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