Since we have to wait till the afternoon for Doug and Krista to arrive, we decided to catch up on some boat cleaning (inside and outside) that had been building up for while. As the day wore on, it got hotter and hotter, so we resorted to hanging wet towels around the rear deck to act as an improvised air conditioning system, which was surprisingly effective.

In the mid-afternoon, we made out way up to Agen Gare to wait for Doug and Krista’s TGV to arrive from Bordeaux. We seem to be relatively frequent visitors to the Agen rail station, and I never get tired of looking at the ironwork and glass in the roofs over the tracks.

Eventually, and on time, Doug and Krista alighted from the TGV and were glad to see us. We made our way first to the cafe at the station for a refreshing cool drink, and then walked up and over the footbridge and back to the barge, where they settled into their room and we caught up on what they had been doing so far on their trip.

Since we would be leaving Agen in the morning, we decided to go for a walk and show them a bit of the town. So we walked west alongside the canal and eventually came to the aqueduct over the river. It looks so much more peaceful at dusk than it does when newbie bargees are yelling abuse at you!

We then headed into the centre of town itself in search of a restaurant. Sadly, all the outdoor tables along Rue Voltaire were taken, but we eventually found space indoors at a Vietnamese restaurant “L'Orchidée”. This turned out to be a stroke of good fortune, since the food was very good and the proprietor was very friendly and full of good stories. It was also cooler inside than outside, where it was still very warm even though the sun had now set. Around 11pm, we wandered home, showing Doug & Krista all our favourite shops along the way.