Day 1: Argens-Minervois to Puicheric - (Back to Arrival) or  (On to Day Two)
On our first day we needed to get everyone familiar with the operation of the barges and the process for transiting the locks.  We also wanted to cover as much distance as we could.  Unlike our previous trip on the Canal du Nivernais, on this trip we would have to return the barge to Argens-Minervois rather than drop it off at a distant location.  This meant we would have to allow enough time to re-trace our voyage.
Pennichette 1120, Underway
Undeway on the Canal du Midi
Therefore we rose just before dawn and were underway in the canal at first light.  On this day we would cover approximately sixteen kilometers and transit six sets of locks.
 
Around noon we stopped in the town of Homps.  We found a nice little restaurant, which was the first of many we encountered that served the special dish of this region - Cassoulet.  Cassoulet can be over simplified as French baked beans, but it is such a much more complex and pleasing dish.   I would never use this representation.   We would have Cassoulet at several other restaurants on this trip, but none of those experiences exceeded the pleasure of our first bowl in Homps.
 
After lunch I felt so drowsy I was motivated to start teaching Lloyd and Nancy to operate the barge.  Lloyd picked it up (video above) almost immediately and drove the Penichette 1120 most of the way from Homps to Puicheric, where we tied off to stakes driven into the shore. Pennichettes 1120 and 1500 Tied Up at Pucheric
Moored at Puicheric
   
On to Day Two