Canal du Midi 2025 - Our Last Day and the Journey Home

Homps - Sunday 25th May

We woke up to our last day 🙁  

The forecast was threatening 27 degrees in the afternoon,  just when we would be inside packing up 🥵 

We could see snow on the Pyrenees.

We had six locks to do. The first one was busy with three boats in the lock down and up, we travelled all six locks with the same boats. One boat had six Italians onboard and there was a lot of arm waving going on!  The other boat had two people on who had just picked the boat up and were very entertaining!  They really had no idea what they were doing, not just with the locks but with the steering too. They only had a small boat which didn’t have bow thrusters and they really struggled. I really felt that after six locks they would have “got” it but no!!  

Back at base we squeezed Vera into a space, had a cuppa then started the packing. It wasn’t too hot thank goodness. We had an interesting BBQ of what was left in the fridge and freezer followed by Magnums which had been in the freezer for ages.

Vierzon - Monday 26th May

Last minute packing and check out at 9am.  We had been promised some recompense for the things that were wrong with the boat and were offered €150. Not enough!  The four of us had discussed another boat trip so in the end we settled on a €250 voucher. Better than nothing. 

The dogs had to have their worming pill and be certified ‘fit to travel’.  We drove to Lézignan-Corbières which was south of Homps I only chose the vet as it had an online booking system!  It was out of town with ample parking and the vet spoke perfect English 😃. Both dogs passed with flying colours though Ted had put on weight!  During the holiday Rio had been doing his hunger strike thing again though he did finish Ted’s last few biscuits each day while Ted went over to Rio’s food and would start tucking into that until we could stop him!!  

Then the long journey started. We stopped for coffee and lunch but other than that it was driving all the time. We got to the hotel about 5pm and checked in. The hotel was called Enjoy Garden. There was a garden but it wasn’t enjoyable!  There were chairs and tables but these were dirty and had no cushions, the grass needed some attention too. Our room was very nice. We were on the first floor but the room was in the loft!  There was a huge roofing truss but we both managed to avoid hitting our heads on it!!  

When I booked the room through Booking.com there was no mention of the fact that the restaurant was closed on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday which I was rather annoyed about. We managed to find a burger restaurant locally which accepted dogs so we went for that.  The burgers were good and the puddings even better 😃

Home - Tuesday 26th May

I didn’t sleep well as I was clock watching - terrified of over sleeping. Of course I was fast asleep when the alarm went off!  There were lovely fluffy croissants for breakfast, they were the best ones we had had all holiday.  

We got away at 8.40 for a 5 hour driving time to Calais.  Before we knew where we were we were up around Paris.  We were going to the west of the city and had to go through The Duplex A86 tunnel which takes you underground for 10 kms. It is only 2 metres high and a bit claustrophobic. Unlike most tunnels, this one is a single tube, double deck tunnel.

We stopped for a combined coffee, lunch and wee break then drove on in the mist and rain up to Calais. The wind wasn’t as bad as had been forecast but we were glad we were going under the Channel and not on it!  We arrived early and were put on a shuttle 90 minutes before our booked time but it was delayed by 30 minutes!  

Back in the UK we said our goodbyes to Tracey, Steve and Ted and drove the final part of our journey home. It had been a wonderful holiday. We are so lucky to have found such lovely people who have become such brilliant friends.

Canal du Midi 2025 - Days 10, 11 and 12

 Narbonne - Thursday 22nd May

It was a very windy night which kept Steve, Tracey and I awake for a lot of it.  Someone slept through the whole thing!

We had planned our visit to Narbonne so that we were there on a Thursday as one of the regions biggest markets is held there.  We had no idea where it was going to be so it was a pleasant surprise to find that it was on the boulevards on both sides of the canal.  Because it was higher than us we hadn’t heard a thing!

Richard and I went off in search of croissants for breakfast and found a boulangerie not far away, we returned with our bounty to eat with some lovely jam I had bought in Le Somail.

It was then a trip to the market which was mainly clothes though there was a food section, I bought some cherries and apricots. I could have bought lots of clothes but resisted!

In the afternoon we went on Le Petit Train to see the sights. Some of the city is very pretty but some of it isn’t. The Main Street (or at least I think it is) is the Boulevard Dr. Ferroul and is very attractive and typically French!!!

There was an gelato shop by the train stop and, of course, it would have been rude not to have one! 

I had washing to do so took myself off to the laundrette. It was all very efficient and quick. 

The wind had been pretty relentless all day so we hadn’t been able to sit out at all.  But I really like Narbonne.  These are a few of the houses that I felt are very French!

Narbonne was established in Gaul by the Roman Republic in 118 BC, as Colonia Narbo Martius, colloquially Narbo, and made into the capital of the newly established province of Gallia Transalpina. It was located on the Via Domitia, the first Roman road in Gaul, built at the time of the foundation of the colony, and connecting Italy to Spain. Geographically, Narbonne was therefore located at a very important crossroads because it was situated where the Via Domitia connected to the Via Aquitania, which led toward the Atlantic through Tolosa and Burdigala. In addition, it was crossed by the river Aude. Surviving members of Julius Caesar's Legio X Equestris were given lands in the area that today is called Narbonne. 

Saint-Nazaire-d’Aude - Friday May 23rd

It was still windy when we woke up, will it ever go away!?  

We left our mooring spot and headed down the canal until we could find somewhere to turn round.  When we got back to the traffic lights to get under Le Pont de Merchands and the lock, we went to tie up but the light turned green. Great we thought. Suddenly a portly Frenchman appeared gabbling at us in French. I gathered that he was from the trip boat behind us and had set the lights for him to use and we were not to go through. Five minutes later he went through and signalled for us to follow, which we did. However, the gates closed and we were stuck with nowhere to moor. We did find some bollards to tie to and Richard had to walk back through the town to the traffic lights and start all over again!  We eventually got through and passed the trip on its way back. The crewman saw us and said I’m sorry over and over again!  I should think so!  

When we got back up to the part of the canal that joins the River d’Aude it was windier than last time and the water was very muddy for some reason.  All went well and we were soon back on the canal and going through the Gailhousty lock.  

The following lock, the Salleles Lock, is very deep.   Tracey, Steve and I were down in the bottom on the boat, with Richard at the top when Rio started to scream.  I thought he had been trodden on but it went on and on. Eventually he stopped but he was very distressed and just cuddled into me. In the end we reckoned that he had been bitten on or in his ear as he squealed when we touched it.  

We continued up the locks with Rio not far from me.  We pulled over just after the junction with the Canal du Midi and tied up, just then a girl on a bike came up and said that it would cost us €27 to moor there.  €27 for what? NOTHING!  We pulled pins and moved on through Le Somail and wild moored.  

Rio was very sleepy all evening though he did eat some dinner.

Paraza - Saturday May 24th

Rio had a good night though was still feeling sorry for himself.  Richard took him for a walk which he enjoyed more than yesterday.  We decided to have a good look at and down his ear.  Richard held him, Tracey held the torch and I peered!  I couldn’t see anything.  We left late as he we only had a short way to go, to Paraza.  

We went by Ventenac-en-Minervois with the lovely Chateau de Ventenac-en-Minervois right on the canal side.  I thought it was a church to start with!  The building dates back to 1880 and was built as a winemaking cellar.  Today you can have a tour round and then a wine tasting.  It is run by the smallest winemaking cooperative in France - nine members who work 70 hectares of vines, including 6.5 hectares that has organic certification.  

We arrived in Paraza at lunchtime and spent a quiet afternoon. We were going to OKN9 again for our last dinner out.  They remembered us from last time - I’m not sure if that is good or bad!  They change the limited menu frequently so we had new things to choose from.  We met some English people who had just bought a holiday home in the village and it turned out that they come from Droitwich and use the same dentist as Tracey, who lives in Redditch!!

Canal du Midi 2025 - Days 7, 8 and 9

 Poilhes - Monday May 19th

What a busy first part of the day. 

We were under way earlyish, through the very deep lock, but we were much more organised this time and were at the back and not the front. 

A short cruise to the Fonseranes Staircase Locks.  I went ashore to take lines, but it was hard for Richard and Tracey as they had to pull really hard to keep the boat from moving about too much.  The way the locks are operated is that they fill the lock we were in by keeping the gate between two locks open and the water comes from the upper gate. By the time the water reached Vera it was like a tsunami!  Hopefully you can see from the photos what I mean. 

Eventually we were at the top and we moored up and took the little train down into Beziers.  It is a lovely city and the train took us round some very narrow alleyways.  We stopped for an hour and had some lunch, but we didn’t have time for our pudding as the train was coming. 

Beside the Forserannes Locks lies the sad remains of a boat lift.  It was built in 1983 to relieve the pressure on the lock staircase and to one day to replace it. The boats were pulled upwards or dragged downwards by a tractor.  Sadly there were technical issues and it was shut down in 2001.  

We went through the Malpas Tunnel again.  There are, in fact, three tunnels which are one above the other.  About 10 metres below the road lies the canal tunnel which was built between 1679 and 1680, 10 metres below that is the railway tunnel built between 1854 and 1856 and finally the oldest and longest tunnel which was built for draining the Etang de Montady, 10 metres below the railway tunnel.  This tunnel is 1364 metres long and was built by monks between 1250 and 1279.

We were sat outside when we could see the rain coming in, so we decamped down below.  Richard went to bed early and when Steve and I went to take the dogs out the rain wasn’t too bad but as we got onto the towpath it just bucketed down, and I mean bucketed down!  We were both soaked, as were the dogs (neither had a wee!). We got back on board and Ted ran into S & T’s cabin and got under Steve’s duvet to dry himself off - this is now filthy!  I think it will take days for my sandals to dry out. 

Salleles d’Aude - Tuesday 20th May 

It was still raining when we woke up and in the daylight we found the back deck was covered in mud from the failed dog weeing exercise last night!  

The rain had stopped by 11am so Richard and Steve donned their waterproofs, just in case, and set off.  Tracey and I sat below, me blogging and Tracey crocheting.  We pulled over for lunch and to let the dogs stretch their legs and Steve and I cleaned the back deck.  

We moved off towards the junction of the Canal de Jonction where there are no eclusiers, the locks are electric and need an operator.  I jumped ashore, not realising how far the ground was from the boat!  As I landed I  twisted my knee, it did hurt 😢 but I struggled on to the lock 🥴 I found the lock easy to operate, but Richard did the next one and managed to press the emergency stop button and we had to wait for the roving eclusier to come!  We did three locks then pulled over.

The Canal de Jonction was opened in 1787 to connect the Canal du Midi to the Canal de La Robine.  It is 5km long and is very straight with about 700 metres between each of the seven locks.  It is tree lined with umbrella pines and very pretty. 

Narbonne - Wednesday 21st May

It was Richard’s birthday 🎂🥳  

We set off for Narbonne down the very straight Canal de Joinction. All was good until we came to our fourth lock, where there was no power. Steve called the roving eclusier who arrived very promptly.  It turned out to be a power cut!  The power came back on at about 12.05 but the locks are closed between 12.00 and 13.00!  

The lock we were waiting for is called Gailhousty.  The site around the locks brings together several structures of great architectural interest.  Firstly is the big building on the left as you exit the lock which there in case of flooding from the Aude River, which has always posed a threat.  The bridge over the lock, designed to provide rapid access to all points of the site, is of careful architecture, with a low arched vault and four quarter-circle staircases placed at each corner. In times of flooding, it is necessary to be able to react quickly and to operate the defense systems.  The 30 metre building on the left below the lock is a spillway.  Its front facade is pierced with vertical crenellations which plunge into the water.  At the rear, it has 5 arched openings at the foot of which an 8 km long canal called "La saignée" which runs towards the Capestang pond.  This building houses no fewer than 15 oversized floodgates.  It was not intended to alleviate excess water from the Junction Canal, but rather to allow the passage of floodwaters from the Aude River. Originally, the plan was for this water, laden with fertile silt, to be directed into the Capestang pond to fill it and encourage crops. On the opposite bank of the spillway building is a dry dock for repairing and cleaning boats.  It works by operating a gate located at the downstream corner of the spillway building, the space between the lock and this gate is transformed into a lock that is filled with water arriving from the Junction Canal. At its highest level, the platform is submerged, allowing boats to position themselves above. Simply open the sluices of the downstream gate to empty the lock. The boat will then gently land on the props provided for this purpose. This slipway was built in the 1980s. 

Just after that we did about 600 metres on the River l’Aude. There was quite a current running and a nasty weir where the river went but we wanted to go straight onto the Canal du Robine and all was well 😃

The entry into Narbonne was a bit confusing with traffic lights and a one way system but we figured it out and found ourselves under the Pont des Merchands with the lovely old houses on it.   The canal then opens out and you can moor on both sides so we tied up. We had electricity and water and for two nights it cost €57.

It was very windy but warm so we sat outside until it was time to put on our glad rags to go out.  We walked around until we found a restaurant right by the Pont des Merchands.  We had a good meal and when it came time for dessert, Richard’s came with a firework type of candle!  One of the staff had heard us talking about a birthday, it was a lovely touch.