Nérac Château Blues: Tuesday, October 1st

Ultimately, the only power to which man should aspire is that which he exercises over himself. -Elie Wiesel, writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1928) 

Petard:

MEANING:

noun:
1. A small bomb used to blast down a gate or wall.
2. A loud firecracker.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French péter (to break wind), from Latin peditum (a breaking wind), from pedere (to break wind). Ultimately from the Indo-European root pezd- (to break wind) which also gave us feisty, fart, and French pet (fart). Earliest documented use: 1566.

Illustration from the book Military Antiquities Respecting a History of The English Army from Conquest to the Present Time by Francis Grose Esquire, 1812

 
Hi Chloë and Maggster!

Sorry to hear that you are not feeling well, Chloë! However, glad you have a furry hot water bottle to comfort you! Thanks for depositing money in both accounts. Nana is very pleased as she and rest of Damazan, (name of our penichette/canal barge), Damsels are scheming, as I scribe, about a full day of Power Shopping, at our next port of call, Condom! Yes, indeed! Should be the twin city to Dildo, Newfoundland, as Flamin' tells all the other English-speaking tourists we meet!
 

 Our Flying Bridge penichette is most comfortable and accommodates the four couples very nicely. The four cabins each have two single, narrow beds and a toilette/shower/sink so it is a tight squeeze but fine. For our part, we have to store our two wheeled bags just outside our cabin door as they are too large to fit under bunk beds. They would, in fact, go under, but the openings, (meant, I suppose, to keep things from sliding back out), are too small to allow our baggage to be placed out of the way. Still, not too inconvenient as there is enough room on landing to have them in companionway. 

The large oval table in the main cabin seats all eight of us, [With the addition of two deck chairs, from the patio/deck of the so-callled flying bridge at the stern of the boat. There is a steering wheel and controls here, as well as one in main cabin, so The Two Waynes, co-captains, usually bark orders from here, to the rest of the incompetent, malnourished and terrified crew, whenever we enter a lock or they need more rum! Copious amounts of the latter rather than the former, sad to report!!!], for dinner. However, since weather has been gorgeous we usually eat top-side, around two reasonably large, moveable picnic tables, sitting on a molded bench and aforementioned deck chairs. I have never been aboard when lunch has been served as both Flamin' and I have been riding, each day, since we left Agen on Sunday, September 29th. We usually have a fairly large breakfast and that seems to sustain us until appetizers around 5:00 pm. Yesterday, I took along a small bagged lunch: olives and carrot sticks and pieces of sliced, dried sausage. Will probably do the same for rest of rides as I'm hoping to do longer distances over next few outings.

Meals have been remarkable. Galley is very efficiently designed and Flamin' turned out a fabulous pork roast on Sunday evening while Cora Lee and Sheila did a fabulous slow cooked chicken dish, (Coriandre had to cut off the two heads and feet! Am surprised she didn't lop off her own fingers as she said she had to avert her eyes during the gruesome dismembering!), last night.  Peggster pitches in whenever anything needs doing and the Lads usually do the washing up, taking turns from one meal to the next. We do our grocery shopping at the local markets when our visits coincide with day they are held in towns we visit or else at local stores. If all else fails, we have plenty of wine, (although it seems to be dwindliing at an alarming rate), as we brought three cases from Languedoc and gang had picked up another few bottles before they arrived in Agen. [To give you an example of their thirst, they consumed 13 bottles on the Friday, staying with friends Rosemary/Andre, in Chabeuil, near Valence/Lyon, before we rendezvoused in Agen on Saturday! And two of the crew didn't drink but a glass or two!] But I digress.

 All in all, we are very, very comfortable and have loads of fun, everyone basically doing that which is of interest to them, as time and location allow. Looks like we might run into a few patches of unsettled weather over next few days so not quite sure how that will affect riding possibilities. Still, it is more than fun just to sit aboard and watch lovely countryside slide past. We can play bridge or read or snooze or drink or log! I picked up a dongle in Montpellier which gives me prepaid USIM WiFi access, via the French cell provider, Orange. Cora Lee and Flamin' have similar cards for their respective iPads but in most spote where we tie up for the night, WiFi is usually included in docking fee. Here in Nérac we paid €10 for the night and this includes electrical hook-up, potable water for our holding tanks, and free toilettes and showers, as well as WiFi, so not a bad deal, split eight ways! Of course we can use showers and toilettes aboard but it is often more convenient to use facilities available, especially when they have been as clean and well appointed as most we have encountered. However, night before we were in Buzet-sur-Baïse, docked at a small, private marina, (one not part of Locaboat franchise), and I went to take a shower. I didn't realize that one needed a token and there was only a trickle of water, and I mean a trickle, (although it was hot enough), coming out of the shower head. I had to use a tiny bottle that had once contained conditioner to take my shower! I'd fill it up and then pour it over my head, shoulders, etc., to wet my hair/skin and then shampoo/soap everything. Must have taken me about a thousand, one ounce refills, before I was semi-rinsed off! I was away for so long that Sarge came to see if I was alright. He couldn't stop laughing when he saw my predicament but took pity on me and came back with the necessary token! Then I was in pure shower heaven and luxuriated under the glorious stream for the full six minutes which the token buys!
 

Such is life aboard a penichette, cruising the canals and rivers of Sud-Ouest France. Yesterday, per esempio, I was up at 6:50 am to search for the matches to light stove to boil kettle to make java but couldn't find them. Never left in same place by slovenly, uncaring scullions! Uncaffeinated, worked away at cleaning up my desktop, filing pitturas, until Flamin' surfaced and she made first pot of java!

Off to Nérac after breakfast, (fabulous scrambled eggs with diced Prosciutto and red oniones, by Mr Fixit, fried bread, (no toaster), courtesy of Peggster, with raspberry jam, so was all set and looking forward to another ride along the canal. Flamin' and I set off just before 10:00 am but had to ride on the road as there isn't a tow-path along the river, either the Blaise or the Garonne, only the canal. First town was Vianne, a lovely walled place, seemingly speciallizing in blown glass from the number of galleries and studios we noticed as we rode through centre and outskirts. On to Lavardac but didn't stop as we had been issued orders, by dipsomaniacal co-captains, to find a berth in Nérac. Crusing time there, with locks to negotiate, is about five hours, although only 20 km or so, by road. Busiest road between Lavardac and Nérac so wasn't really enjoyable cycling, considering how wonderful it had been along tow paths and on earlier quiet country lanes.

Nevertheless, we plugged along, I keeping behind Flamin'. She hadn't ridden at all, this past summer, so is not yet up to speed and I didn't want to lose her if I was in front. As well, her bike is meant for the level tow-path and so whenever we encountered any hills, of even a moderate grade, she had to struggle with her three gears, as opposed to my 28! Reached Nérac about 11:30 am and after stopping to buy some lip balm and asking directions for the "fleuve", (I subsequently discovered that this is a river that flows into an ocean or sea, while a river that flows into another river is called a rivière, Dear Reader!), we dipsy doodled around town for a bit, looking for access. Finally got our bearings and ended up exactly where we wanted to be. Given that it was Monday and most shops and businesses are closed, here in France, nobody was in office, although there was a number to call. We weren't too, too worried as we knew, from experience, that even our be-drunken helmsmen would be able to locate anchorage as really only one in town.

While we were munching on our peasant fare a young couple happened by and I asked, "Pardon, Monsieur," to which he replied: "Do you speak English?" Turned out that Andrew is from Liverpool, (a mathematician), and Kathryn, (a librarian, of all things!), is from Strasbourg, living, (Just across the bridge from us, opposite the
"Château de Nérac, a castle in the Lot-et-Garonne département, an edifice of the French 'renaissance' style, built during the reign of Jeanne d'Albret, daughter of Marguerite d'Angoulème also Marguerite de Navarre by his marriage, the sister of king Francis I of France. The castle has been classified as a Monument historique since 1862 by the French Ministry of Culture."), and working here. They very kindly offered to call the number listed on the office door and the three of us visited while Andrew left a message on the answering machine. We thanked them for their kindness and invited them for a drink that evening. They were delighted to accept so we looked forward to getting to know them a bit better.

Flamin' and I then cycled back into le centre de la ville. It was only shortly after 12:15 pm by this time and I wanted to continue riding until our companions arrived, at or about 3:00 pm. We had bumped into a gang of Canadians, from Ottawa, earlier,and one of the women had mentioned a very pretty town called Fourcès so I decided I'd make for there. Flamin' was happy to stay in Nérac so we waved goodbye and I set off. I'd talked to a friendly German man just before I headed out of town and he directed me to follow signs for Mézin. I did this and once up the very, very long hill out of town, (One tends to forget about hills when one rides along the tow path but my month in Languedoc held me in good stead so I was pleased with my performance, although it was a good huff and puff nonetheless.), I sailed along.

Countryside is more mixed farming, fields of grain, corn mostly, at least to my eyes, and endless sunflowers, mainly drooping, dark heads, obviously end of season, and rolling hills, greener than much of the sere in Languedoc. A light shower as I approached Mézin but light breeze dried me almost immediately. Was really pleased that it wasn't the downpour that we'd witnessed day before when in Buzet. Wasn't overly worried about my person but was quite concerned about my camera. Anyway, I didn't have to worry and enjoyed circling through this steep hillside town.

At the bottom of the hill, followed the sign to Fourcès along a quiet, level road and even hailed a number of other lone cyclists, coming from the other direction. About 5 km along reached Fourcès, a tiny, walled village, with a moat. The square is actually a lovely treed circle here with the two-storied houses around the circumference in wedges, the space between the spokes of various small lanes, leading away from centre. Extremely pretty and picturesque, with many small galleries, shops and a number of busy restaurants, their outdoor patios filled with lunch-time crowd, so I was pleased I'd made the effort to ride there.

On to Condom, following a sign, just outside entrance to Fourcès, telling me I had 21 km to go. Headed in the direction I was going I discovered that I was entering two other Appellation d'origine contrôlée, the Côtes de Gascogne and Armagnac regions. I soon encountered more vineyards than on earlier part of ride and keep seeing signs for "Floc de Gascogne, a regional apéritif, a vin de liqueur fortified with armagnac, the local brandy. It has had Appellation d'origine contrôlée status since 1990." A number of long, long steady climbs and then the rush of sailing down, repeated about three roller-coaster times before I saw the spire of some church or cathedral in Condom. Stopped to take a snap of the sign announcing the place's name but decided not to go into town itself. Thought I'd explore the following day when we docked for night. 

No difficulty finding route back to Nérac and I was soon speeding along a very well-surfaced highway, wind at my back, for the most part, so it was a most enjoyable ride. Traffic was heavier than on other sections but it wasn't a concern. More dismayed by dark clouds ahead and about 12 km from Nérac it did start to rain steadily, although lightly. I'd put my camera under my vest and it was well protected there, that part of my chest not even wet all. Rain became more of a drizzle as I entered town and since I had about 78 km on the clock as I went over the bridge, (I saw Cora Lee in her pink rain jacket on deck of Damazan, on river below), to take me dockside I decided I'd take a dipsy-doodle out the other side of town just to see what I could see. Took a side road and ended up in what one might call a new subdivision and then shortly thereafter, farm land. Turned around near a large agricultural complex and made for the boat. Very pleased with the new countryside and the distance even if I'd touched the "Burning Ground"  a number of times over the the course of the outing!

Stats for ride:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/383705560#.UkmI2BhEfxE.email 

Fondestos, Much Love and Cheers, Dad!

Pics: Flamin' outside Vianne; Fourcès and infamous Condom!

Hi Chloe,

 Quote # 2 arrived last night..see my response below. Not sure if these guys think that I'm open to gouging because they know I'm a film guy. Don't be totally discouraged as I will still get a couple more and see how it goes. I'll keep you posted. fondestos, Al

Hi Morgan,

Yes I got your email saying that you would be sending me a quote but don't 

remember another one, anyway I had a look and sorry to say but that price seems very very high. I hadn't wanted it powder coated by you guys and would look after it myself but even then I can't see that it would be an acceptable price. Just FYI I had another shop quote me just to bend up the metal and it came in at 995.00 w/o powder coating which at the time seemed pricey but obviously now seems like a major bargain!

I appreciate the work on the quote but definitely not doable sorry. Thanks, Al

Hey Al,

Thanks for keeping at this, yes lets hope the more quotes the cheaper it gets!!

Thanks, Chloe

desk is getting expensive!!

Hello Patrick

Glad to see yr having fun on the canals bet there aren't as many pubs as in England! -
As I will be at work on 17th Oct I wondered what time yr getting back  in case I need to leave out keys. 

Had Spray tan last night so look like a schwartzer!  Off to paphos 5am tom am so packing today - always traumatic for me. Love to all Penny and madcap xx 

Hi Duhlink!

Good luck with packing! Hope you and Madcap have a fab time in Paphos! Drink some ouzo for me!

We leave Paris around 10:00 am on the 17th so imagine we will be at Halr Grove around 2:00 pm, more or less, so a key in recycle bin would be lovely! Fondestos from Cora Lee to you and Madcap. Cheers, Patrizzio! 

This morning, around 10:00 am, Flamin', Des and I left the able crew of the Damazan to cycle to Condom. We arrived around 12:30 pm as it was slow going for Des, his first ride in years. I didpsy-doodled ahead, taking off down side roads as they presented themselves. On the road leading to Mézin, (If I'd been by myself I would have ridden there as I wanted to see what the route, cross country, was like, having ridden to the village from Nérac the day before.), I encountered three tractors, all with different mowing attachments, keeping the roadside trimmed. The smell of fresh mint wafted across the road as I passed one, I suppose some rogue plants had rooted in the ditch nearbye. Further up the long, long, gradual incline, I came upon a number of farmers tending their vegetable fields and noticed the crop was cucumbers. Turned around at the top of the hill and swooped back down to D930 to rejoin my two companions.

This is a fairly busy road and there were quite a few large trucks roaring past. However, the drivers always gave us a wide berth, something which car drivers sometimes do not. Closer to Condom we came upon a roundabout and I followed one of the spokes, looking for the Château whose sign advertised Floc de Gascogne, wondering about whether a degustation there was a possibility. When I encountered a warehouseman, a few minutes of dipsy-doodling later, I posed the question: "Degustation, est possible?" in my perfect French. First thing he did was look at his watch and knowing exactly what he was thinking, I quickly added: "Non, maintenant, mais un autre temps, peut-être." "Mais, oui, bien sûr, Monsieur!" Of course, like all French people, he as worried that I wanted to interrupt his sacrosanct lunch break! Chuckling to myself I waved, thanked him and rejoined the peloton.

At the next roundabout, I took another dipsy-doodle around a small industrial park, (by now were near the outskirts of Condom), and noticed a very large field completely filled with solar panels. It is the second or third one of this size that I've encountered, the first ones in Languedoc. As well, I'd noticed there that many of the wineries had solar panels on the roofs of the larger buildings. Back to rejoin the other two and was glad approach to Condom was downhill as poor Des's legs were really starting to cramp up. I'd mentioned, earlier, that since I didn't actually know where the docking facility was located we would make for the centre of town and take things from there. As it turned out, as soon as we went through the first roundabout directing us to le centre de la ville it bacame obvious where we needed to go. A couple of dipsy-doodles later, (We'd not seen the Capitaniere as it was back from the water's edge and we ended up on the opposite bank.), we chained our bikes to fence post and walked half a block to join Desmond who'd made his way to the first bistro he could find!

After we scoped out moorage we enjoyed a delicious lunch, Salad Gersoise, Des's treat, at the Café du théâtre, just across the street from the Capitanerie where we would dock. Flamin' and Des had had enough riding for the day and they wanted to reconnoitre Condom and I wanted to try to log my first 100 km ride of the canal trip.

Stats of Tuesday's ride:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/384331954#.UksxPr46T1U.email

Grand, grand ride, with plenty of challenging hills but feel that I can now handle just about anything that this region can throw at me. Very pleased with overall distance even though it came at the expense of my becoming a member of the Lunch/Latte Riding Society. Fortunately, once one pays one's dues, a complimentary pair of asbestos soled riding shoes is included, so that the pain of The Burning Ground is partially ameliorated, Dear Reader!

Domaine de Gensac, Vin de Pays du Gers, Terre-A-Terre 2007, 14.5%, 100% Tannat