A short briefing on the rules of navigation, a quick introduction to the maneuvers of the machine, and the barge adventure can already begin!
No particular skill is required on board, except a minimum of agility to cast off.
Accessible to as many people as possible, this alternative mode of transport is ideal for holidays as a couple, with family or friends, to discover the canals of France in summer.
It also saved the most emblematic of them: the Canal du Midi.
Classified as a World Heritage Site by Unesco, the one that used to be called the “Royal Canal of Languedoc” has operated without interruption since it was filled in 1681!
Until the middle of the 19th century, 250 boats hauled by horses transported freight and passengers there.
Motor barges took over at the beginning of the 20th century.
But rail competition sounded the death knell for this traffic, which had become too slow.
Threatened with abandonment at the end of the 1980s, the Canal du Midi owes its salvation to river tourism, the main virtue of which is, paradoxically, its slowness.
A pioneer in license-free boat trips, Locaboat Holidays is a key player on this masterpiece of French civil engineering.
Its different bases in Argens-Minervois, Bram and Négra allow you to choose your portion of the route and your type of boat, according to your desires.
The trip by barge through rural Occitanie is indeed suitable both for active people looking for new adventures and for contemplatives in search of serenity.
The largest construction site of the 17th century
Linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean to spare cargo ships the perilous journey around the Iberian Peninsula was a project sketched out by the Romans in antiquity.
The Aude and the Garonne then seemed to offer a navigable waterway through the South.
But under the reign of Francis I, the idea still came up against the problem of the junction between the two rivers.
The solution was not found by an architect or an engineer, but by a tax collector from Béziers named Pierre-Paul Riquet.
The latter persuaded Louis XIV that a canal could be fed between the Etang de Thau and the Garonne, from Marseillan to Toulouse, by diverting several streams from the Montagne Noire.
The Canal du Midi is one of the most prestigious creations of the Sun King, along with the Palace of Versailles.
Launched in 1667 and completed fourteen years later with the help of Vauban, this project raised innumerable technical difficulties, all of which were overcome with the help of engineering structures.
Over the 240 kilometers of the canal, there are thus some 63 locks, 142 bridges and 67 aqueducts.
The section that runs along the Aude, between Béziers and Carcassonne, alone offers magnificent examples, such as the Fonserannes lock staircase, the Malpas tunnel, the Répudre canal bridge or the Argent Double weir. .
A key word on board: freedom
Departing from Argens-Minervois, these technical feats are discovered during a navigation conducive to disconnection.
Between fields of vines, medieval villages and shady guinguettes, the sun-drenched landscape parades to the sound of cicadas.
The maximum authorized speed on the canal is limited to 8 km/h to protect its banks from water movements.
The daily exercise of lockage also requires a little patience.
It takes a quarter of an hour to go through a simple lock.
But most are double or even triple, and their access can be further slowed down by the crowds.
You can thus find up to four boats glued-tight in these ovoid-shaped basins, from which emerges a refreshing conviviality.
Enough locks for the day?
The cruise program is being invented hour after hour.
Stopping in a fitted out port to do some shopping, mooring in the countryside for a siesta or a bike ride... The most difficult thing is to find some shade!
Omnipresent along the banks from the beginning of the 19th century, the plane trees have long been the beauty of the canal.
These massive trees offered several advantages: their branches formed a tunnel of shade limiting evaporation, their dead leaves sealed the bottom and their roots stabilized the banks.
But from 2006, canker stain, a fatal and highly contagious fungus, decimated them in a few years.
In total, 29,000 plane trees were uprooted.
Replacing them with new species such as hackberry, poplar, oak, lime or ash is a long-term job.
Since 2011, 16,700 have been replanted.
Committed to a responsible environmental approach, Locaboat Holidays is an early partner for the Canal du Midi Sponsorship Mission, which collects the necessary funds for this program.
Estimated at 200 million euros, it will last 20 years.
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Formulas
The price of boating holidays without a license on the Canal du Midi depends on the type of boat, the length of the stay and the period.
With Locaboat Holidays, for example, count 1,967 euros for a week on a classic barge, between August 20 and September 9, 2022. Or 1,057 euros under the same conditions, between October 15 and 31.
These rates include the navigation toll, boat insurance, gas, initiation on the day of departure and technical assistance 7 days a week.
A wide range of discounts exist for couples, crews with children or long durations.
The barges are available in four ranges.
All manageable and comfortable, they consist of a main room, one or more bedrooms, for 2 to 12 people, and an equipped kitchenette.
Initially, the fuel level is at its maximum, which is sufficient for the vast majority of cruises.
But nautical stops must be planned every 2 or 3 days to replenish water and electricity.
It should be noted that the ports, which charge around twenty euros per day for their services, also make showers and washing machines available to yachtsmen.
Some rules
Although parking is tolerated everywhere on the Canal du Midi, even in the middle of nature, it is forbidden to moor to trees, to another boat, in a curve, or less than 50 m from a structure.
We cross on the right, the priority having to be left to the ascending boats.
Large commercial or passenger barges always have priority, including for passage through locks.
The latter, free, operate from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Information
By phone on 03 86 91 72 72 or by email at info@locaboat.com
Travel
Cruises
Occitania
Summer holidays
Canal du Midi