We were up very early to take the 0706h train to Bordeaux, changing at Agen. Unfortunately, the Regional TER train was delayed 20 minutes, and so we missed the connection at Agen. However, the station staff were very friendly and gave us a free breakfast at Agen, and booked us on the 0921h Intercity to Bordeaux.

Along the way, the weather became cooler and overcast, with heavy rain near Marmande. Since we had expected warm weather, Rita was a trifle underdressed, so as soon as we arrived in Bordeaux, she found the nearest Carrefour supermarket and bought some tights (which she got on sale price at 1.20e).

We then rode down to the floating pontoon on the Garonne and found Hilda May and Papillon tied up together. For the next few hours we chatted with Stuart and Christine, Walt and Gail, and John and Heidi.

At 1430h, we readied ourself for departure on the tide change. It was quite amazing to see how quickly the tide changed direction. One moment it was heading down river, then it stopped, and almost immediately started heading up river again. So under threatening skies, we cast off and headed up river with the gathering tide.

By the time we reached the first bridge, just 200 metres away, the tide was already visible, rippling as it flowed around the pylons.

Despite some apprehensions that Rita might have had about this trip, it was blissful, and helped get her mind off her dad. It was also so much easier than cruising on a canal where you have to continuously worry about steering, and have the occasional lock to deal with. Here we just ran with the tide and kept roughly to the centre of the river, unless directed otherwise. At one point we were doing 18kph, but the engine was just ticking over at moderate speed.

We passed several towns along the way, but the one that surprised me most was Cadillac. Possibly because of its name, I expected a much grander town, but although we could see some bigger buildings in the background, the riverside itself was very disappointing, with just the new floating pontoon and a couple of buildings. The river was also much narrower at this point that I had imagined. Since Cadillac is also the town associated with the famed Mascaret that we had heard so much about, I mentally thought it would be more exciting. But it passed without a hint of excitement.

As we moved further upstream the water changed colour from muddy brown to the deep green that we had seen in other rivers (Lot and Tarn). As we passed the town of Langon, we saw some large cranes and Stuart explained that these were used to lift AirBus fuselages and wings off barges that have brought them up from Bordeaux. Apparently, these have been shipped in from factories around the world, and are then taken by road from Langon to the final assembly factory in Toulouse. This must be one of the few commercial undertakings still on barges in southern France.

Our only “excitement” on the trip occurred a few kilometres from the end, when we scraped over a submerged tree trunk/branch. We had seen the main part of the tree above the water and kept well away, but obviously not far enough away!

Less than 4 hours after leaving Bordeaux, we were moored on the floating pontoon at Castets-en-Dorthe, waiting overnight to go up the lock with the tide in the morning. Since we were not allowed to leave the pontoon, we amused ourselves by watching the incoming tide (we had beaten it up the Garonne) and guessing how far up the nearby steps the river would rise before the tide turned. Each time the water spilled over the next step, a huge cheer arose from Hilda May, before we refilled our glasses and waited for the next step to be covered. Luckily the tide only rose three steps from the photo at right, or there would have been some very sore heads in the morning.

As we sat on the back deck, we were treated to one of the best sunsets I’ve seen in a long time. Each time I took a photo, I said to myself that it couldn’t get any better, but it did, over and over again. I show below just one of the very best shots.

As the sun was setting, Stuart pulled out his squeeze-box and Rita found her recorder in her purse, and we were treated to some lovely music on deck to accompany the sunset and round-out a fabulous day.