A Short Walk On a Long Canal

My walk began the this morning at 8am, from L’Ecluse Ronde d’Agde (the Round Locks of Agde), just outside the town. I calculated the walk to be about eight or nine hours, including stops for lunch, drinks, and rest.

8am: 0km– Écluse Ronde d’Agde
I began my morning at the Écluse Ronde d'Agde, with blue skies, sunshine, and a feeling as if I were the only human left on earth. If it was solitude I wanted, I definitely got it.

9:30am: 1.5 hours, 6.2km– Vias and the Ouvrages du Libron
The first ninety minutes were quiet, uneventful, and peaceful. As I got closer to Vias, more people- mainly cyclists- joined me on the path. I walked by something I've never seen on a walk before: A deserted amusement park. Apparently Vias is a beachy resort town for families, complete with camping sites and funfairs.

I had mentioned yesterday that the Canal du Midi is probably the simplest walking path I've ever been on- if you can see a canal, you're going the right way! Well, that being said, I managed to nearly get lost anyway. In my defense, I blame the Vias, France canal path planners.

As I approached Vias, my tranquil canal path routed over to a busy road filled with large trucks taking blind turns. I prefer not to die on holiday, so I looked up and saw the "To Béziers" sign pointing left, instead of straight and parallel to the canal. I figured this was a detour to get walkers safely back to the pedestrian-only path, so despite hearing the voices in my head saying "JUST KEEP THE DAMN CANAL ON YOUR RIGHT," I followed the sign. After about ten minutes, it was clear I was heading to Vias Plage (Vias Beach), which is due south, and definitely NOT west. So I said fuck it, and walked back to to sign...and saw the pedestrian overpass bridge that had been cleverly hidden from the canal path behind a grove of trees.

Also, let's note that the bridge was to the right, and the sign helpfully pointed LEFT. I felt like a really stupid contestant on “The Amazing Race."

Once I crossed the pedestrian bridge, the path continued to one of the Canal du Midi’s engineering gems: The Ouvrages du Libron. The Ouvrages are a 19th-century solution to allow the Libron River to pass safely over the Canal through six lock gates, even during flash flooding. It's frankly astonishing to see the level of engineering technology that existed in earlier eras. When I first viewed the Pyramids of Giza, I had the same reaction: How did they do this without electricity, trucks, and computerized design?

11:15am: 3.25 hours, 9.2km- Port Cassafieres in Portiragnes
There wasn’t much along the canal for the next hour, which kind of sucked because I REALLY had to pee. So, when I saw Le Boat’s marina in Port Cassafieres, the first outpost of civilization since the Ouvrages, I wandered in and asked to use the toilet. Again, not only were the locals gracious and sweet, but they even refilled my water bottle and bid me "bonne journee" after my thirty-minute Duolingo and water break on their terrace.

1pm: 5 hours, 14km- Le Jardin des Délices and L’Écluse de Portiragnes in Portiragnes
I had been recommended to stop a bit further in Portiragnes, at a restaurant called Le Jardin des Délices. Jardin des Délices is a private home and garden adjacent to the Canal, that the owners have converted into an outdoor restaurant, bar, and shop. It's got that perfect tumbledown feel of a cobbled-together rest stop, with benches made from old wooden pallets, tables from old wine barrels, old curtains repurposed as doors, and hand-painted signs. It’s perfect and brilliant and I was in love, especially when I saw they served garden-fresh salads. That, and the repurposed shed that functioned as a bar.

I ordered a salade chevre with pistachios, fresh bread, and some French rosé. And when I attempted to pay with my credit card, the sweet owner told me that I can only use a card for checks over €20. So, given that I was just €3 under that minimum, I ordered a post-lunch pastis, and everyone was happy.

After leaving Le Jardin, a short walk just a bit farther led to l’Ecluse de Portiragnes, one of the major Canal locks between Agde and Béziers. I do luvs me a waterfall, and I have decided that these pretty locks are close enough.

4pm: 8 hours, 19.3km- Écluse de Villeneuve-Lès-Béziers
I arrived in the very cute town of Villeneuve-Lès-Béziers, the last town outside Béziers, and boasting its own écluse. And there was a bar right next to the écluse; given that I was tired, thirsty, and needed to use a free toilet, I stopped for some wine and to admire the écluse. However, I was a jolted out of my relaxed state when I noticed that my phone was at 15%…and I had already drained my backup battery at lunchtime.

This is a problem when one’s guesthouse address, contact info, and entry instructions are ONLY ON ONE’S PHONE. Commence mild panic. I proceeded to pay my tab, and set off for the final stretch to Béziers at a much more rapid pace than I had intended. I calculated that my phone’s battery was eating 1% about every four or five minutes, so I had approximately an hour to get to my guesthouse. Eeek.

5pm: 9 hours, 25.9 km- My guestroom in Béziers
Two things: First, I missed having a triumphant arrival into Béziers (which I fucking EARNED from walking nearly 26km) because I had to panic-run the last kilometer to ensure I had enough battery to get into my guesthouse. I had zero opportunity to sightsee or savor my arrival- I was too busy RUNNING.
Second, the entire walk into Béziers is ALL UPHILL. Like, brutally uphill. I had conveniently forgotten this detail from my last visit here. So I had to run my sweaty, exhausted, panicked self straight uphill, navigate to my guesthouse, figure out its overcomplicated digital lock, get safely inside, and collapse inside...with just 4% battery remaining. Victory is mine!

Also, the guesthouse left me fresh madeleines on the bed, so double victory for me. I ate them while lying on the floor in a flop sweat.

I celebrated my completed walk with a dinner of oysters and duck confit parmentier at Hallégria, a restaurant in Béziers's gorgeously remodeled Les Halles (covered French market). The restaurant was retrofitted into the Les Halles's former courtyard, with a Louvre-like glass pyramid over the dining room. I had showered and put on clean clothes, but they weren't fancy clothes, so I was strategically seated in a dark corner.

After dinner, I walked to the newly reconstructed plaza in front of the Église de la Madeleine to Le Honey Café, which we'd visited several years ago. Without the construction chaos this time around, the nighttime view was gorgeous. I accompanied said view with a dreamy mousse chocolat.

Tomorrow I have almost the entire day to see the newly renovated Béziers and its écluses before my Flixbus back to Barcelona!Читать далее