our to sea...

(editor's note. Two postings for the last several days made at once. You may want to go read the prior post first)

Pics HERE.

We made it though the “Big Turn” on the way to technically our last stop on the trip, Narbonne. The turn was a bit crazy. It was where the canal connected to two rivers. You had to go the wrong way up the river and make a huge loop around some barricades in the water so you didn't run your boat into a bog ol' sand dune that was hidden right in the path you would think would be the most direct route.

We're heading south, or east, or something. Not exactly sure, but the goal is to go first to Narbonne, and then past Narbonne, and make out way out to the sea. At least we think that's the goal. The truth is we have options and in the group dynamics its quite hard to make a decision. Small groups discuss and agree and move to tell the larger groups what they have decided. The problem is that the larger group had their own ideas. Some want to consult maps. Some want to consult the boat people. Some just think they know what to do without consultation. Nothing really got resolved until we all had a meeting in the same place. The group call was to push on and make it to the sea.

However, when we pulled into Narbonne and finally figured out that we still wanted to keep going, the next lock was closed. So we headed though the city thinking we'd go to the next lock with time time to kill but then one of the girls spotted a flea market, and believe me, the boat stopped.

The market was pretty cool. Lots of clothes, sunglasses and household goods. Kind of like having a French Wall Mart on the street. There were tons of store around too, but of course they were closed. It's the several hours time in the afternoon where nobody does anything. I'm not saying its a bad thing, but I have to admit its a hard concept for this American to get used to. What? They don't want to take my money? People actually sitting in the store watching me trying to get in and give them my money. That's just weird to me.

While the girls were shopping, Gary and I were searching for bottles of booze. The boat was tragically out of whiskey and we were challenged to change that. We wandered in and out of little streets, eventually settling down in a bar for a drink, thinking we were beat. We did have a nice drink in the bar, noting the knot tied on the bartenders shirt. That bar was later nicknamed “the knot”.

I wandered around more, found a newspaper and then saw Lara. It was about time to move onto the next lock but we decided to make one last jaunt through the area in search of booze. A peek down a nearby ally, we spotted a regular grocery store. We headed in and it wasn't long before we found the booze and wine. Whew... we didn't have to go a day without some Irish whiskey. Narbonne is a beautiful city. We'll get a little more time there on the way back. It's where we'll turn in the boat.

We got out of Narbonne, though the next lock. Lara and I decided to take a bike ride. The boat is damn slow, between 5-10 mph. So while the boat is plugging along, people can ride ahead on bikes or run. There are several runners in the group and they make way better time than the boat. So Lara and I did about 10 kilometers on the bikes, which was really fun. We could stop and take pictures and just take a leisurely ride along the canal. Then when we get to the next lock, we can fill it up before the boat gets there and it saves tons of time. Plus its just fun to get get out and ride.

So after some kilometers of traveling, we finally get to the end town. There isn't really a good place we can dock and we were warned not to take the boat out on the open sea. This boat can't handle that at all and we'd probably get run over by some big ass container ship.

So we parked up under a freeway in what seemed like a mega-industrial area. Not a real exciting place to park. We knew we were going to stay the night there but wanted to see this little town we made it to, so we took a couple of hours and walked around the town.

I immediately saw a sign for a casino and REALLY wanted to find it. However, once we figured out where it was (some 2 more kilometers away) there wasn't time to walk up and see the French casino. Damn...

So we explored the town and made it back up the canal to the last lock, which of course is closed. I really don't understand why you can't go through the lock ( or why it closes) when its a lock that you operate yourself. I mean there's no French dude there that needs a lunch break. You fill it, you drive the boat through, and you tell it to cycle. Why can't we go through after 6? Grrr....

We parked for the night by a nature preserve and good lord was it windy. The boat was rockin' all night long. The morning however was GRAND. The sun was out and the sky was blue. Its shorts weather for sure. There is a path from the reserve that leads out to the sea, so after breakfast we all made it all the way out to the sea. Shells and dunes everywhere. Dylan and Johanna actually ran into the sea and took a little dip. I considered it to be WAY too cold for that action, unless maybe you're a polar bear or a Swede.

After our beach combing and polar bear club meeting, we headed back up the canal to Narbonne. We will sleep in there tonight and turn in the boat tomorrow morning. Then tomorrow afternoon, Carole, Gary, Lara and I will take a train to Paris for a few extra days in the city. The rest of the clan will head back to Germany. Looking forward to internet in Narbonne!!!

On To Paris...

Next time the story about the pirate.

Carez