Hotter and sunny all day. Mike walked into Puicheric village for bread while I got the boat ready and we set off as soon as he returned.. One hireboat had already gone past heading uphill and one followed us down to Puicheric. The cicadas were getting louder and loads of white butterflies with delicate black markings were flying along the towpath. We arrived at the top of the two-rise to see a very large vessel that we’d seen go past the night before in the top chamber of the staircase. The keeper refilled the top lock and we went in, then a Nautic hire boat came in alongside us. The keeper was very chatty, he told us that he was on holiday and a lady was working the lock today while he was sorting out his stuff for sale to the holidaymakers, boaters, bikers and walkers. We had quite a long chat while the Nautic got in the lock and settled; about Americans being unusually snooty this year, the climate changes affecting cicadas (spreading up beyond Trèbes to Carcassonne, where they never used to have any) and it was getting hotter there earlier than normal and wetter this last winter at Carcassonne. Dropped down the two chambers. Below two more hireboats were waiting to go uphill, one was La Moisaggaise (ex-Moissac big blue boat) and a red hireboat arrived to join them. It was 10.20 a.m. when we left the bottom. I made a cuppa as we set off on the 6.3 kms pound. They’d installed a new wooden landing above the bridge at Laredorte and added electricity to the water point. Beyond the bridge they’d refurbished the old stone quay and added loads of stainless steel posts about 18” high (Mike said to keep cars off, I thought they were for the hireboats to moor stern ends to the bank and take up less space), then, beyond that, there was another new wooden quay where there were loads of Dutch boats moored under the trees; a tjalk for sale, a little Luxe from Friesland and several cruisers. The crew of the Nautic filled up their water tank and followed us to Jouarres. We caught up with the big boat again, creeping very slowly through a narrow brick arched bridge. Two boats were waiting on the other side, a day boat from Homps and a LeBoat, so we let them through first.
Very soon we caught up again with the creeping monster. We met the next uphill LeBoat on the next bend. As the big boat got nearer to the lock it went nearer and nearer to the bank and a bloke on the back stood looking back at us and crossing his arms in an “X” shape. Wondering what this meant, Mike, thinking they might be stopping, said go and ask him what he’s doing and went up right behind it. I asked if they wanted us to overtake, at which the woman steering the monster with a strange looking stainless steel pole for a tiller (it had two very large Z-drives) said sharply No, No, there’s a lock ahead! A VNF van went down the towpath to the lock. A dead ex-hireboat (French) was moored above the lock. We went to the stumps above the lock as the big boat went into the chamber. Our boat crunched on rocks which turned out to be a submerged sloping stone wall (clever place to put stumps for lock waiting - you could see blue paint where loads of boats had stuck on it). The Nautic pulled in behind us and its skipper came to chat with Mike who’d just been to have words with the steerer of the big boat. He got no sense from any of the crew. The crew of the Nautic were Italians from Florence and only the skipper spoke any English, he proudly told us that his two sons were studying English in London and back home he had a sailing boat. They were off to Agde for Saturday but wanted to stop at places that had restaurants so Mike suggested Homps as being a good place to stop. One of the Italian ladies had tottered off down the towpath towards the lock. Mike asked her if she was walking to Homps, she didn’t understand. She bought a bagful of cold drinks and a tray of coffees. Mike said for some reason every time she jumped off their boat her sunglasses fell off. We sent them into Jouarres lock first and they changed sides. Quick change of sides for our rope and fenders again. A UK Broads style cruiser with high bows was waiting below the lock, it went in as we left at midday. We went past the château de Jouarres with its very ornate entrance gateway and the lagoon just beyond it now had chains across the two access channels and signs saying private, no entrance. Homps was filled with hireboats, dead boats, moored tjalks and Dutch Barges. We paused under the last bridge and I stepped off to retrieve my sunglasses from our car which was parked on the quay. As I got off a couple on the bridge stopped and the man shouted “Did you get your ‘fridge sorted out OK?” Then I recognised him as the skipper off the Dutch Barge we met at Lacourt. (Didn’t see his boat though.) They went off to the restaurant, La Péniche. The large slow boat had moored just beyond the bridge; its crew waved as we passed. Two hireboats passed us, the last lockful uphill before lunch at Homps lock. Two hireboats were moored above the lock, no signs of life on board, and we tied to the tree roots behind them and had some lunch. Still no signs of life on the hireboats at 1.30 p.m. so we untied to push over to the far side but the lock gates opened so we went in. The keeper, a rough looking thirtysomething bloke, was a rare old control freak. He insisted on us having two ropes; my centre rope was OK but Mike had to put one out off the stern. Mike tried to reason with the keeper but, for the second time in one day, got no sense out of him. (Too used to ordering hireboaters about!) Two more hireboats joined us in the lock, both LeBoats. There was only just enough length for them, the one at the back ran into the back of the one in front, then the one at the front got his bows hung up on the gates and the keeper had to close the paddles at the tail end and reopen the top end ones to refill the lock until the boat could get its bows free of the gate. A wide narrowboat we’d met before was waiting below to go up. I told them to watch out as the keeper was a control freak and he was the first on the Midi to order us to use two ropes when going downhill. Followed our two LeBoats down to Ognon two-rise. Had to hoot as the Brits on the second boat had got a line off on either side of the lock as their boat was diagonal in the chamber! They shoved over and gave us enough room to enter the lock. Back to using just our centre rope and not a word from this keeper. Followed the two hireboats 3 kms down to Pechlaurier, another two-rise. Two hireboats came uphill and we followed our two into the lock. We were down in no time. Below the lock we passed a guy in a canoe with camping gear. As the lock gates had just closed behind us we asked if he wanted to go up to which he replied no, he was going downhill and was just waiting for us to go past. He’d put his canoe in at Castets and was heading for the Med. He followed us a short way before stopping. A small Luxe (looking in real need of some TLC) was moored just before Argens-Minervois. Past the new basin with nearly forty Locaboats still moored, waiting to be hired.
The two hireboats we were following were tied above Argens lock, waiting. As there was no shade by the lock we waited under the last of the trees. It took ages to get the two hireboats coming uphill into the lock and fill it. Another hireboat arrived behind us so we motored slowly down to join the other two. Then we realised why the lock was so slow - the keeper was selling drinks, etc, to the boaters and walkers and was occupied with that as well as working the lock. He grunted when we went in and realised there wasn’t enough room behind us for the one who’d just arrived. Tant pis! (I’d marked on our old guide to the Canal du Midi that he was a bad-tempered lock keeper, so nothing had changed there then!) A young French couple from a hireboat below came up to speak to him and said it was their first lock and wanted to see how it worked. He grunted at them but gave them no practical advice. I was tempted, but kept my mouth shut! As they went out of the lock the Brits on the second hireboat lost one of their fenders (in true bumper boat fashion they went from side to side of the lock entrance going in and out) so they had to stop and fish it out. It was almost four o'clock as we set off on the long pound, 54.2 kms to the top of Fonserannes at Beziers. Just after the lock we passed a line of moored boats.
Among them was a “houseboat” (it said) that was for sale; newly refurbished, it had a shed on the back, a small outboard motor, some very strange looking side panels and outward opening windows, plus it sported British SSR plates! Next to it was an old narrowboat. The village of Roubia was being extended along the canal as several new houses were being built. Next to an old tjalk with its mast up were moored more old dead boats, including a small Luxe, a couple of wide narrowboats (ex Le Someil hireboats, no doubt) and a few cruisers. Under the trees at the village mooring we passed the first Le Someil hired narrowboat. The Brits, having caught their wayward fender, had caught us up so we let them overtake on the first straight bit before Paraza. The quay at Paraza was empty except for two day boats and an ex-hireboat moored at the end. A few more boats were moored by the village lavoir (washing place) and a British bloke (we heard him talking) on an old French cruiser didn’t even look as we went past. Round the big bend and over the ancient aqueduct over the Repoudre, then on the straight we met Tilly, another escapee monster hireboat from Moissac. The guy steering lost it and went under the overhanging branches, much to the annoyance of the two bikini clad females on the front; then he stuffed the bows right up the bank and had to reverse off. Nothing to do with us at all, we were just passing by! We moored on the next straight bit (in case there were any more about like Tilly) at the second attempt to get close to the bank and attach to the roots. We could see the moored boats at Ventenac in the distance. It was 5.20 p.m. Hireboats kept passing about one every ten minutes until around 7.00 p.m. M off The Big Boat rang to find out where we were and tell us about the horrendous price rises proposed at places like St Gilles - 50€ a night in high season (like now, July/August) Told him we’d got to get our ‘fridge sorted, or buy a new TV with the credit note, before we could start on the run up the Rhône.
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