CANAL DU MIDI IN THE WORLD'S MOST UNSUITABLE CANAL BOAT: MITCH TO THE MED AND BACK. PART 4 - CASTELNAUDARY TO HOMPS

Mitch at a Lock on the Canal du Midi

We visited Mitch briefly in January 2020, as an aside from a skiing holiday in the Pyrenees, but any further canal work was postponed by the Covid outbreak.  Harbour Master Dominique and the small community of boaters at Castelnaudary kept a good eye on the boat during this period.

Mitch at Castelnaudary

We were on the first ferry out of Portsmouth after lockdown, accompanied by daughter Cicely.  We drove to Castelnaudary, arriving on 1^st July 2020, but the start of the trip was delayed by a defective starter motor.  Assisted by Claude, patron of the Hotel du Midi, I looked for a starter motor locally, before ordering one at a motor parts store at Carcassonne. We had high hopes of the IVECO dealer there, but I had rather unwisely ordered Mitch’s engine with 12 volt electrics, and this unusual option meant that the motor was not a standard IVECO part.  

Replacing the Starter Motor

To make the anxious wait for the starter more acceptable, we used the auxiliary outboard motor to take the boat back to the La Planque lock and moored in pleasant surroundings.  Cicely made very good use of Airbnb, and she spent one night in the former home of famille le Croix at the la Planque lock, the cottage now restored to a high standard. 

Old and New Starter Motors

On 3^rd July I went with trepidation to the industrial estate at Carcassonne.  To my great relief the starter had arrived, and a comparison with the remains of the original indicated that it was probably the right one.  Returning to La Planque with my prize, I fitted the motor and turned the key – to almost no effect, the engine hardly turning.  After considering a series of ever more alarmist theories, I eventually measured the voltage at the starter motor, and realised that there was a huge voltage drop in the leads from the engine cranking batteries to the starter motor.  Repositioning the batteries temporarily confirmed this hypothesis, the engine turning over faster than it had ever done before and starting immediately. 

Working Through a Canal du Midi Lock

On the afternoon of 4^th July, we left Castelnaudary, where Mitch had spent nearly a year, passing through Le Grande Bassin on the east side of town, and down the four locks of the St Roche staircase.  Mitch went through numerous locks as we followed the valley from the headwaters of the River Fresquel.  We tied up for the night at Villepinte, and during a walk along the towing path, discovered a boat which surely had to have been in the running for the “most outrageous wheelhouse award”, should such a thing exist. 

Wheelhouse of the Year

Cicely had spent the night at a small hotel in Villepinte, and she rejoined us the next morning, her bicycle basket carrying a welcome assortment of goods from the boulangerie.

 It was very noticeable that, since passing the watershed, the country had changed and now had a distinctly Mediterranean character.  The Canal’s original route the Fresquel, and, as the citizens of Carcassonne were not minded to subsidise the deep cutting that would have been required to bring the canal into the city, it was bypassed.  In 1810, money was found, and the canal was brought into the city at prodigious cost, making use of the labour of thousands of Austrian and Prussian prisoners of war.

Cicely Delivers Breakfast

We arrived in Carcassonne at five thirty, passing through the deep cutting needed to free the canal from the Fresquel, and discovered that Carcassonne is more famous for its incredible citadel, “le Cite”, than the IVECO dealer, which our previous visits had concentrated on.  We tied the boat up in the port just outside the railway station, and walked up with Cicely to check into the Hotel Bastide.  We walked to the citadel, which though a tremendous tourist trap, is still an astonishing experience.  For the first time, we saw the River Aude, flowing gently at that time of year, but the presence of large trees aground on the riverbed showed its potential for flooding.  The canal would soon abandon the little Fresquel, and would not stray far from the Aude.

Carcassonee and the River Aude

 Our night was rather disturbed by rowdy partying in the park nearby, but we were in good spirits when we left Carcassonne, Cicely bringing the morning croissants with her.  We had to hang onto the branches of overhanging trees briefly while another boat passed, and then went over the Fresquel viaduct, down the triple staircase, and onto a lunch stop at Trebes, where we bought jam at a small artisan shop.

Mitch at Trebes

We were now in the Minervois region, and it is interesting to note that once the canal arrived, the wines of the district were taken to Bordeaux rather than to the Mediterranean.  At seven in the evening we tied up just beyond the town of Homps, the centre of this Minervois wine trade.  No restaurants were open, so we had takeaway pizza on a bench in a small park near the canal.

Shady Spot at Argent Double near Homps on the Canal du Midi

The spot where we had moored had little shade, and was rather plagued by flies, so we moved the boat and spent the day in a shaded spot near the aqueduct over the little Argent Double stream.  The Argent Double aqueduct is topped by flood relief weir, with the towing path running over it, a few inches above the level of the water in the canal.  The pools were inhabited by large, noisy frogs, and the wood was alive with the sounds of cicadas.  In the evening, we moved the boat a few yards so that Cicely could set up her tent on some level ground near the canal.

Cicely's Tent on the Bank at Argent Double, Canal du Midi

On the 8^th September we remained in the shade of the trees at Argent Double, and Cicely stayed in a chateau at La Redorte.  We went there in the evening, cooked a meal in her room, and Sally had a welcome bath.  We took on water at La Redorte next afternoon, and moored for the night at Pucheric, Cicely again pitching her tent near the boat.  We walked into the picturesque town in the warm evening sun, but again had to make do with takeaway pizza eaten on a park bench, this time near the River Aude. We spent the next night back at the shady spot under the trees at the Argent Double épanchoir or spillway.  Cicely stayed in the astonishingly picturesque village of Castelnau, so atmospheric that Richard Lionheart would not have felt out of place there. 

 Castelnau, where Cicely Stayed

In the next couple of days, Cicely familiarised herself with handling the boat, and operating the locks.  Manoeuvring Mitch in tight spots is not straightforward.  The rudder is small, and at low speed relies on prop wash to operate.  It has almost no effect when going astern.

A Well Equipped Catamaran

I went to Castelnaudary on the train to retrieve the car, and we parked it near the boat.  In the picturesque offices of the Capitainerie, which shares its offices with the headquarters of the Minervois Appellation Contrôlée and its wine shop, we arranged to leave the boat at Homps for “a couple of weeks”.

On 12^th July 2020, I went to Carcassonne Airport, to meet Ed, Cicely’s boyfriend, and then handed the ship over to Cicely.  Sally and I left in the car and had an enjoyable trip back through France to the Cherbourg, the highlight of which was visiting Fontevraud Abbey near Tours, where we saw the effigies of four English monarchs – Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Richard I and Berengaria of Navarre.

Fontevraud Abbey. Clockwise from Top Left: Eleanor of  Aquitaine, Henry II of England, Richard Lionheart, Berengaria of Navarre

We expected to return in a few weeks to continue the Mitch’s progress through France, but Covid intervened, and Mitch stayed in Homps for a year.