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!!