Unlike the previous day, Saturday dawned to blue skies and the promise of good weather for the weekend. We were very grateful for this, as we had been worried about weather conditions for the Fetes de Plaisanciers to be held this weekend.

Our first task for the day was to get the barge ready for the TV5 interview, about the hidden delights of the Canal de Garonne region, and the cruise down the canal. We had arranged to meet the TV5 crew at the barge at 0900h, when the Sims family (Lisa, Isaac and Jacob) and Sharen Donovan would also arrive to join us on the cruise. They filmed us “greeting” our guests, then interviewed Rita as we left the port. As we passed La Maison, most of the band had gathered outside to greet us as we passed.

My favourite picture of this morning was of M. Gisbert, our dear neighbour, doing his “squeeky squat” and Dr. Lachlan Fraser dressed as a kangaroo. I’m sure both were wondering just who was the most unusual.

We continued down the canal with more questions being asked as we proceeded and with another cameraman chasing along the neighbouring roads try to overtake us and wait for us to cruise past again. After going through one lock, we decided to turn around so that we would be in time for our scheduled locking down to the Tarn River. On the way back, the interviewer said that she had not been looking forward to this assignment because she thought barging would be boring. However, after less than an hour on the barge she admitted that she hadn’t felt as relaxed for a long time (even though she was still working today). She said that she would go home to Paris and convince her boyfriend that a barging holiday should be their next adventure together. I think she is her own best advertisement for the “hidden joys of the Canal de Garonne region”.

We arrived back in port at 1130h, with the interviewer still firing questions at Rita, just in time for our appointment with VNF to go down to the River Tarn, to prepare for the Fetes de Plaisanciers.

Even as we descended through the locks, the questions kept coming, which was quite a challenge as Rita tried to concentrate on her ropes. Luckily, the interviewer turned her attention to the VNF eclusier as we were halfway down the locks. It will be interesting to see how much of the footage remains when the final product goes to air in February 2015. They have promised to send a video copy, so we will await it with interest *.

When we got down to the Tarn, we tied up alongside Ettie, another Piper barge.

Now we had to do some last-minute preparations for the opening of the Moissac Fetes de Plaisanciers. This Fetes (or Boat Rally) came about as a result of discussions with Iain and Kaz Noble from the Capitainerie. In 2013, when we were involved peripherally in the organisation of the DBA Barge Rally in Toulouse, there were some concerns about whether that Rally would actually take place, so we asked Iain and Kaz if they would be willing to host a rally as a replacement for Toulouse. They were willing to do so, but the Toulouse Rally went ahead and so the Moissac plans came to nothing. However, when it became apparent that the Pans on Fire tour was going to eventuate in 2014, we again asked Kaz and Iain if they wanted to hold a rally on the same weekend as we would be playing in Moissac, when the band could provide some musical entertainment to go along with the rally activities. They checked with CEPP (the company that runs the port), who were in favour of the idea (and were willing to give a 3-nights-for-the-price-of-2 mooring discount) and then we jointly arranged a meeting with the Mayor when I was in Moissac in February 2014. Although he was facing an upcoming election, he was willing to support the Fetes, and so we obtained written confirmation from him, and then spread word about the Fetes to the boating fraternity. No formal advertising was undertaken; Kaz and Iain just emailed their regular port patrons, while I spread word to barging friends and they passed the word on to their friends etc. The idea was that the Fetes would consist of several strands of activities; cruises up and down the River Tarn, some games/competitions in the Uvarium Park (petanque, rope tossing), three musical concerts (two by Pans on Fire and one by KickShins, the barn dance band of Stuart Barry from the barge “Hilda May”), the traditional Fish’n’Chips night on Monday 1st September, and a Karaoke Night at Le Sunbeam Cafe. Most of these events were organised very informally, with many decisions not made until the two weeks prior to the Fetes. Much of the organisation was done organically by the people who turned up to the event. In the end we had 30 boats registered (a mixture of old barges, new barges and smaller cruisers, moored on the Tarn Quai, on the Tarn Pontoons, and up in the port on the canal) and over 100 people registered. No registration fee was charged, with participants meeting their own costs for food and drinks (and thus having freedom to choose what and where they ate and drank). On the final night, a hat was passed around and this raised enough money to pay for the Happy Hour drinks we had on the first day.

The first thing we needed to do for the Fetes was to set up the KickShins band for the concert and barn dance that afternoon at the Uvarium. We had been pleased with the cooperation of the Mairie who had already delivered a container full of tables and chairs for the Monday evening dinner and concert, but we were blown away when we got to the Uvarium and found a portable stage waiting for us to use. So we got to work setting it up with speakers, cables, mixing desk, instruments etc and the band started to do a little rehearsal, since Joe James (our drummer) was playing with them for the first time. After about half an hour of practice, we were taken aback somewhat when someone raced in asking (in French) “Who is the musical organisor?”. We were not quite sure what he was referring to, so we sent him on to talk to Jacques, the proprietor of the Uvarium Cafe, who had given us permission to play at the Uvarium.  

At this stage, we thought it was a local resident complaining about the noise. Rita joined in the conversation with Jacques, and we then found out that the man was from the Mairie and was responsible for bookings for the portable stage. It turns out that it had been delivered on Saturday morning in preparation for a wedding that was to take place there on Sunday - it was never meant for us! However, after some soothing words from Rita and Jacques, and given that we had already set up all the electronics on stage, he agreed to let us use it on Saturday on the condition that it was ready for the intended users on Sunday morning.

At 1600h, we commenced with the Happy Hour and the official opening of the Fetes. The Happy Hour ran a bit overtime, since the numbers in attendance exceeded all our expectations. We had a book of 100 tickets for a free drink, expecting that we might use 60-70 (including the band). In the end, we issued 99 tickets, and the Uvarium Cafe staff were run off their feet issuing drinks in exchange for the tickets in a short time. Eventually, everyone got a drink (by this time others were returning to the bar to buy drinks with their own money, just to confuse matters!), and so we had a very short 5-minute opening speech, then we got as many as we could to pose on the Uvarium steps for the group photo (others refused to give up their place in the queue for the drinks!).

Then festivities got underway in earnest with the KickShins concert and Barn Dance. The concert part lasted only as long as it took to get people’s attention, then Stuart started calling for people to start making their way to the dance floor for the barn dance. As always, people are reluctant to be the first to make a move, but we had worded up our band members that they should be the first to start forming a line or circle, to get others to join in. This seemed to work fairly well, and within 10 minutes, dancing (if you can call it that) had commenced. Although most of us were relatively new to this caper, we made an effort and had lots of fun.

But all too soon, the band members had to leave the Barn Dance to go set up at the Abbey Square (Parvis L’Abbaye) for the evening concert by Pans on Fire, leaving the barn dance in the capable hands of all the other participants. After driving down a No Entry lane to the front of the Abbey, the 9-seaters and camion started to disgorge their contents, assisted by the usual conga line.

When 1900h rolled around, all the technicians (Joe, Issac and two very helpful people from the Mairie) had worked their magic and the mikes, speakers, mixer and lights were all in place.

So we all then headed off to dinner at L’abbaye Restaurant (this time provided for the band by the Moissac Mairie). Everyone agreed that the Confit de Canard was the best duck they had ever tasted.

And then, at 2100h, it was time to sing for our supper! The Concert at Moissac Abbey was, in everyone’s opinion, the best of the Tour. The atmosphere was great, the sound was good, we played well and the audience reaction was fantastic. It's not often that expectations are exceeded by reality, but this was one of those occasions.

The panorama shots of the band, the audience, the restaurants and the Abbey give some idea of the atmosphere.

The band looked good with the spotlights highlighting the trees above the stage.

The seated audience was receptive, while those in the restaurants actually stopped their chatter to listen to the band.

After we finished our sets at 2245h, the encore calls from the audience were gratifying. So we gave them a little Moliendo Cafe, and in return we were given some great gorilla dancing by Nico and a friend (-:

Finally, after everything was packed away at the end of a very long day, there was some time for more midnight drinks. Tonight, it was a case of smiles all round.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* In February 2015, the TV5 program “Échappées Belle” on the joys of travelling  “Along the Garonne" was aired, and we received our copy. The segment on Moissac starts at 10.53, while our segment runs from 15.58 till 19.24. However, the entire program is a great reminder of why we find this part of France so delightful, and why we continue to return to Moissac and to cruise up and down the Canal de Garonne.