Avignonet-Lauragais to Toulouse

We chose to stay at the camping ground at Avignonet-Lauragais as the surface from there to Toulouse is great and the run into the city, of about 50km seemed a good distance. The weather was on our side. Smooth run, blue skies, cycle-touring as you would like it.

Bonus 1: Sometime before lunchtime there is access to a picnic area for motorway traffic, with tables to sit at for a snack right by the canal and real toilets – with paper!  

Bonus 2, at about lunchtime and at about half-way, we were passing through a village actually on the canal (not very usual) and had a plate of local cold cuts and bread at the local bar. No doubt we had a beer too, but it is the food part I recall best. Great stuff! The goose wasn't actually at the same place - but not far away!

The run was so smooth we got to Toulouse station (right on the cycle track, as stations often are) mid-afternoon. No rush to get a train out to Colomiers, where Chris used to live for a while when he first arrived in Toulouse in 2006 and where I also stayed in 2007. (Thanks guys – you know who you are!) From there we could bike to Cornebarrieu, about 5km as the crow flies and more with roundabouts to negotiate.  Turn at McDonalds, carry on, left at the T junction, consult Google maps, carry on, ask the guy outside the baker’s where the street is…this IS the street. (No street name anywhere there). You’re looking for the English people? (never mind that they’ve lived here practically for ever) – just up the street.  We ring the doorbell – our hosts are expecting us about now…

But that is for another day. The Canal du Midi ends at Toulouse – and so ends the first leg for us.

12th June 2013. (392km)

Castelnaudary to Avignonet-Lauragais

Diary entry: 18km: More mud and slush. No rain, little wind.

But actually, it was a good ride. Short, because I wanted to explore the area around Narouze, where the water collected and diverted from the Montagne Noire actually arrives in the canal. I’d already spent some time in this area, but Rodney hadn’t, and it was something I wanted to share, as I am a great fan of Riquet  (and Vauban, who later improved Riquet’s canal). There is a camping ground not far from there, in the direction of Toulouse, so we had all day to explore, once we got to Narouze.  And the track wasn’t all bad, as you will see from some of the photos.

Narouze is the high point of the Canal du Midi. The watershed or divide. From here the water flows downhill to the Mediterranean, or to the Atlantic, via the Garonne once it reaches Toulouse. There’s a 5km stretch of water between two locks (the lock of the Ocean and the lock of the Mediterranean) and the water feeding the canal flows into this area. From here, humans decide which direction the water needs to flow, according to the needs of navigation on the canal or irrigation off the canal. There are half a dozen other places along the canal where water can be added, on the way to Beziers and Sète, and the Garonne can feed the canal en route to the ocean. You can still see where the original hexagonal reservoir was. This had to be abandoned quite early in the piece, as it silted up and the current 5km long stretch of water between the two locks was created.

We had a lovely experience on our way to Narouze. We had run out of supplies, as we thought there would be bakeries on our way and it wasn’t a Sunday or a Monday (when a lot of shops are closed). Arriving at a bridge which led to a village we asked the people picnicking there if there was a baker in the village. Even if there was, there was no need for it, they said, as they had finished eating and still had food left over. So, baguette, ham, cheese and apples later, we thanked them very much. C’est normal, they said. These three women were on an expedition – two biking and the third woman in a car, taking all the luggage. Sounds great to me!

The camping ground of Avignonet-Lauragais was just right. Fairly small, green, friendly, with a visitor come down from the north for summer who, for a more-then-reasonable price, made both galettes and crêpes, which we had for our evening meal. The representative of the Mayor’s office (maybe the maire himself) who came down to get our money in the evening, did part of a haka for us, tongue and all, (rugby country here) and asked me why I was barefooted. Because I am a New Zealander, I said, and we often have barefeet. He seemed to accept that. It’s also to give the feet a bit of air, with all the cycling and wetness. He knew a lot about the history of the area and can trace his family tree WAY back.

Could easily spend more time there!

Dutch couple with interesting tandem - look closely

Carcassonne to Castelnaudary

I’m writing about this day over a month after we did this section of the Canal du Midi. This means that the memories of hardship have faded and we remember that although it was raining when we started, the evening was just fantastic – a beautiful situation, calm and clear.  Alarm bells ring when we also remember the lovely hotel we stayed in and the dinner we ate by the canal. Two treats in one day! Things must have been bad! All is revealed in the cryptic diary comments: 47.14km. A very wet day. Mud and slush all the way. A big effort. Arrived filthy.

Oh yes, it starts to come back! Luckily the hotel had a high pressure hose to deal with the mud and slush. Made a good job of the Nikes as well. This was one of the days we had to push the bikes kilometres through the mud, as the back wheels kept slipping 45º to the track and the canal was mostly too close to risk falling off, as it may have meant falling in. This is the section which the guidebook warns will test our patience, not only because of the wind but also the ‘degraded’ state of the dirt track. We would do well, they suggest, to adopt the motto of Jacques Coeur (15^th century): A coeur vaillant rien d’impossible (For a brave heart, nothing is impossible). Oh yes, it’s all coming back now…

But more than a month on, we remember most the lovely hotel (the most extravagant gesture to date) and the beautiful evening, when we dined outside.

The photos remind me that we came across a lock keeper’s cottage with a café (rare) where we bought coffee and the last two lemon tarts of the day. Run by a French couple who had returned from a working life in Madagascar, it was a true haven for us that day. Only 6km away from Castelnaudary, it gave us a real lift.

Castelnaudary itself is a very pretty place, home of cassoulet and full of restaurants offering this traditional dish. As we had had cassoulet in Carcassonne the day before, we didn’t feel bound to pursue this side of things. As for the Canal du Midi, Castelnaudary is home to the Grand Bassin – a large port, in fact the largest area of open water between Toulouse and Sète. In the day it handled goods going either down river to Sète and the Mediterranean, or up to the Garonne and then down to the Atlantic. There’s also a Petit Bassin, which is where the pleasure boats have their facilities. All very pretty in the summer evening sun!

Carcassonne, le cité

So it was raining and cold, I had a puncture to fix, we’d booked into the Ibis Budget and cleaned ourselves up. What to do in Carcassonne in the rain? This was my third or fourth visit to Carcassonne and it seemed a good time to actually pay money and visit the inside, the cité part, where people lived, instead of the freely-available walking between the double ramparts. Mostly I’m not up for guided tours and this day was no exception, but being inside the castle was a good choice. We spent more that three hours there, almost all under cover. Because we were high up there were some good views and there were information panels in relevant places and an excellent film running continuously, depicting the varied history of the castle.

It is such an inspiring piece of military architecture that I hadn’t realized the extent to which it had been restored in the 19^th century under Eugène Viollet-le Duc, based on what he thought was a good interpretation, from what was left, of the castle the way it may have been at a certain point in history. Plus a dose of creativity. As it had been abandoned for a century or so, the results have at least made it into a standing  (and outstanding) castle which is representative of medieval times and the Albigensian Crusade in particular.

Our tour concluded with an excellent cassoulet in one of the many restaurants there. Not overpriced, more than sufficient quantity, delicious flavours and warming to body and soul.