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 to the amusement of the captain. It was far less effort and made a potentially dull section more fun.

The paddle was pretty uneventful but I love how much thinking time you get on a trip like this. I started to question why I’m doing this blog. Is it ok that I want to share my adventures and thoughts? It seems egotistical to think that people want to read them. I justified it with the fact that I’ve had positive feedback, I enjoy writing, it is part of human nature to share and I’m using the blog to promote things I care about.

I also thought ‘life is too short to worry about what people think of you anyway’. Plus in the end, everyone else is worrying too much about themselves to spare much thought about your actions. So if you want to do something, do it. And even if people do care, do it anyway.

I’ve always had a problem with social media, because it seems to conflict with this attitude – it appears to be centred around getting appreciation and approval from others. Maybe that’s ok and it’s just an evolutionary feature left over from when building trusting relationships was essential for survival. Or maybe I’m being cynical. I feel uncomfortable publishing this, but I will, for the reasons I’ve just given. Sorry, I’ll stop rambling now!

The canal became more industrial and the hum, revs and beeps of Toulouse traffic told me I was nearing the metropolis. I played it safe and stopped at a rowing club about 5km from the city centre where my boat was given a safe home for the night.

Toulouse, known as the pink city after its terracotta bricks, is the 4th largest city in France. I walked into the centre and had a good look around. The Basilique Saint-Sernin de Toulouse was beautiful and I sat in the square listening to a guy playing the guitar. The air was humid and a storm was brewing so I ran back to the rowing club, thunder and lightning in the distance. I slept beneath a dragon boat on its trailer.