Villefranche-de-Lauragais

Who would have thought! A Drag Queen evening in the small French town of Castelnaudary. What a fun evening last night! Performed by local people whose normal job is serving the tourists coming though the town mainly in boats, they put a on a really fun show. Some of the guys dressed up very well and were quite good dancers, and there was one girl who was obviously a professional singer who came on several times and sang very well
It was a dinner show and the main course was cassoulet, a typical French meal made with beans and different meats. Interestingly this dish was invented in this town, so of course it was the main meal.
The small town was lit up along the river for this Drag Queen event and the whole night was very enjoyable.
Today the temperature was a lot cooler and around 22 degrees with showers all day. How the weather has changed over the last 3 days! The cruising today was through some really nice French countryside with large green trees overhanging the canals. It was a cruisy day, not too many locks, and not many other boats. Very relaxing.
Towards the end of the day we reached our destination of Gardouch and moored up via ground spikes on the banks of the canal just out of town in a nice quiet spot.
Why was Gardouch chosen to stay tonight? Because of a restaurant called L’Estanquet. Not the world’s best known place but Pete & Lou had been here before and found the food to be terrific. So as the sunset we walked the 800m from our mooring down the restaurant. Again, who would have thought! A small restaurant in the middle of nowhere ended up giving us one of the best meals of our trip! Oysters, prawns, ribs, salmon, pork, and for desert a beautifully made crème brûlée and banaoffee! A lively meal!
Then it was time to walk back to the boat but in the rain. And as we climbed back in the boat with wet shoes Peter’s shoes slipped on the steps and he fell down last portion of the stairs into his back. Everyone rushed to his aid but aside from a bruised ego he was thankfully fine. Peter stressed that the fall was not due to the nice rosé consumed during the meal!!Read more