Onward from Carcassonne

Mid afternoon on Friday, 28 March we returned to Zonder Zorg from our ten-day cruise. We settled-in and began preparing to continue up canal from Carcassonne. There is a market set-up in Place Carnot on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, so on Saturday morning we took our wheelie on a walk to begin provisioning Zonder Zorg’s pantry and fridge. We paused at several stands tasting hams and sausages and selecting cuts of those that pleased us.

There is a wide selection of local and imported produce of varying quality, so after we had made a full round of the stalls, we chose potatoes from one, red and green peppers and a huge cauliflower from another, avocados and mushrooms from a third and so on until our shopping cart was near full.

We topped-off the load with some multi-grain bread. After lunch we took a shopping bag to Monoprix, a mid-town department store with a small supermarket on its main floor. There we stocked up with meat, fish and a few grocery items to hold us until Zonder Zorg is closer to a large supermarket.

On Monday morning I stopped by the Capitainerie to organise a fuel delivery for the following day. Before we had gone on our cruise, I had spoken with Stéphanie Bourgain, the Capitain du Port about getting  diesel fuel for the boat. She said she could arrange for a truck to come to the boat, but the company needed a day’s notice. While we were away she had polled the other boat owners in the basin and had compiled a list of seven boats wanting fuel. It was now simply a matter of her contacting the company, confirming a price per litre and getting a delivery time.

We were the first stop when the truck arrived at 0830 on Tuesday and we took on 300 litres at €1.325. This price was 12 cents per litre cheaper than at the filling station a few hundred metres up the street and only 3 cents more than for the potentially problematic high biodiesel blend at the Leclerc supermarket pump on the western edge of town.

The fill took our gauge to about the 350 litre level, about 100 litres from full and sufficient to do us through the spring and summer.

Shortly after noon on Wednesday, after paying our moorage bill and saying farewell to Stéphanie, we slipped our lines and continued up the canal. Almost immediately the canal entered a deep cut with steep, complex masonry walls.

The cut was through a high ridge of land for about a kilometre and it appears to have required extensive excavation and masonry wall reinforcements. I looked at the Du Breil Guide Fluvial chart and saw a double dashed line to the north of the city with the notation: “Ancien canal”. The canal had been re-routed and I decided to dig further after we had paused for the day.

At 1305 we secured alongside the bank with the spud pole and a line to a pin pounded into the bank. We had come 2.3 kilometres and were in a delightfully quiet spot just outside the city and next to a track that led to a small road that led about 400 metres to the huge Leclerc supermarket. It had been cool, glum and rainy for several days and it was forecast to remain the same for a few more, so we decided to pause here for a while waiting for the weather to change.

With a good internet connection on my iPhone, I dug into the background of the re-routed canal. In planning the route of the canal, Riquet had used the easiest lines, the ones that required the least digging and the fewest works such as locks, bridges and aqueducts, so the natural route took the canal two kilometres to the north of Carcassonne. In 1669 Riquet’s agents began negotiations with the city of Carcassonne to have the canal run past the city walls. The price asked for the additional work was 100,000 livres. A powerful faction in the city resisted the proposal, so in 1673 the canal was dug along the easiest path, next to the Fresquel River.

Along the way, a double lock was built at Villaudy at a contracted cost of 16,061 Livres, so the 100,000 quote to Carcassonne for a longer route requiring extensive excavation and masonry work, two locks and several bridges does not seem out of line.

In 1787, after more than a century of watching the canal traffic bypass their city, Carcassonne finally decided to dig a seven-kilometre diversion to bring the canal under their city walls. The works were slowed by the Revolution, but were finally completed in 1810. Pont Marengo, where the canal abuts the north side of the city, was completed in 1800. It did not follow the template of the bridges built between 1667 and 1681, and at 3.3 metres, it is the lowest bridge on the Canal du Midi.

During a pause in the rain we walked along to the supermarket and picked-up some fresh supplies for dinner and breakfast. Back onboard, we enjoyed a celebratory meal to mark the beginning of the year's cruising: Sautéed dos de cabaillaud with roasted mini potatoes and steamed green beans accompanied by a bottle of Crèmant d'Alsace.

On Thursday we puttered around onboard, cleaning and organising, reading, writing and relaxing. In the evening I played in the galley. I had bought a 550 gram foie gras de canard.

I sliced thick slabs of veinless pieces off its sides and stuffed this into chicken breast.

I seasoned some bread crumbs and lightly coated the breasts.

These were then slowly sautéed in butter and then the pan was covered for the chicken to finish cooking.

The resulting suprême de volaille de Bress au foie gras de canard was served with steamed asparagus spears with a mustard mayonnaise, basmati rice and sliced Roma tomatoes. It was accompanied superbly with a 2010 Monz’ & Marveilles Corbières from Domaine La Luze. We were slowly getting back into cruising.

The glum weather persisted, with rainy spells, cool days and nights down in the 8º to 10º range. On Friday morning, about ten minutes after I had turned-up the central heating thermostat to warm the boat for breakfast, there was a loud bang and then a rapid running of the water pump. I quickly lunged to open the pump and furnace breakers, which brought quiet. Under the galley sink was steam and a growing pool of water. I removed the back panel and saw water flowing out of a dangling hose with a broken fitting on its end.

The fitting appeared to have blown off the side of the Webasto heater for the heads.

Looking to bypass the heater by connecting the line to its inlet with the line from its outlet, I unscrewed the clamp and took the broken fitting off the hose. The connecting barb showed gouges and scrapings from having been crudely modified, most likely by the installer trying to force the fitting into a cold hose, rather than heating the hose. Since everything in Zonder Zorg is new, I need to determine why a ten-month-old fitting blew. I suspect it had been overstressed and weakened while the installer whittled down the hose barb.

I walked through the rain to the Bricomarche that is in the rear of the Leclerc and searched for a piece to connect the two sections of hose. My best option seemed to be a 14 millimetre female-female copper solder junction. The straight junction had insufficient shoulder to hold the clamps, so I chose a 45º one.

I slipped the hose ends over the elbow, tightened the clamps and switched on the water pump. The bypass held. I closed the breaker for the furnace and after the system was filled and purged, I monitored the repair for leaks as the furnace began again warming the cabin. We had breakfast.

By Saturday morning the rain had stopped and the forecast for the following few days showed hope for an end to the prolonged glum. We continued to relax, and as the weather allowed, we spent more time out in the cockpit, relaxing and enjoying lunch.

With the activity and the smell of food, we soon attracted some of the local ducks, including this mom teaching her young ducklings how to flirt with boaters and beg for crumbs.

As the weather improved, there was an increase in the number of locals out walking along the towpath. Many of them had bags of leftover bread and they lined-up on the banks overfeeding the ducks as if they were producing foie gras.

Among other things to fill the time, on Sunday I prepared the remainder of the large foie gras that I had bought. I started by deveining the liver, seasoning it and pressing it into three small terrines. These were placed in a bain-marie and then into a 150º oven for half an hour. Out of the oven, they were allowed to stand for two hours before being placed in the fridge for three days to resolve.

Monday morning dawned clear and after some preliminary espressos inside, it was pleasant enough to continue with breakfast in the cockpit. Edi prepared a Zonder Zorg version of eggs Benedict: she basted eggs and served them napped with freshly made sauce Béchamel on ham slices on lightly toasted multigrain bread and garnished with avocado and tomato slices and fresh basil and served with more cups of espresso.

The selection of fresh seafood in the Leclerc is superb, and we have been spoiling ourselves with fish for dinner most evenings. On Monday there was a special on dos de cabillaud, so I bought a large piece, which I lightly breaded, seasoned and sautéed in butter and served with pomme de terre rissolées and steamed asparagus spears with a mustard mayonnaise.

The weather had stabilised, so on Tuesday afternoon we made one last shopping expedition to Leclerc to stock our fridge and pantry in preparation for continuing up the canal on Wednesday morning. In the evening we enjoyed filet de perche lightly breaded and sautéed and served with green beans almandine, rissolées and sliced tomatoes with shredded basil.

We were comfortably back aboard Zonder Zorg, all her systems were working, we had recovered from ten days of eating American cruise ship style and had reacquainted our systems to proper food. We were ready to continue.

A Warm-up Cruise

On Tuesday the 18^th of March we had returned our rental car in Perpignan and had taken the TGV to Barcelona to head out on a ten-day cruise, which was departing the following evening. From Estacío Sants we took the subway to Las Ramblas and walked the short distance along a narrow side lane to our hotel. 

The weather was very pleasant so we decided to walk the five or so kilometres from the hotel to Sagrada Familia. Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, which translates to The Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family was begun in 1882. The following year, Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi took over the project, transforming the design into a wondrous combination of Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau. Construction was expected to take a few centuries, and by the time of Gaudi’s death in 1926, the project was less than a quarter complete. Construction ceased during the Spanish Civil War, the building was damaged by Catalan anarchists, most models and many of the plans were destroyed. Work resumed in the early 1950s. 

By the mid-1980s computer design technology was being used and computer-guided milling machines enabled stones to be much more quickly carved. These advances dramatically sped the pace of construction, which by 2010 had reached the midway point. In 2011 Pope Benedict consecrated the church and said the first mass in it.

The several centuries time estimate has been scrapped, and even though the many of the largest engineering and construction challenges are still ahead, completion is now predicted for around 2026 or 2028. Although incomplete, the church is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In the evening we strolled into Plaça Relai and looked for a place to have dinner. Facing the square on all four sides are nineteenth century buildings with arched porches, in which is a non-stop line of restaurants and clubs. 

Using our rule-of-thumb, we chose the place with the largest number of diners. While most of the other restaurants had few clients, Quinz Nit was packed inside and out and there was a short queue for tables. The evening was beginning to cool, so we opted for a table inside, and were fortunate to be seated at a window table.

We started with a bottle of Mont Marçal Brut Rosada, a deliciously robust rosé Cava from a house that I had represented in Canada during the 1980s and 90s. With it we nibbled on some tapas and a basket of tender calamari with an ink mayonnaise. For our main course, we each went for the seared tuna, which was done to perfection. Because we enjoy our own cooking so much, we have been rather consistently disappointed when dining out, so this was our first restaurant dinner in over a year. We were prepared to be again disappointed, but instead we were delighted with the meal, the service, the ambience and the price. For just over €50 we had a wonderful evening.

On Wednesday afternoon, after a late breakfast in the hotel dining room, we wheeled our carry-on bags down Las Ramblas, around Mirador de Colom, along Ronda del Litoral and across the bridge leading to Moll Adossat, where our cruise ship, Norwegian Spirit was berthed. She is the oldest ship in the Norwegian fleet, having been built in 1998, and at about 300 metres, she is the smallest of the fleet. She accommodates 2000 passengers and about 900 crew.

We fortunately arrived from our three kilometre walk between the busloads of embarking passengers, so our check-in was quick and efficient. With carry-on luggage only, we breezed through, found our cabin and quickly unpacked and settled-in. After all the announcements and the mandatory lifeboat drill, we began relaxing into our first do-nothing experience in many years. The ship features free-style dining in a choice of ten restaurants with a casual dress atmosphere.

The ship departed mid-evening on Wednesday and steamed overnight, passing through the Straits of Gibraltar shortly after sunset on Thursday. Mid-morning on Friday we berthed in Casablanca and after the rush had subsided, Edi and I took the free shuttle into the centre of town. It is a dirty, squalid place with crumbling infrastructure; we felt rather uneasy about our security. The current street begging fad appears to be playing blind. We looked in some shops searching for things of interest, but our choice seemed to be between tacky imported souvenirs and garish local stuff. We passed and took the shuttle back to the ship.

An evening departure and a day and a half at sea brought us on Sunday morning to Funchal, Madeira. A pleasant two kilometre walk along the pier and the waterfront brought us into the centre of the city, which climbs the steep slopes above the water.

The city is clean and tidy and the sidewalks are mostly done in attractive tile or stone mosaics. There is a very obvious pride of place among the locals and the city exudes a welcoming atmosphere. 

There are riverbeds which run down the steep slopes through the city. Much of the time these are dry or nearly so, but during the rains they are raging. To enhance the appearance of the stagnant spillways, beds of flowers grow from a wire mesh strung across them.

There is free public wifi in many of the squares and pedestrian streets in Funchal, but with so many sitting and browsing, the connection was too slow for us. We paused at a sidewalk café for espressos and caught-up with the world on our iPhones using the café’s wifi. In the early evening the pilot guided us out of the harbour and left us to continue southeastward overnight.

The seas increased as we entered the Trade Winds and we watched spume being blown off the breaker tops in the Force 8 winds. Our course had the wind, swell and seas abeam and frequently the ship’s stabilizers couldn’t keep-up with the confusion. We rolled and lurched, sea sick bags appeared throughout the ship and few people were about. We used the time to explore the ship without the jostling crowds.

On Monday morning we entered the harbour in Arrecife, the Canaries and the ship worked for nearly half an hour with its bow and stern thrusters to come alongside against the 40-knot wind. We took a shuttle bus into town and looked around. The centre of town is vapid, composed mainly of up-market international brand name shops for the tourists. The hills are crowded with condominium developments with many more under construction. To furnish these is an Ikea store and quite a few copycats. We walked the three kilometres to Ikea to pick-up the last few storage items we needed for Zonder Zorg's galley and walked back to the ship against the gale force winds.

Monday evening the ship slipped from the wharf and we headed back northward with the Trade Winds on the starboard bow. The winds and seas eased through the following day and it was rather calm Tuesday night as we transited the Straits of Gibraltar. Our breakfast entertainment on Wednesday was watching the maneuvering of the stern tug as we entered Malaga Harbour.

We had signed-up for a trip to Gibraltar, since neither Edi nor I had been there. A two-hour bus ride brought us to the rock and a further forty-minute crawl took us through the border post and into Gibraltar so Edi could tick-off her 86th country and I my 77th.

Because of the slowness at the border, there wasn't time to walk up to the top of the rock and get back before the bus left, so we headed over to the cable car base. It was closed because of high winds, so for 30 pence less than the cable car rides, we took a guided mini van tour, which the driver said took in much more than the cable car ride. After a stop at a lookout, we continued on to St. Michael's Caves at about 300 metres above sea level. There is evidence of human habitation in the caves dating to at least 20,000 years ago. The caves of Gibraltar are considered as one of the last homes of the Neanderthal. We wandered through an extensive network of interconnected rooms.

We continued up to the narrow col joining the two portions of the summit ridge and paused for photos. The Mediterranean side is the steeper of the two slopes.

We were entertained by the locals. About three hundred Barbary Macaques inhabit the upper reaches of the rock in five colonies. They are the only wild apes or monkeys living in Europe and they are thriving. Their relatives in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco are in decline and listed as endangered. 

In 1704 a British-Dutch force captured Gibraltar from Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession and in 1713, the territory was ceded to Britain in perpetuity under terms of the Treaty of Utrecht. Gibraltar's airport runs across the only piece of flat land in the territory, the low isthmus that joins it to the south of Spain. The single runway extends into the Atlantic at one end and into the Mediterranean on the other, and the only road into the territory from Spain crosses the runway, controlled by a traffic light. 

After looking around the downtown, we made it back to the bus with a quarter hour to spare. Three hours later we were back aboard for our last day and a half at sea. On Friday morning we disembarked in Barcelona and rolled our carry-ons across the bridge into the foot of Las Ramblas, from where we took the subway to the train station. In less than three hours we were wheeling our suitcases aboard Zonder Zorg in Carcassonne and getting ready to start some real cruising.

Back to France

On Monday 10 March we rolled our luggage train to the SkyTrain station to begin our commute from Vancouver back to Zonder Zorg in Carcassonne. We had seats on a flight from Vancouver to Toronto with a connection to Paris and we had a rental car reserved for a week. Everything went smoothly and shortly after 1100 on Tuesday morning we were on the ring-road around Paris and heading toward the Midi.

In the early afternoon we paused at an autoroute rest stop for a baguette and cheese and a two hour nap to help stave-off the nine hour jet lag. Mid-evening, after about 800 kilometres of driving, we stopped in Brive-la-Gaillarde for the night. On Wednesday we decided to take the small roads, rather than the autoroute and had a delightfully winding drive through the Périgord and upper Dordogne, with pauses in Lauzerte and Cahors.

Shortly before 1700 we arrived aboard Zonder Zorg in Carcassonne. The weather covers that Edi had sewn together had stood-up to the winds of the winter. They had done their job well protecting the decorative woodwork and keeping the interior fresh. The cover over the skylight had allowed us to lock one side open a small crack, and with the portlight in the shower slightly ajar and adding cross-ventilation, the interior had remained wonderfully fresh.

I filled the water tanks, purged the water lines, purged and charged the hot water tank, reconnected the gaz bottle and we were comfortably back aboard. After a quick trip to the supermarket for supplies for dinner and breakfast, we had mid-evening dinner and fell into bed to continue adjusting to the nine-hour time change. For the next few days we made full use of the rental car to chase around the stores picking-up obscure and bulky items that would be difficult to source or to transport later by bicycle.

On Saturday our shopping took us into the wine country to replenish Zonder Zorg’s cellars. Carcassonne is adjacent to three famous wine regions, Limoux, Corbières and Minervois. We began with Limoux, where the basic sparkling wine process appears to have been invented. By 1531 the monks at the abbey of St.-Hilaire, a few kilometres southeast of Carcassonne, were making a bottle-fermented sparkling wine. By the early 1660s the British were deliberately adding sugar to induce a secondary fermentation to add sparkle to bottled wine. Among these revivified wines were those they had imported from the Champagne region. By the late 1690s, because of the popularity of the fashion in England, the wine producers in the Champagne had begun using the process themselves to make the predecessor of what we now know as Champagne. Dom Perignon, who is famously reputed and ceaselessly marked in the Champagne region as having invented Champagne, had nothing to do with the process of adding bubbles. In Limoux we visited wineries and tasted many wines, but left the region empty-handed; nothing had excited us.

We continued along eastward into Corbières, pausing at small producers along the way to taste. Finally, in the village of Monze we found some wines we liked. Domaine La Luze was established about a decade ago by Christian and Thérèse Caverivière to exploit the vineyards that Christian’s father and grandfather had worked for many decades. The harvests had previously all been sold to the local Cave Coopérative, but Christian wanted more quality control, so once he had taken over the family vineyards, he built a small, very modern winery.

The vineyards total seven hectares and are planted to Grenache Noir, Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault, Grenache Gris, Viognier and Marsanne. To ferment and condition these grapes, Christian has installed a range of temperature-controlled stainless steel fermenters in sizes that allow him to keep small lots separate. He makes a white, two rosés and four reds. The reds, which are all AOP Corbières, were of most interest to us.

The first of the reds is made from younger vines and lesser plots and is packaged in five litre containers and we passed on it, but the other three reds all impressed us. The 2011 Marie de Sobransac is made with a blend of Syrah, Grenache Gris and Carignan and offers a delightful mouthful of fresh red fruit with a pleasant tannic edge and a long finish. The 2010 Guillaume de Sobransac comes from a blend of Syrah and Grenache Noir and is aged in small oak. It has a firm structure with overtones of vanilla and chocolate layered on complex dark fruit flavours that carry into the long finish.

The 2010 Monz’ & Merveilles is also made from Syrah and Grenache Noir and it is aged for twelve months in small oak, about twenty-five percent new. On the nose it shows aromas of coffee and plum jam and these persist into the palate, combining with intense cassis flavours. The power of the fruit is well supported by strong, persistent and well-integrated tannins, which should allow the wine to evolve finely over a decade or more. To show the maturation style of the Monz’ & Merveilles, Christian opened a bottle of the 2008 for us to taste. We were immediately hit by aromas of cassis syrup. The tannins were resolving wonderfully and the intensity of the fruit was almost overpowering. Delighted with the wines, we bought three cases, and to thank us, Christian threw in a bottle of the 2008 Monz’ & Merveilles.

Domaine La Luze is midway between Carcassonne and Lagrasse, so after we had loaded our wines into the car, we continued along toward Lagrasse looking for more wines. Many of the vineyards had completed pruning, but along the way we saw several where it was still ongoing. While the temperature was warm, in the upper teens, the wind was very strong and the workers were bundled-up against it.

We found no more wine, but in Lagrasse we found some splendid scenery in the medieval abbey town.

From Lagrasse we took a narrow and very winding track through hilly country that is cut by spectacular gorges and dotted with delightful little medieval villages. We finally found our way out of the wilds and back into Carcassonne.

On Sunday we drove off into the Minervois looking for wine. Although we found no further wines of interest, we did see some beautiful settings in the hills along the base of les Montaignes Noirs.

Back in Carcassonne, we took a walk through Ville Basse up to the fortified La Cité, which was inhabited by the Romans in the first century BC. Ville Basse, the Lower Town, which is also referred to as the New Town, since it dates to only 1247, was destroyed by the Black Prince in 1355 and then quickly reconstructed and fortified by the residents. We walked across the Vieux Pont, which had been built in the early thirteenth century to replace an older wooden bridge and give access between La Cité and Ville Basse.

We followed the roads to Place St-Gimer and the footpath that led up from there across the west slopes to Porte d’Aude.

Back across the slopes, the view of the western ramparts and le Château Comtal was impressive. The hill has been fortified for at least two millennia, starting with the Romans, though possibly by others earlier.

The fortifications include a three-kilometre-long double wall with fifty-two towers. In 1849, because of their deteriorated state, the French government decided that the fortifications should be demolished. The locals strongly opposed this and a campaign was launched to preserve the fortress as an historical monument. Because of the pressure, the government reversed its decision, and in 1853 a restoration of La Cité was begun, led by architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc. He continued until his death in 1879 and the work was largely completed by the end of the nineteenth century.

Viollet-le-Duc was known for interpretive restorations, adding creative fantasy to historical fact. He had added a third tower to Notre Dame de Paris, and with La Cité, he added pointed roofs to the wall towers in a style typical of northern France, but unusual in the south.

Inside the walls are many shops and restaurants, two up-scale hotels and some guest houses. Although it was Sunday and all the businesses down in Ville Basse were closed, up in La Cité everything was open for business and they were mostly bustling with clientele.

After a final shopping spree Monday, on Tuesday we drove down to the Mediterranean coast and southward to Perpignan to return the rental car and to catch a train to Barcelona. The newly completed rapid rail line linking the French SNCF and the Spanish RENFE systems means that passengers can now enjoy the high speed of the TGV to cross-border destinations. The 195-kilometre train trip took only an hour and a quarter, including two station stops.

We were in Barcelona to embark on a cruise to warmer climates to warm-up while we waited for the Canal du Midi to reopen for the season. Our ten-day itinerary will take us to Casablanca, Madeira, the Canaries, Malaga and back to Barcelona.

New Book Published

I am delighted that my new book has now been published and that it is now available on Amazon: Carefree on the European Canals. The book is 350 pages in a 7" X 10" format, with about 950 photographs, images and maps.

Meanwhile, we are keeping ourselves busy in Vancouver with nine presentations scheduled for the Bluewater Cruising Association, the Vancouver Boat Show, the Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons and at some of the yacht clubs.

We are chomping at the bit to head back over to Zonder Zorg in Carcassonne in early March to continue cruising.