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Canal du Midi

S

Silvermomma

VP 2021 CP 2022 CF 2023 CdN 2024
Donating Member
Time of past OR future Camino
aspiring to be always on camino
Would anyone like to tell me about the Canal du Midi? Could I combine walking, cycling, boating? I'm just starting my investigation, so any ideas are welcome. I'm 73, have walked 4 caminos alone, can stay in dorms or private rooms, and want to eat well! Thanks in advance.
 
Train on the 4-day Catalina Camino
Train for your next Camino on California's Santa Catalina Island March 30 to April 2
Train on the 4-day Catalina Camino
Train for your next Camino on California's Santa Catalina Island March 30 to April 2
..
domigee said:
There is this website: https://www.canal-du-midi.com/en
All I have ever done is walking along it.
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...me too, except for the last 5 kms before Carcassonne. I'd eaten something dodgy and was about to collapse. Just when I couldn't walk any further a canal boater said, Jump on!
Canal walking is serene...
 
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Silvermomma said:
Yes, thank you. I've been to the websites. I'm looking for some personal reflection. What part did you walk along? What time of year? Anything special to note?
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Hello @Silvermomma
I've walked the length of Le Canal du Midi and Le Canal des Deux Mers in springtime, when wild irises bloom in yellow masses. It was a pretty sight.

With a bicycle one could easily visit outlaying villages. On foot the distances seemed too far...
 
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Thank you so much! If you want to share your itinerary (especially lodging) I would love that. DM is OK. I loooooove iris
 
Let us pick up your suitcase once you arrive in Europe....
...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).
Silvermomma said:
Thank you so much! If you want to share your itinerary (especially lodging) I would love that. DM is OK. I loooooove iris
Click to expand...
My itinerary and lodging? Oh dear, what to say....

In 2013 I set off for Jérusalem from a hamlet in Le Lot et Garonne, France. I carried a 13L lumbar pack with a silver flute tied on the back, Leki poles, a pair of boots, a pilgrim credenciale and not much else. I had nothing in my pocket to budget with so played the flute for an hour each day or just until I had enough cash for food and accommodation. I slept in all manner of place -religious communities, Gîtes de Pélerins, Gîtes d'étape, youth hostels, shacks, dirt floors, out in the cold, with families and individuals and even in a palace! Booking ahead wasn't an option.

Along Le Canal du Midi and Le Canal des Deux Mers it was much like that, too. I walked as far as able each day then set about finding somewhere to sleep. The return journey which ended in Amsterdam then a leap to England was much the same.

Happy planning, @Silvermomma.

Ultreia e Suseia!
 
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Good morning @Silvermomma

I have had a look through my diaries for 2013 to 2014 and made a list for you of where I stayed along le Canal du Midi and le Canal des Deux Mers.

Some of the villages along these canals coincide with various Chemins de Saint-Jacques (Caminos to Santiago de Compostelle). For example, Voie de Vézelay (GR 654), Voie de Tours (GR 655), Voie du Puy (GR65), Voie d'Arles (GR 653) and the Voie du Pièmont (GR 78). In spring and summer there are always a few pilgrims passing through. Sometimes there were volunteers welcoming pilgrims at a bureau.

Regards
Lovingkindness
 

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Thank you so much! You are the best. Very helpful. Yes, I first became aware of the canal walks through the various caminos in France.
 
Camino Way markers in Bronze
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
I went by boat with a friend in October 1998. We rented the boat in Agde, went all the way to Toulouse and back, then down to Narbonne and finally to Sète. My friend was extremely careful with money and not particularly interested culturally, so we did not visit many of the sights along the way. Even so it was a great experience. Accommodation was on the boat and we cooked our own meals. If I were to do it again I would hire bicycles as well as a boat and visit many more of the villages along the way. Among the highlights I particularly remember was the “lock stairs” in Beziers - a succession of 7 locks to overcome the height difference of the terrain and a canal bridge ie the canal flowed on a bridge high across a valley.

I think you cannot handle the many locks on your own. With two of you it is very easy and you can stop anywhere along the canal.
 
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