Today we are starting our trip to Moissac, where we have arranged a meeting with an estate agent friend, who is going to manage the sale of our Moissac house. After 12 years, we have decided to sell, in order to raise funds to partially fund the establishment of our pyrolysis project on our tree farm at Kanumbra (yes, I know it's the same name as our boat, but we are not planting trees on our boat). When we bought and renovated the house, we always intended that one day we would  sell it to finance our living expenses. Well, that time has come, and we have decided to re-invest the proceeds into a project that promises long-term financial beneficts for us, and long-term environmental benefitis in fighting climate change.

As we were packing the campervan for the trip, I received an email from Peter Vizzard saying that he was impressed by what I had sent him about the pyrolysis project and, pending further discussions when we get back  to Auxonne, he would be willing and able to provide us with a loan to partially fund the project. This was just the sort of encouragement we needed, as we set off to Moissac to raise our own funding.

Soon we were on our way, through intermittent rain, and headed for Saint Ours where we would break our journey at the Bel Air Campground, where we had stayed on previous trips. This is at the edge of the Vulcania region near Clermont-Ferrand in cenral France. Here is an overview of the area; not a picture we took, but a photo of a poster that the campground had on their reception desk!

We were soon settling in for the night, and learning all the tricks of setting up the van again. It didn't take Rita very long to remember that they had a heated indoor pool at the campground, and soon she was enjoying herself.

We went up to the cafe for a pizza and galette dinner, and some enjoyable banter with the chef and and his wife, who run the campground. As the rain returned, we scurried back to the van and bedded down for a very quiet night's sleep.

The morning dawned cold at Bel Air, so we stayed in bed just that little bit longer. But we got up around 0800h, and I went to collect our bread from the Reception desk. After breakfast we were on our way to Moissac. The edges of the road lading back to the motorway were festooned with colour, as the gorse bushes had sprung into  action. It reminded me of the wattle trees back home at the start of spring.

The drive to Moissac was uneventful, and soon we were driving into the town. As we drove through the town, we noticed the vehicle in front flashing their headlights, but thought no more about it as we figured they were just trying to warn someone coming the other way of something. We continued on and found a parking spot in Rue Gambetta opposite our front door, which was very lucky considering the length of the van. We walked around to the entrance to the garden on the canal side of the house, and soon met up with the two cats (Ginger and Biscuit) who were lounging in their favourite positions in the garden.

It didn't take Ginger long to come over and make himself at home, going to sleep on my foot. A real Puss-on-Boots!

No one was at home, so we went for a walk into town and through the port area. It seemed to us that the town was going downhill a bit, and even the displays of flowers in the streets and on the bridges were missing. The port also looked half-deserted, very different from when we were moored here and spaces were at a premium.

On the way back from the port, we passed by John and Irene's front door, and so we thought we would surprise them by knocking on the door. At first, no one answered, but Rita looked through the curtains and could detect some movement inside. So we knocked again, and this time the door was opened by someone we didn't know. It turned out that Irene had recently had a hip replacement, and had been to the physiotherapist this morning. She was now in severe pain and could not come to the door, which had been opened by a friend of hers who was visiting. We said a quick hello to her, but she was in so much pain that we thought we should leave her to concentrate on trying to feel comfortable. She did say however that our visit was not a surprise, as they had seen us following their car as they returned from the physio earlier in the day (it was John who was flashing his headlights!).

So we headed back to the house, with a few detours to look in real estate windows to get an idea of the current market for houses around Moissac. But it's very hard to judge, because there are very few (if any) fully renovated houses for sale of the same size and with six ensuite bedrooms. I guess we'll find out its value when we speak to the estate agant next week.

After we go home, we decided to use the free time productively, with Rita preparing for her oral presentation next week and me doing some more work on the BioFACT model.

We woke after a good sleep, to the soothing call of the pigeons on the roof. One good thing about the king size beds in the house are that you can turn over during the night without waking your sleeping partner. Because it was Saturday, we went into town to the Market, where we bought the usual fruit and vegetables. While we were there, Rita went to buy some nuts from one of the stalls and was warmly greeted by the stallholder, who remembered her from the TV5 Great Escapes program that we made in 2014 during the first Moissac Barging Festival, which keeps getting replayed on TV5. Such is ife in a smallish French town. Once we'd finished shopping we went across to the Compostella Cafe for our traditional Saturday morning drink, only to find Veronique sitting there with a couple of other people, who we later recognised as Susie Ena's son Guy and his partner. So we sat down with them for a drink and a chat, and then went with Guy down to the Uvatium Cafe (now called La Ganguette) down on the banks of the River Tarn, where Susie and her daughter were preparing to have lunch. We spent a pleasant hour or so with them having lunch, during with we met the Mayor, who was circulating in the cafe shaking hands, and who wanted to have a chat with Guy, who is the Moissac City Architect. Whilst the Mayor is a National Front politician, he seemed pleasant enough!

After lunch we walked back to the house through the carnival site that was being set up for Pentecote weekend. Once home, we got back to work again on our projects. In the evening, I following the 3rd round of the Speedway Grand Prix, at the end of which Aussies Jack Holder and Jason Doyle had fallen back  to second and third places in the championship. Jason looked like he was on track to win back-to-back meetings when he raced through the heats with barely a point dropped, but made a mistake in the semi-final to miss out on the Final.

I got up early to watch the Hawks AFL game against Port Adelaide. The Hawks led all day, leading by 28 at 3/4 time, but managed to find a new way to lose when they relaxed in the last quarter, and Port scored a dribbled goal with 2 seconds to go, to win by 1 point! Hopefully they will learn a lesson from this game, and I'm sure coach Sam Mitchell will remind them of this game whenever they are well ahead at 3/4 time in future matches.

The disappointment of the Hawks result was partially counter-balanced when my NRL team, Melbourne Storm, pulled off a big victory over their nemesis opponents Parramatta, 48-16.

In the late morning, we gave up our parking spot in Rue Gambetta and drove up to Puycornet to visit  Nico and Miyu. They seemed in good spirits, although Nico was saying that the stress of working as an independent carpenter was becoming difficulty, with uncertain hours and lots of time travelling and being away from home. So he is taking a job with a company, doing carpentry work at their factory on a more regular basis, while he also continues to work on the renovation of the two house on hos own property. We had a lovely time catching up with them, and the three growing boys, but had to get back to Moissac for Rita to continue preparing for her oral presentation Zoom meeting this week. When we got back home, we found that our parking spot was gone, not unexpectedly, and so I parked the van overnight at the nearby rail station, and hoped for the best.

For probably the first time in 7 years, the glass floor at the top of the lightwell got a good cleaning today, in anticipation of the inspection by the estate agents later this week. It makes quite a difference, both looking up from below and down from above. I also got started on cleaning those Velux skylights in the roof that I could easily get access to, and again the difference was significant, as shown below, especially with the removal of the lichen.

In talking with Phil Tyson today about Kathy's stay in hospital following her fall on the boat, I realised I had not activated my travel insurance policy associated with my CommBank Ultimate Credit Card (which he has been using, and which he has been very happy with). So I got online and activated it for our current trip, just in case we need it while we are away from home.

In the late afternoon, Rita headed off to music practice with her Moissac friends, before heading up the hill to Susie Ena's house where they would do the traditional viewing of the Pentecote fireworks later in the evening. In the meantime, I kept working on the BioFACT model and learned some interesting things about using the Solver routine within a macro.

As the sky darkened after 2200h, the fireworks started down on the River Tarn, so I headed up to the top of the Lightwell in the house, and got a good view over the town of the display. Probably not as good as from Susie's house up on the hill. but good nonetheless.

I spent time this morning writing an email to Adrian (from Earth Systems) about the potential layout of the FPP40 pyrolyzer plant at Kanumbra, since I need this information to submit my applications for planning and building permits from Murrindindi Shire. In the meantime, Rita had joined up with music friends for a few more rehearsals. In the afternoon, we did a bit more cleaning in preparations for tomorrow's meeting, and then sat down and wrote out a series of questions that we wanted to raise with the estate agents. While I was in a questionning mood, I wrote down another series of questions I wanted to ask the DEECA people about the Victorian Carbon Farming Program, to check the eligibility for funding of new farm forestry sites in Murrindindi.

In the late afternoon, Raph and Isabella returned from their short holiday near Bordeaux, just in time to beat a storm that was rapidly approaching Moissac.

Today was the big day when the real estate agents would visit the house to make an initial assessment of its sale value. Raph decided to work at home today, so we hoped the agents' visit would not disturb him. The agents arrived late, because they didn't come from Moissac and hence were unfamiliar with the layout of the town, and parked up near the port, which meant they had a long walk to the house. We met them at the rear gate (near the canal) and were giving them an overview of the house when we were met by Raph who was on his way to his office for the afternoon. As soon as they saw the seating area and Nico's woodwork mastery on top of the garage, the first of many "Wows" and "Tres Jolies" were uttered, so we were off to a good start.

We showed them though all of the house, and the Wows and Jolies continued. Then we went upstairs to the apartment, where we were staying, and sat down for the all-important talk about price etc. We were pleasantly surprised when they said that they were both confident that we could get a price which was about 50% more than we had expected. We questioned them as to their confidence, but they would not be shaken, and proceeded to give us several reasons why the house was very different from most on the market (having been totally revovated, but kept its old style), and would appeal to a certain market segment.

Michelle, our main agent, had to leave early because she had another appointment, so after giving us lots of contact details for diagnostic testers etc, she told us she would send her views to the head office and they would issue a formal written valuation within a few days. So she left us as "happy campers". Rita went back to rehearsing her presentaition for this evening and I started composing a list of unanswered questions for Michelle.

Later in the afternoon, Rita and I went for a walk into town, and then continued along the canal till we got to Les Terraces cafe next to the Cacor Aquaduct over the River Tarn, where we sat down and considered what had happened this afternoon.

But we had to get back to the house in time for Rita to go online to make her presentation on her Music Therapy report to the panel of experts from her school in Dijon. This was an important event that she had been preparing for for quite a while, and like any performance she gives, she was quite nervous. So when the time came, I left her alone at the dining room table, and went and hid behind closed doors in the bedroom. For the next hour or so, all I heard was the same presentation she had been rehearsing for several weeks (in French), and then one-half of a question and answer session with the examiners. But I had no idea of how things were going. After about an hour, she told me that the examiners had gone offline for 15 minutes so that they could confer and decide on the results of her presentation. She seemed relaxed, but I could tell that she was still nervous. After they came back online, there was another 20 minutes of conversation, which again I could not fully understand from just one side of the audio. But after she signed off online, Rita was actually smiling. She told me that she had passed, and not only that, she said that the score she had obtained was one of the highest they had ever awarded. The chief examiner, Patrick, also had a big interest in therapy techniques for indigenous people, and so he was very impressed with Rita's work. To such an extent, that he suggested she should write up her complete work (which she had to cut down to 50% of the words for her report) and have it published and he also asked her to write and present an ethnology lecture for future students in the program. Quite a compliment!

So we had two major outcomes today. A house sale price that was much higher that we expected, and a result from her presentation which was way beyond Rita's expectations. I think we shall both sleep well tonight.

After yesterday's events, we did indeed have a peaceful night's sleep, and woke to a bright sunny day. We pottered around the house all morning doing inconsequential things (we are after all supposed to be on holiday), but felt that our cats (Biscuit and Ginger) have really perfected the art of doing inconsequential things when we spotted them on the gravel in the sun in the garden this morning.

At lunchtime, we headed down to John and Irene's place, and were mightily relieved when we saw that Irene was in much better condition than when we saw her a few days ago. She still has problems with her hip, but nowhere near as bad as when she had just returned from the physio. We spent a delightful couple of hours catching up, but when we saw that Irene was tiring, we said goodbye for now and returned to our house.

Now that Rita no longer has to rehearse her Music Therapy presentation, she has changed to music rehearsals in preparation for a concert tomorrow with a visiting group from Estonia. It's good to see that she has learned to relax!

Yesterday, as we were leaving John and Irene's, Irene asked if I could help John with moving a dishwasher in the morning. Given how much they have helped us with various things, I said yes and so in mid-morning I was heading down to their place to do whatever I had to do. Somehow, I had got it into my head that John was installing it in the campervan, and was wondering where he would out it. But when I got there, I realised he just wanted some help getting it into the back of his car, to take it to the dechererie. So we got that done in 10 minutes and I headed home, to start working on a paper about the pyrolysis project that I want to get finished before the first Shaping Murrindindi's Future Working Group neeting next week. Luckily, I had something to keep me occupied, because the NRL games would not have held my interest, with Wests well-beaten 42-28 by the North QLD Cowboys, and the Storm going down to Manly 26-20 (although the Storm had a bit of an excuse with several of their better players out through injury.

During the morning I heard from Irene that good friends Phil and Terrie were passing through Moissac this afternoon and would be at their place for a couple of hours. So we arranged to catch up with them. Like John and Irene, we met Phil and Terrie through barging, although John and Irene sold their boat (Moet Chandon) several years ago, and Phil and Terrie are now trying again to sell their boat (Mr. Pip). So in mid-afternoon, we went down to Irene's to find the four of them already in deep conversation. So we joined in and had a great chat for the next couple of hours (John and Irene on the left, Phil and Terrie on the right, and us on the edges).

Phil and Terrie had to leave around 1700h for another engagement, so John and I went down to the old Sunbeam Cafe where many barge people still meet every Friday evening, while Rita headed off to her concert with the Estonians and Irene retired to some well-deserved rest in bed. John and I enyoyed ourselves (and a few pints) at the Sunbeam, where it was good catching up with old barging friend Tom Hollows, and with Peter and Deb Court from Melbourne.

The day started cloudy, with brief patches of sun, but at least it wasn't raining. We received an email from the estate agents office, confirming the valuation we got verbally on Wednesday, so that is the price we'll be aiming for, minus any expenses incurred along the way. I continued working on the SMF paper during the morning, trying to get as much done before a scheduled meeting with the tenants after lunch to discuss when they will need to move out of the house, given that it is now on the market. We raised this issue with the estate agents and they said that we don't need legally to give any specific amount of notice, and that it would be up to us to give as much (or as little) notice as we felt was reasonable. Given the likely timing of a sale, we felt that the start of October (4 months notice) would be a reasonable move-out date, although this would be a moot point if they decided they wanted to buy the house at close to the valuation price.

But all this changed dramatically at the start of our meeting, when Raph told us he had cancer. This was a total surprise to us, and he also asked us to keep it a secret. He said that it had been diagnosed last December, but that treatment would not begin till September/October this year. He said he would prefer not to have to move house, until the treatment was complete in December (even though the treatment will be in Bordeaux, not Moissac). This put us in a difficult situation, especially if the agents are able to obtain a quick sale. So we declined to commit to a notice period, until we had a chance to think about it and consult the estate agents. We have little option but to accept what Raph told us at face value, and then try to work out a compromise solution that is relatively acceptable to all.

In the afternoon, we went for a walk to give us time to consider what we had just learned. Our first stop was near the port, where a new cafe/bar had opened up today. Le Doc is operating from the old workshop building where we started the 2018 Barging Festival with a local band, in which Rita was playing the flute (ah, those were the days)

Now the bar and kitchen are inside the workshop along with some tables, and a bigger seating area outside for fine days like today. We grabbed a drink, and Rita had a talk with the operators to learn about the creation of the cafe. Perhaps it will become a new meeting place for the barge people when they have their Friday night get-together.

We didn't stay for dinner because we wanted to go back to Les Terraces (also now called the Rounded Corner) so that Rita could again talk to the owner about playing a gig there sometime in the future. So we had dinner there, and then took a short walk to the centre of the Cacor Aquaduct to get a photo of the sunset over the River Tarn (not as spectacular as in previous years, but OK).

On our way back to the house, we continued to discuss what we should do regarding the sale of the house, given the new information received today.

I was up early to watch the Hawks defeat the Brisbane Lions (last year's grand finalists) 100-75. This was a good comeback after throwing away last week's game in the dying seconds. They have learnt not to relax when leading, and came home strongly this week in the fourth quarter. After a quick breakfast, we packed up and started the drive to Narbonne. We had planned this trip to see Phil and Kathy for a few weeks, but were now doing it in different circumstances. In the meantime, Kathy had managed to fall off the barge while they were mooring, in the process breaking five ribs. Phil managed to get her to shore and then she was taken to hospital, where she has remained in ICU for the past few weeks, as her ribs heal and she is able to start breathing normally again.

We booked into the Floralys campground just south of Narbonne, and soon after checking in we were on our bikes and riding up the Canal de Robine pathway to the port at Narbonne. When we got there, we found that Phil had some other friends with him, so we settled down on the rear deck and joined in the conversation. After a while Phil disappeared, but soon re-appeared with two other friends, Tony and Trish from NZ, who we had last seen in 2018 in Moissac as they were starting the renovation of the boat Annika, which they had just bought from Kaz and Iain Noble. They have now relocated to Malaga in Spain, where they are just about to open a NZ Beer Bar. But they still come north in summer to cruise on Annika for a while, although it is not their permanent home, as they had envisaged. Phil went up to the hospital to visit Kathy, and took this photo to show her that her friends were thinking of her, and we all settled down to a good catch-up conversation on the back-deck of Effie while he was away.

When Phil got back from the hospital, we had a chat about his plans once Kathy was released from hospital. He told us that they would go up to Toulouse, with the help of a friend who had agreed to help Phil get the boat through the locks. After that, they would get some final work done on Effie, before putting her up for sale, because it was likely that Kathy had now finished her barge cruising days. We continued talking for quite a while, but as sunset arrived we decided that we should head back to the campground, as the canal pathway was not as smooth and well-maintained as other parts of the canal network in Southern France, so riding home in the dark, even with lights, was going to be more of a challenge. But we made it OK, and enjoyed a quiet night's sleep in the van.

We woke to a cool and windy morning, but with some familiar sounds outside. On checking it out, we found half a dozen chooks wandering around the van, checking out the various bugs and seeds they could find on the ground.

Since Narbonne is quite a way south of Auxonne, we thought about breaking the journey at Tournon-sur-Rhone, where we had stayed last year for a night and quite enjoyed. But we couldn't get through to someone by phone, and were instead advised to make a booking online. When we tried to make a booking online, we were advised that one-night bookings needed to be made 24 hours in advance. So given this Catch-22 situation, and the fact that we had now driven most of the way to Tournon, and I was still feeling quite fresh, we decided to push on and get back to Auxonne tonight.

Soon after making this decision and we had passed the Tournon exit, I started to question our decision, when we encountered very heavy rain on the motorway. Visibility was reduced to 50 metres with considerable spray from vehicles in front and from passing vehicles (even in this rain, the French drivers refused to slow down). I slowed down and stayed in the slow lane behind the trucks, and just followed their tail-lights, but did not want to slow down too much for fear of being rammed from behind. And I was definitely not going to pull over and stop in the emergency lane! So we soldiered on for about 15-20 minutes in these conditions until we out-ran the storm clouds. While these conditions only lasted for a relatively short time, it seemed longer, and was very tiring, as you couldn't afford to relax or take your eyes off the vehicle in front for a second. When we came to the next service centre, I pulled off the mototway and rested my eyes for a while.

The rest of the trip was smooth and uneventful, and Auxonne was calm and quiet when we got there in the late afternoon. We unloaded the van and shuttled our belongings to the boat in the Scenic, and then settled down for a relaxing apero. After we had dinner on the back-deck, I waited for sunset to arrive, but the sunset in the western skies was a bit disappoining tonight. However, as I turned around, I saw that the effect of the sunset in the east was not disappointing at all, with the golden sun colours giving a nice way to end a long day.