There was a funeral in Damazan at 9.30, with 161 chimes of the church bells which created a chorus of howling dogs from around the town and the port.

Instead of continuing west, we have decided to have another go at heading “up the Baise”, after our aborted attempt in 2011. As I look back now, I am amazed that we attempted the Baise in the first two weeks of our barging life, and it has taken another 4 years to try again. We left Damazan at 1130h for Buzet, where we turned left to go down the double-locks to get down to the Baise, then went up about 10km to Vianne, to do our first up-lock for the year. The Baise is much more river-like (probably because it is a river!), and although it is about the same width as the canal is is more windy and with tighter turns and the occasional submerged tree. For these reasons, you have to be on the alert all the time when steering.

As in 2011, we moored on the free wooden pontoon because we didn’t need any services since the water tank was full and the generator was working. The stone quai downstream of the wooden pontoon has water and power, but is also free (another reason to stop in Vianne!). This is one of my favourite moorings; peaceful, scenic, and free.

In the afternoon Rita cycled to Barbaste, a town just up-river near Lavardac, while I went for a walk around Vianne. Vianne is a bastide town, and is one of the best we have seen. The surrounding wall is virtually intact (if modified somewhat over the centuries; the last major restoration was in 1906), the corner towers are impressive, and the highlight is the cross-street in the middle of the town leading to four impressive gates at the end of each of the streets.

One of the reasons for coming to Vianne today was that Friday is Vianne Night Market night. While it doesn’t have all our barging friends, like at Damazan, we remembered that we had enjoyed it in 2011, so thought we would give it another try. Unlike Damazan, where all the food is obtained from vendors who set up just for the Market Night, the Vianne affair is catered for mostly by the restaurants surrounding the square. This year we had a so-so dinner at Les Remparts. The food was not too bad, but the service left something to be desired (by a girl on her first night, who was replacing a friend). But at least we got served. Another couple who arrived shortly after us waited for about 30 minutes for someone to approach their table, only to be told by the novice waitress “Sorry, the kitchen has now closed!”. She then went and conferred with the head waitress, but too late -  the couple had got up and left in disgust.

Around 2130h, the one-man-band who had been playing background music stopped and a medieval animation performed by Vianne townsfolk took place. They made quite a spectacle as they entered the market square in costume.

They then proceeded to tell the story of Vianne, with a number of scenes. While I didn’t understand much of the words, it certainly was a colourful production, made even more charming by its amateur production levels. What I did understand was that Vianne had swapped hands a few times between the French and the English during the 100-year wars, which is very common for the bastide towns in the south-west of France. You can read more about the history of Vianne here.

After this animation finished, the singer returned with his backup discs straight off Nostalgie radio station (which plays “the greatest hits of the 70s and 80s”). He was actually a good singer and got a lot of people up and dancing and singing along. Having listened to a lot of Nostalgie, I even found myself singing along to the French songs! The highlight of the night for me were these two young dancing kids; she was trying desperately to get him to dance and eventually she succeeded.