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Canal de Midi - Why you should do this Trip before you Marry

14 days in Southern France (May 2018)

By Beyond All Maps - Portraits of our Planet by Thorsten Mehret

September 23^rd, 2018

Ok, Ok, guys. After this title I can already see me confronted with some questions. So let me tell you, still no plans for a marriage, although now we have the ultimative proof to be ready. So if you are interested to hear more, or you are even before a groundbreaking decision, read on.

A houseboat holiday was something I had on my bucket list for a long time, although not highly ranked. But when we were asked by some good friends if we were interested, it wasn't a tough decision. There are many options in Europe, the Shannon in Ireland, Burgundy in France, Mecklenburg in Germany or the Netherlands are popular spots. But checking some internet sources the Canal du Midi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996 seemed to enjoy a special reputation, so finally the decision where to go was an easy one. Also May seemed to be a good time, not too hot and avoiding the crowds in summer time, when it can get busy and longer waiting times at the many locks are common.

We decided for a stop over of three days to explore Avignon and the surroundings, thus splitting the long arrival by car.

Canal de Midi - Why you should do this Trip before you Marry

A Stop in Avignon

Looking for potential stop overs to our Canal du Midi starting point in Trebes, Avignon quickly came to mind due to its historical background, medieval monuments and interesting surroundings. Between 1309 and 1377, during the Avignon Papacy, seven successive popes resided in Avignon and it`s quite interesting to learn more about this period while visiting the sites.

Checking AirB&B and booking.com, we finally decided for the Hotel du Palais des Papes, which I can highly recommend. It's directly in the centre, offering charming rooms in a historical building, some even with great views of the Palais des Papes, and parking is easy in the car park below the Palais de Papes. Considering all this, prices were more than reasonable.

Doors

Cafe À chats

A nice concept if you like cats. Nipping on your coffee while being surrounded by plenty of cats looking for your affection (...and your cake, so watch it). And if you fall in love with a specific cat, adopt it.

Market

Street Scenes

PalaiS deS Papes

Impressive from the outside, there is not that much to see inside, as the rooms are not furnished and therefore look quite bare. Nevertheless taking the audio tours, including a tablet with an argument reality function is a great way to dive into history and makes it an overall worthwhile (around two hours) experience.

Avignon by Night

If you are a photographer, the blue hour in Avignon is not to be missed. There are plenty of opportunities. Especially great is the view towards the Palais des Papes from over the river, a 20 minutes stroll.

Avignon Souroundings

Carrières deS Lumières

Wandering around this old quarry is already impressive, but once the light show starts your are beamed from one second to another into another world. Gigantic displays of constantly changing paintings of famous artists suddenly cover the whole quarry, including all niches and even the floor. Everything is accompanied with atmospheric music and it feels like your are not just watching a great show but become part of if. Wandering around a corner opens up a new fascinating view. Absolutely stunning and my personal highlight of the trip. Find information about their current programme on display here.

Château des Baux-dE- Provence

Very close to the Carrières de Lumières, this is a charming little town with a chateau and fantastic view of the surroundings. It's a bit touristy, so better come early.

Pont Du Gard

It's quite fascinating what the Roman engineers were capable of, and this aqueduct across the Gardon River is no exception. It the highest of all elevated Roman aqueducts and one of the best preserved. It was built in the first century AD to bring water to the Roman colony of Nimes from a spring 50 km away. The best light for photography is in the late afternoon.

The Canal Du Midi runs from Toulouse to the Mediterranean and was constructed 1666 to 1681. It's one of the oldest canals in Europe still in operation, but nowadays mainly for touristic purposes. There are several houseboat companies with le boat being the biggest. As our preferred trip from Castelnaudary to Port Cassafières was not available anymore, we finally chose the a trip from Trèbes to Narbonne in ten days. As this was more than enough time, we did some side trips to Carcassonne and Colombiers.

Boat Take over in Trèbes

There are many options to choose from. For two couples, the Royal Mystique from le boat is probably the best choice. Two big cabins with their own bathroom on each end of the boat and a lounge and kitchen between. There is lots of space in the boat and on the top deck which obviously was our favourite place during the trip.

Captain and the Crew

There is no need for a special license. The boat runs not much faster than walking speed. Normal cruising is very relaxing and no big deal. The interesting and challenging parts are manoeuvring in the harbours and especially in the locks together with the handling of the ropes.

The ultimate Test For couples

For novices the first couple of locks can be a bit challenging. The boats are not reacting so quickly as one would like, so bringing the boat in parallel to the lock walls is one task, and handling the ropes over the bollard and keeping them tight the other.

After some more or less embarrassing trials at the first locks we found our rhythm and only occassionaly had problems afterwards, e.g. when the wind was affecting the boat. Neverthess in those moments it quickly became four captains as everyone knows better how to handle the situation.

Fortunately, having four people on the boat makes the whole thing much easier. One person gets out before the lock and walks over to help from outside with the ropes and the bollards, two persons take care of the back and front ropes to keep the boat stable during the locking and one persons steers the boat entering and leaving the lock.

With only two people, the whole thing obviously becomes much more challenging and the interesting part of the trip was actually watching some couples completely loosing their contenance, insulting each other with words I can't write here. So beware, what might look like a romantic, relaxing trip can become your last together or maybe the ultimate proof that you can handle everything together. So better do the trip before your marriage ;-)

Btw, although a bit tricky for two, the good thing is that there is generally a quick supporting hand around and the chance you damage something is pretty low.

Carcassonne

Without a doubt, Carcassonne is the most famous spot in the region. It's the largest walled city in Europe, dating back to the Gallo-Roman period. Although extremely touristy, still a very impressive experience.

One of the best spots to photograph the citadel at night-time is from the back (opposite the town, in the vineyards). It's quite a walk coming from the new city, expect at least 30-40 minutes from the boat mooring.

A visit to the Basilique Saint-Nazaire and an audio guided tour in the Port de l'Aude including a walk on the walls is a must. Go early before it gets too crowded.

Inside the citadel it's very touristy with many tourist shops and restaurants. It's much quieter in the morning and later in the afternoon without the day tourists.

As always with art, it's a personal taste. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Listing, the artist Felice Varini decorated the outer walls with yellow centric circles made from aluminium foil. The centricity could only be seen from a specific angle, which looked quite impressive and surprising. From all other angles, it looked just like chaotic yellow stripes.

Between Carcassone and Homps

To stabilise the channel banks, plane trees were planted in the 18th century in most sections, adding enourmously to the charm cruising the canal. Unfortunately, more and more of the 42,000 plane trees become infected with canker stain, a disease caused by a microscopic fungus. Huge numbers already had to be felled, and probably all will in the next couple of year. There are reforestation programmes using other types of trees not affected by the disease. But the trees are still very young and it will take many decades to restore the former charm of the channel.

The few still existing sections with old plane trees on both sides are outstandingly beautiful, and anchoring in these areas overnight, having a BBQ on the boat and enjoying a glass of local wine were our highlights of the trip. But even in these sections many trees already had a green mark on the bark, an unmistakable sign by the local authorities that the trees are infected. Also for them the end is near, very sad!

Most of the locks are operated from lock keepers. Accordingly, there are operating hours, including a lunch break. This adds to the slowing down atmosphere. Some of the lock keepers also sell some local goods or have their hobbies on display.

By the way, even the automatic locks in the Canal de Robin have operating hours including a lunch break ;-)

La Redorte - Where Europe Works

Wandering the streets of this little village, we suddenly came across a group of people standing around a table chatting. Passing by, it took not long that we found ourselves invited to try some oysters and having a glas of wine. Proudly we were told that they had been meeting here every Saturday for decades for having a chat and enjoying life, and that many of them were coming from all over Europe and made La Redorte their new home. I had to promise to tell Angela (Merkel), that in La Redorte the European idea is fully alive.

So Angela, if you read these lines, let me keep my promise and tell you: In La Redorte Europe works and if you manage to visit on a Saturday, your are openly invited to some oysters, a glass of wine and a chat with convinced Europeans.

Cruising the canal, many structures can be seen, reminding that the canal is a manmade structure.

Homps

Homps to Le Somail

Argens-Minvervois

Since most of the plane trees had to be felled due to a disease, the canal lacks some natural shade in most sections. As due to the many low bridges it's not allowed to use the canvas top of the boats while cruising, it can get quite hot. May was just OK, but definately I would avoid mid June to late August. Not only because of the heat, but also because of the waiting times in front of the locks in the peak holiday season. Sure, you can have some shade inside the boat, but thats not the intention on such a cruise, right?

Plenty of wine tasting and buying opportunities are available on the canal and it's quite nice to taste and select one or two bottles every day for the evening BBQ.

Le Somail

The most picturesque village, with plenty of good restaurants right at the canal, Le Somail is a must do overnight stop.

Le Somail to Capestang

The church of Capestang can prominently be seen, approaching the city from the canal and is definitely worth a break.

The Etang de Montady is a former freshwater wetland, drained by making radial ditches from a single center point out to the extremities. It's best to be seen by stopping at the Malpas Tunnel and walking up the road towards the Oppidum D'Enserune. Take some water, as it's quite a walk in the heat of the day.

The Malpas Tunnel was Europe's first navigable canal tunnel, excavated in 1679. The tunnel is 165m long with an arch 8m above the canal's surface. Manoeuvering through it is less spectacular than it might seem, but it's important to honk before entering, to make sure no other boat is entering from the opposite side at the same time.

A typical scenery at the canal banks, trying to replace the huge and old plane trees after they have died by a disease. It will take decades to bring the banks to their former glory.

Enjoying some of the more beautiful sections of the canals.

Canal de Robin

This side canal leads to Narbonne and further to the Mediterranean Sea. Salleles-D'Aude is one of the villages on its way.

There are quite some automatic locks entering the Canal de Robin, all in sight of each other. After our lock free section between Le Somail and Colombiers that was almost stressful.

A short distance the Canal de Robin joins the wild Aude river. Getting back to the canal there is a huge lock which prooved to be a surprisingly tricky part. Here the Aude river takes a turn to the left cascading down and creating a strong current. So steering the boat in the safe, current free area before the lock was not that easy. However critical the whole situation became only when the lock was blocked and could not open. Another boat just behind us therefore could not moore in the current free section and forgot the use of the back ropes to bring it parallel to the bank. Accordingly the back turned completely towards the cascade, creating quite some panic. It took many helping hands and pulling to bring the boat back to the mooring position. After an hour the lock was fixed and we could finally pass.

Narbonne - Final Destination

Narbonne is a neat city with a great market. Worth to explore for a day.

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