On to Homps - September 10

Generally we leave some time between 9 and 10 in the morning, after someone has gone to the local boulangerie for morning croissants and baguette. Today we are headed for Homps, with 6 locks (including 3 doubles and a triple), about 18 km from Marseillette.

Mary in her dress whites, coffee cup at the ready, and with pink gloves on ready to handle the lines at the first lock.

The locks sometimes have someone selling local produce (or wine, jam, honey). The lock keeper at Aiguille entertains travelers with sculptures of various sorts.

We stopped at Puicheric, headed for the church tower, a cooperative wine cellar, and remains of a chateau burned down by soldiers of the Black Prince in the 14th century. What we found was a wonderful canal-side garden, where we purchased tasty tomatoes from a friendly farmer.

 

Here he is sharing some ripe figs with Mary.

We walked a short distance into the small town which was deserted except for a few people in the local wine cooperative. The church was locked tight so we were unable to see it. Many of the small villages in this area are totally based on the wine industry and since we are here in the midst of harvest season, we figured that maybe the town's inhabitants were busy in the fields.

We passed a stone spillway built in the 17th century to empty the canal of excess water during times of flooding. The towpath crosses the spillway on a series of arches.

We ended the day, moored alongside the canal at Homps, enjoying a fine meal at an auberge beside the canal.

 

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