25th JUNE

What a difference this time!!!

We left Castet en Dorthe and entered the mighty Garonne on Monday 18^th June. After our previous experience we were terrified to say the least! In fact, we postponed our planned departure [Sunday] because we were unable to make a certain arrangement for a place to stay in Bordeaux – we felt that we needed to be sure where we were going as turning around in such a strong tide is not always an option.

Fortunately, we need not have worried, well not too much anyway!! The sun was warm and we seemed to glide down the river with the tide under us all the way. The river was smooth and elegant – nothing like the raging torrent we remembered!! The banks were alive with ‘wildlife’ – most notably, red kites that were swooping down for fish right in front of us – we lost count of the number we saw, certainly more than 30!!

At Bordeaux the river changes it’s name to the Gironde as you pass under Pont St Pierre – from here it is officially ‘sea’ rather than river. We had an anxious moment under the bridge as the water boiled through the narrows - we were grateful for our powerful engine as we [Paul] struggled to keep control, but in a moment we were through and all was well. But, so much for our careful planning…..the waiting pontoon was being used by a water taxi which took up all the available space! The tide by now was almost slack, so we were able to go back to another pontoon to wait for the locks to open.

At dusk we locked into the safe, calm waters of the dock. The sky was amazing as dark thunder clouds piled up above us – they picked up the colour of the sunset and turned blood red! We expected a big hand to reach down at any moment!?! No sooner were we tied up than the storm [storms in fact] began – for 2 hours we had the most spectacular lightening……but no rain! Strange!