Back on the Midi

Most people, if asked to name one canal in France, would answer the Canal du Midi. There are about 8500km of navigable canals and rivers in France and the Midi is only 241km so why is it so well known? Perhaps because it has been a setting in many a TV programme or film.We see it in paintings, postcards, posters and calendars. In short it is photogenic. Most canals are straight but the Midi has curves, not only in its course but also in the shapes of its ancient (350 year old) hand-hewn, stone locks and low bridges. As it winds its way through the south of France it flows close to Mediterranean beaches, passing quaint villages, and then the medieval, fairytale-like  citadel of Carcassonne. Fields of sunflowers follow the sun, grapes ripen in the vineyards and a boat drifts through the dappled shade cast by the stands of old plane trees lining the banks.

Oval lock Canal du Midi

Low bridge - Canal du Midi

 Ok I'll stop there. You get the picture. It's the one they put in the brochures for the hire boat companies. The one with one boat (or maybe 2 because you'll be wanting to make some friends won't you?). The one with empty locks and smiling boaters. It's the same picture I had in my head many years ago when we first bought l'Avenir in the Netherlands. I wanted to come straight to France and make for the Midi. We didn't as it happens (I'm happy to say) but many do.
The Midi is undeniably a most interesting and scenic waterway. It dates from the mid 1600 s and is a marvellous feat of imagination, engineering and sheer hard work. Its UNESCO World Hertiage status is well deserved. Sadly, one of the main features of the picture I just described to you is disappearing year by year - the plane trees. 3 years ago when we last were on the Midi there were long stretches of canal denuded of plane trees; they were being cut down and burned in huge bonfires beside the canal. Many of the remaining trees were daubed with red paint which meant they too were condemned. It was distressing to see and I'm sorry to say this continues. The trees are infected with a fungus which  kills them and they were and are being removed in an attempt to prevent it spreading. This seems not to have been possible. More and more trees are being removed and replaced with different varieties of saplings. These will take many years to reach maturity. In the meantime (and probably forever) the character of the canal is changing. There are still stands of plane trees but less each year.
Constructing the canal was a monumental project designed and overseen by Pierre Paul Riquet. It took 12000 workers (many of whom were women) 15 years of hard manual work. Sadly Riquet died before its completion. It is hard to imagine how difficult life must have been toiling on the construction or, later, working on one of the man/horse hauled boats through non mechanised locks. Believe me, it is exhausting enough travelling on it nowadays particularly in the summer heat and with the added ingredient of the hire boats. Yes, unsurprisingly, the photos in the brochures are not entirely accurate. There are more than one or two boats. There are hundreds.

Leaving Toulouse

We picked up our guests/crew from Toulouse which is where the Midi begins. From there it's all uphill (always harder) to the summit. On this stretch the locks can be quite deep and most are self operated so someone needs to get off the boat on approach in order to press the buttons and take the ropes. There is only one hire base in operation at Negra so it is relatively quiet.

Negra - Chapel

Boatman's Chapel - Negra

Negra has a nice little boatman's chapel beside its lock which is worth a look. There were once 6 chapels along the Midi but now only 2 remain consecrated. This one was the half way mark for the mail boat which also carried passengers between Castelnaudary and Toulouse. The building next door was once an inn but is now the hire base office.
We made the mistake of stopping at the the village of La Seragla on the summit of the canal. The mooring was completely taken up by a peniche turned gite (named 'Avenir') and an abandoned ancient cruiser so we were forced to try and moor against a broken down bank where it was shallow and rocky and we needed a gangplank to get off. To to all the motorhome holidaymakers seated in a row along the canal in your fold up chairs, watching, arms firmly folded - thanks for your offers of help (not one). What is it with these people? They always look so bloody miserable.
The small bar/restaurant in the village had no free tables, there was no boulangerie and overnight the water level dropped leaving us aground. So altogether not a successful stop. With much scraping and screeching of metal we finally got underway. At least it would be downhill from now on. Into the first lock. Press the button. Gates close and then nothing. Was this an omen?

First downhill lock - Canal du Midi

Coming soon ( I hope) -Midi Madness