There was a cool change overnight, so we took the opportunity to sleep in. After being so busy with many things before leaving Moissac, we also decided it was time for an email catchup, and before we knew it, it was almost midday. So we decided to stay-put for the day and relax at St. Pourquier. Rita rang ahead and confirmed that we could get a FluvialGuide for the Midi at Toulouse Port St Sauveur, so Rita settled down to some music practice, while I decided to install the exhaust fan in the bathroom.

I bought the HPM exhaust fan when our band was playing at the Alexandra Market at the Historic Rail Museum, and we were trying to raise funds by playing the steelpans and running a market stall at the same time. We ended up with some unsold items, and when I saw the exhaust fan, I thought it might just be the thing I was looking for for the barge bathroom. So I took a chance and put it in my luggage for the trip to France. The plan was to remove a grille covering a passive ventilation shaft to a deck-mounted mushroom vent, and insert the exhaust fan into this vent. I was pleased when I got to Moissac to find that the diameter of the exhaust fan shaft matched the diameter of the hole that was already cut into the ceiling of the bathroom. Phew! But the hole was so close to the wall/doorframe that it was impossible to just place the fan flat on the ceiling, so I had to build up a surrounding frame out of timber that aligned with the underside of the top of the doorframe (recognising that nothing in a barge is square!).

Since the fan would not lie flat on the ceiling, I also had to extend the shaft to prevent the moist air just being pumped into the roof cavity. This I did by wrapping a sheet of plastic document folder around the shaft and cutting it to length.

Having built the timber frame, I realised it was too big, since the fan would extend under part of the doorframe, and hence the frame would not need to be quite as wide, as shown below-right. This left me with two surplus screw holes in the ceiling  (-:

Having screwed the fan mechanism to the timber surround, I was then able to place the cover over the fan. I was very pleased with myself when everything fitted in the doorframe, even when the bathroom door was closed.

I was less than pleased with myself when I tried opening the shower door and found that it didn't fit under the fan cover (below-left). Luckily, however, the shower door did fit under the fan mechanism itself.

So now it just remained to make a cover that was no deeper than the fan assembly itself. The prototype was made from paper, until I know it works properly, and the final version will be made from another document folder, just as soon as Rita stops using it for her music scores! (in 2020, the paper cover is still in place). The piece de resistance of the creation was the power cord with inline switch at waist level, which snaked its way around the door frame and down to the 240V power board which also powers the domestic toilet we installed a couple of years ago. Now I know why I studied engineering all those years ago.

While I was working on the masterpiece, Rita decided to go for a swim at the nearby piscine at Castelsarrasin.

In the evening we decided to try finding the family home of Audrey Constans, who stayed with us as a backpacker last year in Taggerty. She had told us that they lived in Escatelans, and that we might see her parents or their sheep from the canal ecluse.

So we jumped on our bikes and rode up the canal to the next lock, but could find nothing. So we then rode into town looking for the address Audrey gave us, but found nothing. Finally we saw a local resident, and asked for directions. Soon she had two more neighbours helping, and we were told to go past the cemetery, past the stag in the roundabout, up the mountain, then down the mountain and we should nearly be there! And so off we went.

We passed the cemetery, and found the stag in the roundabout.

We went up the hill (thankfully not a mountain) and down the other side, but if we were "nearly there" it was not at all obvious. But the sunset was impressive, so it was not a wasted trip.

But as we turned to come home, we saw this road sign!! The "Chemin" it signified did not look like much of a road, but we headed off in that direction anyway, and hoped for the best. By the time we reached the other end of this road and the name had changed, we still had not found anything. So once again, we turned around to retrace our steps.

But on the side of a barn that we had passed earlier, there was a house number (around the corner from the direction we had come).

So we knocked on the door, and after some confused introductions, we finally met up with Audrey's parents. Mission accomplished!!

The ride back to the boat was much more straightforward!