Canal du Midi day three

Today we were up at 7am had breakfast and were heading for Carcassonne by 8am. Being so early we got thru the remaining 5 locks (3 boats at a time) really quickly and by 11.30 we had arrived. We were very disappointed to see floating in the canal plastic bottles and other rubbish & thought this spoiled very much what we had seen up till now.
After debating where we should stop, we pulled into a mooring that was near what looked like a main road. An elderly man grabbed our rope so we asked him if we could moor here. The next minute a lady comes up & asked us if we want to moor in the boat harbour ( which is thru another lock). The cost for us 2, no power or water but use of the showers and washing machines etc for the boaties was 12 Euro for the night. Plus it is only 2mins to the town. Steven had a lot of fun backing our boat into the mooring as it has no steering in reverse. With the current and the wind it was not easy at all and everyone watching didn’t help.
Once we were all moored we headed to the Carcassone Castle on the hill which is surrounded by a old walled town. We took the novelty train that tows several carriages of passengers up to it. It’s is like an old Medieval town inside the walls and several people had period costumes on including a guy with a sample of the food served in his restaurant. Yes we got talked into having a genuine medieval meal of the time and local speciality called Casteline which consisting of haricot beans, roast duck and a sausage. (see pic) This proved really filling and we will not require much tea at all tonight.
The weather was overcast & windy today and although it was still in the 20s we really felt cold after the wonderful sunny 30 degree days we have become used to.
Tomorrow we head back toward the base at Homps which will take us back the way we have come but should prove easier at the locks as you just hook the rope around the bollard & let it loosen as the boat is lowered. Looks easier anyway, time will tell.