3 July to 9 July 2015

First stop: South of France. Mum, sister and I have hired a canal boat for a week. We got a free upgrade to a massive motorboat that no one of us can navigate. I was made captain, sister is first officer and mum is the rating (Matrose/Marinero).

You can see the moment when we pass the first bridge, mum and I concentrate highly. Then expressions of horror on my mums face as I bump from one side to the other.
When we first try to dock the boat at the side of the canal we must have looked so hopelessly amateur that the Swiss guys in the boat next to us jumped to our rescue. There is an advantage in being three women alone. My main worry is that the fridge will be not cold enough if the engine is not on to cool the beer and Prosecco!

We were very lucky yesterday to find an excellent restaurant in Vias next to the town square, where a local party was taking place.

~~~

I got a better feeling for the boat today and did well to manoeuvre through a bridge without touching the sides. Still managed to stir head on into a wooden landing and damage it. I didn’t catch what the angry lady who owned it was saying, but she clearly wasn’t impressed with my skills. Alors…