This is the Canal du Midi in Southern France. We rented a canal boat and cruised up and down a small portion of it just before it closed for the season. It was a peaceful and relaxing trip. Were we to do it again, I think we'd get a bigger boat, go with a few more people and take bicycles. You can ride alongside the flat canal path, and bikes would be good for heading into town to get supplies and seeing the countryside.The locks were and experience, one which Nancy should write about at some point. These are all her photographs, by the way. The locks would operate with one lonely boat or as many as they could cram into the space. And if there were four canal boats with the sailors speaking, say Dutch, Italian, German, two Americans speaking English and the lock keeper speaking French, it was quite a zoo with ropes flying, water flowing and rising or falling and spectators laughing. The canal at one point goes under a mountain, through a tunnel a quarter mile long. If you wanted to you could go from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic on the canal.
The photo of the seaside is at Grau de Agde, where we set sail and ended our trip. If you want any information about renting a boat and cruising the canal, let us know.
2 comments:
Luke says "thanks for the tours" of France. Your pictures take me to all these new places and I so enjoy them! I've been to more than 40 of the states, Mexico, Canada, England and Russia...which is more travelling than many people have done...and yet...I feel like I haven't been anywhere! Thanks for "broadening my vistas" at a time when my life sometimes seems to be getting "narrower".
I have "locked through" on several American rivers, but it sounds like going through the locks on your canal cruise...with all those different languages...must have been quite "entertaining"!
Beautiful photos, Nancy. I really think you guys have a lot of material for a fine travel guide/story about your experiences. I read a couple not so good ones, I know you can do better. Leslie
Post a Comment