Provence, Canal du Midi and More

[Major]

It's a pity they don't mulch those dead trees rather than burn them

 

[Gem56]

It's a pity they don't mulch those dead trees rather than burn them

They apparently can't leave the site because of the disease they have as it's thought that the fungus will spread. Even the stumps and what they can get of the root system is dug out and burnt.

 

[Gem56]

Of course, with every cloud there is a silver lining. With the trees removed the view beyond the trees is no

w easily visible.

 

[ellen10]

Its a shame to see those beautiful plane trees removed, they look so beautiful along the canal.
Looks like lovely weather, love the pictures.

 

[Jacques Vert]

View attachment 80989

As you can see in this photo posted by +1, they are replanting the trees but it will be some years before they are mature enough to recreate the ambiance of the past.

One of the benefits of the trees is the shade they provide.




Even at this time of the year (autumn) the sun can be quite strong and I found myself using lots of sunscreen.

Those who have often thought of a cruise on the canal should consider doing so the next few years while there are still areas with mature trees.

 

[ellen10]

So are you still happy with renting from "Le Boat"? It just looks so blissful cruising along the canal.
Do you think your boat is big enough, not too cramped?

 

[Jacques Vert]

After our overnight stop a couple of km east of the junction, we continued towards Beziers.

This part of the canal follows the contour of the hills



giving 53km of canal without locks, from the top of the Fonserannes steps just west of Beziers to Argens, between Le Somail and Homps.

As you can see in many of +1's photos, there is a pathway alongside the canal which was originally for the horses that towed the barges along the canal. Nowadays, they make excellent flat walking/cycling paths. Unfortunately, the diseased trees and machinery being used to remove them has forced many sections of the path to be closed until further notice.

The canal passes through a number of small towns and remains a significant factor in their economy bringing lots of boaters to the cafes, restaurants, bars and supermarkets. One such small town is Capestang, quite a delightful little place with moorings (with power and water) along the canal and a short walk into the center of town. There’s a nice little square with a small market, a nice boulangerie, a bar and a number of restaurants.

To arrive in Capestang you pass under one of the lowest and narrowest of the old stone bridges which are features of the canal:






By now we are getting into the swing of things and enjoy a loooooong lunch most days; very french, very relaxing. In Capestang, we were given a recommendation from another boat to walk to the little square near the church (about 10 minutes) and try the food at La Provencale, a pizza restaurant that also has an excellent alternative menu.

I'm always a little concerned when there is no one seated in a restaurant but on this occasion the clients were all in a delightful little courtyard out the back and the food was excellent and well priced:

 

[Jacques Vert]

So are you still happy with renting from "Le Boat"? It just looks so blissful cruising along the canal.

The canal itself is just beautiful; an amazing experience and an incredible piece of engineering that is still impressive 350 years after its completion. We have met many people who are here for their 4th or 5th cruise.

However, we have not met anyone who has said good things about "Le Boat". One group from the US on their forth or fifth cruise stated that they were great on the first cruise and have gone steadily downhill ever since. Many of the boats are quite old and show it: things don't work, they leak, and lots of things break down (many of which are minor but it all adds up to a less than professional experience). Quite frankly, they need to scrap/replace a large proportion of their fleet.

I don't have personal experience with any of the other companies but as I said in an earlier post, the other companies' boats look to be in better condition and not so old. You also need to consider which company has bases that are convenient to the area you wish to cruise.

If I were to go with Le Boat again, it would only be on one of their new designs (hopefully everything still works).

 

[Jacques Vert]

Do you think your boat is big enough, not too cramped?

Our boat is big enough, just. Some of the newer designs of a similar length (including those from other companies) have a better layout and would be more comfortable. If there are two couples (as in our case), and you are to spend 1 or 2 weeks together, it would be good to have a little extra space. Of course, the bigger the boat, the higher the cost.

 

[Jacques Vert]

I can't remember whether I mentioned that there is no navigation on the canal at night. Another factor to remember is that the locks open at 0900 and close at 1900 in September, 1800 in October.

So after lunch we decided to continue downstream as there was plenty of daylight left and with no locks to impede our progress we should be able to cover a good distance.

We didn't get all that far before we came across a winery. Having passed many in the past few days we thought we should give this one a try. Apparently, the land was originally given to one of Julius Caesar's centurions, along with a woman, and has been worked as a farm ever since.





One of the issues with a canal is keeping the water level at the right height. There are numerous gates and spillways along the way to get rid of excess water during floods and this spring to keep it topped up during dry spells.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Colombiers

While there are many small towns along the canal where you can moor, not all have power and water available. Some of those that do require you to obtain a token from a Council office (or similar) which are only open 9 to 5 (closed for lunch) and some of these are not open at all on weekends.

Colombiers has a boat harbour off the main canal:






Here the harbour master speaks excellent English; his wife is Australian and he lived in Australia for 20+ years. He told us that at one stage he had a late night bar in Kings Cross and his landlord was Abe Saffron.:shock: That's him on the left in the cap:



He makes the effort to give advice to everyone on where the best places to moor are, the lock opening times and the good (and not so good) features of each of the towns and harbours along the canal.

We stayed overnight in Colombiers: power and water are included with your mooring for €20.88 and there is a convenience store, a couple of restaurants, two patisseries and a couple of other stores. Fuel is available. It is also a base for the Canalous hire-boat company.

We went for a short walk and there wasn’t much else in the immediate area of the boat harbour, not sure if there is anything further afield.

A couple of more shots:

 

[Jacques Vert]

An advantage of mooring overnight in a town is a visit to the Bouangerie/Pastisserie first thing in the morning to purchase some freshly baked croissants and baguettes for breakfast.

After breakfast we left Colombiers heading downstream to Beziers. This required us to go through the Tunnel du Malpas and down the Ecluses de Fonserannes, also known as the Steps: a series of seven back-to-back locks that drop you into the Orb valley. Then you cross the Pont-canal de Beziers, a bridge across the Orb river built in 1856.

The one-way Malpas tunnel is 160m long and was Europe’s first navigable tunnel. It was excavated in 1679. According to Wikipedia, when they started to excavate the tunnel it was discovered that the rock was a very brittle sandstone subject to slippage. The Prime Minister of the day halted the works and held an enquiry which recommended a bridge over the river Aude instead.

Presumably, this would have meant bypassing Beziers, which is the home town of Pierre Paul Riquet who was the engineer and driving force behind the building of the canal. So he ordered his master mason to continue the excavations in secret and in 8 days (again according to Wikipedia) it was complete with a concrete ceiling throughout.

Passing through the tunnel it is difficult to imagine how they managed this in such a short time without machinery.

 

[Fifa]

However, we have not met anyone who has said good things about "Le Boat". One group from the US on their forth or fifth cruise stated that they were great on the first cruise and have gone steadily downhill ever since. Many of the boats are quite old and show it: things don't work, they leak, and lots of things break down (many of which are minor but it all adds up to a less than professional experience). Quite frankly, they need to scrap/replace a large proportion of their fleet.

Five years ago we hired a 'Corvette' Le Boat in the Burgundy region.
It was just under 12m with 2 bedrooms (one in the bow and one in the stern) each with an ensuite. The lounge/kitchen was in the middle and the outdoor seating was on the top deck. It was an earlier, more basic model without mod cons like a/c, microwave, heating etc. And no bow thruster!
At the time the newer Le Boat models were a lot more expensive so we made do. Bedding and towels had seen better days and there was always lots of condensation in the mornings which dripped on the beds.
The windscreen used to fog up (should have taken a chamois) but at least our wiper worked!

Despite the drawbacks we had a fantastic week with our friends and would love to do it again in a different region.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Five years ago we hired a 'Corvette' Le Boat in the Burgundy region.
It was just under 12m with 2 bedrooms (one in the bow and one in the stern) each with an ensuite. The lounge/kitchen was in the middle and the outdoor seating was on the top deck. It was an earlier, more basic model without mod cons like a/c, microwave, heating etc. And no bow thruster!
At the time the newer Le Boat models were a lot more expensive so we made do. Bedding and towels had seen better days and there was always lots of condensation in the mornings which dripped on the beds.
The windscreen used to fog up (should have taken a chamois) but at least our wiper worked!

Despite the drawbacks we had a fantastic week with our friends and would love to do it again in a different region.

Same, same. Had the same condensation & fog issues, yet we are also having a fantastic time.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Adjacent to the Tunnel du Malpas is a hil from where you get a good view of the Etang de Montady, a drained wetland/lake now used for farming. The radial drains lead to a tunnel which is under the canal and inspired Pierre-Paul Riquet to build the tunnel for his canal.

These days there is also a rail tunnel under the hill.

The guide books advise to take extra precautions with the security of your boat here. Fortunately for me, my shipmates did not want to climb the hill so they stayed on board while I went for a little climb to get these photos:

 

[BriarFlyer]

This is a trip/experience I've long thought about as well, so I am enjoying (very much) following along. Excellent trip report and photos, Jacques and Gem. Thank you.

 

[Timtammi]

This is the thing I MOST want to do next. When in rural France last year we saw some of the canal boats on smaller rivers/canals and thought how much we would like to do that. I'm pushing Mr Timtammi into sooner rather than later, need to be relatively young and fit to handle the physicality me thinks.. Not sure if I want to do Canal Du Midi or Burgundy region, leaning towards the latter though and based on the OP's observations have crossed Le Boat off my list..

 

[Jacques Vert]

need to be relatively young and fit to handle the physicality me thinks

Not really provided there are four of you. The youngest in our group of four is 57.

 

[Jacques Vert]

The Steps

This was the masterpiece of Paul Riquet’s engineering and finally proved the doubters wrong.

Here there are seven locks back-to-back with the exit gate of one lock doubling as the entry gate to the next.

It is difficult to get a photo that shows the extent of the lock system from canal level so +1 purchased a couple of postcards showing aerial views that put the whole thing into perspective:





Because of the complex nature of the Steps, and the number of boats wanting to go up and down, they work on a different timetable to the rest of the canal. Firstly, traffic is one-way. First thing in the morningthere is a ~1½ hour period for descending boats followed by a ½ hour gap to allow the locks to clear. Then ~3 hours for ascending boats, a break for lunch, and ~3 hours descending, then ~2½ going up. Again these times vary during the year as shown here:



Commercial passenger vessels have priority so it can be a long wait to get entry to the first lock, especially during peak season or on days near a rental “changeover”. For example, Friday afternoon going down can be a long wait as there are lots of boats heading back to a base to be handed back on Saturday morning. Here is the queue in front of us on a quiet day out of peak season:



Going through the Steps is an amazing experience and we all got a real buzz out of it. Although it is quite a bit of work, most of the crews help each other and with the assistance of the lock-keepers it all works surprisingly well for a system that was designed 350 years ago.

Some years ago an attempt was made to modernise the system by building a giant “bathtub” into which the boats went and then the whole thing slid down the hill (shown on the right in the second post card and in the photo below). Apparently it was only used a few times before the brakes failed and the whole lot went crashing to the bottom.





Oh well, back to M.Riquet’s lock system that has stood the test of time.

 

[Jacques Vert]

A couple of views of the Steps from water level:










Reaching the bottom of the Steps:




+1 took a video of the whole process of passing through the steps; contact her for more information.