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| Le Someil - village shop inside the green barge |
Last year we travelled on the Midi in September which, due to the hire companies offering large end of season discounts, was crazily busy. We expected August this year to be similarly dodgem-like. When we travelled south in 2015 it certainly was; sometimes we'd spend hours queuing for locks. However, whilst there are still many (more than enough) boats, it has been quieter than anticipated.
The first big hire base is at Castelnaudary and nearly all the boats leaving from there choose to travel towards Carcassonne. The hirers are given a quick driving lesson around the large basin, shown how to mediterranean moor (back into a space) and sent on their way. The very first obstacle to confront them is a 4 lock staircase just to get out of the basin. The good news is that it is going downhill and in a sheltered spot and so not as daunting as it would be going the other direction.
As mentioned previously, despite the fewer numbers of boats than expected, we still had to share many locks- sometimes nerve-racking, occasionally funny and now and then, if spending a large part of the day (or even several days) with the same boat, providing an opportunity to strike up a brief friendship.
As we have travelled this route previously we've tried, where possible, to stopover in different ports. In October last year parts of the region between Carcassonne and Trebes were devasted when the river Aude burst its banks; the worst flood for 100 years. 14 people died. The canal and river are close- sometimes side by side- and so the canal suffered major damage. There has been a huge effort to reinstate and repair banks, bridges and some locks and at the same time some villages have had new jetties or bollards providing extra opportunities for visiting. The removal of the diseased plane trees has more or less finished - there are virtually none left now which has affected the ambiance and look of the canal. This is not all bad. Views have been opened up of the beautiful surrounding countryside -with many large, lush vineyards- all the way to distant mountains. There has been an ongoing programme of replanting a variety of young trees but it will be years before they grow to maturity.
A couple of villages new to us that we enjoyed were Le Somail and Colombiers. Both had been full when we passed by in 2015. The 'hameau' of Le Somail, in particular, is very pretty and set around the original stone, hump-backed bridge. This was one of the overnight stops for the post boat from Toulouse to Narbonne and so, like Negra, has a small chapel for the boatmen.
A couple of restaurants overlook the canal and across the bridge is the village shop housed inside a peniche. The most popular place seemed to be the antiquarian bookshop. From the outside it looks to be quite small but it opens out, Tardis-like, into an enormous space. I think the building may once have been a barn.
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| Le Someil - antiquarian bookshop |
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| Passing through the Malpas Tunnel |
The village is dominated by a chateau from the 16th century but I was more interested in something a litte older - the Oppidum d'Enserune.
This is the excavated remains of a Romanised Gallic settlement inhabited from the 6th - 2nd century BC. It sits on top of a high hill overlooking a vast plain and whilst it wasn't all that far distance-wise from Colombiers it was a hard slog uphill in 37 degree heat. I nearly gave up when I stopped for a rest and discovered I'd left my water bottle behind. However, I decided it was probably closer to carry on and buy a drink at the museum at the top than go back and have achieved nothing for all the effort. The 360 degree view from the top was worth the climb in itself.
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| Montady Etang |
The Montady etang, which can be seen clearly from the Oppidum, was once a swamp which was drained by monks in the 13th century. The drainage channels radiate like sun rays dividing the area into sections for farming. The channels carry the water to a central drain and thereafter it passes through a 1300m tunnel into a stream and eventually to lakes near Capestang. A marvellous achievement from the middle ages.
Then it was on to the Fonseranes locks at Bezier. No avoiding them. They are listed in all the tourist brochures as one of unmissable sites of the Herault region and so they are crowded with spectators photographing and videoing and whilst I'm sure no-one hopes for a disaster they wouldn't say no to something interesting happening to post online. There's much less scope for things to go wrong when going down and I'm happy to say we passed through unscathed. My previous observation that the lock keepers this year were helpful, pleasant and courteous don't apply to this section though. I realise it may sometimes be a challenge dealing with hire boaters but without them, dear eclusiers, you probably wouldn't have a job.
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| Fonserannes Locks |
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