Canal du Midi and Fonseranes locks

The woman at the information centre recommended that we walk along the Canal du Midi to the Fonseranes locks. “Nice when it’s not raining,” she said, with a glower at the grey day outside. Since it wasn’t actually raining, we took her advice, and had a peaceful stroll along the canal. The locks themselves were amazing, especially considering they were finished in 1681. Although there were no boats on the locks at this time of year, you could see that it must be a crazy place in the summer. At the top there were electric boats for hire, but not now of course. The Canal du Midi is part of the Canal des Deux Mers – boats can cross from the Atlantic (on the Garonne river at Bordeaux) to the Mediterranean at Marseillan, east of Béziers. According to Wikipedia, much of the hydraulic design was done by women from villages in the Pyrenees.