Canal du Midi

This last week has been our holiday week as we, well, me especially, have just been really tired after six weeks of constant travelling. We decided after the first day on the Canal to extend our stay to 8 nights so that we could just sleep in a do nothing and relax. Because we wanted to extend we had to change boats though, from a little 2 person boat with just a bed, shower/toilet, and seat, to a HUGE 7 person boat with 2 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms, a living room, 2 seperate driving areas, rooftop, and full kitchen! It was huge, and we ended up just storing our bags in 2 of the 3 bedrooms and mainly staying on the roof to drive and eat as it was nice weather all the time.

WE arrived from Paris in the town of Castelnaudary near Toulouse. C is just a little town and the restaurants seem to always be closed but it was still cute. On the canal we saw our first of many furry little animals swimming that looks like a big rat, see below. We still don´t know what it is, but once we were riding our rented bikes along the canal to have dinner in a town and we saw a little congregation of about 6 of them, and they looked kind of like dark brown wallabies. They jumped into the canal with a splash when they saw us.

From Castelnaudry we cruised down towards Carcassonne. It took us 2 days to get there, so we stopped over night on a quiet stretch of the canal and had dinner and some wine. At the supermarket you can buy really nice rose for about $5. Me sitting on the front of the boat after dinner.

I was the captain of the boat so I did all the driving and Chris did all the tying up of the boat with the ropes at locks and when mooring. It was pretty nervous about driving this huge boat into the smallish locks when we were first given it, but by day 2 I could easily drive into and out of the locks without even touching the sides.

In this pic I am driving in my swimmers, since that is what all the other baby-boomer Euros were doing we met on the canal. All the other people were much older than us, although there were a heck of a lot of Kiwis on the canal. I think half the population of New Zealand comes on holiday to the canal du midi!

In Carcassonne we went up to La Cite´the medieval city and castle.

In the city we went to the torture museam where they have lots of things that the French used to toture ´witches´to get a confession during the witch trials. Among the many things (which were pretty gruesome and interesting) there was a barrel and a picture of how it was used. Drunkards got locked in the barrel to teach thema lesson. We thought it could be well used on some people we know.... he he.

Me outside the cite.

One night we rode into a town for dinner (the same night we same those little animals) and Chris had escargot - snails for his entree. He thought they we really tasty. They were much better than those poor froggies in Paris I have to admit. The garlic butter was delicious too.

Travelling back along the tree-lined canal.

The view through the trees. I didn´tget much of a picture of this but it was just like a Van Gogh painting.

Me on our big boat moored for the night. It doesn´t get dark until about 10pm, but the lock keepers go home at 7pm so you can´t really go anywhere after that.

The longest stretch we went without a lock was just over 7kms, but most of the time we were constantly going through locks. On the way to Carcassonne we were just going down, and then on the way back to Castelnaudary we just went up. These are pictures of us going back up through a lock. To go up you cruise in the open doors and then tie up the boat to the side. Chris would have to get out of the boat and stand holding a rope and he would throw me another one to hold. Then the doors at the front would open a little bit at the bottom letting water rush into the lock and raise up the boat. After a while enough water would be in the lock so we would be at the same level as the canal in front of us. Then the front doors would open and we could cruise out, Chris jumping back on before we left. Sometimes up to 3 boats are squeezed into a lock going up or down.

At the bottom filling up.

Almost full.

Full!

Doors opening for us to leave.

Because of the locks it really takes a long time to get anywhere. The boat only goes at a maximum of 8km/h anyway, just over walking speed, and every lock takes about 10 minutes. Sometimes there are double, triple and quadruple locks so once you go up/down one you go straight into another one and another one.

When we had been in Carcassonne for 2 days we thought we had better start heading back but our boat wouldn´t start because of a flat battery or something so we rang the boat office. The repair guy said he would drive down to us and it only took him 45 minutes! It had taken us 2 days!

The weather was great everyday, nice and hot, but on the last day it was cold and rainy and because there was just the 2 of us we both had to stay outside the whole time to go through the locks and drive. It was really freezing and horrible with the rain flying into your face and holding the boat into the side of the locks with the ropes when your hands are numb. When we arrived in Castelnaudary the rain was just stopping. This the view of the canal harbour we picked the boat up from with a rainbow.

This part of our trip was really fun just because it was relaxing. The locks open in the morning at 9am, then the keeper has lunch from 12.30 til 1.30, but we never made to any lock before 2pm. I just slept in every day and read lots of books. Luckily I have been able to find English books around the place so I read 3 in the week on the canal.

Yesterday we got trains from Castelnaudary to Barcelona, but that is a story for the next post!

Paris

We have been in Paris for the last week and it was great, although nobody speaks English so I have had to try my best to remember all my French from school and we got by ok.

I found France to be nice, but not as good as I imagined it would be. I look like a tourist here again - in Denmark especially, but Holland too, everyone was really tall like me and people kept coming up to ME and asking for directions. French people are short, and Paris is very noisy. When we got off the train from Belgium all you could hear was constant honking of car horns. There are no cyclists just angry drivers in Paris.

We ate some nice French food and Chris even got some frogs-legs at one restaurant we went to. They looked like the legs of little soliders, they were quite cute really. He liked them, I didn't try them. I am not a fan of eating any meat off a bone - even a chicken drumstick I don't like. With frogs you have to suck on their little leg bones to get the meat off.

Us outside the Louvre. We went in and saw the Mona Lisa (I explained to C the significance of the portrait) and the Venus de Milo, which we weren't allowed to photgraph. The rest of the museum is filled with a lot of Egyptian artifacts, including these mummified cats below. There was even a mummified crocodile and some chickens.

Me standing in front of the Sacre Coeur church in Montmartre. There are gardens in front of it and you can have a good view of Paris from where I am standing. It was really nice there.

Sacre Coeur.

The view.

We went up to the Eiffel Tower at night. It took AGES to get to the top and once we were up there was strong wind and rain so we stayed inside until it was over.

The view from the top - in the rain.

Me looking windswept. It was sooo windy!

The sparkling lights come on at night for about 5 minutes on the hour. It's really pretty with the lights on, and all the tourists are lit up because everyone is taking pictures!

The Jardin de Luxemborg - a big park with a little lake to sail boats in grass to have a picnic on etc. This was in one corner of the gardens and I thought it looked really nice.

The Notre Dame. It was really beautiful inside (no pics allowed), much nicer than that gothic cathedral in Cologne. We didn't see any hunchbacks.

The Arc de Triomphe. There is such a huge traffic jam going up to it. We going twice as fast walking!

Chris infront of it.

On Sunday we went to the Palace of Versaille and walked around the palace and the gardens. Below is the hall of mirrors - it was packed full of people.

This is Marie Antoinette's bed. The palace was pretty fancy and you could really understand why the French people got angry at the royals.

Chris and a view of the SIDE gardens. The gardens were huge, but it started raining so we didn't get to see Marie Antoinette's estate which was a shame. It was always sunny in Paris in the morning, and then in the afternoon it would pour down for 20 minutes and then clear up again. This time it rained for 3 hours though and it was just too wet to walk around.

On Sunday night we went to the Moulin Rouge to see the 11pm show which was fantastic. We were right at the front. Sitting on our right were some friendly Italiens and on the left were a sulky Russian couple. They didn't smile once and some parts were soo funny, there are 2 clowns and they are super funny - and I don't really go for clowns! We had a really good night and would go again.

Yesterday we spent the whole day on the train travelling to Castelnaudary where we have hired a houseboat. Today we decided to extend our stay on the houseboat which meant we have been upgraded to a huge boat big enough for 6 people! It's really nice being on the boat though and I think we need a rest so this is a good place to have one. We are going to miss out on going to Madrid though I think, but I am constantly exhausted so sitting around on a boat for the next week and not doing much will be good. We still have 7 weeks left until we come home to Sydney and I want to have some energy for that.

Anyway more soon!

Denmark, Holland and Belgium

Well, after a long time I am back on the net and back on my blog! It has been ages, but I've got lots of pics to make up for it, although this computer is a bit strange - I can't rotate any of my pics, so I've just left out any that were running horizontal, although there were some really good ones there. Also, I have a French keyboard and all the letters are in a funny spot so it's lucky that I can touch type, although it is still disconcerting.

Anyway, after Berlin we went on a sleeper train to Denmark, which is not all it's cracked up to be. We were in a compartment with 4 other people, C and I were both on the top bunks and it felt like we were going to be flung out of our beds most of the night whenever the train would go around a corner. In the middle of the night someone screaming and woke us all up (I later found out it was Chris having a dream) so that didn't make things any better.

Denmark was really nice though, it is like being a fairy tale with perfect castles and cobblestones everywhere. There are bikes everywhere and bike lanes with traffic lights, it's great. We went to Freidricksborg Castle and saw the Crown Jewels and saw Amaliensborg Castle too, both were really cute.

Here is the little mermaid, the one pic I put in that I couldn't rotate. We met Heidi next to her and went for a nice dinner in Copenhagen.
This dog, Gustavson, lived in the B&B that we stayed in, an everytime we came home she would get really excited and pick up one of the owners shoes and carry it around for hours. This time she has a water bottle. She was really nice.
The centre of Copenhagen, and lots of bikes parked.
On the 2nd and last day we were in Denmark the Danish soccer team was playing Sweden and so the whole city was filled with Swedes, here is Chris with the Swedish Chicken. They decorated everything with flags as you can see in the background. This match was pretty contraversial too, but if you are interested Google it.
The train from Denmark to Dusseldorf was great, and here is me having dinner in the dining car. I loved it. We could spend 2 days in Denmark since it is sooooo expensive! Apparently it is the cheaper scandenavien country too.
On this train we upgraded to first class so we had our own room with 2 bunks. Still tiny, but much nicer. I highly recommend this.
Chris's Aunty and cousins in Dusseldorf. We spent 1 night with them.
From Dusseldorf we went to Koblenz and travelled down the Rhein. Here is a town that we:thought was really funny.... although nobody else seems to share our humour. :(
Me on the Rhein.
From the Rhein we caught another train to Amsterdam. This is train, C took this pic as he loved it. The trains have been great, so easy, no waiting, and we are right in the centre of town when we get off.
Amsterdam was great too, here is me on a bike we rented riding down our street next to a canal. Bike riding here is terrific, with all the bike lanes and special traffic lights, and no Aussie motorists trying to run you down and kill you. Better yet, it the lovely flat land, that hill behind me is as big as they get!
Chris on the same canal.
From Amsterdam we went to Antwerp in Belgium to stay with some friends. We didn't get to see anyone in Holland, I think they were on holidays! I was ringing and ringing at all hours, but nobody was ever home. We'll just have to go back again.

Below are our friends that we used to work with at Europcar that the Airport many years ago, Anthony and Andy on the back wall. Eva is Andy's girlfriend who he met at Uluru and now lives in Belgium with. Chris is Ant's friend and they have caught the train up from England to see us. We spent a lot of time at pubs. I made the mistake of taking a hayfever tablet in the morning and then having quite a few drinks. I was very drunk and the next day didn't feel too well at all. I fainted in the morning and cut my lip and bruised my arm. I'm fine now, but be aware that if the chemist tells you not to drink, you'd better listen!
Belgium has LOTS of beers and quite a few have cute lables like this one. I collected some to take home with me. Every beer has it's own special glass too, which are all completely differenet. We went out for dinner for my 26th birthday on Sunday and the waiter let Chris keep on to the glasses. It is very elaborate with a special wooden stand. We are posting it home.
On Monday we made a day trip to Brugge from Antwerp. At the train station there is the BIKE parking lot. It is not as good as the MULTI LEVEL PARKING STATION at Amsterdam though. Apparently that one can hold 3000 bikes or something and it was chock-a-block when we saw it. Sadly I missed that photo-op.
Brugge is another fairy tale town. The was a park filled with swans, and they're thousands of feathers right in the town center. A little fence about 60 cms high kept people out. I haven't used zoom for this picture so you can see how close they are.
A cute little castle in Brugge.
We are now in Paris, but I will write about that in a few days.
My foot is fine now, I can just feel it sometimes when I can carrying my backpack when we move, but I'm back in my thongs as you can see and there are no problems.