Longer days. Warm and sunny weather. Springtime and enjoyable days on the road. In this section we would depart Toulouse; begin a what-will-be thorough exploration of the Canal de Garonne, which extends the course of the Canal du Midi all the way to Bordeaux and hence the Atlantic; and stray from the canal near Moissac while entering the rich agricultural lands of the Tarn-et-Garonne. (Added bonus: a preview of our forthcoming walk along the Camino de Santiago!). Our goal: a small family farm nestled amongst green rolling hills...
THE RIDE TO ST. HUBERT:
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| Bertrand guided us out of Toulouse and onto the Canal de Garonne. |
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| A parting glimpse of Toulouse where it straddles the River Garonne. The building shown on the right is the Hotel-Dieu de St. Jacques, which dates back to the 12th century. |
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| picnic along the Canal de Garonne. |
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| For the moment, we will leave the canal when we reach Moissac. |
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| Chocolate chip cookie break! |
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| Our campsite in thick woods, about 100m off the Canal de Garonne. |
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| The following morning, Jeff found that this mouse had spent the night building a new nest in his pannier! She smuggled in over 100 leaves over the course of the night! |
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| At Montech, Bo discovered a long wooden ramp and did a number of fun runs down the slope. |
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| A classic pink-brick bridge over the canal near Montech. |
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| The man behind this curious canal boat is German, and he has cruised here from Berlin over the past 3 years. The French canals in fact offer a glimpse into an alter-world of quiet, nice people: there are loads of expats and French alike living and travelling the extensive canal system in France. |
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| Bo and Jeff chilling out canalside. |
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| A typical lockhouse found along this part of the ride. |
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| The canal bridge just before Moissac, where the canal crosses over the River Tarn. |
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| We knew we were close when we saw this. |
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| A direct view onto our next WWOOF farm, in this case down a very steep hill and back up again. |
THE PEOPLE:
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| Our WWOOF hosts, Julie and Adrien. In some ways, we landed in paradise here: quiet country retreat, friendly hosts, kid-friendly atmosphere, private lodging, varied work tasks, and to top it all off: organic vegan sorbet in many flavors! |
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| Their 2.5 year-old son, Mael. |
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| Their 5 y.o. daughter, Amadea. |
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| Bo laughs it up on the swing set. |
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| Bo with Eva, who is doing a fruit tree internship on the farm for 6 months. This was Bo's reaction to being held by her for the first week or so. |
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| Clowning around with Bo. |
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| Oh boy, things are getting good now. |
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| Jeff and Bo all set to ride off, Amadea and Mael look on, Julie gives tips. |
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| Mael and Bo at the kiddies' table. |
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| Julie's artisanal sorbet: all-organic, mostly local, and insanely good. Three flavors shown here: Vine Peach, Thyme, and Plum. |
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| Bo devoured the sorbet like it was going out of style. |
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| Adrien and Jeff having a little evening session. |
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| Julie, Mael and Amadea doing trampoline acrobatics. |
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| Adrien, chilling. |
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| Katy and Bo, who goes to town on a cone of sorbet. |
THE PLACE:
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| Julie arrived first at the farm... |
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| ... which features apple and plum orchards, a vineyard, and some vegetable growing. |
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| Julie purchased the property about 10 years ago. Adrien came along a few years after and built a gorgeous natural pool and a phytoepuration system for greywater treatment and re-use. |
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| Adrien's business, performing all kinds of landscaping, phytoepuration system installation, tree limbing and removal, etc.. |
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| Bo was in seventh heaven here, with huge space to play in, loads of toys, a trampoline and a driveway pitch just right for fun safe descents on his balance bike. |
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| The farm as viewed from another angle. On the left in the midground is a young orchard planted with apples, pears, peaches, figs and grapes. |
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| Katy and Eva having the evening meal al fresco, just in front of the small (separated) house where we lived for the two weeks of our stay. |
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| These guys were found in abundance at the farm, singing all day and all night. |
THE WORK:
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| Julie and Katy weeding in the vineyard. The vines are just under 20 years old. |
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| We also trimmed and trained the vines a bit. Satisfying for us, after cycling past so many vineyards in our travels, to be finally working in one! |
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| Julie happens to be an expert organic sorbet producer, knocking out over 20 flavors, and selling them in the warm months in fairs, festivals and some shops around the region. |
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| Katy pitches in a hand in the production of 20 liters of strawberry sorbet! |
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| The cooking of the berries and sugar (and other ingredients) before being transformed into sorbet. |
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| The label for strawberry sorbet, one of the more popular flavors that Julie offers. |
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| Bo getting in on some super fresh strawberry sorbet, straight out of the machine that makes it. |
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| This becomes an irresistible sorbet booth during the summer season! |
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| Jeff performs some fruit thinning on orchard peaches, apples and pears. Besides the sorbet business, Julie also participates in a fruit AMAP in Toulouse, providing baskets of fruit every 2 weeks. |
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| Immature apples, which need thinning to get the best fruit results, as do pears, peaches and other orchard fruits. |
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| As part of Julie's organic vineyard methods, she sprays a potent mix comprised of three primary elements: copper sulfate (to prevent against fungus damage), purin d'ortie (a nettles-based plant fertilizer), and boron (fertilizer). |
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| Jeff returning from a thorough spraying of the vineyard. |
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| Katy and Bo weeding between young grape vines. |
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| Katy plants tomatoes. We also planted melons and Peruvian ground cherry. |
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| And finally, Bo sets to the task of feeding compost to the chickens! |
OUT AND ABOUT IN THE REGION:
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| The Abbaye de St. Pierre at Moissac, which dates back to 1100 A.D. |
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| While on a dayhike we crossed paths with this family, who are walking the Chemin de St. Jacques (Camino de Santiago) in annual segments, with their nearly 2 y.o. daughter. They shared some tips with us about the walk, as WE are planning to do it in one shot from Le Puy to Compostelle starting in late July. |
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| We briefly visited Bernard (storyteller and musician) at his home alongside the Camino, and he sent us off with some fiddle folk music. |
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| The Tarn-et-Garonne is famous in France for its fruit production. To be sure, it reaches monumental industrial proportions in places. The white fabric spread over the apple plantation shown here is to protect from hail damage. Another popular option (unfortunately for the noise pollution) is the use of hail cannons as shock wave generators to disperse hail formation in clouds. One particular morning in the predawn during our stay there was a vicious storm with thunder and lightning, and the volume and frequency of hail cannons being fired had us feeling like we were trapped in a war zone! |
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| The medieval village of Lauzerte seen from a distance. |
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| Lauzerte, like Moissac, sits on the Chemin de St. Jacques, and is a popular sleeping or eating place for pilgims. |
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| Bo, happy to be here! |
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| Jeff, Katy and Bo taking a breather in Lauzerte. |
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| Exploring the old village. |
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| Bo gets a closer look at the village square's upturned "ramp" at Lauzerte. |
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| Stained glass at St. Barthelemy church. |
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| The view over the countryside from Lauzerte. |
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| Katy and Bo play in Lauzerte's Jardin des Pelerins. |
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| "Hotel Quercy". This whole area was formerly part of the province of Quercy, whch was dissolved when the department system was introduced just after the French Revolution (1790). |
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| An animated group of young hikers we met in Lauzerte, very internationsl: French, Swiss, and Chinese. They are walking from Le Puy to Compostelle; just being near them gets us all excited for our own upcoming walk. |
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| Fabulous giant pelerin (pilgrim, name for walkers on the Camino) installed at the rondpoint below Lauzerte. |
