The light of the low sun falls through the avenue of plane trees and forms light and dark areas on the canal. The bark flakes off in thin sheets, creating a mosaic of white and green patches. The autumn-coloured foliage shimmers golden. Dots of light dance in the wake of oncoming boats. An atmosphere as if it had been painted by Claude Monet.
We are not in the Impressionist's garden, but on one of the oldest and most beautiful waterways in France, the Canal du Midi.
The small town of Capestang, 20 kilometres west of Beziers, is the starting point for our journey along the historic waterway, which the French also call the Canal des Deux Mers (Canal of the Two Seas). Here we hired a Linssen 29.9 from charter company France Fluviale.
Capestang is located at kilometre 189. Towards the east, the Canal du Midi flows into the Étang de Thau at kilometre 240, a large lagoon on the Mediterranean coast with a passage to the sea. To the west, i.e. towards the Atlantic, the Canal du Midi begins at kilometre 1 in Toulouse, roughly halfway between the Mediterranean and the ocean. Its continuation to the Atlantic was originally the River Garonne. Later, the Canal latéral à la Garonne was built, which ends after 260 kilometres at Bordeaux on the Atlantic.
With this scale of distances, you immediately realise that you can only explore a fraction of the historic channel between the two seas in a charter week. How far can you sail in a charter week?
On the trail of Monsieur Riquet
Clife, the friendly base manager of our English charter company, says after the briefing: "Follow in the footsteps of Mr Riquet and you'll see his marvels every day." "Mr Riquet?" we ask, "That's the man who built this canal 320 years ago. A fanatical inventor. He built bridges, locks, tunnels and shipping aqueducts that didn't exist anywhere else in the world," Clife replies.
"And how far will we get in a week?" "Head west. In three days there and back you'll get as far as Trèbes or Carcassonne - but that's completely irrelevant. On the Canal du Midi, the journey is the destination."
Clife rummages in the boat's drawers until he finds a corkscrew. "This is the most important tool on the Canal du Midi. Your boat trip takes you through the largest wine-growing region in France."
After casting off at the base in Capestang, we pass the narrowest and lowest stone arch bridge that Monsieur Riquet had built over the canal. The old shipping lane then gently curves into the hilly landscape. The ancient plane trees, 60,000 in total, which Pierre-Paul Riquet had planted on both sides of the waterway along the towpath, form an almost closed canopy.
The plane trees are supposed to reduce evaporation with their dense crown and stabilise the banks with their roots. In addition, the autumn foliage with its heavily decaying leaves is supposed to seal the canal bed. After all, the trees provided protection from the sun for workers and draught horses when they were being towed.
We sail over several stone canal bridges, under which small streams flow. On both sides of the canal are seemingly endless rows of vineyards, which are harvested here by machine. We are in the Languedoc-Roussillon region, the most important wine-growing area in France. Around three times as much wine is produced here as in all the German wine-growing regions put together.
It's no wonder that there are always signs on the banks of the canal reading "Vins de Pays d'Oc" (country wines), pointing the way to small châteaux nestled somewhere in the vineyards. Near the village of Argeliers, we see the inviting sign for the restaurant "Le Chat qui pêche" (The cat that fishes) on the right next to a beautiful stone arch bridge.
In front of it are several houseboats, which - like everywhere else on the canal bank - are either moored to trees or tied down with pegs. It's Saturday afternoon and we're in the mood for fish and wine. We take a seat on the beautiful terrace covered in vine leaves. But no waiter comes. Even when I ring the bell, nobody moves. I read on a faded sign: "Open everyday. Exept: Saturday lunchtime, Sunday, Monday lunchtime" ...
A friendly Frenchman from the neighbouring boat gives us a lesson in French culture: "In France, it's not the guest who decides when to eat, but the host." He recommends that we continue on to Le Somail, where there is supposed to be a good restaurant right on the canal behind the bridge.
Impressive aqueducts and bridges
We drive over the impressive Pont-Canal de la Cesse aqueduct. About ten metres below us, the River Cesse flows under the Canal du Midi. Picturesque Le Somail is considered one of the most beautiful places on the waterway and is something like the cultural centre of the region.
We pass the old stone arch bridge and immediately afterwards go alongside on the port side in front of "Le Comptoir Nature" (Nature's Bar). We enjoy the last evening light at the garden tables on the shore and order a glass of red wine.
A friendly waiter with a ponytail looks at his watch and says that the bar is only open from 3pm to 6.30pm. We learn that the garden pub, which only serves drinks, is considered a bar here. We are exactly five minutes late. He sees my long face and says: "You are foreigner? Okay, I'll bring you some wine. Enjoy the sunset."
As he serves, he explains that the restaurant's dinner time is from 7pm to 9.30pm. We book a table and don't regret it. A menu costs between 15 and 30 euros and consists of a salad, starter, main course and dessert. Everything is freshly prepared and we feast like "God in France".
Fresh baguettes are available in the morning at Madame Claudine's floating supermarket on the barge "Tamata". Right next door, book lovers get their money's worth. With more than 50,000 titles, Madame Gourgues' "Le Trouve tout du Livre" is one of the largest and best-stocked second-hand bookshops in France.
After so many bibliophile treasures, those who prefer a lighter cultural fare can take a look at French history in the Musée du Chapeau a few metres further on in a rather amusing way - in the form of hats.
We leave the picturesque Le Somail behind us and head west along the still lockless Ka-nal. In Ventenac-en-Minervois, the entire north side of the village has been converted into a jetty and is occupied by houseboats. We find the last free space directly in front of the wine castle. Château de Ventenac is one of the largest wine castles on the banks of the canal.
Typical grape varieties for the region
The region's typical country wines are made here from the Syrah, Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay and Cinsault grape varieties. The wine museum is well worth a visit. All types of wine can be tasted free of charge. It goes without saying that every crew stops here and then returns on board in a good mood with a box full of wine.
Some people on the Canal du Midi seem to take a relaxed approach to wine at the helm, which has left its mark on many bridge crossings. But all the boats are covered with plenty of fenders, which always remain out during the journey.
Right next to the wine castle, we pass the famous Pont-canal de Répudre aqueduct at kilometre 159. It was built in 1676 by the canal builder Riquet and was the first canal bridge in France and the second in the world. The sensational technical feat at the time was not just about ships crossing a natural river at a height of ten metres on a masonry bridge.
What's more, this artificial waterway describes a U-shaped curve. Riquet's ingenious achievement was that he did not route the Canal du Midi through a valley, but over the hills above the Aude valley to protect it from the destructive floods of the unregulated tributaries of the Aude.
We pass the villages of Paraza and Roubia, where there are mooring facilities with a petrol pump for drinking water. This is immediately followed by the next technical monument, the Argens lock. It is one of the famous round chamber locks, which usually fit four houseboats.
We learnt that you can't use a bollard from on board when locking uphill because they are not on the lock wall but somewhere up on the meadow - neither visible nor accessible from on board. We also realise that the lock keeper will not touch a line that is thrown up to him. Only later do we learn that there are hygienic reasons for this (see info box "Bathing ban").
Round chamber locks and lock stairs
Experienced Canal du Midi skippers leave a crew member ashore before the uphill locks to take the lines that have been thrown up. Everyone who handles the lines wears gloves. The lock lift is usually between two and four metres. If the difference in height is greater, the lock consists of several chambers. Because of the large lift and the turbulence when filling the chambers, mooring with just one line on the centre cleat does not work.
Another special feature characterises the locks on the Canal du Midi: You can shop here. The lock keeper usually offers local wine, fresh bread, fruit and vegetables from his own garden as well as regional specialities such as jams and cheese.
The medieval town of Argens-Minervois with its 14th century castle high above the canal follows after a kilometre. There is a large harbour basin here, where an entire fleet of houseboats is stationed. The temptation to visit the old town is great. But it is impossible to stop at every monument because there are too many of them.
We enter the Pechlaurier double lock at around 6.30 pm. It will be the last one of the day, as 7 pm is "fin du travail" at all the locks. There are still a good two kilometres to the next lock at the gates of the town of Homps, our destination for the day.
But we never get there again. Behind the lock, white clouds of smoke boil out of the cooling water outlet. We stop the engine, lay the ship on the bank, stretch a fore and aft line across the towpath and tie it to the plane trees. The cooling water filter is clean. We tap the impeller.
At the charter company, the answering machine is already running and we speak our mishap and our position on the tape.
We are completely alone. On one side the canal, where there are no more ships, on the other an endless field of vines. An incredible silence surrounds us. Fortunately, we have bought a case of "Vins de Pays d'Oc". The evening is saved.
As the morning sun breaks through the mist over the canal, we are rudely awoken. A cyclist knocks on the boat and complains with a torrent of French curses because we have stretched the lines across the towpath. He's right. We find pegs in the forecastle and hammer them into the bank. With a friendly "merci", he cycles on.
Shortly afterwards, it knocks on the boat again. What else have we done wrong? The service car of the charter company France Fluviale is parked on the towpath. A friendly young man beamingly shows us a new impeller and rushes on board. After an hour, the engine is purring again.
At the centre of nautical tourism
We take the locks at Ognon and Homps and enter the small town of Homps, where we moor in front of a pizzeria at the entrance to the town. Homps seems to be a centre of nautical tourism. The canal is full of boats. It is now the end of September - how crowded might it be here in summer? There are several pubs on both sides of the canal where you can watch the boat traffic from the shore.
In the afternoon, we continue westwards, pass the Jouarres lock and reach the beautiful Épanchoir d' Argentdouble (overflow of the Argentdouble river) shortly before the village of La Redorte. Here, Monsieur Riquet has once again demonstrated how technical innovation and beauty can be combined. On closer inspection, it is a complicated structure: the canal crosses an unregulated river in an arch on an aqueduct. The eastern bank of the crossing is flanked by another bridge consisting of twelve masonry arches. It drains excess canal water into the river. And the towpath leads over the upper bridge.
The village of La Redorte follows immediately afterwards, the centre of which is about one kilometre further inland. In La Redorte, there are plenty of moorings on the long pier with a few pillars for electricity and water. You can buy chips for the vending machines in the La Rivassel restaurant.
We make it through the Puichéric lock in the evening and moor for the night below the next lock, Aiguille, which is already closed. You can bunker water for free at the mooring under the plane trees. And there are still plenty of ripe grapes in the vineyards, which have already been harvested by machine.
In the morning, we drive into the Aiguille lock. The lock keeper has welded sculptures from scrap metal and draped his works of art around the chamber. After three more locks, we reach the town of Trèbes and moor below the multi-chamber lock. We have arrived at the westernmost point of our trip.
The next stop would be Carcassonne
From Trèbes, you could continue along the canal to the famous city of Carcassonne. But on the waterway, which makes a wide curve to the north here, it would be 14 kilometres and seven locks, so one day there and back. Our charter week doesn't allow for this, as we have to bring the boat back. It's only 8 kilometres by bus to Carcassonne.
The beautiful garden restaurant "Le Moulin de Trèbes" is located directly on the busy Trèbes multi-chamber lock. Here you can enjoy regional specialities, a good local wine and watch the hustle and bustle in the lock while you feast. On the way from the lock to the bus stop, you will find Madame Marie-Thérèse's "Confiturerie de L'Écluse". The 71-year-old lady makes jams from wine - simply delicious!
The fortified town of Carcassonne, situated on a plateau above the canal, is well worth a visit. Construction of the huge castle began around 1230. 15 years were needed to build an outer wall 1.5 kilometres long and an inner wall measuring 1.3 kilometres. This made Carcassonne the most heavily fortified city in southern France. However, the effectiveness of the defence was never put to the test. The fortress of Carcassonne has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997.
The gates of the bastion are open today. In addition to souvenir shops, the medieval town also has lovely bars and restaurants where you can celebrate reaching your destination. The return journey now lies ahead of us. On the Canal du Midi, the journey is the destination.
WHAT SKIPPERS NEED TO KNOW
The Canal du Midi historically: The Canal du Midi was the largest construction site in 17th century Europe and is still considered an outstanding engineering achievement today. In just 14 years, 12,000 workers built a 240 km long waterway with shovels and picks - something that would be hard to beat even in the 21st century. At the same time, 63 locks with 98 chambers were built. The most spectacular structures are the 50 (!) stone arch bridges on which the canal crosses rivers. Another sensation was the world's first canal tunnel, 160 metres long, which was built in six days.
The idea to build the canal came from the salt tax collector Pierre-Paul Riquet (1609 - 1680), who was neither an architect nor an engineer. Obsessed with his plan, he acquired the theoretical knowledge through self-study and spent 30 years drawing up the plans for the canal. In 1662 he presented them to the French finance minister Colbert, and in 1666 King Louis XIV authorised the construction. Work began a year later and the canal was officially opened on 24 May 1681. Its inventor, Riquet, had died six months earlier. The Canal du Midi has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. )
The charter company:The family-run company France Fluviale has been offering licence-free boating holidays on France's inland waterways since 1993. The company has bases in Vermenton and St Florentin in Burgundy and Capestang on the Canal du Midi. The small company attaches great importance to personalised service and good quality. In addition to the high-quality Linssen boats (29.9 to 34.9 feet), the company also offers typical regional houseboats for 4 to 8 people.
The Linssen 29.9 AC The Linssen 29.9 AC that we chartered is a classic steel displacement boat with an elegant design that stands out among the slightly damaged plastic houseboats on the Canal du Midi. The boat has a comfortable double cabin fore and aft, each with a bathroom (WC/shower fore, WC aft). The spacious saloon has a well-equipped galley. The steering position is outside. We took over the boat in a visually and technically perfect condition.
Technical dataLength overall 9.35 m, width 3.35 m; Volvo Penta engine 40 kW (55 hp) (throttled for charter operation), fuel consumption around 4 l/h.
The prices The Linssen 29.9 AC costs between 1470 and 2310 euros per week, depending on the season. Deposit 1000 euros, final cleaning 100 euros. Diesel is charged at 7 euros per hour of operation; the average cost for a charter week is around 200 euros.
Info and booking: France Fluviale Burgundy Cruisers SARL, 1 Quai du Port, F-89270 Vermenton, Tel.: 0033 (0)3 86 81 54 55, Fax: 0033 (0)3 86 81 67 87, E-Mail: france-fluviale@orange.fr, Info: www.francefluviale.com
Lock times and maximum speed: From 1 May to 30 September, the lock operates daily from 9 am to 7 pm, with a lunch break from 12.30 pm to 1.30 pm. The maximum speed is 8 km/h. A lower speed is indicated by signs in narrow passages, in towns and in places with poor visibility.
The bathing ban: Like many inland waters in France, the Canal du Midi is infected with pathogens that cause the infectious disease leptospirosis. These pathogens get into the water or onto the banks through the urine of infected mammals. Humans can become infected through skin lesions or via the mucous membranes. In France, the disease is mainly spread by nutrias.
Some of the animals imported from Argentina in the 19th century for breeding purposes have been released into the wild and have multiplied immensely along the canals. For this reason, the lock keepers do not handle lines. Anyone handling lines on board should always wear gloves. It goes without saying that you are not allowed to swim in the Canal du Midi.
The literature:
