Rob and Anne's European Adventure 2013: July 14 to July 27 France & Canal du Midi

During our rest day in Chamonix we took the Aiguille du Midi chair lift, me to Plan de L’aiguille & Anne to the top, which involved a very high & scary cable car then a lift inside the rock to the top – too high for me. Later had a more sedate train ride to Mer de Glace glacier.

View from Aiguille du Midi

We then left Chamonix & headed south via Albertville & Grenoble to Peipin which is close to tomorrow’s Tour de France Stage 16. The drive was over a pass then through a gorge then river flats – a pleasant drive.

Stopped for a quick look at Sisteron – a town on the banks of the Durance river & sandwiched between a castle perched on a cliff & further steep cliffs on the opposite bank of the river.

Le Tour is one big marketing & promotional exercise. From our vantage point at Laragne-Monteglin we watched a procession of service & official vehicles, then the “Caravan” which consists of 180 vehicles dressed up as floats like Moomba with loud music & spruikers pushing their wares, many threw samples to the crowds who went crazy. This went on for about an hour before the riders actually arrived & the crowd went even crazier. The riders passed in two groups – a breakaway of about 25 & then the peleton – it was all over in 10 minutes. But quite an experience.

We packed up & drove along part of the race course before heading to Sault, a really lovely town perched on a hill overlooking a valley full of lavender, sun flowers, corn & other crops – very colourful.

View from Sault

From Sault we headed toward the Camargue in southern France via the Gorges de la Nesque – a deep & rugged gorge with the road hugging the cliffs or running through tunnels. We visited the Pont du Gard, the highest Roman aqueduct, an engineering masterpiece. As we approached the Camargue we finally found ourselves on flat plains with not a hill in sight for the first time in ages.

Gorges de la Nesque

Pont du Gard

The Camargue is a vast area of flatlands & swamps on the Mediterranean coast between the mouths of the Rhone & Petit Rhone Rivers. It is a haven for birds & famous for its horses & bulls & has very popular beaches. We visited the Ornithological reserve which had many thousands of birds including – flamingos, storks, herons, ibis, avocet, stilts & many more. The birds shared their wetland home with horses & ragondin (looks like a beaver). After a hot morning of twittering we had a dip in the Mediterranean to cool down & a cooling beer.

The Camargue

Then off to the Canal du Midi – packed our boat with stores & headed off from Negra (near Toulouse) & headed towards Argens (near Carcassone). We had 6 days to negotiate 118kms of canal & 66 locks. The Canal is beautifully located in a farming area & we floated by magnificent stands of ancient Plane trees. The locks have been interesting & tested our boating & rope skills but we managed OK. Some have a lock keeper to assist & some are automatic (Anne jumps off & operates the mechanism & ropes whilst I try to avoid hitting the sides of the lock). By the end we were a well oiled team.

We have bikes on board so have been able to moor the boat & ride into the quaint little towns along the way for coffe, baguettes & other supplies & to see the sites. We enjoyed a visit to the quaint little towns of Avignonet-Lauragais, Bram & Villesequelande as well as the larger Castelnaudary & Carcassone with its magnificent castle.

A most enjoyable & mostly relaxing week after the efforts of Mont Blanc.