7 km to cover today and wanted to avoid arriving too early (again) so we decided to allow ourselves some tourism en route. The plan was to arrive in Grisolles in time to meet Emma off the train as she is joining me from here on, while Laura is flying back from Toulouse on Saturday so we stopped off in Moissac, had a coffee and wandered around the abbey which is wonderful.
The interior has been restored to something close to the original decorative state, including the painted walls and it’sfull of old statuary, much of it also restored. The statues had an individuality of expression which I didn’t expect in pre-renaissance art.
More blazing sunshine. I couldn’t believe how lucky we were as thunderstorms were sweeping the rest of France.The Pente d’eau just before Montech was an impressive piece of machinery. Basically a sort of boat lift which offer an alternative to a set of 5 locks. In a parallel watercourse two powerful motors move a slice of water contained between two watertight barriers up and down the slope – with a boat sat on the water. Unfortunately we didn’t see it in action.
However after Montech we had a nasty surprise. We were confronted by a fleet of resurfacing vehicles blocking the canal path. Apparently they were renewing the 16 km of cyclepath between Montech and Grisolles – no way through!
The workmen gave us directions for a detour (our map didn’t go that far off the side of the path) and we set off through the forest. We debated whether to take the first right turn through the forest but decided to carry straight on. Bad decision! We eventually got to our destination but only by making a wide detour which added 10km to the route.We didn’t make the rendez-vous with Emma. She ended up making her own way
to the B and B. We were studying the town plan in the market square about an hour after we had planned to arrive, trying to work out where to go, when a stranger asked if we were looking for Les Muriers and gave us exact directions. The mystery was solved when we arrived - he was the owner’s husband and had put two and two together - the resemblance to Emma and the probability of finding more than one set of hot and sweaty cyclists in the main square of Grisolles. 
It was another excellent b and b. We fell gratefully into the pool and the owner brought us fresh orange juice. Once unpacked (the rooms were beautiful and the bathrooms of boutique hotel standard) we wandered around town then came back for aperitifs, an excellent meal, far too much wine and a lively chat. We weren’t the only guests that evening. Other guests were involved in a relay (running) along the canal du midi which was due to start the next day from Toulouse. Rather them than me given that the temperatures are now approaching 30 oC . However, despite the heat I have to say I have never felt fitter or better. No wonder we are seeing all these ancient but clearly very fit cyclists as we go along. Mileage to date 610 km
