After Rita’s practice/concert last night at Touriac, she took the early train from Moissac (after staying at Valerie’s overnight) and I met her at Castelnaudary station around 1100h.

Since we were leaving Castelnaudary today, we went across the port and met up with the Swiss couple on the graceful green Tjalk and had a short yack with them. We then went to see Steve & Jo before they took off on another 2-day training course. We then headed west out of the port to retrace our steps of the past couple of weeks.

Along the way near the Ecluse Roc, we got a close-up view of the dredger that had been hard at work a couple of weeks ago, but was now laying idle.

As we rose in the double-lock at Roc, we saw that different people use the ecluse grounds for different purposes, as this granny took a break from her motorhome driving to catch up with some knitting in the sun.

Our aim for today was to get back to the summit, to have dinner at one of the restaurants that was closed when we went through on Tuesday of last week.

As we headed out of the avenue of trees to arrive at the first of the restaurants, we were surprised to bump into Sally (who we had met at several Karaoke nights at the Sunbream Cafe in Moissac), accompanied by Odile, the capitainerie lady who we had said goodbye to in Castelnaudary this morning.

We were also surprised to see that there was an Arts Expo being held in the Old Mill, which also houses the restaurant. So after placing our order for apero drinks, we headed into the Expo to check it out. I must admit that I was as interested in the Old Mill structure itself as I was in the art works.

But there were some interesting items, including this fashion outfit made from old bicycle tyres, which also captured Rita’s attention.

In addition to the physical works of art, there were also some spoken and sung performances, but I must that this avant garde performance of word and song with accordion accompaniment left me scratching my head, even if it hadn’t been in French.

After we had finished dinner, Rita asked the waitress what was in the sauce that accompanied our tuna. She explained a little, and then said she would go speak to the chef (whose apron we had admired all night). After a little while, he came over and presented Rita with a jar of the sauce, and started explaining the ingredients. Halfway through, he asked if we spoke English, and when we said yes, he broken into a broad English accent and finished the description. It turned out that his name was Sparks, and he was not only the chef but the proprietor as well, and his wife Annie ran the cultural program at the Old Mill, of which the Expo was one part. A very enjoyable and illuminating evening.