We headed out of L'Angel with some excellent bearings: we would meet up with the mythical and wonderful Canal du Midi (where we found we COULD cycle with trailers, contrary to common belief), visit the medieval walled city of Carcassonne, and cycle onwards into the foothills of the Pyrénées in the heart of the springtime, with the mountains blanketed in snow, and birds and wildflowers springing up everywhere...
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| Our campsite in the Corbières on the banks of the Aude River. |
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| Katy on a quiet country lane in the Corbières area. |
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| Passing through the village of Escale as we approach the Canal du Midi. |
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| Here it is finally, the Canal du Midi. Completed in 1681 it is France's and Europe's oldest canal, conceived to link the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. |
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| Katy and Bo and a lunchtime picnic along the canal near Marseillette. |
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| Bo takes a seat and gently tosses twigs into the Canal. |
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| As it was Easter weekend, we crossed paths with a fair number of pleasure boaters. |
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| A sequence of locks just before Trèbes. |
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| This section of the Canal is not paved, which keeps the number of cyclists down; we also crossed various walkers along the way. |
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| Jeff and Bo. |
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| Our first good look at the medieval city of Carcassonne (known as La Cité). Turrets and towers and fortress walls... |
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| In Carcassonne we were hosted by Stéphane and Noemie, Warms Showers hosts. Stéphane and his two sons, Antonin and Lino, came to meet us as we entered the city. |
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| Carcassonne, which until 1200 A.D. was a stronghold for the region's Cathars (before they were exterminated in a brutal genocide perpetrated by the Catholic pope and archbishops). |
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| Bo wanders about La Cité... |
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| ... stopping to greet what he thought was a real sheep outside this restaurant! |
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| Jeff and Bo exploring the ramparts. |
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| The Pyrénées rising up in the distance. |
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| Katy takes a break in front of the gardens. |
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| The three of us at the rear gate. Nearly all the other tourists at this time are Spanish and Catalan. |
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| A last glance at La Cité from the bridge across the Aude. |
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| Our second night in Carcassonne we were hosted by a different WS host: Florence and Cyril and their three kids. As it was Easter weekend, Cyril's parents (from Ardèche) were also in for a visit, making for a lively house. |
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| We left Carcassonne and continued in the direction of Toulouse. Pleasant canalside riding as Jeff and Bo advance. |
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| Bo takes delight in all the boats passing by. |
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| Due to a fungus that is without cure or control, all of the 42,000 (!) plane trees that line the canal will eventually be destroyed and replaced! These date back to the time of Napoleon. |
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| The Canal du Midi at its best. Shady pleasant stretches between locks, flanked by the ever-present plane trees. |
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| A short rest canalside. Katy has been besieged by a fever unfortunately. |
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| Our camp just a hop and a skip from the course of the canal. |
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| A couple of boats passing through a lock... |
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| ... and out the other side. |
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| Katy and Bo having a closer look at some locks. |
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| The gorgeous canalside town of Castelnaudary |
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| Jeff on firm track under the vault of plane trees... |
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| ...and Katy on some interesting singletrack in late afternoon. |
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| At this point, the architect of the Canal du Midi, Pierre-Paul Riquet, solved the problem of year-round water supply for the canal by diverting a river from the Black Mountain north of here. At this point, water flows westwards towards the Atlantic AND eastwards towards the Mediterranean. |
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| Our campsite nearby, with Bo cruising the singletracks on his balance bike. |
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| Entering the department of Haute-Garonne, Easter Sunday morning. |
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| The Canal du Midi features upwards of 40 viaducts, where the canal passes over existing water courses (streams and rivers). Called Ponts-Canal in French, these are considerable achievements. |
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| A motley array of canal boats. |
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| Picnicking along the canal. |
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| Bo tries to figure out daisy chains. |
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| Easter Sunday and lots of foot and 2-wheeled traffic along the canal! |
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| We jumped off the Canal cycling path at Ayguevives, and headed westwards towards our next WWOOF stay. |
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| Katy on a plateau, with the length of the Pyrénées just visible on the horizon. |
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| As we've entered the general area of Toulouse for the moment, you can see that the pink brick motif extends to the small villages as well. This is the church in the village of Noueilles. |
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| Now it was Jeff's turn to be ill; Bo helps push up the last stretch of a steep climb! |
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| Our campsite not far from the village of Noueilles. |
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| This was the view from our campsite. Basically, sick views of the snowy Pyrénées for half of the skyline. |
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| The hilltop church of Montaut, where we would stay with a Warm Showers host. |
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| Montaut is another fine example of a pink-brick church, seemingly unique to this area of France. |
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| Our hosts in Montaut: Annaig Pedrono and family. |
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| Bo on the backyard trampoline. |
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| We connected with a cycling route along the Garonne River at Carbonne, heading westwards still. |
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| The riverside town of Cazères. |
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| Bo in Cazères while we make a bread stop. |
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| The impeccably-maintained Chateau de Mauran. |
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| Katy, crossing the Garonne at Boussens. |
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| The view towards the mountains from the Garonne River. |
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Nearing our destination, we had looks like these of the Pyrénées...
fronted by golden rapeseed fields. |
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