Midi mesdame: Three days on a bike

A pair of Canadians, two Brits and an American walk into a bar. Oh, no ... I mean: A pair of Canadians, two Brits and an American (that's me) recently spend three amazing days biking a portion of the Midi Canal.

The ladies' bike trip is the brainchild of Susan, my friend and neighbor here in our small village in south-west France. She, along with her friend Veronica from Vancouver are seasoned cyclists. The two Brits, Ursula and Carole, who also live in our village, are less experienced riders. And I am somewhere in the middle. 

I discovered my love of bike riding since moving to France four years ago, but before this trip I had never cycled more than 30 km in one day and had never carried along luggage.

Along the Canal du Midi

The Canal du Midi links the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. Susan and her husband have cycled the entire 434-km (270-mile) Deux-Mers Canal, which includes both the Canal du Midi, which runs from Sète to Toulouse, and the section from Toulouse to Bordeaux, known as Canal Latéral de la Garonne. 

Along the Canal du Midi

Romans dreamed of building a waterway between seas, and so did Leonardo da Vinci. Eventually, in the 17th century, 12,000 men and women took on the task of constructing what was then considered to be one of the greatest projects of that time. The Canal is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is very popular with cyclists, pedestrians, fishermen and boaters who slowly cruise up and down the waterway via a system of locks. 

Fishing along the Canal du Midi

Two kind husbands drive the five of us and our bikes and stuffed paniers to our starting point in Gardouch, about three hours from home. After our picnic lunch, we take off toward Castelnaudary. 

The Canal is a beautiful place to ride. Some parts of the path are unpaved, and we dodge tree roots and squeeze to the edge when meeting other riders. The biggest advantage to riding along the Canal? No hills! 

Riding the Canal can be a leisurely trip. There are locks to look at and canal-side cafés that offer cold beer, potable water and, most importantly, toilets. 

Tow path along the Canal du Midi

I had volunteered to book our accommodations and I am somewhat nervous that I won't be possibly able to please everyone. Night 1, and no complaints. So far, so good.

Castelnaudary is known as the birthplace of the the hearty French casserole cassoulet, and appropriately enough we stay at and eat at Maison du Cassoulet, right in the middle of town. We arrive early enough for some sightseeing, which I'll write about in a future blog post.

The city of Castelnaudary claims that cassoulet was created here.

Day 2 is our longest stretch. By the time we find our apartment in Carcassone we've ridden 50 km, most of it on narrow unpaved paths and nearly all of it directly into the wind. I visited here with Ken five years ago, and I am eager to accompany Veronica-from-Vancouver on her first visit to le Cité médiévale, a picture-perfect fortress, about a 20 minute walk from the "new" part of town.

Cité médiévale in Carcassone

We are in no hurry to get started on Day 3. The owner of this evening's accommodations has asked us to arrive after 4 p.m. and since we only have 20-ish kilometers left, we check out our Carcassone neighborhood and eat sandwiches on the canal before we take off. We also enjoy an extended rest stop at a canal-side café in the pretty village of Trèbes.

Pont de la Rode in Trèbes

Maritime-type sign on a restaurant in Trèbes

Our Night 3 accommodations at Château de Blomac are amazing —  I am a rock star! After a glass of wine on the terrace, I shower off the dust and head for the infinity swimming pool. A dinner at the table of our host, Jacqueline, her assistant, and a sweet Dutch couple who had gotten married here the week before, caps off an amazing trip.

The refreshing infinity pool at Château de Blomac

Here's what made this premiere ride of the Midi Mesdame so amazing: Great autumn weather, lack of breakdowns and no accidents to speak of (well, one minor fall due to tiny rider, heavy bike) makes us all feel very lucky. Luckier still is the rapport of our little group, some of whom I hadn't known too well beforehand. There is a fair amount of political talk — Brexit and Trump being the most heated topics. We share stories of our various travels and careers, of husbands (past and present), our parents and our kids. We congratulate each other for a ride well-done. And we eagerly start to plan next year's ride. Count me in. 

Rain threatens but doesn't appear on Day 3 of our bike ride along the Canal du Midi.

Easy Riding - Le Canal Part Deux

The second leg in our quest to bike the entire Canal des Deux Mers begins at the northwestern end where the canal meets the Garonne River on its way to the Atlantic.

Small signs in the village of Castets-en-Dorthe note that this is the place the canal begins (or ends, depending on how you look at it), but this is no tourist attraction; without any pomp, the river branches off into this amazing feat of engineering. It's the beginning of the canal's 270 mile (433 km) journey through France to the Mediterranean Sea. But for Ken and I, today's promenade will be an efficient three-hour round trip to Meilhan-sur-Garonne.


In the weeks since we decided to bike the canal, Ken has been telling our friends how easy it is.

"You can just coast along for hundreds of meters," he boasts.

Putting his theory to the test, I calculate a 10-second limit to my coasting. Despite the easy, mostly paved flat bike path, I still work and sweat for every one of the day's 40 kilometers.

I snap some pictures along the way, of course, but I am not quick enough to capture the day's most memorable encounter. We meet several groups of petits enfants, out for a ride with their teachers to celebrate the end of the school year. One group is stopped at the side of the path where the teacher is not having any luck putting the chain back on a little boy's bright yellow vélo. Ken to the rescue! He fixes the chain and amid cheers of "merci," they're on their way. And so are we.

Commencer le canal

Taking advantage of the last nice day before yet another rainy week, Ken and I, along with our next door voison Philippe, loaded up the bikes and drove an hour to the village of Le Mas d'Agenais. Our short-term aim was a leisurely ride, but the day turned out to be the just the first step of a goal Ken and I will pursue in the upcoming years: to ride the entire Canal des Deux Mers

France's 270-mile shortcut between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic is comprised of two sections. The southern portion, which runs from the Mediterranean to Toulouse, is the Canal du Midi, built in the 17th century. Two hundred years later, the Canal de Garonne, along with the Garonne River, connected Toulouse to the Atlantic near Bordeaux. This amazing feat of hydraulic engineering has a fascinating history, some of which I will share here as we continue our journey.

A peniche docked along the canal

Tranquil is the word that best describes our maiden voyage. The shady quiet flat path along the canal was a welcome change from the hilly country roads we usually ride on. After parking in the tiny village of Le Mas d'Agenais, we rode north for a dozen kilometers. The slow pace allowed for plenty of time to stop for photos and to wave at the vacationers passing by on the decks of their rented bateaux.

We quickly realized that the canal path will take on a different feel in the summer when the tourists descend, but on this day, the only crowd we encountered was a family of ducks taking an early afternoon nap.








With lunch back at the car, we decided to turn around after an hour. I brought the grub: ham and butter sandwiches on baguettes, crudeties, oranges and homemade peanut butter cookies. Philippe brought beer and wine, with a '92 poire calvados (pear brandy) to top it off. As usual, the more we drank, the better we could understand Philippe, and, we fancied, the more graceful our French became.

A little later, a little drunk, we headed south on an unsuccessful quest for coffee. Even though we didn't find an open cafe, we explored le Mas d'Agenais'' massive church and pretty lavoir before heading home.

What a perfect start to our canal quest.