運河の流れに身をまかせる南仏の旅

　At a snail's pace, houseboats of all sizes and designs were gliding down the waters of the historic Canal du Midi in southern France.

　It's no wonder along this river where time stands still, that no one is in a rush to hurry their journey along.

　From spring through fall, boat keepers offer relaxing rides along the 300-year-old canal for an hour to several days, and fully equipped houseboats for two to 12 people can be rented.

　That's just what a retired Dutch couple I met near one of the bridges of Capestang had done. Four years ago, they discovered the canal during an outing in the Pyrenees Mount-ains and ever since, they have been returning each year to explore more of it.

　"It was instant love," said Hannah. "We enjoyed the beauty and peacefulness of these landscapes, the slow drifting along these placid waters, the friendliness of the people. …"

　"The wines of the Minervois are not bad at all," added Jayden, her husband. "And let us not forget about the cassoulet!"

　Cassoulet, a stew of beans, confit d'oie (goose meat), sausages and other kinds of meat, is virtually an institution in southern France. But on this day, the couple was enjoying a more frugal meal of greens, pate and cheese on the deck of their moored penichette (as these houseboats are often called).

　The 15 minutes of piloting instructions for those who rent houseboats before embarking are sufficient to master the skill. The excursionists are free to make a stop wherever they desire, for a picnic or a nap in the shade, or for a sightseeing tour to the surrounding villages.

　The canal was built thanks to baron Pierre-Paul Riquet (1609-1680), who dreamed of linking the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic with a navigable waterway.

　This layman in architecture and civil engineering was to devote his huge fortune to this mammoth venture.

　In 1667, the first stone was laid for what was to be "one of the greatest engineering achievements of the Modern Age," and UNESCO would later designate it a World Heritage Site in 1996.

　In the span of 14 years, up to 12,000 workers, 600 of them women, cut the 254-kilometer waterway linking Toulouse to the Mediterranean.

ツタで覆われたゲストハウス

　The most frequented stretch of the waterway, from east to west, goes from Sete, on the Mediterranean, to Castelnaudary and Carcassonne, a route strewn with many locks. One place that has become an "in" resort is the tiny hamlet of Le Somail, which was created by Riquet as a stopover where the boatmen of the mail barges and their passengers could spend the night. From Riquet's time there remains the ivy-covered guesthouse where tourists can still stay, a small chapel resting against a humpbacked bridge and a cool house where the delicate eatables were stored.

　This waterway, lined with plane trees and umbrella pines, winds its way along sun-soaked and tile-roofed balmy villages, lock-keeper houses, vineyards, wheat and sunflower fields. It flows in a quietness disturbed only by the sounds of cicadas, the shrieks of birds and the quacking of ducks. It blends so perfectly with its surroundings that it seems to be the work of nature.

　The most impressive of Riquet's work is the octuple lock of Fonseranes, at Beziers - eight lock chambers designed to equalize the water level by 21 meters over a distance of barely 280 meters. The lower lock is the point of departure for a two-hour trip to Port-Neuf along the pont-canal over the Orb River (the waterway flows on a bridge). Built in the mid-19th century, it is the most monumental aqueduct along the canal, with seven arches, totaling 180 meters in length.

　The smooth outward journey, some 20 meters above the ground, commands a spectacular view over the town of Beziers. The return trip to the upper lock of Fonseranes, however, is far more hectic and at times, a hair-raising one.

　Once the boat of the Bateaux du Soleil (Sun Boats) has entered the lower lock, the gates behind it close while the upper ones open, letting masses of water gush forward. When the level is high enough, the houseboat "climbs" to the next lock, and so on until it reaches the eighth and last lock.

　The boat brushed the sides of the chambers and I wondered - as well as the 70 other passengers gathered on the deck - if it would make it to the top. Of course it did, and I disembarked, slightly shaken but impressed by an amazing technological marvel built more than 300 years ago.