Canal du Midi and the Med

After zigging up the coast to Bordeaux, we went to zag back south.  Over halfway through our trip now. We laid over in the city of Toulouse. Before I go into what a foodie heaven that city is, I should say a word about all the boulangeries— the bakeries that can be found in every small town and every block of every city.  They are consistently delicious and popular.

I hadn’t realized how pervasive and literal ‘the daily bread’ is to the French. We saw children cradling 10 baguettes on the morning bread run.  In Toulouse, we looked down on several amazing bakeries from our balcony.  We had a 3-course meal that included pate de foie gras (an ‘art’ started over 4000 years ago) which I didn’t want to like but did. The euro definitely does not stretch as much here as it did in Portugal and Spain. But coffee and the daily chocolate croissants are very reasonable.

There is no EuroVelo route heading southeast. Instead, we found out about the Canal du Midi— a canal system designed by daVinci and built in the 1600’s, that allowed transport from Atlantic, near Bordeaux, to the Mediterranean.  Unlike most canals, this one meanders with the surrounding landscape.  The locks (91 total), the water, and 300 km of tree-lined, “good gravel” paths, made for comforting, meditative travel.

There was no swimming in the canal (too bad because it was hot).  The given reason was the harmful microbes due to a native rodent living in the banks.  Wait, what?  Not a stranger to such issues, we noted the many boats— many that were permanent homes— and no sign of a pump out.  Swimmable rivers did pass under the canal at some points.

Above: A traditional canal boat heads north up the Canal.

We knew there were amazing medieval villages along the way, and we didn’t mean to skip them, but our roaming internet wasn’t working.  Glad we didn’t miss them all.  Castles like this one in Carcasonne date back to Roman times (too old to know just how old), King Charlemagne ruled from here, then later, around 1100 AD, the Crusaders conquered it.  Robin Hood belongs here—and in the last decade, came to film one of his movies.

After four days, the canal delivered us to the Mediterranean. The sea air tempered the sun’s intensity. We booked one of those campsites we had scoffed at and it was paradise.  We jumped in the sand-bottomed pool, and then the sandy- bottomed sea, and then took our sandy-bottoms and stretched out in the sun Mediterranean style. (No pictures please).

We had wide ranging conversations under the shelter and got some important advice about where we should go next.  We had hopes of catching some of the Tour de France. It became clear that would rob us of our other goals.  Mount Ventoux is still in the plan, as are other biking meccas in and near the Alps.  Onward!