Canal du Midi Tours

Canal du Midi Tours take you away from a world of busy lives to a world where time seems to stand still.

Tourists around the world come to enjoy the many scenic beauties along the historic, UNESCO World Heritage Canal du Midi.

Canal du Midi Tours are an idyllic barge holiday via a panoramic backdrop of history, breathtaking landscapes, gastronomic regional delights and tranquil surroundings.

Along its quiet waterways, walking paths and bike trails you can look for miles and see so many beautiful things.

Canal du Midi Tours will take you on a journey through market towns and medieval, picture-perfect castles, vineyards and wineries all surrounded by scenic delights.

The breathtaking landscapes of the French countryside line the Canal du Midi as it winds though canal side villages with their open-air markets and cafes and restaurants serving their traditional regional cuisine.

Canal du Midi History

The Canal du Midi (canal of the two seas) is a 241 km (150 mi) UNESCO World Heritage Site in Southern France.

Originally named the Canal royal en Languedoc (Royal Canal in Languedoc), the French revolutionaries renamed it Canal du Midi in 1789.

The Canal, with 99 locks and 130 viaducts, was constructed to connect the Atlantic Ocean with the Mediterranean and was considered one of the greatest engineering triumphs of the 17th century.

It was the Romans who first had the idea of building a waterway to join the Atlantic and the Mediterranean but it was Pierre-Paul Riquet, the French engineer who made the Canal Royal de Languedoc (as it was then known) a reality.

The aim for the construction of the canal was to transport wheat, wine and textiles.

Construction began in 1667 under the reign of Louis XIV and it took 12,000 people which included 1,000 peasant women labourers from the Pyrenees to make it a reality.

It opened on May 15th 1681 and, for 200 years, it served as the main export route until rail came along.

Rick Stein's French Odyssey

Famous English chef Rick Stein, journeyed aboard the barges 'Rosa' and ‘Anjodi’, from Bordeaux to Marseille in his acclaimed television series, French Odyssey exploring French culinary tradition via the idyllic waterways of the Canal des Deux Mers and the combined Canal de Garonne and Canal du Midi.

The Rosa was built in Dedemsvaart, the Netherlands in 1907 and converted to a hotel barge in 1990 sailing on the Canal des Deux Mers between Toulouse and Bordeaux.

Anjodi was built in Groningen, Netherlands in 1929 as a trading barge carrying grain.

It was refitted in 1982 as a hotel barge to ply on the Canal du Midi in south-west France.

Rick Stein's culinary journey included Mas d’Agenais, Colombe-en-Bruilhois, Agen, Fongrave, Valence d’Agen, Moissac, Toulouse, Castelnaudary, Carcassonne, Trebes, Narbonne, Argeliers, Agde, Marseillan, Sete, Aigues–Mortes, Arles and Marseille.

Colombe-en-Bruilhois

Colombe-en-Bruilhois in south west France is where the internationally renowned Kitchen-at-Camont of cookery writer and teacher, Kate Hill is located and where students from around the world come to learn or gain hands-on experience on the art of French cooking.

Rick Stein cooked favorite regional dishes in Kate Hill's kitchen in his world-famous French Odyssey,

Cassoulet

The region of Languedoc in the south-west France is the traditional homeland of cassoulet.

Toulouse and Carcassonne have claimed the dish but, Castelnaudary it is said to have originated.

Cassoulet is the iconic, slow-cooked casserole containing meat (pork sausages, duck or goose confit, and sometimes mutton) and white beans (haricots blancs or lingots).

Originally, a humble peasants dish, it was named after the traditional cassole or cassolo, a deep, round, earthenware pot.

Carcassonne

Carcassonne is a a Unesco World Heritage Site famous for its medieval fortified, hilltop town and medieval citadel, La Cité, with its watchtowers and double-walled fortifications in Languedoc's southern France’s region on the right bank of the Aude .

Celts occupied the area and built a fort about 500 BC

Romans occupied the hilltop when they conquered Gaul in 100 B C and also built a fort.

In the fifth century, the Visigoths founded the city.

Besides tourism, manufacturing and wine-making are also important.

Narbonne

Narbonne, on the Canal de la Robine which runs through the center of town is linked to the nearby Canal du Midi and the Aude River.

Established by the Romans in 118 BC, as Colonia Narbo Martius (Narbo), it was located on the Via Domitia, the first Roman road in Gaul connecting Italy to Spain.

Narbonne's attractions include the Fontfroide Abbey a former Cistercian monastery.

Narbonne Cathedral, a former cathedral, and national monument is dedicated to Saints Justus and Pastor.

The Archbishop's Palace is a must see for history enthusiasts.

La Nouvelle branch, a 37.3-kilometre lateral branch of the Canal du Midi in Aude which runs from the Canal du Midi through Narbonne and on to the Mediterranean.

The Horreum dating back to Roman times of the first century BC are underground warehouses from the town’s days as a Roman port.

Narbonne plage is a seaside resort and marina.