Accompanied by our dear friends, Vicki and Terry, we hired a Locaboat 12.6 metre Pénichette, ‘Carcassonne’. We began our trip at Argens-Minervois and journeyed for 10 days on three different legs of the canal...

First we went west to Trèbes and Carcassonne, then we came back east past Argens and Le Somail to the junction. We turned south on the Canal du Robine past Narbonne to Port la Nouvelle on the sea.  From Port la Nouvelle, after a beautiful cycle excursion to nearby Gruissan, we returned past Narbonne to the Amphoralis museum, then turned east at the junction to traverse part of the ‘long pond’ to Argeliers. From Argeliers, we returned to Argens.

Since we were doing a ’there and back’ trip we simply knew we needed to be back at Argens at 9.00 am in ten days time.

Should you prefer to do your planning in advance, reckon
on doing 6-8 km an hour, and allow 20 minutes per lock. Some of the locks are doubles, others trebles, and they obviously take a lot longer to negotiate than single locks.

At Fonserannes, near Béziers, there is a flight of seven locks. Careful planning would be needed to travel either way past this considerable obstacle, because you can only travel up or down at specific times each day. Note that all the locks close for lunch, even the automatic umanned ones, so we always had a pleasant lunch break.  Incidentally, food shops are also closed at lunchtime, so you need to do your lunch shopping during the morning.

We bought ours in advance, so we could do research, but
Locaboat also sells them from all their bases, and you can get one when you collect your boat.

Day 1 — Argens Minervois to beyond Pechlaurier, 2 locks, 3 kilometres

After making final payments, including the very reasonable damage insurance; loading our gear onto the boat; food shopping at the Homps supermarket; leaving the hire car in the parking yard; collecting our two hired bicycles and the bedding; and going through our barging lessons; we set off late in the afternoon heading upstream, towards Carcassonne.

We wanted to go a short way upstream that evening, rather rather than staying in port and leaving the next morning.

Our Pénichette 1260 had three double cabins and two tiny toilet/bathrooms in addition to the comfortable saloon, so with four of us, there was plenty of room.

We were all so tense and excited that we forgot to consult our EDB waterways guide, and so we were soon up to the first lock at Pechlaurier without any forethought or preparation whatsoever. Somehow we bungled our way through and soon found a nice spot beyond the lock to tie up to our stakes driven into the bank.

After a medicinal stiff drink to settle our nerves, we settled down to watch the sun set over the fields, cook tea, and study the guidebook and the Locaboat manual to prepare for tomorrow’s voyage.

Right from the start, we were swept away by the beauty of the tree-lined canal, the neighbouring vineyards, the shush of the falling leaves, and the slanting evening light. The silence and stillness was tremendously relaxing, and we added to the mood by playing Cary Lewincamp’s wonderfully gentle acoustic guitar music from our iPod through the boat radio.

Day 2 — beyond Pechlaurier to the Millegrand vicinity, 15 locks, 20 kilometres, and many narrow bridges

Our first full day on the canal. We soon settled down to the rhythm of the day, contemplating the setting and the landscape on the  quiet sections between the locks, then waking up for the flurry of activity at each lock. The diesel motor is very quiet, and we were never troubled by its slow cadence.

As the manual explained, going upstream is considerably harder than descending, and requires much more forethought. Invariably, there is a landing stage or a suitable path to nose up to, just before the lock. You begin by offloading one crew member to go ahead and be prepared to catch the warps as you throw them up when you are alongside in the lock. If the gates are open, you may motor straight in, if they are closed, wait by the bank until the cycle is completed and they are opened.

Position the boat parallel to the curved side of the lock (harder than it sounds) and throw the warps up to the crew member, who will pass them round a bollard, and return them to the crew of the boat, who will need to hold them tight and take them in steadily as the lock fills. Sailing or cycling gloves will help preserve soft hands for the first few days.

The turbulence, the roar of the incoming water, the bouncing around on the metre-high bow wave, gives the boat the feeling of uncontrollable surfing!

Sometimes it helps to run the motor ahead gently, because the incoming water always bounces off the lock gates astern of the boat, and pushes it forward. Sooner than you expect, you will have been lifted up to the next level, the gates ahead will be opened by the lock keeper, and the crew member ashore can release the warps and step aboard as you motor out. One of the delights of the canal is that the banks and locks are everywhere at the same height above water level, to make for an easy step ashore or back on board.

Every lock is different, but generally the worn stonework of the bollards, the buildings, and the locks themselves is magnificent. Some lock keepers want to chat, some are surly. Some grow fruit and vegetables to sell, many are experts on the local wines, and will offer tastings and sell you a few bottles from their store. Our companions found their advice and knowledge to be far superior to that of so-called professionals in the wine trade.

Day 3 — Millegrand to Trébes, 3 locks, 5 kilometres, our furthest west

Trébes was the first village we visited in any detail, and we found it very pleasant. It has a port for Crown Blue, another hire company, supermarkets and all the necessary shops. It was here that we learned the trick of poking our mooring warps through the huge plane tree roots that curl down the bank into the canal. They provide a much easier and more secure mooring than the usual stakes.

Immediately adjacent to the flight of locks at the entrance to the village was an old watermill, now a restaurant Le Moulin de Trébes. The food here is excellent, and there are also lovely old architectural drawings of locks and lock-keepers’ houses on the wall.

Day 4 — Trébes to beyond Marseillette, 3 locks, 10kilometres, heading back downstream

We followed Pixie Haughwout’s sound advice and saved a day by getting a taxi to Carcassonne vieille cité the next day, rather than navigating to Carcassonne itself,.

Late in the afternoon, after visiting the castle, we got a start downstream for the next day. I’m glad we went to Carcassonne, but I would never bother to go there again. Although the restored buildings are spectacular, the place is too oriented towards taking money off the tourist to suit me.

Despite the late start, we made good progress, and found that locking down is much, much easier. You motor straight into the lock, step ashore and put the warps round the bollard, and then the boat goes down with no turbulence at all.

Day 5 — Marseillette  to Pechlaurier, 5 locks, 23 kilometres

There are pleasant villages all the way from Trébes to Argens. Homps has quite a big canal boat harbour, and a number of restaurants and bars. La Redorte is at a tricky bend right on a bridge, while Marseillette has a good coin-in-the-slot water supply. Incidentally, we always filled up with water when we saw the opportunity, so as to not be anxious about long showers or washing clothes.

At times there was a view south across the vineyards to a limestone range, sometimes the canal cut through an escarpment. Always it meandered to follow the most level path. The light through the trees and the ‘shoosh’ of falling autumn leaves were always with us. We stopped at the magnificent Épanchoir d’Argentdouble, a beautiful aqueduct carrying the canal across a stream. The weathered stonework of the towpath and weir is, of course, original.

It was at Homps that we had our first good look at the great péniches — the magnificent 30 metre converted barges owned by individuals or used as hotel barges. Many of them are a century old, a few of modern construction. On their decks you might see outdoors furniture under an awning; barbecues; pot plants and shrubberies; bicycles and motor scooters; dinghies in chocks or davits, and many other homely touches such as super-tidy wood heaps. Seeing one of these classic boats effortlessly clear a tight Roman bridge takes your breath away!

Finally, just as we were about to stop for the night beyond Pechlaurier, all the warning signals came on for our diesel motor overheating, so we walked the boat through the last lock and moored just beyond. We phoned the Locaboat base, and arranged for the mechanic to come out the next morning.

Incidentally, though we didn’t always, the hire companies prefer you to moor on the towpath bank side, whichever it may be, so they can get to the boat more easily in case of a problem. Under no circumstances tie up to a tree so that your lines cross the towpath, there are many joggers and cyclists on the bank in the evenings, and you could cause a terrible accident!

Day 6 —Pechlaurier to Amphoralis, 3 locks, 20 kilometres

The water pump repair was soon complete, and after brief visit back to the Locaboat base at Argens, we continued on through what is probably the easiest and most beautiful part of the canal, the ‘long pond’.

The villages along here are particularly delightful, and Le Somail deserves a special mention. It is a busy canal port, with many péniches, a wonderful second-hand bookshop, the Librairie Ancienne — a veritable cathedral of books — many restaurants, and a wonderful food shop on a converted barge.

Link to the Librairie Ancienne, Le Somail...

At Port la Robine, we turned to the south and set off down towards the sea. Here we encountered our first automatic locks without keepers. Presumably, the Robine sees much less traffic than the main canal. One of our objectives was the Amphoralis museum of Roman pottery, a short walk from our mooring, but it would have to wait. We were there in the morning, and at this time of the year it was only open during the afternoon.

Day 7 — Amphoralis to Île Ste-Lucie , 10 locks, 27 kilometres

At first we thought the Robine would be boring, as the start of the canal resembles a straight drainage channel, but after the delightful village of Sallèles-d’Aude, the canal became beautiful again, and the navigation was interesting all the way. One of the highlights was Gailhousty, where the Aude River crosses the canal and pours over a weir on the port bank.

Negotiating the cross current and the  tight corner here could be quite intimidating after heavy rain, indeed the canal is regularly closed for navigation at this point when the river level rises.

Another tricky spot is immediately after the lock before the Pont des Marchands in Narbonne. Be prepared for the push to starboard from water flowing in strongly over a weir.

Narbonne was built by the Romans, and very early on they built a canal to link the town through the lagoons to the sea. From here to the sea, we were on one of the oldest canals in the world! The Narbonne region is thought to be the first part of Gaul to be planted with grapes. Easily the biggest town we visited on the canal, Narbonne looks great from the canal and the banks. I didn’t make it to the wonderful food market, Les Halles, myself, but the others said it was great.

The town square is made even more interesting because the old Roman Road to Spain, the Via Domitia, which runs under the centre of the present surface, has been exposed — a polished, grey expanse of lumpy cobblestones which would once have led across the Roman bridge. Today, the slightly more modern bridge is the only one in France which still has shops and houses across it, and through the back windows of the shops you may look down the canal and watch barges come and go. Narbonne is even more photogenic than Carcassonne.

After Narbonne, the canal runs through marshes and étangs, with jagged limestone ridges in the background. From time to time you will see the TGV whistle past, while flamingoes feed amongst the reeds. For many kilometres, the banks are the only ribbon of dry land to be seen, and water stretches into the distance on both sides.

We didn’t have time to explore Île Ste-Lucie, a nature reserve on an island near Port-la-Nouvelle, but we found a fine sheltered spot there for the night, and got out of the wind. Our mooring along here was the loneliest of the trip, and the sunrise across the marsh was spectacular. Bird observers would really enjoy this area.

Day 8 — Île Ste-Lucie to just beyond Narbonne, 5 locks, 26 kilometres

We made a short visit to Port-la-Nouvelle, a substantial seaport at the end of the Robine. On one side of the bridge, all the boats are canal barges, on the other there are yachts, fishing boats and ships in the harbour that leads to the sea.

Then we returned up the Robine, and on the way paused to cycle over to Gruissan, a village in a lagoon near the sea. I highly recommend that short side trip, as the village, with its large yacht harbour, is very pleasant, and the ancient ruin on the peak above the town is well-worth the walk.

After some shopping in Narbonne, we filled up with water again just before the Gua lock with its ruined water mill, then found a quiet spot for the night.

It’s worth noting that the automatic lock in the middle of Narbonne can be tricky. You are supposed to wait until the traffic lights are green, then twist the pole hanging down above the middle of the canal to initiate the lock cycle. If nothing is happening, try twisting the pole anyway, you may find the lights will change and the process will start!

Day 9 — beyond Narbonne to Argeliers, 9 locks, 12 kilometres

At Salleles d’Aude, pause to look at the elegant iron footbridge that arches across the canal. This historic structure is one of a number designed by Gustave Eiffel, the great artist in steel.

We stooped for lunch beyond Salleles, then visited the magnificent Amphoralis Roman pottery museum, a highlight of the trip. Just a few years ago, a local vigneron complained about the soil quality in one of her fields,  about the problems caused by the vast amount of pottery shards she turned up every time the soil was cultivated. Somehow an archaeologist heard of her difficulties, and investigated further.

What they found simply takes the breath away. Beneath the vines were the bases of 14 substantial kilns, millions of pottery fragments, graves, building foundations, and the remains of an aqueduct. This had been a substantial manufactory, producing thousands of large wine amphorae at every firing, one of the biggest Roman industrial sites ever found. Today, a beautiful semi open-air museum covers the site, and two replica Roman kilns are regularly fired behind the museum.

The short film shown at the museum was excellent, as were all the models and displays. This is a very fine small museum indeed!

In the evening we turned east from the Robine, and navigated to Argeliers, our furthest point east. In the morning, as we watched the sunrise across the beautiful fields, hunters and their dogs tramped through the vines. Autumn is the season of the chasse.

Day 10 — Argeliers to Argens-Minervois, 1 lock, 21 kilometres on the long pond

The grand bief, or long pond undoubtedly provides some of the best scenery on the canal. The villages, like Ventenac and Le Somail are very beautiful, the rolling countryside always interesting. We even saw some traditional Dutch barges with leeboards and curved gaff rigs.

We moored to the bank for the last time, within view of the Argens dock, then packed up ready to return the boat at 9.00 am the next morning.

Every day of the trip had been a delight, and now, a few weeks later, and having survived the rest of our holidays and the gruelling flight home to Australia, I suspect all of us are quietly thinking of organising another adventure on the Midi for some time in the future.

From the start, we all worked hard at handling the boat better, dealing with the locks more confidently, coping better with sharing the locks with other boats. Our boat handling improved exponentially, but every time we got over-confident, we did something we wished had been done better. Looking back, I am embarrassed at how poorly I handled the last dozen metres of the trip into the dockside at Argens. Fortunately Terry took over when I gave up in disgust after several attempts, and moored us expertly.

Sometimes barging is like that, but never mind, think of the harmless fun our mistakes provided for the onlookers! Thank goodness all the boats are well cushioned by fenders and rubbing strakes, and minor bumps and scrapes are accepted as being all part of the fun.

Steve Craddock