Languedoc Five Knots — by Boat and by Bike — Is the 68 Ideal Pace to Take in the Old Stone, the Sublime 69

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t h r o u g h Languedoc Five knots — by boat and by bike — is the 68 ideal pace to take in the old stone, the sublime 69

landscapes and the terroir delicacies of southern France. november/december 2016 november/december 2016

Traversing 47 locks over six days gave us a first-class view of Pierre-Paul Riquet’s engineering marvel, the Canal du Midi, completed in 1680. the lock pound fills. Plane trees and poplars, right, deter erosion all along the canal.

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ven if it weren’t for the grapevines of France’s economy for the next 200 years, until rail- the anniversary couple: Minervois, Corbières and Limoux descend- roads finally superseded it. Our introduction to Languedoc began in ing in rows down from the snow-topped The Canal du Midi — bypassing Gibraltar and Narbonne, where we spent our first night before Pyrenees and severe Massif Central moun- all the complications of Spain, England and the boarding the canal boat. Narbonne is a beach town, tains into the Aude Valley; even if it weren’t Barbary pirates — stands today as a UNESCO World situated less than 10 miles from the Med. It’s also for the thousand-year-old stained glass, Heritage Site. As a travel destination, it deserves a a medieval town, home to the original troubadours great Gothic arches, and layers of local mar- top spot on the bucket list of anyone who loves to and to the third-tallest Gothic cathedral in France, ble and sandstone recalling the Paleolithic, wander by water. and it’s a Roman town, with the stones of the Via Roman and medieval people who walked Domitia, the ancient road from Rome to Spain (circa the hills and built the walls around us; even A Time and a Place to Celebrate 118 B.C.), running right through its central square. if it weren’t for the mild Mediterranean cli- My mom loves to wander by water, and in recent “What’s the oldest thing you can touch?” became mate, encounters with the easygoing people years she’d occasionally suggested a canal trip in our ongoing challenge to Isabel. She’d recently of the Languedoc region, and the world-class delica- Europe as a good way for our family to gather. As touched the 800-year-old Mayan stone at Tulum, in cies they serve from their own backyard — even if it much as I agreed, other priorities in our lives always Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. But here, on her first Eweren’t for all these things, I would come to the Midi seemed to nudge that notion aside. day in Languedoc, she’d already beaten her previous just for the canal bridges. Still, her idea had a powerful hold on us. Beginning record by more than a thousand years. The 17th-century Canal du Midi, linking France’s when my sister and I were young teenagers, our fam- The Languedoc region Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts, is a marvel. But ily lived for several years aboard a 41-foot ketch on is not Paris, just as the the stone canal bridges that appear occasionally the Gulf Coast and in the Bahamas, and for all of us, Carolina Lowcountry is not along its route are truly incomprehensible. While a that period remains a happy high point. In our own Manhattan. For those of us white-water river tumbles underneath, canal boats way, we’ve each been seeking to bring elements from who’d spent time in the cap- pass placidly overhead. To stand beside a canal bridge our liveaboard days back into our present lives. So

is to step into a real-life, three-dimensional M.C. when we saw my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary Escher painting. approaching, my mom’s idea moved to top priority. WHAT’S THE Yet the mind that created the Canal du Midi In the end, real life being what it is, we weren’t OLDEST THING and invented the canal bridges was not of Escher’s able to gather our whole family for a springtime Lockkeepers’ Modernist age but of a far earlier time, when “horse- excursion. But we did assemble a crew of seven, YOU CAN houses each carry power” referred to horses. He was Pierre-Paul Riquet with a quorum from each of the generations. TOUCH? a sign marking (1609–1680), and it was the Sun King, Louis XIV, Representing my sister’s family was Isabel Jennings, the kilometers who enabled Riquet to sculpt his seemingly deluded age 11. For my daughter Kate, 16, the April anni- ON DAY ONE, to the next lock, aspirations into the French landscape. Riquet’s canal versary coincided with her sophomore-year spring both up and down was one of the greatest public-works projects of its break. My mom’s sister, Rose Meagher, joined us, as ISABEL BEAT 70 the canal. time, and its successful completion in 1681 boosted did our friend Jim Bricker. And of course, there was HER PREVIOUS 71

RECORD BY A THOUSAND YEARS

ital and thought we knew France, Languedoc was a revelation. The area is actually named for its difference from the Parisians. In the early Middle Ages, when the Romance languages were first differentiating november/december 2016 themselves from Latin, the French language dom- november/december 2016 inated northern France, while Occitan stretched through the south from the Alps to the Pyrenees. The northern French word for “yes” was oïl (now oui); in Occitan, the word is oc. And given that langue means “language,” langue d’oïl referred to the language spoken in the north, while langue d’oc — Languedoc — described the language spoken in the south. Beginning with the Fourth Crusade, around 1200, the north-south struggle for political and cul- tural dominance of the region was full of the horrors humankind has been perfecting for all of its his- tory, and since then, generations of French policy

Vineyards and canal bridges (right) are among the Midi’s frequent splashes of beauty. Jim Bricker (center right) is a graphic designer and artist; he brought his watercolors and painted the landscape (top right) as we cruised through it — at a luxurious walking pace.

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CRUISING THE CANALS OF EUROPE You could spend a life- in France for a 40-foot canal systems allows for time exploring the ca- vessel were $55 (50 eu- larger commercial craft, nals of Europe and the ro) per day or $495 (450 up to 300 tons. British Isles aboard euro) per year; for char- For our weeklong trip your own boat and still terers, these tolls are we used a trilingual wa- never see them all. included in the booking terway guide published France alone offers 90 fee. Each canal system by Èditions du Breil in separate waterways is defined by a “gauge” France (carte-fluviale. covering more than — that is, a set of ves- com). Edition 7 of that 5,000 miles. Within the sel dimensions based series covers the Ca- various countries, each on draft, bridge height, nal du Midi and envi- canal is governed by an and the volume of lock rons. For even deeper agency that oversees pounds. The gauge in- knowledge, EuroCanals navigation and lock- side the Canal du Mi- Publishing (euroca- keeping. The French di is smaller than those nals.com), based in New National Waterway of other canals: a draft Mexico, provides an Authority (Voies nav- of 4 feet 5 inches and a excellent website and igable de France; vnf. height of 9 feet 10 inch- country-specific print fr) administers all the es. The more typical cruising guides to all French canals. The tolls Freycinet gauge in other the canals in Europe.

The Vision4 SL from LeBoat (opposite, center) is a marvel of 72 engineering: four 73

double suites and ample social space — and just centimeters smaller than a vessel requiring a commercial license. Our way was strewn with the freshest pro- visions (opposite, bottom). The has aimed to eradicate the Occitan language alto- sunset was lovely november/december 2016 gether. But still it has persisted, and since the 1970s, at Trèbes (left). november/december 2016 there’s been a popular movement to bring the language back into common use. It’s comparable to recommendation, The true meaning of her question was the Catalan and Galician revivals in Spain, or the and the concierge so much better. CANAL CHARTERING My family chartered a Vision4 SL from Le Boat (leboat.com). Because Le Boat is owned by Gaelic revivals in Ireland and Scotland. Throughout pointed us to Au Coq In fact, meant not a sprig of garnie the same parent company as The Moorings and Sunsail, we were able to make all our ar- Languedoc today, you’ll find street signs written in Hardi. The restau- greens but an entire — confit de canard rangements in U.S. dollars with a travel agent in Clearwater, Florida. Occitan as well as French. More to the point, during rant’s proprietor and delicious, unctuous, melt-in-your-mouth The weekly rate for this boat, the flagship of the fleet, ranges from $2,800 to $3,800 in the our entire stay, we never once met a person who fit I, in our imperfect duck leg. And when I was nearly finished spring and summer of 2017. If you travel with eight people, that comes to $50 to $68 per per- the stereotype of the surly Parisian waiter. mix of English and with the broth, Cathi brought a small son per night. Smaller boats cost less. For our party of seven, we rented four bicycles; we French, translated earthen cup of Corbières red wine. used them every day. Say Yes to the Garnish the menu choices to “What the peasants like to do,” she The Vision4 SL, in its own way, is a marvel of engineering. Start with the length: 49 feet I was still jet-lagged and groggy on that first night the rest of my family, said, “is pour it into the broth, then take 1 inch (14.95 meters). By French law, any vessel larger than 15 meters requires a licensed in Narbonne, still dusting off my schoolboy French, and then the ques- up the bowl in both hands and drink it all operator; this boat comes to within 0.05 meters of that mark. The boat’s height is precise- when the question came: “Vous la voulez garnie?” tion turned to me. down. Try it.” ly designed to fit under the Canal du Midi’s 17th-century bridges — provided that all heads After our midafternoon arrival at the Toulouse Cathi described for me a special dish called garbure, a From that moment on, I learned to say are ducked, and all wine bottles removed from the flybridge dinette. Within the envelope Airport, we’d rented a big diesel Mercedes van, thick stew of pork and chicken and vegetables, that yes to the garnish. of those hull dimensions is a fine hotel: four double cabins, each with its own en suite bath- loaded all our kit and our seven selves aboard, driven wasn’t on that day’s menu. Her description was too Isabel had her first culinary epiphany a room, plus an ample main saloon and a sizable kitchen. (Yes, “bathrooms” and “kitchens” nearly two hours down the A61 national highway, and good to turn down. And when she asked if I’d like it day or so later. I ordered a plate of escar- are how the brochures describe them.) After a quick learning curve, operating the boat is located our hotel among Narbonne’s narrow cobble- garnished, I figured a nice sprinkling of parsley and got, then dared her to eat one. Eyes big, relatively easy — and made easier by a bow thruster and an articulating pod driven by a joy- stone streets. At the front desk, I asked for a dinner chives would be lovely. she thought long and hard before putting stick in docking mode.

74 november/december 2016 Trèbes. the staircase at aswe lines climb Sisters suggestions: that we set Boat made two excellent Our travel agent from Le ing inCastelnaudary. ning inHomps andend- was upstream, begin- seem ideal. June andSeptember 15 andAugust 31.May, thicken between July warmer, but crowds it becomesdrierand ny. Later intheseason, short-sleeved andsun- the otherdays were sional light showers; er-chilly, with occa- our week were sweat- of April. Two days of oc inthethird week We traveled to Langued- IF YOU GO Our canal itinerary handle handle

have come from any otherplace come intheworld. from have right underourfeetcould theearth not comes from justthis:thatthefoodand winethat mean? Basically . andculturalidentityto terroir personal What doesit to home,theFrenchclose alwaysattached their have outofeatingfoodgrown movement a sociopolitical carbon-footprint-conscious created have millennials our . While terroir there was there were locavores, often not,they’d as pointoutthebackdoor. Before where thewine,vegetablesormeatcamefrom. As snailsinit. out some Oh, yes. herby with- amealpassed After that,hardly a snailinto hermouth. Butonce shedid: Mmm... And how. From market to stalls supermarkets, It funto shopkeepers was ask andrestaurateurs Toulouse, landingmi- we booked flights into roughly $1,000. Instead, seven peoplecame to trip train tickets for onia, ourtallyofround- relished avisittoCatal- much aswe would have train toNarbonne. As Barcelona, thentake a which was toflyinto third pieceofadvice, able toimprove onher Boat baseat Homps. 20 milesfrom theLe night inNarbonne, just that we spendourfirst boarding theboat, and to landafullday before U.S.-to-Europe flights the date ofourovernight That said,we were $15 perperson. minutes, andlessthan Toulouse was aneasy 40 from Castelnaudary to return train connection less thantwo hours. The the car. Driving timewas were allIneeded torent cense andacredit card state-issued driver’s li- day, allfor just $300. My on totheboat thenext our first night, andthen our bagstoNarbonne for ily carried allofusand and costly.) Thevan eas- ders was complicated al across national bor that aone-way car rent Europcar. (We found one-day dieselvan from dafternoon, andrented a - - 0900 to 1230, then1330to 1800(abit longerfrom by thelockkeepers’ were set our schedules schedules: 330feetofelevation. nearly We foundthat quickly took through47locksand usuphill Castelnaudary the surroundings. cyclists as — aperfectspeedtoquite fast take as in — justfaster thanwalkers onthetowpath, butnot boats, keeping speedto 5knots asedate thecruising ofits ontheengines ofall by agovernor installing eroding theshore.LeBoatenforces thisrestriction easy, inthelocks. even an electronicdelay. Butonce we did,maneuveringwas pivots initsownlength. At first we had to to getused remember forever. way throughLanguedocisonethateachofuswill lets to wineconfitures, theexperienceour oftasting standstocassou- farm restauranttables,from from plifies maneuveringintightquarters, andthat’s even changethedirectionofthrust. you actually This sim- mounted underthehull: When youthewheel, turn on an articulating pod,likeon anarticulating an youis as would expect,except is thatthepropeller modeiswiththrottleandhelm. mal underway This 50 feetlong,theboatoperates intwo modes. The nor simpleproblems.Nearly only LeBoat,presented from taken in30years. onewe hadn’t —was schedule without adelivery and thischance —to spendaweek together inaboat chance Igetto deliveraboatwithhim, every I love the two ofusgotgoodattacklingprojectstogether. problems, andhe’s years, goodatit.In ourcruising boat he andmymommetin1964.He solving loves My aeronauticalengineeringwhen studying dadwas Engineering Made Easy Our weeklong itinerary from Homps from to Our weeklong itinerary Speed on the canal is stringently restrictedSpeed onthecanalisstringently to avoid Running ourchartered canalboat,a Vision4 SL HIGHER STILL. A RESERVOIR WATER FROM THEN SEND PASS OVER, C POINT THE THE HIGHEST SOLUTION: FIND RIQUET’S and the trol boththeaft-mounted pod thejoystick toengage con - near zero, thehelmsmancan into play. With theboatspeed before thejoystick comes stick to theright,and boat to walks port. Twist thejoy- boat the left,and50-foot thruster. Pushthejoystick to NL WOULD ANAL outboard-motor sha forward-mount ed bow ed bow ft ft - that therewould benoothertraffic onthecanal. intheknowledge inforthenight,secure and settle to easy tieupanywherealongthebank side, itwas noadvancing.Ontheplus closing time,therewas May throughSeptember). If alock before you missed ing we wouldn’t before reachthelock at l’Aiguille the Midilandscape. At theendofoneday, realiz- withjustthe eyedesigner —anartist to appreciate engineering. It’s too. aboutart, theFrenchOf course, Midiisn’t and aboutscience all Arts andSciences maintained. canal isprecisely ensure thatthewater depth withinanystretch ofthe between locks ofotherriverbeds.Spillways the levels above inastone structure themountainreservoir from thecanalbuildersto150 miles,allowed contain water thekey,was andtheterraced design,stretching over with silt.Isolating therivers canalfrom thenavigable rivers,buttheybecameclogged the canalwithrunning bridges. In earlierattempts, theengineerstriedjoining forthecanal thereason final problem,silting,was to theproblemsoferosionandsilting. solution This line thecanalwere Riquet’s idea:alasting were traveling. ofthesystemthe parts throughwhichwe the lockgates andsluices, identifyingall my dadandIenjoyed puzzlingthrough inmotion. all canal. ButRiquet’s it eurekamomentset workers 15yearscreate to the actually took itstill 12,000 mountains. Ofcourse, deSaint-Ferréol,the Bassin upinthe water thecanalcomes from supplying is thecanal’s the highpoint,andall Naurouze, justwest ofCastelnaudary, places: visit eachofthose The Seuilde higherstill. Todayreservoir you can water toa then send thatpointfrom Canal to and duMidiwould have pass, over whichthe find thehighestpoint there, in1660, thathecracked thenut: andCastelnaudary.Carcassonne It was intheBlackMountainslong walks above without silting. could how figureout was to ofwaterkeep itfull Leonardo da Vinci took aswing.Butwhatnoone tried. suchacanal.Charlemagne region, imagined Med. The Romans, whobroughtaqueductsto the stretch anavigable from coasts was Toulouse to the into the Atlantic, you all neededto connect thetwo Bordeaux. And withtheGaronne Riverleading French isthmus—stretchingNarbonne from to lowplain—theso-called liesarelatively Pyrenees Between theMassif Centralmountainsandthe uptheproblem:topographical mapofEuropesets canal throughthiscountry. lookataA cursory wasn’tcertainly a commercial thefirst to try Pierre-Paulsolution He Riquethaddiscovered. understandjustwhatabrilliant canal didwe finally watching thelockkeepers, andreadingaboutthe Jim Bricker isapainter, photographer and graphic Even theplanetreesand poplarsthat Beginning withourfirstlockat Jouarre, ahiker.Riquet was He liked to take thelocks, daysoftraversing afterOnly several LINGERING THROUGH LANGUEDOC LINGERING THROUGH 44˚ N 45˚ N 0 Statute Miles 2˚ W Bay of Biscay 25

anniversary ofthe50years here. thatbroughtusall anniversary andclinkedpopped abottleofChampagne, to the aroundus, thefarms from charcuterie andcheese brought outbreadbaked andolives, thatmorning to over we thecanalbank, pulled lunchtime pause, lockkeeper’s Here, andlittleelse. duringthe house it would behard to ahamletwith beatSt.Sernin, days’exploration. of several brick Toulouse avibrant universitytown was worthy initsbeauty. almostoverwhelming was ramparts, Red withits51towers medieval Carcassonne, andmassive beauty.by ofsurprising splashes cityof The walled hearthecuckoo.When Ilookatit,canstill hills. gorgeous dayatthefootofMinervois now hangsanoilpaintingJim createdthat from athomethereof theword “romantic.”Onmywall anddebated themeaningsthrough theevening, all the canal,watched thelightchangeonbridge back attheboat. We listened to acuckoo across place mysticismlike ofmedieval noother. churchinEurope—a said toseven-sided betheonly column. Most interestingly,every Rieux-Minervois is marblecapitalon designedandcrafteduniquely every Italy, France andSpain.For thischurch,thesculptor unknown except throughhisworks, whichshowupin Cabestany, identityis whose sculptor a12th-century said tobeendesignedandbuiltby theMaster have of looking for, Sainte-Marie deRieux-Minervois. It’s achurchI’d milesawayfrom were justafew been what you’re lookingfor. At Puichéric,Irealizedwe just off into thevineyards. Rose, Jim andIhoppedonourrented bikes androde side.Straightaway,at Puichéricalittleontheearly closing time,we tiedupto thebanknearbridge P

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50 But to me,forsweet momentsofaquieter sort, All alongthecanal,slowdayswere punctuated y After thatexcursion, rejoinedeachother we all but muchinmuseums, In isnotso Languedoc,art r

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