Waters and Wines of Aquitaine
Waters and Wines of Aquitaine. The Barge
Waters and Wines of Aquitaine. Serignac-sur-Garonne
After Serignac we continued our channel moving.
I should say that the first day on the water when we moved from Agen to Serignac was the only one that I can characterize – “very hot”. All other days I was in condition – “I will get heatstroke right now”. Our ship-boy happened to be a thermophile and enjoyed the weather, but I just tried to survive. Channels are not really good for swimming: water is chemically clean and you can eat fish from the channels without any risk, but all wastes from barges go directly to the channels, so swimming doesn’t sound enjoyable.
The last resort to get some cooling was permanent visiting of the shower. It gave some rest, but for a very short time. Finally, I realized that the effect of the shower could be saved for longer if take it without undressing. While the clothes dried up, some coolness presented. Cold beer from the fridge also helped.
Some boats have such strong mooring that kept to be moored even after drowning.
Some bridges above the channel are low, and some are very low. Usually, our ship-boy had time to remove our tent before its contact with a bridge, but not always.
Another aqueduct ahead of us. This one is small, it crosses Bais, the Garonne feeder.
We are on the aqueduct.
Bais below us. Tomorrow we will go on Bais right below this aqueduct.
We arrived in Buzet in the middle of the day and decided to stay here overnight. Buzet has huge mooring (10 or 15 Eure per night, don’t remember exactly) with unlimited water and electricity, a small shop, a laundry, and a shower. Near the mooring, there is a big lawn with gazebos covered by blooming vines. Nice place to have dinner or drink wine.
Buzet is a small village, its main feature – it is a centre of Buzet AOC which wines we taste during our travel.
So, immediately after lunch, we went to Buzet winery. The preliminary tasting we started on the barge with wines that we bought in Agen.
About Buzet AOC you can read in my wine blog.
After wine tasting and refilling of out wine supplies, we went back to the barge and saw the banner near the road that promised a foie gras farm nearby with a guided tour and a tasting. GPS calculated about 10 km to the farm, we had some time before the farm’s closing times, so we took our bikes and hit the road.
We crossed Garonne, arrived in Aiugillon, ridden even more than 10 km, but GPS told us that another 10 km still ahead of us. Maybe it may joke on us, maybe operated only with crow flight only. We didn’t have a chance to arrive till the farm’s closing time, and probably it was not last 10 km.
Till this time I already was in the condition of hard-boiled egg. My cloth was dry for a long time, I didn’t have the possibility to wet it again, so I made an attempt to fain because of heat together with my bike. We did it just near the dried body of unlucky toad (well, during the life it was bullfrog). I saw my closest future in this toad.
My fellow travellers were not ready to lose the wheelman yet, so we quickly moved to a very little cafe. Everything was close around except this tiny cafe with couple tables under umbrellas on the street. Two glasses of cold beer didn’t really cool me, but at least made me partly functional. However, the chances that the beer cooling effect would work all the time at our ride back were pretty low. To avoid my transformation into a dried toad, the first mate found the way to Garonne, and I got the relief in its cooling waters. It helped me to survive at our way back to the barge.
In the evening we had supper with some delicatessen from the local shop and Buzet wines. Fortunately, after sunset, the temperature significantly dropped down, so I could enjoy at least night time.
To be continued…
