Learn how to create your own. But on this journey, your voyage effectively ends at Étang de Thau, the largest of a string of lagoons located near Sète. Further southeast, in Donneville, the canal fully assumes rural features, dissecting fields and rolling by small villages. Canal du Midi ~ Carcassonne ~ Robine Canal ~ Narbonne The sun-drenched South of France home of vineyards, sunflower fields and the world-famous, historic, Canal du Midi . Unless you take a cruise, though, you have to be content to visit it in bits and pieces. Here, the Canal du Midi spans the Orb River as an aqueduct (pictured) called the Pont-canal de l'Orb, claimed to be the first of its kind. The picture is from this stop. This climate is characterized long hot dry summers, warm springs and autumns, and clear mild winters. A wonderful trip. The construction is a jumble of slide gates, ring gears, bars and chains. Since I was based in Carcassonne, I first enjoyed an afternoon walk by the juniper tree-lined canal with its bridges and locks near Carcassonne. After a bit search in the web I identified some structures that seemed to be the most interesting, and thanks to my tom-tom it was easy to find them. The massive Orb Aqueduct in Béziers is a later addition, it was built in the 19th century and is the longest bridge on the Canal du Midi (240 metres). Besides the city hall, the building houses a theater and the national orchestra. The Canal du Midi begins in Toulouse at Les Ponts Jumeaux – three bridges in the Port de Bassin de L’Embouchure (mouth). Everyt curve in the canal opens a new vista, I draw and paint , filled two sketchbooks and feel the need to return to pick up what i missed. but it was what we needed - a leisurely week to appreciate the waterways, food and wine and great weather. Castelnaudary is a small town with a large manmade lake, the Grand Bassin. The French can be proud. Canal du Midi Cruise. Every year, hire boats ply its emerald green waters, with some making the voyage all the way to the Mediterranean coast. Historic Béziers is one of the oldest cities in France. A shame. Seuil de Naurouze marks the highest point (190 m, or 623 ft above sea level) of the Canal du Midi. Most ‘nature moorings’ (posts for tying u… The town once served as the resting place for passengers on the mail barge operating between Toulouse and Agde. Enjoy wine tasting, cycling, and sightseeing at medieval villages. Unfortunately, this is not regulated and often we heard that people were told to just dump their toilet into the Canal.This is an UNESCO World Heritage site and as such, one would assume care of the Canal would be of prime importance. Cruising this 300 year old waterway, you will savor the slow easy pace of travel as you pass lush vineyards in the heart of the Languedoc wine region. Easter, and the canal is much less busy than during the high season. The Canal du Midi was officially inaugurated in 1681. You need to be aware about lock procedures and also that the bridge at Frontignan only opens three times a day so you need to plan your arrival time to coincide with these openings. Also known as the Languedoc, the Canal du Midi cruise region boasts roughly 700,000 acres under vines, and is the single biggest wine-producing region in the world. There are explanatory panels, but I'm not sure if I understood all the technical details. Our Canal du Midi Cruises. However, most people cycle the Canal Du Midi in the "better" months of summer. Photo: Béziers - Lifts of Fonséranes on the Canal du Midi. So, visit the Canal du Midi and the Aude region, enjoy it. This was not our understanding as we were told that the toilet mascerator separated solids from liquid and this was disposed of at port dumps. We spent six days and nights drifting peacefully along the Canal du Midi, stopping each evening at a new point in the countryside or near a village. The Garonne joins the Canal du Midi east of the city center. Finding myself in Toulouse and having only a couple of hours to spare in August of 2017, I figured I'd stop at a few random points along the canal and call it a reasonable visit. Couple that with side visits to Carcassonne, Minerve, and Narbonne and … Subsequently, if you don't have time for a boating cruise, making a short visit to a random point on the canal is entirely sufficient for "seeing" it. A remarkable work of engineering, the Canal du Midi twists and turns through some of the most beautiful countrysides in southern France. It was originally named ‘Canal Royal en Languedoc’ but then renamed the Canal du Midi in 1789 by the revolutionaries. We decided on the Mediterranean route as this involved less locks (cowards!) 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