Following the Sun Diary - Sun 24 Apr.

I finished the Canal du Midi cycle trip just over a week ago and since then we have been relaxing at a lovely campsite on the Mediterranean at Marseillan Plage. The weather had been glorious, but in the last few day’s, while the British Isles have been basking in some freak tropical heat wave, here in the south of France it has been like winter. The wind has been howling and heavy showers have kept us confined to the campervan.

The second half of my ride along the canal had been very pleasant. The towpath had deteriorated from the nice tarred track that took me out of Toulouse; I now had to concentrate on keeping my front wheel in the narrow groove of the gap between the grassy sides while at the same time avoid huge projecting tree roots. The canal itself was becoming very busy with barges and hired cabin cruisers plying their way up and down the still waters of the Midi. The magnificent weather, I was enjoying, was bringing everyone out and it was also Easter school holidays.

One day I took another of the suggested excursions from my guide book. This led me down another canal, the Canal de Jonction and at the corner there was a house with the three directions indicated, straight over a footbridge to Beziers, right to Narbonne and back the way I had come for Carcassonne. Below these arrows was a South African flag painted, I looked to see if there was anybody around at the house to ask regarding their association with South Africa, but nobody was about. I took the direction for Narbonne.

a long way from South Africa

The Canal de Jonction was 5 km long to where it joined the Canal de la Robine. It was more or less straight with a lot of the route running on the tarred road close to the canal, with the help of the wind and this good surface I was able to move along very swiftly. There were seven locks before joining the next canal and the route also went through the main street of the village of Salleles d’Aude which ran beside the water. When I reached the final lock on the Canal de Jonction at Gailhousty my nice speed came to a grinding halt. The book said that the path followed the Aude River for 50 metres then I had to cross the river by a footpath on a railway bridge. I could see the large metal railway bridge but couldn’t find a way to get up to it. I was going round in circles each time coming back to the lock gates. A German in a campervan tried to help but he didn’t know any more than I did. A group of walkers that I passed twice asked if I was lost but weren’t much help either. Back at the lock I stopped and thoroughly read the instructions in the guide book and finally figured out the way to go finding a very narrow path that climbed up to the bridge. It was slow going walking over the metal plates in my cycling shoes and pushing the bike but I made it, also managing to take some pictures of the River Aude below. At the other side there was a very steep and narrow ramp to descend from the bridge to the path below, I wasn’t chancing that in my cycling shoes, so ended up going safely down in my stocking soles.

Railway bridge over the Aude River

Once I was back on track again it was a lovely ride into the city of Narbonne and on to Port la Nouvelle on the Mediterranean.  Once at the ‘aire’ the strong wind that had been assisting me in cycling, now became a nuisance as it played havoc with our satellite dish, making it impossible to enjoy any TV that night.

The next morning, the wind was still strong and to return to the Midi I would now be cycling into it. This put me off cycling back, so instead I got in the ‘van with my bike and Moira drove me back. When at the junction of the canals again I mounted my trusty cycle and hit the trail. The ride was supposed to be about 30 km, through the Malpas tunnel to Beziers where Moira would be waiting at the listed ‘aire’. She phoned when I got through the tunnel to give me the ‘bad’ news that the stopping point for the night was at Villeneuve-les-Beziers, another 7 km further on. This is not the best of news when your legs are beginning to complain.

The Malpas tunnel

The canal at Beziers is quite a tourist attraction. There is a drop of 22 m which is achieved by a series of 9 interconnected locks that transport the river craft up and down. There had been something similar between the Forth & Clyde and Union canals in Scotland but has now been replaced by the Falkirk Wheel. My extra 7 km from this point to our ‘aire’ wasn’t so bad, there was a nice tarred cycleway and the wind was at my back again, I flew along. Moira had found a nice spot on the canal bank for the night where we could see the river craft and watch the ducks swimming happily in the water

The 9 locks at Beziers

Before I left the next morning we had a walk around the canal bank to the see the various craft moored there overnight. There was a lovely old gaily painted narrow boat that had come from the UK, with ‘York’ painted on its stern while further along a hired cruiser had a South African flag flying. We spoke to the people, they were from Durban, having a week’s holiday on the canal. They said that yesterday they had come through that series of 9 locks at Beziers and it was quite an experience.

A Heron on Etang Thau

This was my final day on the canal as it ended at Marseillan Ville where it entered the lagoon, Etang Thau. Unfortunately before the end, at the town of Agde, the towpath deteriorated so badly I had to resort to the road. I found Moira waiting at Marseillan Plage the beach resort 5 km away from Marseillan Ville. This is where we have ended up camping for the past week. In the time here I have done more cycling, I had a ride into Sete to ‘officially’ complete the route described in my guide book. This part wasn’t very exciting as it took me along the busy main road from Marseillan Plage to Sete. Another day I had a much better cycle when I rode round the perimeter of Etang Thau, some of it was on roads but most on nice cycle tracks. This route also came into Sete and I discovered why it is known as the ‘Venice of the Mediterranean’ with its many canals and waterways that interconnect and divide up the city. This time returning from Sete I found a quieter route rather than the main road, it was on a gravel track through the many vineyards that run along the coast.

Sete

 

Up until the last few days the weather has been exceptional, bright blue skies and a very hot sun. I have been going out before breakfast for a run when it is still cool then if we are not walking or cycling spend the day sunbathing and reading. Moira is working on improving her tan for Margaret’s wedding which is now only a month away. The temperature has been so high that I was tempted one day to go for a swim. The campsite is adjacent to the Mediterranean and within a few minutes I was tentatively paddling into the water. It seemed very cold at first so I took a long time getting under but once I was swimming about it was quite enjoyable.

We leave tomorrow to head up north to Le Puy and arrange for the RL Stevenson Walk. I was going to cycle the 100 km of the Sete-Rhone Canal on the way but with the recent rain the track is likely to be very muddy, so I’m inclined to give it a miss and go straight to the walk. The outcome will be revealed in my next instalment.

The beautiful Canal du Midi

Quack Quack!!

Following the Sun Diary - Mon 11 Apr.

I’m starting off again with my cycling along the Canal du Midi after a four day break at a delightful campsite at Villegly near the city of Carcassonne. We had decided to have a rest here as Moira hasn’t been at all well, her coughing and hay fever hadn’t cleared and now she was suffering from a bladder infection. She visited the local doctor last Thursday and although his English was limited she managed to describe the symptoms so that he understood. The antibiotics he prescribed seem to be doing the trick and Moira is getting back to her usual cheerful self.

Snow on the Pyrenees

When we left Sitges after a week we took a route inland towards Andorra and over the Pyrenees. The huge mountains still had caps of snow even though the weather was improving and it was becoming quite warm. Once in France we spent our nights in ‘aires’ as we slowly made our way to Toulouse and the starting point for the canal route. The plan was to arrive in Toulouse on a Sunday, early, when the traffic was light so we could find the canal and a place to park easily. We did that a week ago and it was fortunate that we picked a quiet time as three canals began at the same point going off in different directions. There was no indication which was the Canal du Midi and it took a lot of ‘pidgin’ French and sign language to get help to find the right one.

It was an overcast day and chilly but luckily it wasn’t raining. As I cycled along the towpath I had to be conscious of the many joggers that were out, there were hundreds of them. I haven’t seen so many people running since we left South Africa. It was pleasant once I was clear of the city and into the countryside. From the start and even now out in the country the towpath was a tarred surface and wide enough not to cause any problems with other cyclists or the multitude of joggers. It was a very enjoyable ride and the canal looked magnificent with the plane trees along the bank reflected on the surface and ducks happily swimming about. At one point I did see a large grey heron taking off from the surface and into the sky. I seemed to be going into a bit of a wind so it wasn’t easy going and with it being basically flat I was working all the time.

Avenue of plane trees at Port Lauragais

Moira phoned me when I was 5km from the end of the first day’s stint; she had got to the aire at Port Lauragais and was now waiting on the towpath for me to appear. I had a couple of kays to go when the nice tarred surface changed to gravel but it was still good going. Moira was where she said and she directed me to the ‘van. I cycled on while she followed behind on foot. The aire was quite a bit back from the canal and I cycled along a beautiful avenue of plane trees to get there.

The next day the plan was to take one of the excursions suggested in the guide book. The one in this area was a climb up to the reservoir that was constructed to feed water into the canal system. The book gave a route starting at the Guerre lock, which was about 5 km on the other side of Castelnaudary, on minor roads and returning on a major road to Castelnaudary. I decided that I would do it the other way round heading for the reservoir on the busy D624 first.

I got away after breakfast and headed through the avenue of plane trees to the lock. I crossed over to the other bank and made my way to Castelnaudary. The track was very narrow at first but I found another route running parallel and above where I had started cycling. This was much better and wider and I was able to move at a better pace. The weather was cool and overcast as I started out but the clouds were beginning to break and clear, it looked like becoming a fine day. It was 15 km to Castelnaudary and the track took me through four evenly spaced locks. When I reached Castelnaudary the canal opened out into a large expanse of water, this was Castelnaudary Port and the canal had generated a wealthy community here. The port was also the base for Le Boat, a cruiser hire company, and one of the banks was lined with their various craft waiting for the busy summer season.

St-Ferreol reservoir

At the end of the port area the canal proper began again but this was where I cut off to find the road to St-Ferreol reservoir. I followed the signs for the town of St Papoul as one of the points on the route using the minor roads. It took me through St Papoul and on to the villages of Issel and Labecede-Lauragais then passed the airport to St-Ferreol. It was a climb most of the way, some of the hills were long and steep especially the one running beside the airfield to the highest point on the route at 500m. From this high point the road dropped in a series of hairpins down to the reservoir.

We found a car park on the side of the reservoir where we set up camp for the night. The weather was excellent now so we decided to go for a walk round the reservoir. It was a lovely path and there were some wonderful views across the water. Lots of little ducks were swimming happily around the edge and it was a very peaceful setting.

The reservoir ducks

The next day, Tuesday, I had a nice run round the reservoir before breakfast. It was about 4 km and it got me loosened up for my day’s ride. I made my way back to Castelnaudary on the main road, it was nearly all downhill and I had a lovely breeze at my back, so it wasn’t long before I was back on the canal path again. It was a straight forward ride along the towpath in lovely weather until I reached the road junction down to the village of Pezens where Moira was waiting. She had parked the camper in an aire that was in the middle of the village. It wasn’t in a very pleasant position with a lot of traffic noise from the main street that ran alongside. I had noticed a better spot on the canal bank a short distance back where we could park and we headed there. It was much nicer and we were able to sit out in the afternoon sunshine and watch the various types of river craft making their way along the canal.

On Wednesday I had a run along the canal bank before breakfast. It was a beautiful spot we had picked but I had to move and get on my bike again. It was a short trip today, only about 25 km to the campsite at Villegly which was on one of the excursion tours from the canal. I made my way along the canal through Carcassonne to pick up the minor roads to Villegly where I met Moira who was settled at the campsite. The site was lovely, it had just opened at the beginning of the month for the summer and we were the only people there. We set up the satellite dish and got all the UK channels, we were also able to get a good Wi-Fi signal for the internet. The only other thing we could ask for was for Moira’s health to improve.

We have now spent four days here and the weather has been glorious. There has been a high pressure system over France all week but yesterday it got cooler and cloudier so it looks like a change is coming; just when I’m starting to cycle again. I have been doing a lot of running and I had a cycle ride to the objective of this excursion, the village of Lastours. It was a Cathar stronghold against the Crusaders in the Middle Ages and the ruins of the four castles are prominent on the hilltops overlooking the village.

                                       Hilltop Castle at Lastours

We will be sorry to leave the area now, it is so peaceful but the cycling has to be done. It should take another week to slowly get to the finish at Sete on the Mediterranean then we will start planning for our walk on the Robert Louis Stevenson trail.

Castles overlooking Lastours

A final happy note of our stay here was my success in the Grand National. I backed the second and third horses and won a grand total of £6.