Toulouse – Dieupentale – Montech – Moissac – River Tarn – Moissac
The first leg of our cruise to Moissac is not well served by moorings for a barge of our size, so we made sure to start as early as possible.
Leaving at 8:30, we made it to the first of three challenging locks that mark the end of the Midi canal. The first has a 6 m drop, and the gates are opened by a twisty pole – something we were well familiar with from our time on the Canal du Centre. Fortunately, this one has floating bollards, and we descended with ease after Lisette triggered the cycle. The second lock presented problems because we did not know where to drop Lisette off so she could open the gates. Eventually, she clambered off onto a narrow concrete divider between the canal and the busy road and crept along to the lock. Turns out we could have cruised up to the lock and just let her off. Next time, perhaps. This time, we had a sliding pole, so a straightforward descent. The last lock, the shallowest, and most gentle was manned so they passed us the ropes after descent.
We continued on for a hundred metres or so, took a sharp right turn, and we were on the Canal de Garonne. The cruise started through commercial and industrial areas, not scenic, and the canal was both wide and straight. We made good time and reached the first écluse, and were pleased to find it easy to use. A twisty pole to get in, step off to trigger the cycle, with one rope on either a tube or a bollard, gentle descent, then recover the warps to cruise off. Much easier than the up and even the down locks for the Midi.
Dieupentale
After passing two possible moorings we deemed unattractive, we arrived late in the afternoon at Dieupentale. As we arrived, we saw a large old barge at the moorings, and the French family promptly fronted up to help us moor. As the mooring had rocky edges and no bollards, this was welcome. After taking our lines, I jumped off and hammered in two stakes and thanked the crew of Nornes (an 1896 barge from Poland).
The mooring was well shaded and very pleasant. There was a bar/cave (wine shop)/restaurant just in front of Nornes, but closed because it was Sunday out of season. We also walked a little way towards the village, but found nothing. But we had a quiet evening, a lovely meal and a few drinks – recharged for tomorrow.
Montech
The next day, we set off late for a fairly short cruise to Montech. It is at the junction with the Canal du Montech that takes you up to Montauban, a future target for us. We paused at a pontoon at the junction, had a bit of a walk around to no great effect, but to make the next day’s cruise a bit more manageable, we decided to descend through the five-lock flight in front of us. They run in a group of two and one of three. A boat can start at either end, and pass along the way in the pounds between the locks. The run is beautifully shaded and really pleasant. An hour later, we moored at a waiting pontoon at the bottom of the flight.
Similar to the seven-lock staircase at Fonseranes, the canal engineers attempted to circumvent the five locks with an ingenious water-slope. Inaugurated in 1974, the Montech water slope used two engines to push a wedge of water holding a boat up or down a slope. It was always troublesome and failed in 2009, and has not been resurrected. Today, the two engines have been painted in a colourful livery, and a peniche has been converted into a museum. I stayed on Catharina Elisabeth while Lisette, Gill and Elora cycled (Gill having a very wobbly start) up to the display area.
Again, late and out of season, the museum was closed. We will have a proper look at it some other time. As no photos were taken, here’s one from the tourist site.
Moissac
Again, we started late but cruised easily along and through the canal and locks. Just after lunch, we passed the town of Castelsarrasin, not considered a particularly good town to moor at, but it has a substantial shipyard and a long line of boats in various stages of (dis)repair along the side of the canal.
About an hour later, we passed across a moderately long pont canal over the river Tarn
and three locks later, entered the port of Moissac – welcomed by being piped in by Anthony, the port Capitaine, on his bosun’s whistle. We moored up near the two locks that take vessels down from the port into the River Tarn, ready for a quick trip onto the river the next day.
We took a quick walk into town and chatted with some of the locals on the boats in port and settled in for the evening.
River Tarn
We had decided to take Gill and Elora to a wild mooring that we had been told about by friends. We negotiated the two locks down onto the river, turning upstream and soon passing under the pont canal we had traversed the previous day. We found the makeshift mooring and pulled over under the trees, put out stakes, and enjoyed a quiet afternoon and evening.
Across from us was the Château de Saint-Paul; we gather it is in a fair state of disrepair. Other than that, it was just a quiet spot and worth keeping in mind for next season.
Moissac
So, our last day’s cruising retraced our path from the previous day, back up through the two locks, and we moored up near to where we had been the day before on the sunny side of the canal.
We ended up staying there for several days because we wanted to get a large fuel delivery from a tanker, and it couldn’t reach a boat moored on the other side of the port. We eventually took on 800 L of diesel as the spare tank (190 L) was empty, the main tank (600 L) was almost empty and a dribble was needed for the heating/generator tank.
Statistics
We cruised for 40 days out of the 100 from starting cruising to ending. This involved 157 hours of the engine running and we covered 965 km. One of our larger totals, but not the largest. We passed through 113 locks although many of the locks on the Midi are multiples so in terms of lock chambers, we dealt with 139 lock chambers. This included the deepest lock in France (Bollene 23 m), and the longest flight (Fonserannes – 7 chambers).
We used around 650 L of fuel at around 4 L/h.
Winterising
We had about a week to tidy up and prepare Catharina for winter. We couldn’t host Gill and Elora during this period as we use the guest cabin for storage of clean linens and it’s not really a fun time for anyone, including guests. Fortunately, one of our Victorian cruising group members has a house in Moissac, which used to be a guest house. Generously, Tony and Rita, who were staying there, offered to provide them with lodgings while Lisette and I beavered away. Wondering how to dispose of her flowers before we wrapped up the boat, Lisette was delighted when Rita said they would take them. All 14 pots of them! The following day, they returned with all pots, empty and ready for us to store. They had planted all of the flowers in their own lovely garden. Where they could be enjoyed until winter arrived.
Gill and Elora explored Moissac and one day took a train to visit Carcassonne, while we continued with the winterising. But we took one day off to take the train to Agen on a chilly, showery Sunday.
The cathedral (Saint Caprasius of Agen) was magnificent with extensive painted walls and ceilings representing the coming of Christianity to the region.
After some drinks and lunch,
We visited the local Musée des Beaux-Arts, where there was not much that took our fancy except finding a painting by our recent favourite, Greuze,
We also made a quick visit to the Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Moissac, but this really deserves a long, slow experience as it is rich in history and significance. It is one of the major religious sites on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela and is a magnificent edifice.
Attached to it is an equally impressive cloister dating from the 11th century with 76 intricately carved capitols dating from the 11th and 13th centuries.
Each one has been carved to represent a different biblical story.
Another diversion from winterising was a small agricultural fair that was held on the banks of the Tarn. It featured produce, dancing, traditional hat making,
and a performance of some woodland fairy characters that looked attractive even though we didn’t understand the story.
That evening, there was an intimate concert with a small band of locals at the nearby restaurant and a bunch of the inhabitants of the port descended on it to eat, drink, be merry – and for some of them, to dance.
Finally, it was time to leave and take three trains to Paris, where we had booked an apartment for a week to tour around our favourite city – so on the 18th of September, the four of us up and left Catharina, shrouded for the winter, in the care of Anthony.
And now for Season 2026 …
