Windmills & wine

The banks of the Rhone are interspersed with garrique and where the soil can carry them, vines. Some slopes are fully covered in vineyards and have large signs proclaiming the Domaine.
It's not all wine though, if you have a sweet tooth, the town of Montelimar is famous for it's Nougat.
Were really beginning to get the 'Mediterranean' feel now with the honey coloured stone houses, red pantiled roofs, clear blue skies and gentle warm winds.
Some people don't like pictures of locks,, the 23 metre deep one at Bollene was the deepest in the world when it was built, using it takes a mere 15 minutes.


This is the region of the Popes.
Pope Clement the 5th was a Frenchman and refused to go to Rome so the papacy moved to Avignon in 1305.
As the Vatican had the money it bought many premises in the region around Avignon and Jacques Dueze better known as Pope John the 12th, successor to Pope Clement had a fortress built that overlooks Chatenuef du Pape (New chateau of the Pope). Better known in modern times by the wine called Chatenuef du Pape and a beautifully consistent wine it is, perfect when served at 17/18 degrees Celsius with a juicy steak.
After 6 successive French Popes the papacy returned to Rome in 1377.
Whilst the Papacy was in France it was harassed by a brigand named Duguesclin and his mercenaries' who demanded money to leave them in peace, the papacy regularly paid protection money to the mercenaries' who were known a Les Routiers, or the Highwaymen.


Truckers in France today are known as Les Routiers and their rest stops are a great place to eat simple, hearty locally sourced food typical of the region, the dish of the day, 'plat du jour' is very good value for money.


A typical evening meal in one would be a buffet of up to 20 choices of starter (entre), a choice of 3 main dishes (plat du Jour) a choice of 3 desserts, a pichet or two of local wine and followed by an expresso coffee for around 14 Euro's.

Photo's.
1, Fortified church.


2, Vines among the garrique.


3, Domaine advertising.


4,The large office building belongs to the Compagnie Navigation du Rhone.


5, Nuclear power station. plenty of cooling water from the Rhone.


6, more vineyard publicity.


7, Table grapes are covered for protection.


8, Various types of lavender and other plants for oil extract for use in perfumes.


9, A floating disgrace.


10, An English narrow boat looks very out of place in this climate..

Irish Rambler said:

Mes Ami, I still wouldn't like to knowingly cause even 50% of upset anyone, desolee.
I'm just here for a happy life not a long and grumpy one.

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The French are too much chauvinist but the social-chauvinism of our country was marked by the weight of history, a rocky history of internal or external conflicts, lack of understanding and stability, a history which had to pay a heavy price for liberty and democracy, a very troubled, even tragic, history.

As you already know when you visit France, history significance is never far. It's is the richness and diversity of our cultural inheritance, one of the great strengths of France, also one of our greatest vulnerabilities. The issue we encountered here was probably just a 'lovers' quarrel', I mean a tiff to which two people in love with France alone hold the keys. But whatever, I apologize.

Now back to the thread. I learn so much from your very interesting stories and stunning pictures in which I gladly travel and rediscover regions of my country.

Peter B said:

So, all is well, then. Nice one IR. Loving your pics by the way. But it behoves us all to resist generalisations about people and places, does it not?

Your pharmacy looks very nice Pilou. We are all sitting back now waiting to see your photos from when you go through the Caledonian and Lock Ness, etc. Which I think is happening very soon..? Very envious, we are...

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Merci Pierre. I do love Scotland and Ireland, beautiful countries where the wilderness character of lands is an essential element of the culture, where people feel strongly about their customs, where tradition of welcome and hospitality is legendary. A out-of country trip is only as nice as the local people we meet.

Pilou, at Loch Ness avoid the much advertised show of historical items plus film. WOFTAM imo. I won`t fully explain the acronym for fear of bothering the TF cuss filter, but the show is a waste of time and money.

Nomad Willy said:

Pilou,
You like pictures along w many on this thread. Mark's seen it all .. he was there on one of my threads where I posted 144 pics taken on a trip mostly in BC Canada. It's kind of a log book w pictures.
IR has created a wonderful thread here. I love this area and would love to go there. Now more so because of these great pics.
To get to the thread go to page 8 on Voyagers and other boaters on the go. You can pick it up quickly by looking at the # of replies ... 208. My username then was Manyboats.

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Thank you Eric for your post & your nice Personal Message.
PM sent back.

Pilou

Nice one Bruce, you are spot on, I should learn to speak in acronyms.
Je pense Pilou un boteille de Chatanuef du Pape avec amis, parfait pour tout amis.

I spoke of the Papacy being in Avignon, far be it from me to give anyone a boring old a history lesson but I can give you the photo's.

1, The bridge in Avignon wasn't blown up in some dastardly deed.
Before the Rhone was tamed, the portion of the bridge on the outside bend was swept away in a particularly strong spring flood.

2,3,4. Fortifications surrounding the Papal palace.

5, Fortified gateway, beneath the row of arches at the top of the gateway are slots to pour boiling oil onto any attackers. The gateway is around 10 feet thick and a portcullis was hidden in a recess above the doorway as well as the doors being around 2 feet thick.

6, Some brilliant masonry sculptures.


7, Little narrow streets give shade and funnel the wind in the summer.

8 & 10. just feel the atmosphere.


9, Even the Popes loved a wee sup, where do you think the communion wine came from ?

I hope I'm not boring you with photo's (actually I'm trying to get a start in the French Tourist Board).

Avignon.


1, Rest your feet with a coffee in a shaded square.

2, As good as it looks and I've got the waistline to prove it.

3,Lavish interior.

4, Those darned Masons were kept busy..

5, Solid foundations.

6, Classy.

7,Entrance to the Popes palace.

8,Local artiste's, local scenes.

9, Remains from the 1st century.

10, Watch your toes !

To help with those unfamiliar with France's geography I've attached is a map to show our route so far.

Is there much to see after the grandeur of Avignon, You Betcha !

1, The broken end of the Pont d' Avignon as we cruised past.

2, Avignon depends on tourism for it's income and these hotel barges bring a steady stream of visitors.

3,A medieval Castle nestled among the garrique.

4, This low profile ship registered in Malta (for preferential tax treatment)is called in English 'The Wasp'.

5, Another strongpoint for the crusaders.

6, Pretty church spire.

7, Time for some R&R Mediterranean style.

8,We're now in the Rhone delta and the alluvial plain here is collectively known as 'The Camargue' , just one of the things it's famous for is 'The Wild Horses Of The Camargue'.

9, The Rhone a Sete canal has recently been upgraded to take the Europe gauge 'Grand Gabarit' barges up to 3,000 tonnes.

10, Wild Horses.

Irish Rambler said:

I hop I'm not boring you with photo's (actually I'm trying to get a start in the French Tourist Board).
!

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'Boring us with photos', Are you kidding ? Your photos are a lot nicer than educational geography books. You do such an impressive job.
Ha ! Le Chateauneuf du Pape, a bottle which shows the 2 keys of Palais des Papes, perfect to get-together with friends.

The Rhone in it's delta divides like all other great rivers, there's the Rhone itself and the P'tit (little) Rhone, which branches off to the right, it's suitable to the Grand Gabarit Europe large gauge) dimensions as far as the lock at St Gilles where it enters into the Rhone a Sete canal, this canal has also recently been upgraded to the European large gauge as far as Sete.
Lower down towards the sea it's blocked by a low bridge of only 1.8 metres air draught (Tirant d Air).
Just a short way into the Rhone a Sete canal there's a branch to the left leading to Aigues Mortes (dead water or inlet), arguably the prettiest town in the whole of France, in my eyes anyway.
It was to here that the Knights Templar came to embark on the crusades and so it is to here that I come to the church of the Knights Templar to humbly pay my thanks on bended knee to God for the safety of our journey.

Photo's.

1, Canal Rhone a Sete.

2, Don't know what this guy was smoking when he painted his boat ?

3,Approaches to Aigues Mortes.

4, All the visitors weren't as friendly as us !

5,Wonderful French markets.

6,Formidable entrance.

7.Interior battlements.

8, This is a shop full of biscuits, bang ! there's goes the diet !

9.Have you ever seen a shop dedicated to salt ?
It's been produced in this region since Roman times.
Men were often paid with salt, giving rise to the expression 'He's not worth his salt' meaning a poor worker.
In the desert the body sweats profusely and the body salt must be replaced, the camel trains from the North African brought goods to the Mediterranean ports to be sold, in turn they bought salt to be transported back to the interior.

10, Here is a wine tasting (degustation) of the various wines grown in this region, it's sandy, loamy soil gives a unique taste to the wines and some of the sweeter Muscat dessert wines are grown here.

Pilou,
I was just testing you with the Chatenuef du Pape's to see if you knew your wine.
Tres bien moi mes ami, a la tien.

Irish Rambler said:

Pilou,
I was just testing you with the Chatenuef du Pape's to see if you knew your wine.
Tres bien moi mes ami, a la tien.

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About the Chateauneuf du Pape did you mean testing or tasting ?

Just checking to see if you knew your wine labels.
I'd be happy to share a bottle it's a very nice wine.
One of the beauty's of this journey is that you can taste regional wines as we pass through.
Some young local table wines (vin de table) are sold in a pichet,(peeshay) a small glass jug around 2 euro a litre and perfect (and chosen for) the 'dish of the day' this wine may never leave the region which why we draw attention so that any visitors may also be aware of the practice. You don't have to pay silly money for a bottle, restaurants will charge about 15 Euro for a 2.50 bottle of wine, a pichet is just a couple of Euro for half a litre and you also have a more enjoyable experience.

On a different note.
A few posts back I showed a photo of our boats moored to a bankside.
To secure the boats to the bank we use three quarter inch Rebar (3/4 " Reinforcing threaded steel bar).
This Rebar is used in the construction industry for securing shuttering for concrete walls.
For those not familiar with the process, long lengths of this Rebar are passed across a void that's to be filled with concrete, sheets of plywood are used to form the mould for walls, the Rebar is passed through a hole drilled in the plywood and secured on the outside of the mould with a large 3/4 inch plate, a wingnut/butterfly nut is then screwed onto the coarse thread and up tight against the plywood to stop it from bulging out when the semi liquid concrete is poured in.

If this 3/4" Rebar is cut into 2 foot lengths and one end ground to a rough point it can be easily hammered into the canal bank to make a mooring spike.
The rope is passed around the mooring spike and secured back to the boat, the large 3/4 " plate is slipped down the mooring spike and keeps the mooring rope at ground level, the wingnut/butterfly nut is then screwed down the bar to ground level.
From personal experience the advantages of this method are, it grips the ground well, is nearly impossible to pull out and the rope's held at ground level and can't be pulled up off the spike.
To remove the Rebar mooring spike, you will be unable to pull it out so you simply unscrew it from the canal bank, you may need a vice grip or stillson wrench but with use over time, the head burrs over and you simply use the wing nut/butterfly nut to unscrew it from the ground.

Cost ? you can probably pick pieces up from a building site for the price off a couple of beers to a building worker.

I hope my explanation is clear enough.

markpierce said:

It is such a minor issue, but I have frequent irritation of a memory caused by a Parisian waiter questioning our choice of a white wine rather than red when wine-dictatorship called for red to match the meat. We insisted on the white, and enjoyed the meal, regardless.

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2 years ago in Edmonton AB I had an evening meal in a famous restaurant I saw someone eating at the next table who put 5 ice cubes in his glass of 20 years old cognac, then anything can be done, I did not see everything yet.

Was your wine sweet, bold, semi-dry, light, etc.? Was your meat heavy, lemony, creamy, sharp, hearty? Always curious to know more about wines, I often follow the recommendations of wine waiter, usually a trained wine expert, who orders and maintains the wines sold in the restaurant and usually has extensive knowledge about wine and food pairings. I am not sure this can be called "wine-dictatorship".

Moreover it's not always a matter of taste. Science explains why red wine with red meat, white wine with fish.

Steak goes with red wine because molecules called tannins soften the fat in the meat to release its flavour. This fat then mellow the wine’s astringency, releasing more of its fruit flavors.

Meat is rich in polyunsaturated fat and cholesterol. Antioxidants in the red wine known as polyphenols stop these compounds from being absorbed in the gut and so they did not get into the blood stream. Drinking a glass of red wine while eating red meat can counteract the build up of cholesterol following a meal. Then red wines are well-suited due to their higher tannin levels, polyphenols and the red wine health super star resveratrol. Eating vegetables like potatoes (no French fries) with red meat may help reduce the harmful by-products produced during digestion.

By comparison, white wine is more acidic and reduces seafood’s ‘fishy’ smell. Most of this smell of seafood is caused by low-molecular-weight amines. Equally, red wine doesn’t go well with fish because the tannins can overpower the more delicate flavors of the fish.

But those are just general rules. The same fish prepared differently could go with either red or white — it all depends on how they cook it and what texture it obtains. A heartier fish cooked in the oven, like a roasted salmon, could work well with a red. A silky salmon that was poached in olive oil, on the other hand, would work better with white.

It’s simply a matter of enjoying what’s in front of me and picking a wine I’ll like, this is where the wine waiter has to step in. I’ve had some magical food and wine pairings, like a lovely (white) Sauternes with foie gras.

A meal out with friends, family, or colleagues should be enjoyable, not stress-inducing. Let’s drink to that.

IR,
How deep are those canals? And more importantly how is depth maintained right up to the green grass bank? It would seem to me the wakes of passing boats would errode the banks and fill the canal at the edges.
Bulkheads of some kind would seem necessary to hold up the banks but I see no evidence of bulkheads made of anything yet the boats have plenty of water to get snug up to the bank. Seems a bit like magic.

Hi Nomad Willy,
Most canals are actually a 'U' shape when they're drained, for this reason a twin screw boat needs careful handling. a single screw usually has no problem approaching and tying to a bank.
Depth varies, the large scale 'Grand Gabarit' are dredged to 3 to 3.5 metres in the centre of the channel and channels are well marked.
Smaller canals like the canal du Est, du Midi, Lateral a Garonne, Briare, Marne au Rhin have a minimum of draft 1.5 metres.
If you Google VNF.fr (Voie Navigable du France) you can download maps which give minimum depths (Tirant L'Eau ) & bridge clearance heights ( Tirant L'Air).
I hope this answers your query successfully.

As I mentioned this Aigues Mortes is where the Knights Templar departed to the Holy Land to put down the Muslim threat to Christianity.

Photo's

1, Narrow streets are cool in summer.

2, On guard.

3, Sword and shield,

4, This knight stands guard in a sweet shop.

5, All kinds of Nougat, delicious but deadly on the waistline.

6, St Louis embarked with the crusaders.

7, A plaque depicting embarquement.

8,Statue to St Louis stands in the square in Aigues Mortes.

9, Cold steel.

10, Another Knight guarding the sweets, from me !

A little bit more medieval sightseeing.

Photo's.

1, Lookout !

2,Firing slit in the castle wall.

3, Ooops, access steps to the firing parapet.

4, Ready for war.

5, Castle gate housing the portcullis, doors and firing slits.

6, Ooops again, firing slits from the outside.

7, Everyone tries to keep things neat and tidy for the benefit of everyone but you always get one that spoils it for everyone.

IR,
Don't care about the neat and tidy but why does the boat look 85% sunk?

Re the canals I was mostly interested in how the draft is maintained right by the bank.

Very nice to see Aigues-Mortes, my grand parents had a summer home in Le Grau du Roi and I have spent numerous summer school vacations in that area Aigues-Mortes & Le Grau du Roi.

"Grau" = "Estuary" in Provencal dialect
"du Roi" = "of the King"

So called "Grau du Roi" - Estuary of the King - since King Louis embarked in Aigues-Mortes along the canal to the open sea in Grau du Roi (5 km from Aigues-Mortes).

Many years ago, I found a vintage postcard of the canal in Le Grau du Roi, the photo was taken in the 1960', it shows my parents' boat (red frame) going to the open sea. The boat was a Bell Boy Bonanza, built in Bellingham WA, with an Evinrude 75 HP.

Second photo is my grand father at the helm of his boat (the very first "Lutin") in the canal with my grand mother and grand aunt, taken in 1955, I was not yet born then. I gave the name "Lutin" to each of my boats in memory of my grand father.

My grand parents are still in Le Grau du Roi where they're buried.

Irish Rambler said:

The bridge in Avignon wasn't blown up in some dastardly deed.
Before the Rhone was tamed, the portion of the bridge on the outside bend was swept away in a particularly strong spring flood.

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Hey, IR, that bridge, Is it the one of the song. I think it's about the only French song we were taught at school. Went something like....

"Sur le pont d’Avignon, nous sommes dansons, nous sommes dansons"...or words to that effect...

I sort of forget the rest...it was a long time ago... like 60 years...
Pilou would know the words, I'm sure.
Loving the pics by the way. France is indeed a beautiful country. Unfinished business for me, for sure.

Cheers,

Peter B said:

Hey, IR, that bridge, Is it the one of the song. I think it's about the only French song we were taught at school. Went something like....

"Sur le pont d’Avignon, nous sommes dansons, nous sommes dansons"...or words to that effect...

I sort of forget the rest...it was a long time ago... like 60 years...
Pilou would know the words, I'm sure.
Loving the pics by the way. France is indeed a beautiful country. Unfinished business for me, for sure.

Cheers,

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Cher Pierre

Your wish is my command ! Shall we dance?


Sur le pont d'Avignon

Sur le pont d'Avignon,
On y danse, on y danse,
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
On y danse tous en rond.

Les beaux messieurs font comme ça,
Et puis encore comme ça.

Sur le pont d'Avignon,
On y danse, on y danse,
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
On y danse tous en rond.

Les belles dames font comme ça,
Et puis encore comme ça.

Sur le pont d'Avignon,
On y danse, on y danse,
Sur le pont d'Avignon,
On y danse tous en rond.

On the Bridge of Avignon

Chorus
On the bridge of Avignon
They are dancing, they are dancing,
On the bridge of Avignon
They are dancing all around.

1 The handsome gentlemen go this way,
And then again go that way.

Chorus

2 The pretty dames go this way,
And then again go that way.

Chorus.

Leaving the beautiful Aigues Mortes we cruise on the Rhone a Sete canal which passes through the Camargue, famous for it's semi wild white horses, semi wild bulls bred for bullfighting, it's guardians the Camargue version of cowboys, its wine of course, the gypsy church/shrine at La St Marie de la mer, the fabulous Roman amphitheatre at Arles, the Roman aqueduct at Pont la Gard, flamingos and the accursed mosquitos.


In answer Nomad Willy's query, the canal is cut through the earth's surface, being formed from the century's of mountain run off, it's clay and as solid as a rock in the Mediterranean heat, areas that pass through etangs (inland salt lakes) walls are built of rough stone. Newly uprated sections are done with sheet piling.. The 85% sunken boat was abandoned by an English owner who apparently ran out of money. The law made it difficult to fine them, the VNF who operate the waterways has just been privatised, as a new company with a new portfolio with wider powers to enforce the law hopefully eyesores like this will be a thing of the past.

Photo's.

1, One of the prettiest ports is Marseillan, it's also the home of Noilly Prat a type
of Vermouth.

2, The start of the canal du Midi.

3, Neat vineyard.

4, Flamingo's feeding, Montpellier airport in the background.

5,6,7 Flamingo's feeding in the salt etang, these etangs (salt lakes) are fed from the sea and the heat of the sun evaporates the water and they become very salty. A lot of sea salt was harvested in this region in Roman times and still is to a lesser extent.

8, This hire boat was badly holed and sinking, as it was obstructing a commercial canal it was lifted out on the bank for repair.

9, Ancient wind driven water pump, despite the salty water of the lakes if you dig/drill down you can find subterranean sweet water.

Some photo's in and around Marseillan.


Photo's
1, Self explanatory.


2, Frontage of Noilly prat.


3,Very pretty port.


4, This boat is used for jousting, the jousters are dressed all in white and originally the boat was propelled by oars, nowadays they use an outboard. The ladder at the rear is called a tintaine, the jouster stands on the rear platform of the tintaine armed with a lance and wooden shield, his task is to push of his opposing number in the opposing team. The jousters are accompanied during the joust by a drum and flute of the type used in North Africa.


5, Ancient still in Noilly Prat.


6, The finished product.


7, Here's the bulk storage.


8, Grapes being delivered by the farmer.


9, My favourite harbour.


10, Self explanatory sign.

Some photo's in and around Marseillan.

1, Oyster farm on the approaches to Marseillan.
Baby oysters are stuck to a cord with 'super glue' and suspended in the etang as you see in the photo, as they grow attach themselves naturally.
They are much sought after especially at Xmas, a water borne patrol dissuades night time thieves.
The Romans built oyster farms in town bays to filter & clean the water and provide food for the working people.
A local white wine called Picpoul Pinet served chilled is the perfect accompaniment to a dozen delicious oysters.

2, Snow Mouse with fine medieval building backdrop.

Unfortunately there was a glitch on the site, I thought the photo's had been wiped and re posted some of them.

Thanks to you, kind sir, we have just booked 11 days on the Canal du Midi and a short week in Montpellier to recover! In 1970 I spent some time west of Perpignan, the last area before I turned back on my Triumph motorcycle. I began in Vancouver and ran out of time in that Lovely corner of France before I was guilted back to a "normal" life by the beginning of Fall and the rains. I went back to school. Oh drat.

Thank you for your fascinating travelogue - are you continuing to the Canal du Midi? Can I just encourage you to do so and continue with your story?

Thank you!

Xsbank said:

Thanks to you, kind sir, we have just booked 11 days on the Canal du Midi and a short week in Montpellier to recover! In 1970 I spent some time west of Perpignan, the last area before I turned back on my Triumph motorcycle. I began in Vancouver and ran out of time in that Lovely corner of France before I was guilted back to a "normal" life by the beginning of Fall and the rains. I went back to school. Oh drat.

Thank you for your fascinating travelogue - are you continuing to the Canal du Midi? Can I just encourage you to do so and continue with your story?

Thank you!

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Where in west of Perpignan ? I was born and grew up 40 km west of Perpignan.

P.

IR
Re your pic #8 on post 203 I'm amazed at the big flat bottomed boat styled like a go fast powerboat but not so at all. Hull kinda like a barge especially designed for the canals. Never knew such a boat existed.

The Flamencos seem much like our white swans here in NW Washington state USA. Sometimes they take off in masses (like thousands) and make a great din of noise with all the "honking".

Xsbank. We'll only touch just a very short section of the Canal du Midi and I can happily post pics and details at the end of this thread if anyone has any interest. I don't wish to outstay my welcome and hog the threads on TF.
Alternatively if you go on Amazon Kindle you can buy a book called 'How To Cruise Between Two Seas' by an Irish guy called Geoff Woolley aka Irish Rambler, it was written just before this adventure but the facts are still relevant. If you need any help or advice don't hesitate to contact me.

In an earlier post I showed you photo's of flamingo's, the thread would simply have been too long, here are some facts.
There are only 6 types of Flamingo, 4 of them live in America.
They nest in mud and only mate in the rainy season.
They are a flock bird and one Zoo owner in the North of France had a pair that wouldn't mate until he discovered that if he fitted mirrors it would give them the illusion of a flock, then , having a feeling of flock security the flamingo's successfully mated and the chicks were hatched.
Flamingo's form a rotating 'crèche' for the young birds so that the adult parents can take turns to feed. They can sleep on one leg and change to the other leg whilst still asleep.
They feed with a side to side sweeping motion with the beak parallel to the lake bed filtering tiny crustaceans and plankton, the plankton give the distinctive pink colour not the tiny crustaceans. They can fly over 500 kilometres in one night at up to 60 kph.
They fly in a V formation at differing heights in 'clean air' free of the preceding birds wing turbulence for ease of flight.

Nomad Willy.
I didn't want to jump the thread regarding prevention of bank erosion but as we approach the beginning of the canal du Midi I can explain the method that Pierre
Paul Riquet, the designer of the canal du Midi used. He planted Plane trees that you will see in many photographs of the canal to reduce evaporation due to the Mediterranean heat and the roots form an interlocking network to secure the canal bank. The plane trees also gave shade to the horses pulling barges, there are no working freight barges anymore, a few hotel barges cater for their wealthy clients. There are 40 million plane trees that line the canal, sadly these trees have developed a disease that is 'alleged' to have come from the discarded American ammunition boxes. The VNF waterways authority are cutting down the infected trees and after sterilization planting a new disease resistant variety.

At the Southern end of the inland salt water lake called the Etang du Thau lies the beautiful Mediterranean port of Sete.
The outer breakwater was built in 1666 giving shelter to the sardine and anchovy fishermen's fleets.
As it was connected to the canal du Midi via the Etang du Thau trade was brisk when the canal was completed in the late 1800's, it exports were wine of course, sulphur, timber, grain and iron. before the days of containerisation it was known as the agrumier port for oranges, lemons etc.
It's also the 'home' port of the Joute, 'Jousting' fraternity and the colourful finals are held here each year and you shouldn't miss this spectacular event if you are visiting the region.
Yes, Xsbank you can visit, but are restricted to, the inner harbour by hire boat.

Nomad Willy.
The hire boat in question is part of the Nicholls company hire fleet, built in France for the French inland waterways.
The hull has a small directional keel and they are usually fitted with small engines.
95% of hirers have never piloted a boat before and try to drive them like a car (with the resulting crunch of fibreglass).
The majority of hirers fly at 500 mph to get here or hop on a high speed train or AutoRoute and then jump on a hire boat that does 7/8 kilometres per hour but their brain is still in 'high speed' mode, by the end of the 2nd weeks holiday they have chilled out and slowed right down and enjoy the cruising life.
Hire boat company's are to blame because they 'advise' an itinerary that encourages them to cover the maximum distance because the hirer is then hit with a bill for engine hours on top of his hire fee.