Friday 12 th August - Colombiers to Beziers

Arthur left his mooring around 8.30 - his plan was to stay on the canal bank just before the 7 locks at Fonserannes because although going down single handed was not a problem, returning would be very difficult.  Aphrodite and Cornelis k. left at 11.30 to lock down the flight at 1 p.m.  By the time we reached Arthur all three of us were very thirsty and Arthurs' offer of a nice cold beer couldn't be refused!!  Arthur joined Henk for the run into Beziers and apart from a bit of a delay in locking down the deep lock (6.2 metres) all went very well.  We were not too surprised to see 'No Parking' signs now along a good part of the long quay in Beziers, reserved for passenger boats, taking a lot of the available space.....this is becoming a very common occurrence and is most annoying!!  We tried to moor alongside but found the space just a little too small so we ended up rafted to Henk.  The call of the bar across the road with ice cold beer was a bit too much for some of us, so Arthur went across and placed an order.  It was by now over 30 degrees with very little wind so the shady terrace was most welcome.  Arthur left to find a bus to take him back to his boat and Skip went to the Orange shop to top up our I-Pad wi-fi.  We decided to eat in the restaurant just past the lock where we had all eaten before so, after an aperitif or two on Aphrodites' aft deck we made our way there.  The meal was unfortunately not quite as good as we remembered and the service a little unwilling!  A last digestif back on board and so to bed.

8locks 8km  3 hours