Detour

Wednesday, April 16

Sometimes, taking a detour can be a very good thing.

A couple times, along our route these past couple days, we've gotten glimpses of the Canal du Midi. Of course, we've often heard of it, and, I think we may even have run across it on other trips. But we are in the heart of Canal du Midi country, and we have been seeing references to it, signs about it, and multiple options for experiencing it.

Jerry started doing some reading and exploring about the Canal and determined that Castelnaudary was a good place for us to be able to walk along the Canal and maybe even take a boat trip on it.

So, even though we were planning to head southwest this morning, we instead set a northwest course from Carcassonne to Castelnaudary. We got there about lunchtime, so of course everything was closed including the Tourist Information office. Still, we found the Grand Bassin (a large "bay", with several arms of the Canal that spin off from there). Then we located a nice, scenic arm of the Canal and pulled off so we could wander along its banks.

We decided we had to at least try to find the boat--the Saint Roch--that makes 1- and 2-hour Canal excursions. We tried simply driving along the Canal from the main square, and there the Saint Roch sat. There was no one around except a man sitting on the deck. There didn't appear to be a ticket booth or anything of that ilk. We had to make a full circuit of the town to find some parking, but we finally landed a coveted spot and walked to the boat. I asked the fellow if the boat was "going" today, and he said yes if he had a minimum of 10 people. That sounded a little less than hopeful since there was absolutely no one around and we were only a half hour before the stated trip time on the boat's sign. The man said he thought he had 7 or 8 people lined up. We would make 10, so he encouraged us to come back in 20 minutes.

Sure enough, when we returned at 2:20pm, a family of 4 showed up. Then several others joined them and 2 more after that--a big family group. We boarded and the boat pushed off, except for the bow which was the last thing to be untethered. Here came a family of 3, who managed to talk their way onto the boat. They jumped onto the bow, and off we went.

First, we made a circuit of the Bassin. Then we took the canal northwest toward Toulouse. It looks just like we imagined, though perhaps smaller. It is peaceful and shaded. There is a path along one side, and people were walking their dogs or cycling. Occasionally, a small car would come hurtling down the road too. Yikes!

On our return leg, we were cruising past a school and sport field, just a ways up a slope. Suddenly, a yellow soccer ball came splashing into the canal. Our captain moved our barge closer to the ball. His wife tried to push it toward several teenage boys that were looking sadly at the ball. That didn't do the trick, so we edged closer to the ball again. After a couple more tries, the captain laid on the bow and scooped it up. He gave it to one of the young men on our tour and got a bit closer to the bank. The fellow tossed it hard. It made it to the edge of the canal, and we chugged back toward town. Just a little slice of life along the Canal du Midi.

Hanging on our wall at home is an old French etching of a canal, with trees rimming its edge and a path running alongside. It is already a favorite of ours, but it will mean even more to us now.


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