Today was to be a quick and easy 40KM jump to Narbonne, some on the Canal du Midi and some on the highway. For the most part it went as planned, but the head wind sure can make things more of a struggle.
We were not on the hotel breakfast program so we just had yogurt and fruit before we left. Scott was feeling the effects of the lack of coffee but this was quickly fixed with a double espresso at a nearby coffee bar on our way out of town. We also picked up a sandwich and a large dark chocolate cookie for the road.
The bikes are loaded and the bill has been paid on a sunny but slightly cool fresh feeling morning.
Pierre-Paul Riquet was born in Béziers in 1609. He is attributed with designing and building the Canal du Midi. From wiki info - Riquet invested two million pounds from his own funds, on a project estimated at between 17 and 18 million pounds which was the second largest construction site in the kingdom after that of the Palace of Versailles. In return, he received the tolls of the canal. Being so heavily indebted, that on his death his heirs had to sell half of their shares in the canal.
We were aiming for the pedestrian bridge as as way out of town, which we did locate but on a bit of a circuitous route. The views looking up toward Béziers from the bridge were quite incredible. We made our way along the small quai canal that connects the Orb river with the Canal du Midi and the famous locks of Fonseranes.
The Canal du Midi arrives from above Béziers at location known as Fonseranes. It is slightly elevated and opposite to Béziers. Being on much higher ground is a bit of a problem for boats wanting to go up or down. The canal must drop nearly 25 metres vertically to descend into the Orb! It is a real technical feat completed by the Fonséranes scale, a series of eight locks and its nine basins.
Moulin De Bagnols was a mill. A third of the water from the Orb river was used for the inhabitants of Béziers, a third for fires and a third as a reserve for heat waves.
Not nearly so serene here! Traffic jam at the bottom of the first of the eight locks to get up to the the top. We could not wait around to see how this ended.
Team Canal du Midi are on a boat at the top of the locks, waiting to go down. They were looking a bit stressed, likely about getting a turn in the locks.
A topographical view of the area from a nearby information board. The locks have made the site the third most popular tourist destination in Languedoc-Roussillon, after the Pont du Gard and the town of Carcassonne.
Leaving the locks, we began our ride on the unpaved surfaces beside the canal. You can ride the entire way from Béziers to Narbonne on the Canal du Midi but the surfaces are often rough and hard with the small wheeled Bike Fridays so we planned our route partly on the canal and partly on the road. However, not far from our turn off, the path turned to crushed rock. Then pop! Pat`s rear tire must have caught a sharp stone and punctured the tire. Two flats on a single tour - unheard of! Glad that we had picked up a couple more spare tubes a few days ago.
Had to look this one up.¨Dubonnet is a sweet, red, fortified wine of 14.8% alcohol invented in 1846 by French chemist Joseph Dubonnet. It's typically consumed as an aperitif, digestif, or in the famous Dubonnet cocktail with Gin. The aromatized wine is made from red wine, brandy, herbs, spices, and quinine¨.
We reached Béziers a couple of hours before the hotel check in times. We had passed quickly through here six years ago on route a bit further south to Gruissan. Some of us remembered and some of us did not. So we looked around a bit to jog our memories and later had a beer near our hotel beside the canal. We found Béziers was surprisingly quiet with many vacant stores right in the heart of the canal shopping district.
We enjoyed a nice Italian dinner and wandered through the quiet alleyways back to our hotel.
Not the canal du Midi but the Canal de la Robine in Narbonne.
Met this young guy in the bar. He still had a few kilometres to go today. We were impressed with his touring machine. His front hub produces power for a light and a built in USB on the handlebar stem to power a cell phone.
