Le Canal du Midi in the South of France
Built in the 17th century, this man-made canal was then an engineering marvel. It was built from Toulouse to Montpellier to transport merchandise such as grain, wine, silk and heavy cloth.
Merchants in France where hoping that it would link the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea, but THIS happened much later when construction began all the way to the Atlantic Canal de la Garonne, another, separate, canal.
The Canal du Midi, from Toulouse to Montpellier, is beautiful, simply beautiful. Very relaxing, you can walk or ride a bicycle along, stop, have a picnic and go as far as you want.
Every three or four miles, there is a lock, with a house next to it. Above the door, a sign that gives you the distance to the next lock upstream and downstream. Sometimes that same house also serves as a small inn, with room and board. It is charming. When a boat or a barge comes close, the lock keeper comes out and operates the lock to raise or to lower the boat.
You can rent a barge for a day or for a week, you can go on a cruise, or you can simply watch while sitting on a bench in the shade of the sycamore trees that border miles and miles of this famous waterway. It is charming.
Please leave a comment, make some suggestions on some subjects that you would like me to develop, and give me a thumb up to keep these videos coming.
Last but not least, remember to visit my website, travel, speak French, read my blog, SHOP… There is so much to do on VoilaByCoco.com.
That’s it for now!
A big thank you!