Chancensam

... those donkeys! Thanks for including them ^

offerendum

Seems like a terrible trip

By the way: Did the crew sleep on the ship?

SFO777

Excellent! Thanks JohnnyColombia.

Whatever it was, it was very good.

No kidding. It's amazing what Costco carries sometimes.

Thank you very much fivevsone.

Thanks steveman518.

LOL. I still have a BA 2-4-1 and BA is the only F from DEN-Europe so it will happen some day when I get the courage to throw caution to the wind.

Thank you NashVegas37206 for your kind comments. The donkeys were oblivious to the world around them and made no noise whatsoever. The one by the tree was using the tree as a back/body scratcher. What a life! The veggies and all the food was fresh. The crew goes a local market every day for supplies. The wines are on the barge and including in the price, regardless of the quantity and quality. In our advance profile, we specified 1er cru Burgundies. So we enjoyed a lot of those plus a sampled may local Languedoc wines. Also, all of tours and entry fees are included as is the one lunch in Carcassonne later in the week.

You are most welcome Chancensam.

LOL. Yeah, it was an awful experience.
Yes, the crew sleeps in crew quarters on the ship, two at the bow, two in the stern.

SFO777

This morning we are off to explore ancient Carcassonne, although the modern part today.







First stop was the historic central marché.











And more proof that spouses tend to look alike over time.





And then outside across the canal to explore more.





And then the excitement of the day as a gust of wind picked up and blew Mrs. SFO's favourite Loro Piana hat over into the canal. Her shreik was all it took to know that unless I rescued it she would be miserable the rest of the trip. Amazingly the wind and current took it towards a boat which happened to have a ladder on the stern. To the pleas of "Get it before it sinks", I saved the day.





Meanwhile, back to our regular scheduled programming.













The one remaining excavated section of the an old roman road, the Via Domitia. Wow, that would be a little uncomfortable.





Cathédrale Saint-Just et Saint-Pasteur.















And back to the marché where the local anti-establishment crowd is protesting well...just about everything.



Meanwhile back inside the marché...



And a popular resto, where the owner shouts orders to the butcher across the aisle, who then tosses the meat back over the crowd. Lots of fun although something that would no doubt be banned by any number of over-reaching federal agencies back home.





Next up and a couple minute walk way, our only outside meal of the week.





Great local wine.



But the food was a big meh... looked much better than it tasted.











Meanwhile back home, a relaxing afternoon cruising the Canal du Midi.



And the first of many locks today and the rest of the week. Most of these locks were built in the 17th and 18th century.













This boat was fully booked this week... so we're stuck on the Alouette.















Getting ready for dinner.



Tonight's menu. Yay, steak frites.





As usual, another sensational meal.











More wine and a great end to the evening.

lgts

LOL. It's looks go well cooked I think I can smell it )

offerendum

Hard to believe there is still space.

hugolover

The canal boat experience looks excellent and I am sure Mrs SFO will always keep a tight hold onto her hat now .

By the way, is it really €35k for the week? How many pax can that be split by?- then it might make more sense!

SFO777

The food was amazing... tasted as good as it looked.

The barge is 35m so it's plenty long enough. I didn't se the crew quarters but I think we probably had better digs.

Indeed, she will definitely hold on the wind now.
It was "only" US$30k for the week, so $15k per couple, $2.5k/night all inclusive from pick up in Paris to drop off in Toulouse.

abeyro

Hmm, €35k v. US$30k. A nice rebate you got. Virtuoso?

Maybe this will be something fresh (i.e. not already written as praise for your contributions to trip reports):
SFO again at it! What a treat!

farbster

Glad to see that you have your priorities straight. The hat is going, going, going and you're taking your pictures. Can't be wearing a hat like that in the wind! Us FT's need our pics Thanks for keeping your eye on the ball

Looks like a great trip. Was the pace very slow? Too slow? We've never done a river cruise. Were the other passengers friends? Did the pictures at dinner bother them? Or are they used to your TRs?

What's next?

Dieuwer

No pics of the famous Carcassonne city walls?

SFO777

Thanks abeyro. There were no discounts that I'm aware off. The $30K was the brochure price when we booked 9 months ago. I think it was the early booking price.

LOL. Truth be told, I wasn't thinking about taking any pics at the time. One of our friends took the pic of me going after the hat. The pace was slow, but just right and very relaxing. Yeah, the other pax were our good travel buddies. And indeed they are now very used to me taking pics. Thanks very much farbster.

Not that day. We went back on Day 5 to La Cité for those pics. Still to come.
Thanks Dieuwer.

nrunning24

I thought i remembered you taking some crazy around the US trips on Delta a few months ago so you could try out Air France 1st Class coming back. What ever happened to that?

Dieuwer

I am confused.
According to Google Maps, Pézenas is to the northeast of Beziers. However, Carcassonne is due west of Beziers. I do not see any canal going from Pézenas to Carcassonne...

SFO777

Indeed, that was me. But alas, Air France is way off schedule in the conversion process. I'm going to wait until they have more new First planes. There are just too few retrofitted 77Ws to take a chance on booking it and then getting stuck in old First.