Bordeaux to Nimes on a bicycle Day 5 to Toulouse

Day 5 Castellsarrasin to Toulouse - 60km

Heading for the big City of Toulouse today and it was Sunday so our path was quite busy in the morning, Joggers, walkers and weekend cyclists in their racing lycra all jostled for space on our towpath. The biggest risk of a collision occurs under the bridges as typically the path swung in towards the canal and you couldn't see who was coming the other way. The locks (les ecluses) were the best places to stop and take in the scenery. There are about fifty locks on the Canal Lateral so plenty of excuses for a stop. Surprisingly, they are automatic. Took a while to work it out but, just before each lock, there is a pole suspended over the canal like a giant old-fashioned toilet chain. The boater pulls or twists this to initiate the cycle. Once the gates are open, and the Traffic light is green, the driver enters the lock. There’s a green button at the lock to close the gates and start the fill or flush. You always need at least two people per boat particularly when navigating upstream. One to drive and the other to handle the mooring ropes and hit the green button. The boats often had bikes on board and one of the party would cycle ahead and be ready to catch the ropes. One of our Thursday lunchtime hostesses from Lyon had actually fallen in during one of these manoeuvres. She was very glad of the on-board shower!

There is one very unusual device near Montech. Boats can either go along a channel with 5 locks or be pushed up a slippery slope. The boat goes into the lock channel and then a gate comes down behind trapping the water. The gate is strung between two locomotives which then carry the boat uphill in a kind of moving bath tub. All looks a bit Heath Robinson.

The Montech monster

 Sunday lunch was in the town of Grissoles. We made it there just before the Market and Boulangerie closed. We sat in the Market Place eating fresh baguette, ham, apple tart and some lovely fresh green plums. Even on a Sunday there seems to be a Midday lunchtime rush in the French towns but once this subsided it was quite a peaceful scene.

Across the square a Canadian couple on bikes were digging into beer and pizza. The Market Traders were clearing up and loading their trailers with their unsold produce. The weather still wasn't warm but it was pleasant enough when the sun was out. So, after a leisurely lunch, it was back on the bikes and onward to Toulouse. We set a steady pace about 17kph. After a few km’s the Canadians shot past with a merry bonjour. We said see you later! True enough the boost did not last long as we found them stopped. You go on ahead, said the Canadian Lady as she attempted to mount her bike, ‘I have trouble getting my leg over’.

A cue for Johners and Aggers style giggles from the Musketeers.

After Bordeaux I was not looking forward to City life in Toulouse but the run-in wasn’t too bad. Darn paint vandalism everywhere of course. If I was a boater I don’t think I would want to tie up in Toulouse.

There were a lot of scruffy boats and people living under bridges. I suppose some would be called travellers. With their dodgy haircuts , normally head half-shaved and looking as though they had run out of the barber half-way through they are not a welcome sight in Bath or in Toulouse. Invariably, with them would be a sad looking dog, probably their only friend. With their owners at odds with society there was no chance of a basket in front of the fire for them, or the opportunity to chase a ball across the park.

Anyway, there is a basin in Toulouse where the Canal Lateral meets the Canal du Midi and also a third canal that goes directly to the Garonne. So, we now followed the Canal du Midi on its path through Toulouse and the Gare SNCF where there are loads of Hotels. We stayed at the Hotel Terminus which was fine for us and our bikes.

The centre of Toulouse, a short walk away, looked grand and was busy with people promenading and sitting out on this Autumnal Sunday Afternoon. We sat out with a beer and watched the people go by. Glad I stopped after all. Had a Pizza for dinner but was still hungry and found some chips in McDonalds and a nice Pear Tarte in a patisserie, lovely 

The basin where canals meet.
On the left is the Canal Lateral, in the middle the Canal du Midi

The Musketeers - On the podium with no steps!