Friday 26th June 2009 below Fresquels to Millegrand

Getting warmer again. Grey clouds to start with and breezy, brightening up towards lunchtime. Up at eight, set the Markon generator up and set off at nine doing washing on the way. Mike had his new voltmeter on the roof for the first time to monitor the Markon output and make fine adjustments on the throttle to maintain the correct voltage. (It was very useful, I’m surprised we hadn’t thought of doing this years ago!). We were at L’Evêque at 9.25 a.m. A shortened péniche was moored on the left, right by the lock with ropes festooned in the trees. Crew breakfasting on deck. There were three hireboats in the lock trying to haul the boats up the wall with their lines - some of them make really hard work of it. The keeper didn’t see us with the péniche and the melée of boats obscuring his view up the canal and started to close the gates until he heard our hooter. Not a word of sorry, I didn’t see you! He looked a little sheepish as he worked the lock and I’d just said - kids! - must have another student on at this one - but it was a fiftyish resident keeper. 800m to Villedubert. It was ready, gates open. The resident lady keeper we’d seen before and she was very chatty. She asked about the painting on the boat of roses and I explained about the tradition. She seemed very interested. She said we would probably get thunderstorms later and I said I was glad we were only going as far as Millegrand. An old black and tan crossed Rotweiler dog, just like old Rocky five toes (a lock keeper’s dog who took a fancy to our two FiFis (both of them half Labrador/half German Shepherds) back in 1994), was wandering around the lock – must be one of his great-great-grandchildren! A LeBoat was waiting to come up as we left. I made a cuppa and got stuck into the ironing as we continued down to Trèbes. A narrowboat we knew was tied to an old stone quay just before the town, it looked shut up and deserted. We paused at the quay before the bridge as our book said there was water there. Our old mate Mike was moored there and we said hello, long time no see. They’d been in the south since 2000 and weren’t planning on going back north as he said it suited them. Easy access to the airport from their home in the UK for flights to Carcassonne and they had someone to look after their boat for them when they’re back in the UK. Said we’d see them again next time and went to get water from by the tourist office on the quay opposite the LeBoat base. I finished off the last of the ironing while Mike filled the tank. He was watching the antics of hireboaters trying to get their boat into the basin moorings opposite. Glad we didn’t own that boat! Set off again just after eleven. 

No one around at the three-rise so Mike went to find the keeper. He came out and worked Trèbes for us. A group of kids on bikes with minders paused by the lock to watch and several walkers with cameras appeared from nowhere. Left the bottom at 11.40 a.m. last lock of the day done. A large British cruiser from Dartmouth went past heading uphill at midday. Two large cruisers, one Belgian the other French, went past fifteen minutes later. Passed through Millepetit, where a hippy youth emerged from a dilapidated yacht without so much as a smile and sauntered off into the cluster of agricultural buildings surrounding an ancient château. 

The next bridge was Millegrand village and we moved on a few hundred metres to the end of a dirt road (loads of dust being blown up by the stiff breeze) and went beyond where a Nichols hireboat had stopped for lunch. It was 12.45 p.m. I gave Mike a hand to get the moped off and he went to collect the car from Frequels and move it on to Homps. Watched the news – Michael Jackson died suddenly, aged fifty, at his home in Los Angeles, probably from a heart attack. Heard from Mike back at Valence that friends with a Dutch Barge from Valence had gone on the Lot and had to turn round because of a sandbank in the river that the VNF hadn’t dredged out; now the water levels had gone down and they couldn’t get off the Lot again until it rains. They may be there some time!