Natalie Mahoney

With the help of a paid pilot, I moved my barge from Toulouse to the new harbor of Montauban, an elegant small city 50 kilometers north. There are mostly French boaters here which should help my language skills. I took the train back to Toulouse on the 4th of July for the unveiling of a plaque honoring Thomas Jefferson's visit to the Canal du Midi over 200 years ago, then attended the Mayor's reception donnee a l'occasion de l'anniversaire de l'independance des Etats-Unis d'Amerique. I was very surprised that there were practically no Americans there, but many interesting French guests with connections to the US: e.g., the director of the Comite de Jumelage, Atlanta-Toulouse, the president of the company which had made the beautiful bronze Jefferson plaque, etc.