cycling Canal du Garonne - Days Two, Three and Four.

Day Two:
It's always pleasant to start the morning with a viewing of priceless art up close, with no-one else around, in a church of a small village in south-west France. Welcome to the parish church at Le Mas d'Agenais, a steep but short hill climb up from the Canal du Garonne. The painting in question is an early Rembrandt, depicting Christ on a Cross. I gaze at the painting for awhile. I could reach up, lift it off the wall and no-one would know a thing. Except you dear reader. But, I didn't. I went to the boulangerie and had a cannelle instead. Another masterpiece.

 the lavoir at Le Mas d'Agenais

We cycle between plane trees for the rest of the day until turning off the canal to Vianne, a wonderful bastide village surrounded by a high wall and with a history dating back to the 13th Century, of which little remains. Most of the existing buildings date from the 19th Century. I love the four arched entrances to the village and the towers at the corners. It'd be great to be a child growing up there. Your very own fortified town. And a river to swim in just outside the walls. We cycled the quiet afternoon streets before finishing our second day at the Royal city of Nerac. Our host told us stories of Henry IV and his womanising ways.

Nerac

Day Three:

Agen is known as the prune capital of France. It also has one of the longest canal bridges in the world. And lots of joggers, trucks and rather unfriendly walkers. A prune is just a dried-up plum, isn't it? Maybe the people we encountered had eaten one too many.

Saint Nicolas de la Grave

Not so the good citizens of Saint Nicolas de la Grave, who vote overwhelmingly left-wing, have a wonderful old town square and Mairie building and welcome such glorious citizens as Fred and David who have operated a B&B outside of town for two years. David speaks more languages than the Pope and Fred cooks up a storm. We could have stayed a week. 

Day Four:

But, the rose city, Toulouse beckoned. No, it's not famous for flowers, but the unique colour of the buildings. 

Toulouse

And, of course, it's the end of the Canal du Garonne and the start of the even more famous, Canal du Midi. Which is where we begin our cycle to the Mediterranean.

the start of the Canal du Midi