Canal du Midi: Béziers
Trip miles 3,125
The Languedoc-Roussillon vineyards cover more than
120,000 acres from Narbonne to Nimes producing more than 220,000 gallons of
wine every year. As tempting as simply sitting about and sampling might be, we
decided to spend a few days on the bikes exploring the feat of 17th century
engineering that is the Canal du Midi.
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| The hilltop town of Montady surrounded by vines |
The Romans wanted to connect the Atlantic and
Mediterranean seas by an inland waterway but even they couldn’t manage to
overcome the vast natural obstacles presented by the landscape. Pierre-Paul
Riquet, a French Baron, petitioned and paid for the Canal du Midi to be built to
protect French trade from Spanish pirates and port taxes in the 1600’s. Exhausted
and bankrupt he died six months before the canal finally opened in 1680.
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| Plane trees line the Canal du Midi |
We biked a 30kms round trip from our campsite at pretty
waterside Colombiers to the grand regional capital of Béziers. Biking along the
rough and narrow tow path was challenging at times as we negotiated the large
and twisted roots of the beautiful plane trees that line its banks. Wild
flowers and yellow irises were in full bloom and the air was heavily scented.
From one of the many stone bridges that cross the water
we waved to an older traveller sat in the shade of the trees with his large dog.
We wondered what his situation might be. It was tranquil and elderly fishermen
set up with single lines nodded or ignored us as we passed by.
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| The top of les neuf écluses at Fonseranes |
Cruising noisily down the water in the tell-tale hire
brand of “le Boat” seemed to be mostly groups of enthusiastic Americans
greeting us “BANN joor!”.
We joined the groups of young locals leaning over the
walls of the many steep-sided and oval-shaped locks to watch the nervous progress
of “le Boats” through the gamut of daunting sluices. One of them at Fonseranes
numbered nine locks long!
Béziers on arrival seemed seedy. We came off the canal
too early and found ourselves in heavy and fast-moving traffic winding up and
up around the dusty residential roads towards the town. Pausing for breath on
the Vieux Pont we were treated to a waterside view from the River Orb up to the
historical centre – enough of an incentive to keep pedalling.
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| St. Nazaire Cathedral high above the river Orb |
Once in the grand and elegant boulevards we admired the
tall, shuttered and balconied architecture of the 18th century merchants houses
which had been built alongside 16th century churches and ecclesiastical
buildings. A Roman statue of a contemporary Emperor stood quietly in a back
corner next to a kebab shop.
The people enjoying the wide open public spaces were more
obviously Muslim than we had previously encountered and the many businesses in
the town catered to halal diets and fashions. It had the cosmopolitan and
bustling feel of a Mediterranean port, which the canal added to.
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| The Orb winding its way through Languedoc-Rousillion |
Cycling back over the River Orb on the canal-carrying
Pont Canal, we saw again the white-haired traveller who had arrived on foot.
Chatting, we discovered him to be a photographer looking for work along the
coast. Sleeping rough with his dog he was dignified, physically fit, clean and
better dressed than us. He described himself as “a passager” which we liked.
Having nothing other than smiles and conversation to offer him we spent a few
happy minutes talking on the bridge before waving a long farewell and pondering
where his passage might take him.
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| The canal bridge over the Orb |
