France
talented chef . The cabins , designed for only eight guests , are snug and nautically shipshape . As befits the intimacy of the voyage , the Englishspeaking crew , complete with an occasional four-footed deck-hand , are entertaining yet discreet .
The next day , we make a foray to Carcassonne , often billed as the most perfectly preserved medieval fortified town in existence . Clambering around the citadel , with its chunky ramparts and 52 watchtowers , is a wonderful prelude to lunch back on the barge . Under Captain Julian ’ s command , our expertise on wine and water swells . The wry captain confesses to having been torn between the competing careers of captain and sommelier : the water won but the wine still flows during the voyage . Passionate about canal cruising , Julian delights in pointing out passing wonders , from wine estates to wildlife . Once , idly dreaming on deck , we realise that the faint ripples by the banks are coypu , the canal ’ s beaver-like residents .
The bucolic sailing to Argeliers passes vineyards and pine groves . The scenery is so soporific that all thoughts of the onboard tandem bike , boules and Jacuzzi are forgotten . For a week , our world shrinks to this barge and a parade of towpaths lined by poplars , plane trees , pines and cypresses . The towpaths , once plied by hefty horses pulling heavy barges , are now the preserve of cyclists , canal-gawpers , joggers , picnickers and grumpy geese . The day ’ s drama is generally confined to the succession of locks , low bridges , aqueducts , tunnels , towpaths and mesmerising trees that make up the magic of the Canal du Midi .
From our perspective , any challenges en route tend to be comical rather than critical . At Capestang , we scarper when chased by territorial geese , guardians of these towpaths . But Captain Julian complains that novice sailors are the greatest challenge : `novices set sail in a piece of Tupperware and then panic when they see a proper barge bearing down on them ’. Despite the Captain ’ s best efforts , we experience a knock when barged into by panic-stricken boaters . The first-timers freeze , not realising that it ’ s hard for such a big barge to take swift evasive action . For a moment the air goes bluer than the Med , but then all is resolved with bonhomie . Anjodi glides on , leaving the chastened Tupperware Two trembling in her wake .
The friendly crew periodically point out the Canal du Midi ’ s technical quirks , from a clever round lock near Agde , constructed in 1679 , to an ingenious aqueduct that runs over the River Orb -`civil engineering at its best ’, declares our Captain . Equally impressive is the Malpas tunnel , the world ’ s first ever canal tunnel , which runs between the hamlets of Colombiers and Capestang . Apparently , a Roman road surmounts it , while a TGV train line tunnels underneath . Just before Beziers comes one of the Canal ’ s greatest feats of engineering : the Fonsérannes flight of locks , a staircase etched up the watery hillside . Topped by a panoramic view over Beziers , this succession of cascading locks is the star attraction on the Canal du Midi . Built in 1697 , the original nine locks were designed to deal with a steep incline of about 22 metres over a distance of 300 metres . The last ( and lowest ) lock , which once crossed the River Orb , has given way to an eyecatching aqueduct .
We join the gawping crowds of canal-watchers by the lock-keeper ’ s cottage and cascading locks . Julian introduces us to barging terminology , offering “ a count on the nose ,” indicating how far the barge ’ s `nose ’ is into the lock-gate at any one time ; a two-fingers ’ gesture means there ’ s a two-metre gap . We now know our upstream ( `montant ’) from our downstream ( `avalant ’), and that overtaking should only be done `with the permission of the boat being overtaken ’. As our confidence grows , in direct proportion to our quaffing of Corbieres , we offer to steer the barge or to `hold the lines ’, dealing with the mooring lines at locks . When persuaded to leave our barge , we are rewarded with Cathar architecture , and only occasionally bribed with winetastings . A stirring excursion visits the Cathar stronghold of Minerve , surrounded by limestone gorges . The cobbled alleyways and stone staircases are a prelude to Pezenas , just off the Canal . Here , gracious period mansions with wroughtiron balconies , secret courtyards and sculpted doorways appeal to potters , artists and sculptors . A jaunt to the Oppidum d ’ Enserune reveals a striking pre-Roman hilltop
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