Trebes to Bram: Sunday 24th April

We were ready in the morning after a good night’s sleep to do the 7 locks to Carcassonne.

Waiting for the lock to open

Got to Carcassonne before 11h30 and moored up. We topped up with water and charged the electrical things. The charges for mooring at Carcassonne are €4.00 for ½ a day and up to €12.00 for overnight stops. Water and electricity cost €3.00 and there can be an additional supplement for overnight visitors as well.

Carcassonne

We walked to where we could see the Old City and did some shopping. We went into a lock with boats coming out and it was a squeeze to get it correct. We had one surprise lock that we did not see on the map as it was under a bridge.

Bram

We tied up for the night just past Bram. We are one night ahead of schedule. We did 35kms and 12 locks today plus 8kms of walking. We walked into Bram and back – Bram is the largest circular city in Europe. We stopped for a beer at the canal basin – total walk distance was 4kms. We gnocchi with a sauce of shallot, lardoons, asparagus and cream.

gnocchi with a sauce of shallot, lardoons, asparagus and cream

Homps to Trebes: Saturday 23rd April

Woke up very early and it was still drizzling. Had fried eggs for breakfast and then had a shower. The shower is very interesting. It is a hand held device and you shower in the space between the basin and the loo.

The view of Homps from our barge

We got on our way at 08h10 and it was raining. The wind catches the barge. We got to the first lock before it opened. It was pouring with rain but we got the lock done perfectly.

On our way to La Redorte

Moored at La Redorte and walked into the village to shop. There was beautiful produce at the supermarket. We had an espresso at the restaurant alongside the moorings.

A handful of cooked prawns for lunch

We got through the Puichéric lock before the lunch break which is from 12h30 to 13h30.  We stopped for lunch before the first locks to Marseillette. We did 8 locks in 8km’s including 2 doubles, a triple and a single. Trèbes triple lock was a synch. We were the only boat and we have our rhythm.

This view is something you get used to!

We stopped for the night at the first lock – Villedubert – on the way to Carcassonne from Trèbes. 14 locks and 30kms travelled today. I walked over 6kms. The locks are very physical and you need to be fit and agile.

One of the many villages we saw

We had scallops and asparagus for supper – the asparagus came from a farmer selling them at the side of the road.