The morning dawned fine, so we started our day with breakfast on the back deck, overlooking the smooth millpond water of the canal before any passing boats had a chance to disturb it. Around 9.00am, we cast off the mooring ropes and headed through our first lock of the day, just west of Pommervic. We had been a bit naughty by mooring overnight at the waiting pontoon, just upstream of the lock. But since we had arrived after the locks had closed for the day, and departed before the first boat had come through in the morning, we didn’t feel too guilty (despite the sign saying no mooring except while waiting for the lock - I guess technically we were waiting for the lock to be ready for us to use, the next morning!)

As we cruised west, we thought we recognised a barge ahead of us which was hovering in the widened section of the canal near La Magistere, and indeed it turned out to be Mark and Anne (and their two large dogs who were having a run on the grassy bank) on their 30m peniche Anna. We stopped next to them and doddled around for a while, gently easing back and forth, while we caught up with news from then and about other friends on the Garonne Canal. Eventually however we drifted apart with the current and continued on our way, leaving them to worry about getting the dogs back on board.

In the early afternoon, we arrived in Agen and were somewhat surprised to find some available mooring spaces on the north side of the basin. In the last couple of years, the VNF had been issuing long-term mooring permits for this area which had totally precluded any short-term stays. This year, some of the permanents were away, leaving some space, so we tied up on the grassy bank of the basin.

During the afternoon, we noticed some “suspect” cars parked near the mooring, with two men sitting in each of them and watching the boats. Rita was due to take a train back to Moissac that evening for a concert that she had previously arranged to attend with friends, and when the time came to walk her up to the station, the suspect cars were still there. So she suggested that I stay at the boat while she walked up to the station. That evening, I stayed on-board and read while keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity. After several hours, both cars left within minutes of each other. To this day, I don’t know whether they were “up to no good”, or whether they were just enjoying a quiet spot where they could talk with their friends!