After a few stormy days with torrential rain in Bouzigues the weather cleared in time for Gillian to rejoin the crew. We feasted 0n oysters from a hole in the wall opened splendidly by Simon, he has perfected the technique – no grit. We ate them with saki, great combination. The next day was windy but the real surprise was finding an extensive Brocante right on our doorstep. We now have iron spikes and ancient tools as temporary ballast.
Simon did some repairs on the water tank with a jandal using techniques developed for Gap Filler’s Sound Garden, it helps a little. He also flushed out some nasty looking gunk from the filters and fixed the leak in the toilet pump. I’m glad I’m the cook.
When the wind eased in the afternoon we nipped across the Etang to Frontignan, home of Muscat. After dinner aboard, we went into the town square and were entertained by the Ladybirds, a great girl band who could have done with a sound technician. The drummer had to sit inside the cafe as there wasn’t enough space for her on the street. The next morning we stocked up with fruit and vegetables, herb sausages and Muscat.
The next port was Palavas le Flot, the lovely fishing port we visited last year. We had been going to stop at the Cathedral Maguelone but all the dredging on the Canal du Rhône à Sète made it impossible. We came and docked when the wind was down and the tide was slack so no big dramas this time. I braved the gondola once more, much better without wind. We went to Montpellier with Gillian who was en route to Provence. When we got to Place de la Comédie, the central square there was an entrancing street performance with two young male acrobat/dancers, thoroughly enjoyable.
Continuing along the Canal we idled through the Camargue and watched flamingo feeding and flying, they make squawky little noises like pukeko. The bird life was amazing, herons, swans, tern, egrets, swallows …. Then we saw a herd of white Camargue horses filing towards a water trough, egrets perched on their backs and a couple of inquisitive donkeys watching us go by.
We got a lovely mooring at Aigue Mortes, famous for its mosquitos as well as the fairytale ramparts and towers. We are alongside (rather than stern on), away from all the hire boats, looking up at the city walls, very pretty.
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