It was windy last time we visited Homps and the wind has been really strong for the last few days so we are staying here to catch up on email and for Simon to continue writing his thesis. Huge chunks of bark are flying off the trees, maybe it is worse because so many of them are dying, slow replanting by Unesco is going on in most places, mainly disease resistant planes but mixed planting in some places and we saw some poplars on one stretch.
I was looking forward to a shower and had to wait until the afternoon as the Captainerie was shut however there are no showers – a problem with the water. The solar shower was too hot to use so we had very satisfactory bowl washes before heading out for dinner. We had been going to buy food at the nightmarket but jam and wine were not quite enough for a meal, it was mainly craft things. Wonderful dinner of snails for me and beetroot risotto for Simon and then we both had swordfish, back to Lady Mary for digestifs.
There are tiny ducklings seeing off the sparrows on the quayside and some very pretty cream ducks. I gave some small children some bread and then had to watch carefully that they didn’t throw themselves in with enthusiasm. The not so pleasant live visitors have been a multitude of ants, we found them in bed with us! I think they are all dead now, we have got every ant destroyer we can find.
In Trebes we had free, if hot, parking with power and a great poissonerie from which we got two beautiful little rose trout for the barbeque. In the night our flag was stolen! There was so much raucous noise from neighbours that we didn’t pick that they were taking it. Fortunately one of the ‘Le Boat’ hire boat workers fished it out of the canal when he was coming to work the next day and put it on the side to dry and another person pointed it out as we were leaving. We had just done a huge search though all the bushes and along the paths so were incredibly relieved.
We had a lovely stay in La Redorte and were parked beside a beautiful old Dutch boat ‘The Swan’. There was another Convivienca performance at the port, a bit tame compared to the last one and nobody danced. The next night we had a lovely spot on the bank, very tranquil and shady.
The petunias are starting to flower at last some of the herbs are struggling in the heat, I need to water them two or three times a day. The landscape has changed again we have been through fruit orchards, wheat fields and golden showers of sun flowers, now we are in the Minervois among the vines. Most gardens have roses. Lagestromia and oleander are flowering in profusion.
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