In line with the changeable weather we have been having this year, the day started cool and overcast (after yesterday’s heat). We made a 1030h start, with the intention of covering all the straight and boring industrial section of the canal north of Toulouse in one day. This was helped by not encountering a single boat for the entire day. We thought we would save some time by having lunch in a lock, but halfway through we were interrupted by a VNF official who had come out to see why the lock was acting strangely by not closing after we had entered. She reminded us that we were not allowed to do what we were doing, and we apologised profusely (in French) many times before we moved on. Our apologies must have done the trick; before we saw her, all the locks were empty when we arrived and we had to wait until they filled. After seeing her, all the locks were full and awaiting our entry; she must have phoned ahead to announce our arrival, given that there were no other boats on the canal.

We made good time and arrived at 1820h at Deupentale, our intended destination, and this time we found a space on the dock. Although the barging was easy, 8 hours on your feet takes its toll, and so I was very glad for a sit down and a beer.

As we were preparing to go for a bike ride, we were approached by a Russian family (father, son and two teenage daughters) who were riding along the canal as part of a very long trip from Germany to Spain. They wanted to know how far it was to Toulouse and when we told them 35km, they looked surprised, and then asked if it would be OK if they camped overnight next to the canal. While we had no authority to approve or disapprove of this, we said it would be OK, and they proceeded to break out their tents and set up camp.

We then jumped on our bikes and headed to the nearby town of Verdun-sur-Garonne, where a music friend of Rita’s lives. After a 3km ride, we were very impressed with Verdun. It is a bastide town (like many in the region) with a surrounding wall, and along the top of the wall in Verdun is a street on which Rita’s friend lives. It is a fabulous neighbourhood, with virtually no cars and lots of people sitting outside at tables and chairs enjoying a drink and a chat with neighbours and friends. When we found her house, we texted to see if she was home, but no reply, so we rode on (we discovered the following week that she was at home, but didn’t see the text in time).

When we got back to the barge, we had dinner on the back deck and watched the sun slowly fade away. As the evening approached, even the railway station looked pretty with all the "fairy-lights" glowing in the gloom.