We decided to drive over to the Canal du Midi and take a short boat ride up the canal. The tour boat travels slowly, 8 km per hour. Boats are not allowed to travel fast so that the wake from the boats will not damage the banks of the canal. The canal was built during the years 1666 - 1681, and was hand dug. It goes from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic about 150 miles in all. It was originally built for commercial transportation, but is only used for recreational purposes now. We went under three bridges, and this is the first one...built in 1730.
Because of the difference in elevation over the length of the canal, there are a series of locks on the canal. We managed to go through two of them. The locks are large enough for 4 boats to go through at a time. The locks raise and lower the boats from 12 to 18 feet at a time.
The canal is lined on both sides by plane trees that were planted about 100 years ago so that their roots would stabilize the sides of canal.
Caroline and Dave were with us on the boat ride. The bridge behind them is wider than many of the other bridges. It was built wide enough for the horses towing the barges to go under the bridge.
The earliest bridges built were too narrow for the horses. Boats coming through the older bridges have to be careful to go through exactly in the center.
The tow paths are not always still available right beside the canal, but bike and walking paths have been built beside the canal. We saw lots of bikers and hikers along the way. We thought this biker was interesting with her dog in the basket.
There are 45,000 plane trees lining the canal, but recently some of the trees have died. It appears that the water of the canal harbors a disease that is sickening and killing the trees along the canal. You can see some of the dead trees in this photo. There are 8000 sick or dead trees that are going to be removed from the canal since there is no cure for the disease. New resistant trees will replace them.
The sick trees are marked with orange dots and the dead ones are marked with green lines.
After we returned from the boat ride, we came back to Caunes-Minervois to visit the Abbey just down the street from our little house. The Abbey, dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul, was founded around 780. This area was part of the Cathar territory, and one of the popes came here to preach Catholic orthodoxy. The Abbey was actually able to purchase land from people who had been Cathar sympathizers. One of the Cathar bishops was burnt at the stake right here in Caunes.
In 1590, during the religious wars, Caunes was held under siege and the walls and gates of the village along with the Abbey were razed to the ground. The main part of the Abbey was rebuilt in 1600, then restored again in 1696. It was designated state property after the Revolution in 1791. The interior is beautifully decorated with the red and white marble from the local quarries. The white marble is Carrara marble from Italy.
The gardens beside the Abbey have beautiful roses like we have found all over this area of France. Inside the Abbey we found this statue of a woman with roses.
In the evening, we had reservations for a celebration dinner at the Hotel d'Alibert, named after the abbot who rebuilt the Abbey in 1600. The Hotel d'Alibert was constructed in the Italian style during the 16th century. It has a lovely interior courtyard with a canopied well dated 1561. We ate in this courtyard.
Caroline showing off her beautiful new engagement ring.
We had a wonderful dinner. We ordered different entrees, main courses, and desserts. Here are some of our choices:
Leon and Caroline ordered duck breast and goat cheese salad.
Leon ordered the cassoulet.
I had the chocolate dessert.
Dave had the strawberry soup with mint sorbet.
Dave and I are enjoying our wine and the ambiance of the Hotel d'Alibert.
Leon and I were so happy to have Caroline and Dave with us for a few days to enjoy this beautiful part of France with us.
No comments:
Post a Comment