Le Somail

This was quite a modern block of appartments, we were on the ground floor so could lock our bikes against the balcony. First thing to go wrong, no remote for the air conditioner. I went to the office to ask for one and the giggling receptionist said “ sorry , we don’t have them , the aircon is just a decoration “. We did have fans but they didn’t do much to bring the temperature down. By midnight it had cooled down enough to open the door and let a breeze in. BUT at 3am our neighbours returned home and sat out on the deck and continued to talk loudly for an hour. Do I sound like I’m annoyed ?

The canal bridge over the river Orb. Until 1846 the lochs went right down to the river then climbed back up the other side. This was a massive improvement in transport time

It may have been a late start, 8am, but it’s a beautiful morning so what could go wrong ?HEAPS IT SEEMS ! Just after the bridge I put my hand in my pocket and realised I still had the room key.! SHIT SHIT SHIT ! I took my bags off and did a mad dash back to drop it off. 3kms each way !

Have you ever seen the TV program ‘ Massive engineering mistakes’. This sliding loch was to be the next best thing, they built another the other side of Toulouse , trouble was it wouldn’t hold the plug of water that they were trying to slide up the trench with the boat inside

The Midi canal , finished in 1681 is a world heritage site nowadays and the tourist canal boats still use the original lochs

9 of them. There would have been more when it originally went down to river level. The canal opened up trade between the Mediterranean and Toulouse, then later the Atlantic. Béziers went through a boom period

Then just after Colombiers the canal needed to go from one valley to the next so the first canal tunnel in France , possibly Europe, was made

Not the first tunnel to be dug through this ridge though. In the Middle Ages this area was a huge lagoon. The people living here dug through it then drained to its deepest point, with drains then dug out from the centre it looks like a giant Pizza from space. ( usually more colourful when different crops are planted) It’s called ‘The dried lagoon of Montady’

And overlooking it all is the ancient Roman town of Oppidum d’enserune.

As if that wasn’t enough, in 1857 they put the rail through. Above the drainage tunnel, and below the canal tunnel

Poilhes. We found a place open for a cup of tea

Ouveillan. It’s after midday and it’s like a ghost town

With the late start and the rough surface of the canal track , we risked being out in the hottest part of the day so we took some back roads with the help of google maps. It was at this town that I put it to google to find me the shortest route.

I couldn’t believe it ! It was a donkey track ! We followed it for about 500 metres expecting to have to turn back at any point

Then Hallelujah, we came across the midi canal again.

And next to another canal bridge. ( viaduct). Le Somail is just ahead

We weren’t supposed to check in before 5pm and it was only 2.30 but the owner, a nice English man took pity on us and took us out to his terrace and more fresh water. We must have looked wrecks !

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Published by Wallis Don