Cycling the Canal du Midi. Declan Lyons

Cycling the Canal du Midi - Declan Lyons


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      CYCLING THE CANAL DU MIDI

      by Declan Lyons

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      2 POLICE SQUARE, MILNTHORPE, CUMBRIA LA7 7PY

      www.cicerone.co.uk

      About the Author

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      Declan Lyons brings a lifelong passion for cycling and touring to this guide. He was bitten by the bug when, as a teenager in the 1960s, he explored the wilds of Connemara on a rusty three-speed Rudge bicycle. Since then he has toured extensively in Ireland and further afield. He’s cycled throughout France, including regular trips from the Channel to the Mediterranean.

      Declan’s home in Portiragnes is a few hundred metres from the Canal du Midi. He has spent the past two decades exploring its history, culture and wildlife by bike – accompanied by his wife, son and fellow enthusiasts.

      © Declan Lyons 2017

      Second edition 2017

      ISBN: 978 1 85284 784 5

      First edition 2009

      ISBN-10: 1 85284 559 7

      ISBN-13: 978 1 85284 559 9

      Printed in China on behalf of Latitude Press Ltd

      A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

      Image Route mapping by Lovell Johns www.lovelljohns.com

      All photographs are by the author unless otherwise stated. Contains OpenStreetMap.org data © OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA. NASA relief data courtesy of ESRI

      This guide is dedicated to the memory of Tom O’Driscoll – friend, colleague, runner and cyclist.

      Updates to this Guide

      While every effort is made by our authors to ensure the accuracy of guidebooks as they go to print, changes can occur during the lifetime of an edition. Any updates that we know of for this guide will be on the Cicerone website (www.cicerone.co.uk/784/updates), so please check before planning your trip. We also advise that you check information about such things as transport, accommodation and shops locally. Even rights of way can be altered over time.

      The route maps in this guide are derived from publicly-available data, databases and crowd-sourced data. As such they have not been through the detailed checking procedures that would generally be applied to a published map from an official mapping agency, although naturally we have reviewed them closely in the light of local knowledge as part of the preparation of this guide.

      We are always grateful for information about any discrepancies between a guidebook and the facts on the ground, sent by email to [email protected] or by post to Cicerone, 2 Police Square, Milnthorpe LA7 7PY, United Kingdom.

      Acknowledgements

      The author is grateful for help from very many people for their suggestions and advice in the preparation of this second edition. Special thanks are due to Mr Jean-Marc Pougnet, the Head of Public Relations Unit with the French Navigable Waterways. My wife Mary and son Oscar accompanied me on parts of the route and I thank them for their support and encouragement throughout this project. Thanks too to the many people who contacted me and gave useful feedback and help on various aspects of the route. Tim and Mary Hoyle have given valuable information and insights gained from their cycles in the region, while Timo and Isabella Langerwerf from Relax Rentals in Béziers keep me up-to-date with the constant changes and developments along the canal’s length. Thanks too for the help, guidance and support of the Cicerone team of Jonathan and Lesley Williams, Sian Jenkins, Georgia Laval, Hannah Stevenson and Andrea Grimshaw.

      Front cover: Le Somail (Stage 4)

      CONTENTS

       Route summary table

       Map key

       Overview map

       Introduction

       Regions of the canal

       History

       Wildlife

       Culture

       Cycling the Canal du Midi

       When to go

       Getting there and getting around

       Accommodation

       Food and drink

       Your bike

       What to take

       Cycling the towpath

       Health and safety

       Weather

       Maps

       Money and communications

       Using this guide

       The Canal du Midi

       Stage 1 Toulouse to Port Lauragais

       Stage 2 Port Lauragais to Carcassone

       Excursion 1 From Criminelle lock to St-Ferréol reservoir

       Stage 3 Carcassone to Homps

       Excursion 2 From Trèbes to Lastours

       Excursion 3 From Homps to Minerve

       Stage 4 Homps to Béziers

       Excursion 4 To Narbonne and Port la Nouvelle

       Stage 5 Béziers to Sète

       Excursion 5 To Vendres salt lagoon

       Excursion 6 Across Portiragnes marshes to Sérignan

       Appendix A Stage planning tables

       Appendix B Accommodation

       Appendix C Useful information

       Appendix D English–French glossary

       Appendix E Further reading

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