In
may 2000 we navigated for the first time by ourselves. We rented a boat for
a week on the Canal du Midi. This canal, together with the Garonne
lateral canal, is also called the 'Canal of two seas' because it links
two seas: the Mediterranean with the Atlantic.
The canal is situated north of the Pyrenees.
The
canal is built in the seventeenth century by Pierre-Paul Riquet. The
actual building started in 1667 en the canal is put into use in 1681.
The canal starts at the Mediterranean at Sète en is linked to the
Rhône by the Canal du Rhône à Sète.
Since
1997 the
Canal du Midi is on the list of world-inheritance off the Unesco.
In
earlier days one traveled in four days with the mail-boat from Toulouse to Agde at
the Mediterranean. In those days it was an unusual comfortable way of traveling.
Our
voyage in 2000
on the canal starts at the site of the Mediterranean in a little village
called Argens-Minerois which is not so far from cities as Béziers and
Narbonne. At
Argens the canals lays
about 33 meter above sea level
(on the height of the river Cesse). From there we travel upwards to the
west.
The
canal is north of the river Aude upstream to Carcassonne. From Carcassonne
the canal runs further upwards along a little tributary, the Fresquel. We
pass the city Castelnaudary before we reach the watershed at about 190 meter
above sea level. From there we go down to the village Négra which is at
169 meter above the sealevel. Négra is not so far from Toulouse where
the canal arrives at the river Garonne. By way of the Garonne lateral
canal one can travel further in the direction of Bordeaux .
In
2001 we made another trip in the south of France. We started this time
nearby the Mediterranean at Lattes. By way of the river Lez, the Canal
du
Rhône à Sète we navigated to the Étang deThau and from there in the Canal du Midi. We
came at special places as the round lock of Agde en the Fonsérannes
staircase. We made a little trip by way of the Canal de
Jonction and the Canal de la Robine to Narbonne. We finished our trip in Argens
where we just started our voyage in 2000.
Both
trips were
marvelous. The water and the surrounding landscape breath an overwhelming
quiet throughout the country:
Reflection
on the water
We
navigate on quiet water,
and
time has here still plenty of time,
and no
one worries about later
A day
lasts here eternally.
Canal du Midi