Two Adventurers

4 November 2009

The lovely Hotel du Brienne unfortunately could not accommodate us for a third night as they were fully booked so we reserved a room in the nearby Ibis Hotel Pont Jumeau via the internet. We were told it was within walking distance so with our suitcases whirring along behind we ambled along the banks of the Canal du Midi, enjoying the scene.  We realised that it was on this same canal that we’d holidayed with our good friends, Jon and Sally, in a canal boat for two weeks in April 1976! Each of us had a small daughter at that time and it was there that our 10 month old Simone took her first hesitant steps across the moving boat while Katie, at 8 months, watched on in admiration! Tied up on the canal now was an enchanting restaurant barge, its maitre de beguiling us to eat lunch, which we resisted as we’d had ample Petit dejeuner breakfast at du Brienne.  For those who have not visited France, a Petit dejeuner breakfast for two consists of a basket of about 4 croissants, a couple of raisin or chocolate pastries and some crispy slices of French bread, plus jams and coffee/tea. Often yoghurt is also included.

The Ibis Hotel was clean, its staff extremely pleasant with several of them happy to speak a little English, where they could, and persevering with our halting French!  Lots of fun! Our room, though rather small, had wifi provided free, as is usually the case, so the blog was a priority. It rained on and off most of the day. The hotel served a great dinner and was quite inexpensive so we ate in and pored over maps of the region in preparation for departure the next morning.