Canal du Midi
Plane trees lean over the water, the towpath runs flat and shaded, and the surface barely seems to move. In Toulouse the canal slips past brick quays and under humpbacked bridges, then heads south-east through the wheat and sunflower country of the Lauragais towards the Étang de Thau. Hire boats nose into locks where grain barges once queued, and cyclists, rowers and lunchtime joggers share the banks. Every lock has its own curved stone walls, every village has its own mooring, and a few kilometres of walking on any stretch is enough to make the whole idea feel real. The sound that stays with you is a lock chamber draining beside a plane tree, with the lock-keeper's paddle clanking round in the sun.
Did you know?
The round lock at Agde has three gates, so that boats can enter the canal or the River Hérault, and the canal is protected from floods.
