farm. After a big plate of spaghetti, I set off for Toulouse, with 16 glorious lock-free kilometres to begin the day. I was having a rest when I heard a yacht approaching. For the next hour, I sat on its wake…
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Day 31: (near) Moissac to Montech
I’m writing this walking along the canal into Toulouse and wow, yesterday seems an age ago, I have to stretch back in my mind to recall it. I start each day having forgotten the effort I put in the day before. The first 40 minutes are often sore as my muscles warm up, and then…
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Day 30: Agen to (near) Moissac
The air had the feeling of a hot day approaching, the sun melting off the last of the morning mist from the wooded hills surrounding Agen. I had breakfast and said goodbyes before heading to the Agen aqueduct. Stretching 1/2 kilometre over the river Garonne, I had a great view of the valley below. I…
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Day 29: Villeton to Agen
The day started with a candidate for the most disgusting loo of the trip and another chilly mist. I winced as I got into my wet clothes and then got paddling to warm up. At Damazan I stopped for a refuel. There was a choice of three boulangeries in this tiny village and it was…
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Day 28: Castets-en-Dorthe to Villeton
The day felt chilly at first and wisps of mist swirled over the surface of the canal. I chatted to the cycle tourists and then set off. I’ve done very little research so don’t know what to expect on this next section, it’s quite exciting. The weed in the canal was all stretched towards me,…
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Day 27: Port Barsac to Castets-en-Dorthe
The last few nights I haven’t slept much so I was happy to wake at 9.30. It did mean however, that I’d missed the morning tide. I quite easily filled the day with eating, stretching, blogging, faffing and going for a walk. I left at 4 pm when, by my calculations, the tide should’ve been…
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Day 26: Bordeaux to Port de Barsac
I ended up sleeping on some scaffolding above the restaurant under the shelter of the roof. While it was nice to stay dry as rain hammered down, I woke up at 4 am, my face and hands puffy with mosquito bites. I spent another couple of tormented hours with mozzies whining around my face before…
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Day 25: Pauillac to Bordeaux
I spent the morning walking the streets of Pauillac. People paced hurriedly between shopfront canopies or held umbrellas, the day grey and rainy. Pauillac produces some of the best wine in Bordeaux, but not much else goes on there. I sampled the boulangerie and chatted to the harbour master while I waited for the tide…