So we are now in a river rather than on a canal.
This is the river Baise running north-south. We are travelling south - upstream.
The river has a current which is quite strong for a little Noddy boat like ours. It also has rapids or an overflow next to each lock that you don't want your boat to slip into.
The locks on the river are narrow, long and deep and are often associated with a former waterwheel or mill of some type. We are travelling upstream, so we come into the lock at the lowest water level and have to raise the boat up. Here is an example.
In these photos we are coming into the only large town we encountered on the river Baise, called Nerac. It has a nice sturdy stone dock to land me on.
Up the tall flight of stone steps to the top of the lock.
Along the wall to the lock gates at the end in order to cross to the other side where the controls are. You can see how old the lock construction is - about as old as the bridge, which is barely a single car lane.
Old fumble-foot takes care not to overbalance into the river on the left.
Paul tosses the rear rope up to me. I wrap it through a ring and give it back to him. He then throws me up the front rope and I do the same with it. One lock was so deep that he had trouble throwing the ropes and I had trouble catching them. The ropes got wet and were even more difficult to handle. But after numerous tosses and fumbles we managed.
Once Paul has the boat steady I activate the lock then grab my rope again.
There is a good deal of turbulence in the big locks and the boats get thrown around with the current. Some people don't seem to care, allowing the ropes to slacken and the boat to move all over the place. But we learnt on the Midi what it was like to be the front Noddy boat of four big boats in a lock when others did not restrain their boats adequately and we were forced up against the lock door with huge turbulence under neath us. Just a tad scary and very annoying. So we like to keep our ropes taut despite the blisters.
The doors behind us close and the lock begins to fill.
It is a big lock and takes a while to fill. Nerac looks interesting up ahead.
Finally we motor out of the lock and head for the arch of the bridge with the yellow diamond . If we take the left arch we may be swept onto the rapids to the left.
Once under the old bridge we emerge into the basin that is the lovely river port of Nerac.
Once tied up it is time for a look around. This medieval quarter on the river was once home to tanneries and leather artisans. Now it is mainly restaurants, cafes and small shops with only the occasional tanner.
Not a straight floor or wall in sight here. The building on the left is for sale. We wonder what the building inspection report might say.
And up on the old bridge that we passed under in the boat, we can see our Noddy down there on the left - it's the little one at the rear.
And we watch the next lot of pretend mariners negotiate the lock.
Nerac turned out to be a very interesting town of about 7,000 people and will be worth another visit in the future.
Brilliant description and photos Vivienne, what a unique way to see the sites of France.
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