There was heavy overnight and morning rain, which cleared in the mid-morning, so we decided to head for Vianne, given the forecast of Friday rain. The down-locks were much easier than the up-locks we had negotiated coming up the Baise.

At many locks along the canals, we had noticed that many of the Eclusier’s Cottages had been converted into cafes and restaurants, but this one on the Baise had been converted into a Gite - Gite Rural de Sorbet. It was one of the most attractive Eclusier’s Cottages we have seen in our travels.

As we neared Lavardac we were overtaken by a rainstorm, so we sought shelter on a mooring at la Chaumieze d’Albret, the wooden mooring near a restaurant where we had sought respite in 2011.

After the rain cleared, we made a dash for Vianne, followed by a big black cloud for the last kilometre or so. Just as we finished mooring in Vianne, a huge thunderclap sounded directly above us. It must have been close, because it was one of those situations where we heard the thunder at the same time as we saw the lightning, and it was very loud. The wind and rain then picked up, accompanied by thunderbolts & lightening - VERY VERY frightening

But as we had experienced several times already over here, 10 minutes later the sunshine re-appeared.

After the rain cleared, we went for a walk over the suspension bridge crossing the Baise, and then for a walk walk along the opposite bank, where we got a good view of the weir, the old Moulin and the eastern wall of the bastide.

We also got a good view of Kanumbra from the opposite bank.