canal du midi à la chaser Feb 2017

[Riverbankannie]

Ooh, good luck

 

[Debs]

Positive thinking!

 

[Neilfg]

I was going to ask about wind and whether ok to leave up. Fingers crossed

 

[TJBi]

right now I am hoping my statement about being 'firmly anchored down' is really right

if we only had our wind out awning out right now we would be panicking to put it away, even if it did have ratchet straps, the wind has really got up, power of prayer may just be needed overnight

however, it doesn't seem to be moving or creaking much, but we can feel the MH moving even with E + P deployed

it could be a one use wonder or an amazing advert for Thule Omnistore awning / safari room combinations

Perhaps best to consider your sig and put in a reef now.

 

[DavidG58]

morning all, seriously windy overnight, just checked the local forecast they are saying 50 / 55 mph winds till midday, had at first thought it must be kph, but I am using the BBC, it is mph!!

no harm done, Bev popped out into the awning to check the pegs in the middle of the night (I had more confidence)

still really battering us now, but doesn't seem half as bad in daylight, but I didn't check the weather last night so don't now know if the wind is stronger than last night or less

definitely far too windy to contemplate taking it down anyway, forecast says winds down to 12 / 15 mph by this afternoon and some sun, full sun and 16C from tomorrow for a few days

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DavidG58]

Plans made for next couple of days, moving on from Twin Lakes, great little site very friendly, Gary has brought in bread each day, €15 / night including hook up, he even opened up a grass area tap for us to refill, dump option on roadside nice and easy

tomorrow we are going to Valence for the market, hope we get there in time, we are not very good at early starts, but it is only 120 miles away

Bev loves a market it will be my anniversary present to her

then on to Montferrand, the highest point on the canal, but technically virtually the start as well, the navigable river Garonde becomes canal around there

then Homps or Le Somail or may do both if weather isn't as bad as forecast by then


Le Somail
One of the Midi's prettiest villages, Le Somail grew up around a stone-arched bridge, le Pont de St-Marcel, built in the 17th century. An 18th century chapel stands at the end of the bridge.



above pasted from a canal guide, we don't expect wisteria yet

but stay positive, the wind is due to die down this afternoon and sunny forecast for three days

 

[Clarky]

When we were at Homps in September it looked as though they might start building very soon.
There has been a large board up with planning information for a residential and retail development where the aire is.
Don't know if it will affect the aire or if parking will be stopped.
Will be interested in what you find when you get there.
If you're unable to park by the marina you can go down to the nearby lake.

Richard.

 

[DavidG58]

thanks @Clarky I had seen that in your comment earlier, thought we would have a look, the aire at le Somail looks to be only a walk away, so can use that instead

a lot of the aires along the canal appear to be no facilities, although I do tend to look at the free ones

will be looking for drive in dump options, we used the aire at Carcassonne last year for just that, 1/2 hour for free through barrier, but you need to be quick over 1/2 hour costs a full day €20

 

[suavecarve]

Sticking that safari room up cannot be related to a caravan awning. We had a safari (sold it when we realised it was useless to us) but it is only connecting 3 zips and a bit of pegging then dong the windbreak through the van. 5-10 minutes probably about right for one person. (assuming you have the height advantage)
I was also the bloke on the campsite who sat there watching when the obvious newbies came in to do their awning. There would be a group of surfers on the same campsite every year and we just went to the most obvious and overt viewing caravan and deliberately sit there watching. we allowed them to fail a couple of times before 4 or 5 of us would just pop over and get it done in about 3 minutes.
It was the entertainment

 

[chaser]

Plans made for next couple of days, moving on from Twin Lakes, great little site very friendly, Gary has brought in bread each day, €15 / night including hook up, he even opened up a grass area tap for us to refill, dump option on roadside nice and easy

tomorrow we are going to Valence for the market, hope we get there in time, we are not very good at early starts, but it is only 120 miles away

Bev loves a market it will be my anniversary present to her

then on to Montferrand, the highest point on the canal, but technically virtually the start as well, the navigable river Garonde becomes canal around there

then Homps or Le Somail or may do both if weather isn't as bad as forecast by then


Le Somail
One of the Midi's prettiest villages, Le Somail grew up around a stone-arched bridge, le Pont de St-Marcel, built in the 17th century. An 18th century chapel stands at the end of the bridge.



above pasted from a canal guide, we don't expect wisteria yet

but stay positive, the wind is due to die down this afternoon and sunny forecast for three days

I'd go now, really excellent aire, and you need to be early for market.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DavidG58]

Sticking that safari room up cannot be related to a caravan awning. We had a safari (sold it when we realised it was useless to us) but it is only connecting 3 zips and a bit of pegging then dong the windbreak through the van. 5-10 minutes probably about right for one person. (assuming you have the height advantage)
I was also the bloke on the campsite who sat there watching when the obvious newbies came in to do their awning. There would be a group of surfers on the same campsite every year and we just went to the most obvious and overt viewing caravan and deliberately sit there watching. we allowed them to fail a couple of times before 4 or 5 of us would just pop over and get it done in about 3 minutes.
It was the entertainment

I think 5 - 10 minutes is setting the bar rather high if you are suggesting that time for ours, maybe after a few more tries we might get down to half an hour there will be a sweep running for the next rally soon

this safari room is pretty much like our old caravan awning for size, we used to have 640's in our caravanning days and the awning was near as the same as the body length, but much heavier to put up than the safari room as there is no roof to put on

 

[DavidG58]

just met another funster, @SuperMike arrived at Twin Lakes yesterday in the dark

travelling incognito, well no funster badge anyway you can't exactly miss them in the worlds biggest Winnebago

although it is painted a camouflage colour

 

[Debs]

Have a lovely anniversary tomorrow both of you ( having it valentines day makes it easy for not just you to to remember it)

Glad the safari room stood the test - looks very solid

 

[SuperMike]

just met another funster, @SuperMike arrived at Twin Lakes yesterday in the dark

travelling incognito, well no funster badge anyway you can't exactly miss them in the worlds biggest Winnebago

although it is painted a camouflage colour

Cheek. I will speak to your lady wife about you, you will find that us Scout people stick together. Further, I do not adorn beauty with badges.

 

[Clarky]

Be careful David when you get to the Midi.
Got a weather alert on my phone just now from Meteo-France.
"Inondation sur la commune de Homps (11200)"

Previous message was "Risque d'inondation". Looks like the flooding has arrived.

Richard.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Jenben]

tomorrow we are going to Valence for the market, hope we get there in time, we are not very good at early starts, but it is only 120 miles away

Bev loves a market it will be my anniversary present to her

If you do by any chance get up too late and miss the market ...... To placate Bev there is always the Saturday market in the mediaeval square in Revel. There is an aire on the outskirts

 

[Robert Clark]

Have you been out for Plat Du Jour yet David.
Maybe today would be a good time, being as its Valentines day.

 

[moulin 87]

Be careful David when you get to the Midi.
Got a weather alert on my phone just now from Meteo-France.
"Inondation sur la commune de Homps (11200)"

Previous message was "Risque d'inondation". Looks like the flooding has arrived.

Richard.

The alert is for anywhere from toulouse to the Pyrenees to the med coast...Heavy rain and floods...

 

[TheCaller]

Have a good day!

All the best to you both.
Room looks good too.

 

[SuperMike]

Cheek. I will speak to your lady wife about you, you will find that us Scout people stick together. Further, I do not adorn beauty with badges.

So, he gets up early, on the pretence that he is taking his wife somewhere nice for her birthday, and sneaks out before I am awake, so that I don't get the opportunity to speak to his wife and have him sorted out. Cowedly custard.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DavidG58]

Woke up at a decent hour this morning, decided to get off early and have half a chance of getting to the market at Valence, shame to be leaving Twin Lakes, best day of the three by some, enjoy @SuperMike , presuming the sun is still up when you rise

we had done some research for today so knew it was about 130 miles and 2 / 3 hours toll free, looked at 2 options google maps said 2 hours on one route 3 hours on the other, Gary on site said do not go on the three hour option via Bergerac, pretty but awful drive

So we headed off on the 2 hour route with TT suggesting a 7 hour later arrival time

Turns out there are bigger versions of Valence than the one we are heading for, so reprogrammed for the one near Toulouse not the one near Grenoble

Set off from Montendre, realised we hadn't put fuel in on way in, or when passing a couple in the town, TT still looking for new route, Bev says we should have gone right there, oh well I know this way back to the N10, so carry on my way, just as the yellow light comes on the dash giving us a max 2 galls = ab max 40 miles, lets hope there is a service area on the N10. Its 2 years since I had a squeaky bum moment (due to low fuel at least). this time no issues at all, but kind of lucky I hadn't taken the right turn in Montendre as we would have missed the services that way

Full of fuel but not breakfasted, but we had bought bread, local shop we happened to pass, Bev comes back with 2 large baguettes, picked on looks alone but 2€ each, some rustic option, but look and smell good, agree to stop when we turn off the Bordeaux motorway section for Agen

The weather is still lovely and sunny, really hot behind the glass, we stop for breakfast, my usual bread and jam (apricot) Bev prefers ginger, head on with 60 odd miles to get to Valence and a diminishing chance of the market

Find Valence, find the aire, another free one, although 5€ if you want any water although 5€ for the night would still be a good deal, parked up between a local canal and a navigable canal section of the river Garonde, that rather scarily is about 30' higher than where we are parked

The town may come to life for the market, but by 2 it has long gone and the place is about as dead as I expect @chaser found it on the Monday night he came here, nice walk through the town,

back to MH for a beer, then a walk along the canal side

this is the 'local' canal I think linking to the river Lot, this is in another league, the navigable section of the river Gironde

Back at MH now, couldn't find anywhere we really fancied in town @Robert Clark so this is our table d'hote

you could still guess the price though I guess, a tin of waitrose olives and a bottle of our favourite pink fizz

followed by

we will be adding a tin of kidney beans and one of the baguettes mentioned above, I know what I paid for these

not quite the expensive meal out Bev deserves, but I think she is happy with this option

apologies for that last photo, we really don't do and don't like doing selfies

 

[DavidG58]

quick update on our location, it appears to be an old abattoir, just got me thinking, is abattoir a French word, we certainly spell it the same, but is public also a French word???

before being told off, I know we cant or shouldn't deploy our awning, it was only out to dry as it went away wet yesterday, it is away already

but a very nice 18C and full sunshine, walking in T shirt, very nice

 

[chaser]

Woke up at a decent hour this morning, decided to get off early and have half a chance of getting to the market at Valence, shame to be leaving Twin Lakes, best day of the three by some, enjoy @SuperMike , presuming the sun is still up when you rise

View attachment 147895

we had done some research for today so knew it was about 130 miles and 2 / 3 hours toll free, looked at 2 options google maps said 2 hours on one route 3 hours on the other, Gary on site said do not go on the three hour option via Bergerac, pretty but awful drive

So we headed off on the 2 hour route with TT suggesting a 7 hour later arrival time

Turns out there are bigger versions of Valence than the one we are heading for, so reprogrammed for the one near Toulouse not the one near Grenoble

Set off from Montendre, realised we hadn't put fuel in on way in, or when passing a couple in the town, TT still looking for new route, Bev says we should have gone right there, oh well I know this way back to the N10, so carry on my way, just as the yellow light comes on the dash giving us a max 2 galls = ab max 40 miles, lets hope there is a service area on the N10. Its 2 years since I had a squeaky bum moment (due to low fuel at least). this time no issues at all, but kind of lucky I hadn't taken the right turn in Montendre as we would have missed the services that way

Full of fuel but not breakfasted, but we had bought bread, local shop we happened to pass, Bev comes back with 2 large baguettes, picked on looks alone but 2€ each, some rustic option, but look and smell good, agree to stop when we turn off the Bordeaux motorway section for Agen

The weather is still lovely and sunny, really hot behind the glass, we stop for breakfast, my usual bread and jam (apricot) Bev prefers ginger, head on with 60 odd miles to get to Valence and a diminishing chance of the market

Find Valence, find the aire, another free one, although 5€ if you want any water although 5€ for the night would still be a good deal, parked up between a local canal and a navigable canal section of the river Garonde, that rather scarily is about 30' higher than where we are parked

The town may come to life for the market, but by 2 it has long gone and the place is about as dead as I expect @chaser found it on the Monday night he came here, nice walk through the town,

View attachment 147900


back to MH for a beer, then a walk along the canal side


View attachment 147901

this is the 'local' canal I think linking to the river Lot, this is in another league, the navigable section of the river Gironde

View attachment 147902


Back at MH now, couldn't find anywhere we really fancied in town @Robert Clark so this is our table d'hote

View attachment 147903

you could still guess the price though I guess, a tin of waitrose olives and a bottle of our favourite pink fizz

followed by

View attachment 147904

we will be adding a tin of kidney beans and one of the baguettes mentioned above, I know what I paid for these

not quite the expensive meal out Bev deserves, but I think she is happy with this option

View attachment 147906


apologies for that last photo, we really don't do and don't like doing selfies

Don't remember any charge for water, is the abattoir open , there was all sorts in there and a tap on the wall down the side outside.

 

[scousebird]

£10.50

 

[chaser]

When we were there, there was a kitchen inside with microwaves and sinks and toilets, didn't try any of them but they all appeared to be free for anyone to use.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[chaser]

quick update on our location, it appears to be an old abattoir, just got me thinking, is abattoir a French word, we certainly spell it the same, but is public also a French word???

View attachment 147909



View attachment 147910

before being told off, I know we cant or shouldn't deploy our awning, it was only out to dry as it went away wet yesterday, it is away already

but a very nice 18C and full sunshine, walking in T shirt, very nice

You are parked in exactly the same place we were

 

[DavidG58]

The abattoir section is all locked up and gated, there is a service point with taps and electrics right outside the gate, the 5€ does at least include 2 hours electrics if wanted, there is a tap further down but no handle to turn

we are full of clean and empty of waste anyway, but free dump of waste here at least

 

[DavidG58]

£10.50

some currency conversion will be needed here, bought chilli from home

 

[DavidG58]

actually we may get no further than the wine and olives, just in negotiation as to who will cook, but you need to factor in a second bottle of pink fizz

for the sake of GTB presume we do eat

and no going over

 

[Anthea M]

Happy Anniversary both of you

Rehydrated chilli mmmmmm delicious!!

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}