{"id":752,"date":"2017-07-03T21:54:12","date_gmt":"2017-07-03T21:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/waynemorrisoz.com\/?p=752"},"modified":"2017-07-09T00:14:20","modified_gmt":"2017-07-09T00:14:20","slug":"the-le-boat-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waynemorrisoz.com\/index.php\/2017\/07\/03\/the-le-boat-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"The Le Boat Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>After our previous boating adventure<\/a>\u00a0 we had all agreed to do another boat trip and we decided to charter a boat to travel on the Canal du Midi in France. \u00a0The date was set and then Kate and Adam decided their wedding<\/a> date and so it became a “Familymoon” for the newly weds (although they did manage a few days in Paris before joining us). \u00a0Our neighbors, Mike and Patti also chartered a boat at the same time so it was quite a party trip.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>We started at Narbonne and made our way to Trebbes along the Canal de la Robin, the Canal de jonction and finally along the Canal du Midi. \u00a0This is a fascinating trip with a variety of medieval towns, small country villages and even some Roman ruins.<\/p>\n

We traveled about 37 miles and traversed about 30 locks some of which were double locks and there were two triple locks. \u00a0Our boat was quite comfortable with three cabins and heads and the much needed air conditioning as the weather was unseasonably hot for the time of year – around 95F most days!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Adam working the lines in the lock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Everyone got on splendidly and there was great teamwork in the locks. \u00a0We dubbed Kate the “Lady of the Locks” and subsequently promoted her to be the “Queen of the locks” given how adept she was at catching the lines, placing them around a bollard and passing them back. \u00a0She was also brilliant at working the automated locks in the first two canals.<\/p>\n

After Kate helped us with our lines, she scurried around the other side of the lock to do the same for Mike and Patti, although at times Luke also jumped off to assist – including one time he grabbed the ladder in the lock and climbed up as we sailed by it earning him the name of “Ladder Luke”.<\/p>\n

Adam and Grant were great handling the lines while the locks were filling and the team effort made the locks rather easy for us – other boats were having some difficulties entering, leaving or maintaining their positions during the lock operation.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Another brilliant meal together at the restaurant next to the lock in Trebbes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
One of our favorite places to visit!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We had some fabulous meals and all appreciated the quality of French wines. \u00a0We also enjoyed the early morning forays to the bakery or boulangerie to get the breakfast pastries – we became experts at Pain au chocolat!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We also had some unexpected treats – such as when Grant and Luke found “le Bar” – the only place open on a Sunday afternoon. \u00a0This reminded us of some older hotels in Australia – it was hot, the noisy ceiling fans were doing their best to cool things down, the beer was cold and there was even a dog in the bar!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The ducks take their revenge!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We ate a lot of cheese, Grant of course went for the unusual and ordered frog’s legs and we all managed to eat a lot of canard. \u00a0I think the ducks knew and they surrounded the boat when Adam went to take a walk!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Cooling off – Mike is immersed apart from trusty camera<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Given how hot the weather was, we made a stop at one of the few places with a swimming hole (the canal was definitely not clean enough to enter the water and survive!) and we also had a great afternoon at the lake near Homps.<\/p>\n

After we dropped the boat off in Trebbes we had one more day and evening together in Carcassonne.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This is a truly fabulous old medieval city with a very large restored castle. \u00a0Our last evening here was memorable and then we all departed on the same train, although Alice and I were headed home, Grant and Luke were going to spend some time in Paris, and Kate and Adam were headed to Amsterdam after an evening in Paris.<\/p>\n

It was another very memorable trip and now we’re already planning our next adventure together!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After our previous boating adventure\u00a0 we had all agreed to do another boat trip and we decided to charter a boat to travel on the Canal du Midi in France. \u00a0The date was set and then Kate and Adam decided their wedding date and so it became a “Familymoon” for the newly weds (although they … Continue reading The Le Boat Adventure<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/waynemorrisoz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/waynemorrisoz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/waynemorrisoz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waynemorrisoz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waynemorrisoz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=752"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/waynemorrisoz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":768,"href":"https:\/\/waynemorrisoz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752\/revisions\/768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/waynemorrisoz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waynemorrisoz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waynemorrisoz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}