Rosa The first full day

Monday 6 June 2016
After a hearty breakfast we were off on our first excursion in the mini bus to Nérac, firstly to see the castle of King Henry IV of France, as we walked from the bus to the castle we passed this fine clock tower. In the distance across the River Baïse we could see the church that we would be visiting on our way back to the bus
For a small town church the interior was quite spectacular, but then I suppose that would be expected if the king lived on the edge of town. 

 

The River Baïse runs through the town and is very popular with hire boats

After this we headed off a few miles to a farm that produces both wine and Armagnac. Here the whole process of production was explained to us. How its distilled and then stored in oak barrels for a minimum of 10 years to get the flavours.
     We were very fortunate in that one of our party decided to buy a bottle of 1974 Armagnac for his son, it was the year he was born, it was also the last vintage produced by the lady’s grandfather. The farm only sells direct, not via a wholesaler, so if you want Armagnac you are invited to sample from the barrels and then they fill the bottles you want with that vintage while you wait.

Tasting the vintage	Drawing from the barrel	Bottling
Sealing the bottle with wax	Preparing the label	Affixing the date label

It was then back to Rosa for lunch and set sail. By now Pierre  the navigator was onboard waiting to take us on our way. The VNF (Voies navigables de France) The navigation Authority  have boarded up lots of the lock cottages and they just stand empty, but this one is in use as a café.
 
As the day progressed we heard our first train pass, the French Railways are in dispute over something and we were to see a few freight trains on the move before the day was out.   
All the locks on this canal are automated and most are boater operated. A length of rubber pipe hangs from a switch suspended above the canal on a wire strung from side to side. The boater has to turn this length of hose through 90° and that opens the lock gate ready for him. Once in the lock he goes ashore and presses a button to turn the lock, at each end of the lock there are traffic lights to let approaching boaters know what is happening.

Twisting the pipe

Red and Green the lock is getting ready for you

Red do not approach the lock.

Some of the canal side gardens were quite spectacular but they were few and far between.

 

This canal reminded me very much of the Canal du Midi with trees lining the towpath, it made it very pleasant for walking in the heat of the sun.

 

   One of the landmarks we passed was the Golfech Nuclear Power Plant which has its own canal running from the Garonne to feed it cooling water. As you can see there wasn’t a breath of wind.
We arrived at Pommevic our mooring for the night a little after 6 pm and as dinner was at 7 it was a good job there was no requirement to dress for dinner. After dinner 4 of us went for a short walk into town not realising we were on the non towpath side so when we returned from doing a circular walk our shoes were  somewhat muddy from traipsing along the unmade bank. 

   
 
 
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