After some overnight rain, it was time to start heading east again, but not before Terrie brought some rolls of felt that she thought might be useful to put under the vinyl on the wheelhouse roof.

As we passed through le Mas d'Agenais, we noticed something that we had seen elsewhere on the Garonne, with water levels being about 200mm below normal water levels, reflecting the relatively low rainfalls in the catchment areas in southern France this year. We also noticed that winter must be coming, as we saw several properties with substantial stacks of wood.

Around lunchtime, we pulled into Villeton, where we intended to take on some water, since we had noticed the tank levels were fairly low. One nice thing about Villeton is that you can buy water (and electricity) by buying some tokens, rather than having to pay for mooring.

While we were connecting the water hose, Paul from Gulliver came along to say hello. We had first seen Gulliver a month ago when they where anchored peacefully in the middle of the Tarn River, but apart from a short conversation at the Damazan Night Market a few weeks ago, we hadn’t really had much of a chance to talk to each other. But while the water tank was filling seemed like a good opportunity. Paul asked about our steelband, and mentioned that one of the few times he had previously seen a steelband when he was in Switzerland in 1992, and saw a Swiss band playing with a bunch of Trinidadians in the Bernese Overland. Rita got a strange look on her face, and disappeared into the barge. A few minutes later, she emerged with a copy of Pans 92, in which there were photos of that performance, which was by the band in which Rita played! Truly a small small world!!

After our tokens had been exhausted and our water tank partially filled, we left Villeton and continued east. As we reached Buzet, we noted that Papillion was in port, with Walt in the wheelhouse. So we slowed down and pulled over towards him to say hello. Soon Gail appeared from below, and invited us on board for a farewell drink. So we tied up onto Papillion, and went aboard. We discussed all sorts of things, including finding out that Walt and Gail were soon to sell Papillion - to Gail’s daughter! Since she was still working full-time and unable to use the barge on a regular basis, Walt and Gail would be able to continue using Papillion as they are for the foreseeable future. Quite a nice arrangement.

While we could have continued talking with them for quite a while, we had to leave to ensure that we could get through Buzet and over the double-locks near the Baise River aqueduct before 1900h, so that we could reach our desired mooring location at Phillipot Park that evening. We did this succesfully, in time to settle down on the rear deck for sunset drinks and dinner.

We then adjourned to the park to continue the Petanque Challenge, which I managed to win 11-10 after a 3-point win on the final end, to tie the series 4-4.