Southwest France - day one of WCC13

Sept. 16:  Last night Barb and Pat had made their way to the IWI Annual General Meeting at the conference center.  So this morning the mother hens collected their chicks and led us through the complexities of the Metro system and into the Espaces Vanel conference center,

From the 6th floor terrace of the conference center we looked down on the large white statue of Pierre Paul Riquet.

 up to the 6th floor check-in at the conference, where we received a tote full of informational brochures, a gift of local wine, and the conference Id. badge.

Here are Susan, Chris, Bill, and Dan, complete with badges and one wineglass.

Of course, there was a long session of speeches by various officials of the city of Toulouse, of  the Association of communes of the Canal of Two Seas, the Inland Waterways International, French National Waterways, The Region Midi-Pyrenees, and, of course, the Minister of crafts, trade and tourism.  Following these officials, the first session began with a power-point talk by an official of French National Waterways on the plane tree replanting project.  I've written earlier about what we'd seen on our several visits to the Canal, where trees have been removed, or marked for removal. (http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3253909292900505499#editor/target=post;postID=2980389158855619024;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=3;src=postname. A shame that the beautiful, cool, green shady vault will be no more.  The replanting is moving apace, but trees take a while to grow tall and stately.  I think I won't see the like again in my lifetime.

One of our members delivered a paper on Thomas Jefferson's visit to the Canal du Midi during his term as the United States Minister to the Court of King Louis XVI.

Mr. Jefferson ventured to the South of France and report to Pres. Washington on agriculture and commerce, and particularly the Canal du Midi.  The carriage wheels were removed and the carriage was set on a canal boat for his journey of nine days.

Papers were presented in sessions of four or five power points, and each session was broken by coffee breaks or lunch.

The buffet dessert table held these tasty morsels.

Today's ended around 3:30.  We walked from the conference center to a landing stage on the Canal for a boat trip to Saint Sauveur where several waterways companies were exhibiting (e.g., a floating sewage pumpout station, publishers Euromapping and e-canal Ltd, marine boilers, and dredging specialists). Also, many number of canal barges were moored for the rally.

From the center of a bridge, I could see the various boat-rally vessels.

We reboarded the boat and cruised up the canal to Port Sud at Ramonville-St-Agne, for a visit to the large new marina, some aperitifs, and a speech by the local mayor about plans for the marina and its new dry dock.

Was this part of the Ramonville drydock?

Beneath the tent were canapes, aperatifs, and speeches.

Back through the rain to the boat, and continuing on a short distance to Le Mas des Canelles for a very nice but long three-course dinner. Le Mas has a newly finished landing and access path, so despite the rain, we didn't have muddy shoes. 

A large 19th century converted farmhouse.

Half of us in this room, the other group of delegates were in a second room.

Ramonville and Le Mas are both in the countryside outside the suburbs.  It was pleasant to cruise however slowly past trees and shrubs and moored boats.

Scenery is much more immediate when viewed from a slow-moving boat.

The paddlers moved aside to make room for our passage.

Following dinner, we boarded motor coaches for a ride back to Toulouse that was appreciably shorter than the boat cruise. 

Southwest France - visiting Canal du Midi sites

Friday, Sept. 13th, was a bright morning in Sete and we loaded ourselves onto the motor coach, setting off for Beziers to see the aqueduct over the Orb River, followed by the Orb lock.

The cathedral in Beziers sits high above everything.

On a boat called the Santa Maria we crossed the aqueduct and the lock

Very sturdy stone towpath

In mid-aqueduct on the Santa Maria

and there we beheld the Fonserannes staircase of locks.  Today there are six locks.  Originally there were eight, then the number was reduced to seven - -WHY?  In part, perhaps, for construction of the now-disused Incline Plane.

Too bad the details of the six locks are not legible.

The flight of locks is impressive, and they are exactly like those that we saw four years before - made of stone, with sides that were straight up and down but not straight from end to end. The sides curve, giving strength to the walls like an arch that lies on its side.

We're about to move from the canal into the lowest of the locks.

The single boat assistant handled all of the lines (it took two of us to handle the lines on our much smaller rented boat in 2009).

Not to be rushed, he texted frequently as the boat passed from lock to lock.  He did tie the boat off to a bollard, and he used the pole to push the bow away from lock gates and/or walls.

The captain described the lock operations as well as the ill-fated inclined plane.

That's not a giant mushroom.  It's a bollard.  Our boat was secured against the inrushing water.

Water was rushing down from the lock above, which is why the boat was secured to the bollard.

The boat captain  talked to us as we passed upward from lock to lock.  And in about half an hour, we were through and on our way along the Canal du Midi to the Malpas tunnel.

The most direct route for the canal had to go through the hill called Enserune. Riquet's team was a bit stumped by the brittle rock, and work was halted briefly. Although he was ordered to cease work, Riquet asked his team of masons to work in secret and managed to break through in 8 days.

So many photos must have been taken.  Many of us just sat back and enjoyed the short ride.

We went to it, through it, turned around and came back again.

Approaching the light at the end of the tunnel.

As we were cruising along, Barbara suddenly exclaimed "There's Ravel! That's our boat!"  Indeed, it was the same boat that in 2009 was our home for a week.  Nice to see that the old tub was still canalworthy. Sorry - no photos.

The large ancient plane trees that shade the Canal have been damaged by a fungus and must be removed. We saw areas where trees had been removed,

Not even stumps remain.

trees that have been marked as having the fungus,

And it was obvious even without the marks - the leaves were very few and were dying.

and trees that continue to provide shade and beauty to the waterway.

The shade also inhibits evaporation in summer's heat.

Lunch was served on the boat  - and a beauty of a lunch it was.  In the lounge, tables were set for four persons, who were served a fantastic casserole of yellow rice, peas, onion, other vegs., topped with four large shrimp, four pieces of chicken, and four mussels nestled in the rice.

Was this Laura, Kerry, Pat and Duncan?  Difficult to tell without a flash.

Not only beautiful but really delicious, too.  Our bowl had just a few grains of rice left at meals end.

Please note the variety of wines as well.

Back at the Fonserannes the boat was tied up and we all exited to go exploring for just a bit.  There was a deadline to meet the bus at the bottom of the flight but it was many minutes away so folks went exploring . . . or looking for ice cream.

Snack time beneath the shade.

Two of the curious New Yorkers tried to climb over (or under) the fence to examine to broken machine that was now stranded at the top of the Incline Plane.  I just wanted to get a look at it, so maybe I should have climbed under the fence too.

Eventually the strays were herded into the coach and off we went toward the Tunnel, but we drove up, up, and up to the top of the Enserune hill - winding and narrow- that was a good bus driver!.  So why were we there?  To look down on the Montady, a former lake, drained in the 1200s, with drainage canals radiating in toward the center - like bicycle spokes.

Done on the orders of the local biship in the 13th century.

The former lake was drained into a channel in the center where water was diverted away via an underground channel.  So they said. Seen from the greater height than we'd seen four years before, it was an impressive sight.

We had a long quiet ride back to Sete.  The next agenda item was dinner in our hotel at 20:00 hours.  So the rest of the day I napped, packed up for the next day, showered and dressed for dinner.

Dinner in the very nice restaurant was quite good, but again, with quite slow service.  The wait staff all looked to be busy, but perhaps there weren't enough to keep up.

Southwest France - to Uzes and walking

I'm just back home again, after 20 days in Southwest France.  Why was I there (i.e., why not Paris)?  Well, the city of Toulouse was the site of the World Canals Conference in 2013.  Toulouse is the link between two great canals:  The Canal du Midi and the Canal Lateral de Garonne.  I had cruised upon the Canal du Midi in 2009 with five other women; it connects the Mediterranean Sea westward to Toulouse.  The Lateral I knew nothing about.  Thus they combine to make the Canal of the Two Seas - Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

And because my two hiking/canalling friends and I would be in a new place, I had the brilliant idea to combine two loves of mine: hiking and Roman antiquities, specifically the Pont du Gard, which has stood strong and stunning for 2,000 years.  A company called Enlightened Traveller helped us create a five-day hiking trip that would include the beautiful "water bridge" - the Pont du Gard.  So here begins our hiking trip on September 7.

This wayside exhibit shows, in red, the downward route of the great aqueduct, from its source in the springs of Uzes to the Roman city at Nimes.   

Our hike was not along the route of the aqueduct.  Rather it was along the gorge carved out by the Gardon River.

We made our way to the hill town of Uzes via plane to Paris, TGV to Nimes, and bus to Uzes, a very old city where the ancient Roman aqueduct originated. The original springs still flow, but no longer direct water to the aqueduct.

The original springs still flow, but are now directed into the Alzon River.

Uzes still has several springs, in addition to those that supplied the aqueduct.  Throughout the town were old public fountains, many bearing the legend "Eau Potable" - drinkable water.

This town was a good introduction to medieval France: buildings made of stone or brick, narrow little streets, and very much up and down, with towers and churches and flowers.

St Theodorit Cathedral and the Place de l'Eveche.  The tower is called Tour Fenestrelle.

A narrow little car-free street on the way to the Cathedrale where our hike began.

Our B&B (French = chambres d'hotes), La Maison de La Bourgade, was one or two blocks from the center of town (and the bus stop). Quite a nice place, complete with a swimming pool.  Of course, we headed for it very quickly.  Hmm.  Not heated!  But, as Elisabeth, our hostess said:  "It is quite refreshing". My room overlooked both the courtyard and the street.

You can see the several tables set for breakfast; the chilly pool is just barely visible in the upper right corner.

The town's large "Place aux herbes" is ringed with cafes and shops, with plenty of open space in the center.

Quite a large open square; the arches denote the large open vaulted area, some of which served as cafes and others as shops, with a few being vacant.

We dined there at an open-air cafe called Thierry.  The Place is also the site for the weekly farmer's market, which we visited first thing on Saturday morning.  Not really a true farmer's market (i.e., not producers only), there were charcuterie, poisson, viand, pain, and old clothes for sale.  Quite a busy place.

clearly the domain of the fishmonger; I wish I knew the French word for fishmonger.

the bucherie?  or just a stand where meat was being sold?  

"Ail" is the French word for garlic.  Imagine calling a variety of garlic "Rose du Tarn".  Tarn is the name of a river many miles away.

Between Friday evening (our arrival) and Saturday midday (our first day's walk) we investigated a bit of the town, bought postcards/stamps, and generally got acclimated.  The first day's walk was about 5 miles, down the mountain fairly gradually into the gorge.

This beautiful stone wall is somewhere between "Mas Cazotte" and "Moulin de Carriere".  I'd love to know if the herringbone pattern of the dry-laid stone wall contributes to its stability

Crossing the Alzon River; passing walled homes; investigating a former mill; through a town forest;

and rewarded by a wonderful vista across the gorge to the town and its several towers.

If I'd paid more attention, I could identify the towers; but I'm satisfied with a lovely view.
Then back down into the gorge to follow the path of the old aqueduct (here it was a channel just a few feet wide)

Pat has walked through a tunnel that is a remnant of the 2,000 year old aqueduct while Barbara rests on the stone wall.

Although the aqueduct delivered thousands of liters of drinkable water to the inhabitants of the important city of Nimes, it appears to be quite small, don't you think?

and Northward to the source - the Fontaines d'Eure.

The large sign:  "Eure spring captured by the Romans to supply Nimes drinking water through the aqueduct"

Back at the B&B we tried the pool again - - more "refreshing" than the day before.  As we walked back to the Place for dinner, rain began to fall.  Very intensely falling.

No dining in the square tonight.

We ducked into the nearest likely-looking cafe. There are several in the vaults that formed the ground floor of the surrounding buildings.  It made for a very different kind of dining experience - quite nice to be warm and dry amid the trickle of puddles and the constant rainfall. And the rain tapered off enough for us to scurry back "home" and pack up for a move to the next B & B.

About the Canal du Midi

On the Canal some lockhouses continue to be residences for the lockkeepers. And those can be highly individualized. My favorite was at L'Ecluse d'Aiguille (a double lock) to the right and below.

The buildings and locks are surrounded by sculptures made of wood or scrap metal - cans, rebar, bicycle wheels and chains, pipes, all manner of wonderful things.  In a tree I discovered an owl and a cat.   The controls for the double lock were in the "head" of a stick-figure man.  There were other stick-figures across the lock from the house.  See the 3 photographs below.

In the photo on the right, Barbara has wrapped a line around a bollard and slowly lets it out as water level lowers and the boat descends in the lock.

This photo above shows the lock at the Carcassonne boat basin shortly after sunrise, when the sky was tinted pink. The upper lock gates are closed and the lower lock gates are open.  That's how the lock spends the night.  No boat headed upstream is in the lock.  In the one following, gates are opening and the boat is drifting toward them.  I've fallen in love with those oval locks - - they're just beautiful.

The canal connects the Mediterranean Sea with France's Atlantic port cities. It was initially a commercial success. But as in other countries, rail transport gradually starved out business. Now owned and operated by the government, small pleasure boats abound. The canal was constructed in the late 1600s, but all of the locks are now electric and are operated by lockkeepers. The set schedule for lock opening and closing is rigid, so in September there is no passage before 9:00, or from 12:30 to 13:30, or after 19:00. We decided to travel downstream because it seemed easier than the reverse.