The locks along here were a bit different and instead of turning a suspended pole Pierre our navigator had a small transmitter to signal the locks to open as we approached them.
We sometimes came across a lock cottage that someone was still living in it, this one had well tended gardens, but often they were just desolate.
Some of our fellow guest needed a helping hand to reboard while Rosa was in the locks as the deck was well above the lockside level, well they were both in their seventies, but a group effort saw them safely back onboard.
There had been a diesel spill at the moorings the day before and the emergency services were just finishing clearing up. Unlike the UK most boaters buy their diesel from the supermarket
outlets in 25lt. cans and then pour it into their boats and this was the result. We didn’t see any canal side outlets selling diesel directly into the boats. Obviously at one time the canal branched off under the bridge but there is no trace of it now.
Once safely moored we were off again, this time to a vineyard and I think I learnt more about producing wine than I ever have. The young lady who showed us round spoke very good English. She started right from which grapes are grown where and why, things like soil types and angle to the sun etc. the process after harvesting and storage through to bottling. They have their own bottling plant but it had broken down so they had to hire one in. Their line has two separate parts after the filling, one puts corks into the bottles and the other screw tops. nearly all wine sold overseas is screw topped. Wine tasting is still something of a mystery to me as smelling and tasting a wine to me bears no relationship to what it will taste like with food. We had 7 to try.
| Map of the vineyard | ||
| | Temperature controlled vats to ferment the wine. | |
| Wine filter | Bottling line | Lorry mounted portable bottling line |
| The cellar | Reference library of wines produced over the years | Finally the tasting, note some of the certificates received over the years. |
Returning from our visit where we had a good thunderstorm, luckily we were inside at the time, we walked to the other end of the moorings before diner, this is actually the end of the canal as here it drops with a double lock under both the road and the railway onto the river Tarn again.
And finally our crew, Pierre our navigator, Elisa our stewardess, Adele our guide
The of course there was Dominique the boat owner, captain and our Chef.
Click the map to go to Google Maps if you would like to see the route we have followed on Barge Rosa.
Tomorrow morning Adele would load us all in her minibus for the last time and take us to Toulouse.
For the last day in Toulouse click HERE
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