Good news: I am still alive. And so I live to tell the tale, of how a soccer game almost ended my life. It has been at least seven weeks, and likely much longer, since I last had a haircut, and it was driving me mad. Not that I was starting to look like a hippy, but it's the fluff at the back of your neck that gets to you more than anything else. It catches on your collar, itches, and as it rubs it is a constant and annoying remjnder that you are OVERDUE for a h...

You'll remember the French song "Sur le Pont d’Avignon" perhaps. And if you're like me, that first chorus line is all you'll remember about it. So, let's bridge the gap a bit... Avignon has something like three bridges, but the one referred to in the song is St Benezet's. Depending on which scholarly works you go to (e.g Wikipedia, Google...) Benezet was a child prodigy who, after a vision from God (who arranged angels to take care of his sheep for the duratio...

After the exorbitant mooring fee at St Gilles we left, determined to somehow lower our average per-night spend, and we did. It's only about 20 kilometres (just over 12 miles for those using old money) to Beaucaire, our next destination, and these days the end of the line for this particular canal. For quite some years now the lock at Beaucaire that accesses the Rhone has been closed off due to a "barrage" or weir constructed just beyond it. But for all that Be...

The waterways bible warned us that St Gilles was 'generally rather drab', so our expectations weren't high. They weren't helped either by the canalside life we saw as we approached the town. Until now, our experience of riverside life had been, well, quite nice really... on the Rhone this meant seeing the occasional chateau, ruined tower or castle, and of course dedicated fishermen who'd set up almost tent villages so they could fish in some comfort. Because of ...

Our escape from the current of Avignon made us determined to find a nice, easy and quiet mooring for the night, so we headed back down the Rhone proper towards a spot on the right bank which we'd been told had a brand new mooring. So new in fact it wasn't on any maps or in the guide books yet. On the rivers and canals you always know exactly where you are thanks to the "PK"s, the Point Kilometre signposts that tell you the exact distance you are from the last ma...