Canal du Midi cruise
Trip Start
Mar 29, 2006
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73
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Trip End
Feb 28, 2007
Felines de Minervois,
France
Tuesday, July 4, 2006
Anne said it was the most expensive day in Felines. We spent the morning at home but after lunch we drove down to Homps to take our canal boat trip which we had pre-booked for 4.30pm. We all gathered on the towpath and awaited the vessel. There were Germans, English, French and Americans. The 'driver' of the motorised barge gave us a very interesting commentary in both French and English as we sailed westwards along the Canal du Midi towards La Redorte. We learned many things about the history of the canal with which I will not bore the reader here except to say that it was a major engineering feat of its time. It was also very pretty. The banks were lined with tall plane trees whose strong roots held the banks together and also acted as a mooring for the many rented and privately owned boats. We passed through just one lock. On the upward leg we had to wait some 20 minutes for three boats to be released downstream
Canal du Midi Hilton
. It was interesting to learn that Leonardo Da Vinci had something to do with the design of these locks or écluses. We passed a very large barge converted into a hotel...a hotel for a family of four plus cook and housekeeper we noted. I was pleasantly surprised that on the whole I enjoyed my boat trip.We had noticed on our previous trip to Homps that there was a restaurant that had escargots on the menu. So, on disembarking from our boat we made a bee line to that eating establishment only to find that it was empty...of customers that is. It was a tad early but we took a table anyway and ordered some of those pesky snails. The outdoor area in which we were sitting was on the edge of a well kept garden...a clipped lawn, fruit trees and native bushes. An ideal environment for snails to breed I thought. Other patrons arrived and by the time we finished our meal this outdoor area was full. Anne enjoyed her snails and I had chicken liver terrine whatever that was. For main course Anne had a leg of duck and I had grilled salmon. While we were eating we watched the French version of WWTBAM on a TV that was promising to show the football every night except that tonight it was a rest night. With a bottle of wine the meal cost us 70 Euros...about $120. We must be crazy. The temperature has dropped at last
