Canal du Garonne - Posting Four

On Bastille Day we climbed high to the village...we were almost level with them as they were released from the river.

This wonderful commercial building, a former bar restaurant with herbegement is for sale.  Maybe it experiences flooding on occasions! This part faces the river. The light was glorious! It seemed to have an Italian quality.. not that I have ever been to Tuscany but is what I imagine!

This is the FOR SALE sign at the front of the property.

I am glad I went to explore the river before seven one morning.  The river is the lowest for many years and boats were restricted from travelling.  Steam is rising as the sun rises.

 The Canal in each direction...

I wandered down the lane...

to find more old tobacco drying sheds which have special shutters be opened to control ventilation.

I rather like this photo! Like a painting!

Canal du Garonne - Posting Three

This impressive riverside house opposite the camp site is for sale.

 

This garden fence could be made by someone impractical like me. It defined a little garden for someone's canal barge mooring.

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This barge was probably for hire for parties and such!

An eclusier.

 The river and canal du Garonne meet at La Confluence at ...

 The final eclusier... note its height and steps to the door for when La Garonne is flooded!!!

 Steady now.. the final drop from the canal level to the river level in July 2015 is quite giddying!

This is where you would wait to enter the Canal lock above.

Cycling up the hill to the village one gets an overview.

 This is a house in the town of Castets en Dorthe that begged to be picced ...

Weed taken from the canal, presumably used for compost.....

 Another eclusier...

 Another ecluse...

 Barges...

 Another eclusier

This is an auberge (large B&B business) for sale just by the canal... A notice revealed that ice creams were for sale...we had passed this going west and stopped returning to the east. The vendor / proprietor invited us to walk around his garden... behind this and in this building are several gites accommodating in total about 50 or so people!!!! Gorgeous garden!

This is their lovingly restored former tobacco drying store.. now used as a venue for weddings etc.
It is Patrimoine and therefore protected.

 Another eclusier

My friend managed to phone the owner of this boat, then handed the phone to me to organise!!! Eventually I understood that the man was in Arcachon and if we went to the pontoon he would give us the code.  The pontoon gate closed behind us.  This is the boat we climbed aboard and then discovered it wasn't the one and we were trespassing!!! It was also for sale hence the two notices at the gate.

This is the boat we climbed aboard with permission ... it showed us the extremes between what we saw a day or two before and oh these two are too much work even if cheap!

Now how do we get out of the pontoon? The gate is firmly locked and climbing over the gate was impossible due to security wire above.  A boater noted we were in there and climbing. Eventually a phone call and I eventually understood to step back from the gate to a BOX and press a button. Meanwhile phone credit had expired so we could not phone the man and say 'No thank you!' Magic! The gate opened. We needed another ice-cream!
We did 40km cycling that day... wonderful!
My plan was to make a little photo book of all the eclusiers... but I can't see their numbers on the photos and I didn't take a notebook!!!
 

Canal du Garonne - Posting Two

It was fascinatingly sad to see a large moth attacked by a wasp and grounded repeatedly.  After each sting the wasp retreated about ten times its own length in distance and waited, then returned to do the same until the moth could not struggle any further.  After quite a long time ... well over an hour or maybe two,  the body had been eaten. I saw the wasp doing that very busily.  Wings were only left and even they disappeared eventually, for I could find no evidence of it on our return.  All this happened one metre from the entrance to my tent. I marked the spot with something to ensure that a human foot did not incur the wrath of the mothkiller!

We drove through Damazan...its heritage is based on grapes and tobacco.  The Château Comtal was once a military governor’s residence, then purchased by the Mothes in the 18th century when lattice windows, frescoes, painted ceilings were added. The chateau was used as a tobacco warehouse but in 1989 fire ravaged the building. It is ostensibly now being restored but looks to me as if it needs much more TLC. The refuse bins and litter around the wooden sculpture did little for my interest.

 Going back to camp a boulangerie was discovered just before the closed and this tart cost 5 euros, perfect for four servings and the candle helps it to represent my birthday cake on the day after.... as dessert before main meal served with a local wine from Marmande as a kind of aperitivo!

and the last part looked like -
a little mouse with a pretty smile -
Une petite souris avec un joli sourire.