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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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