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Siem Reap: Angkor Thom

anotherheader — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 21:24:58 +0000

A replacement head on the Churning of the Ocean of Milk on Angor Thom's south gate

The ancient Khmer temples near Siem Reap Cambodia are often generically referred to as “Angkor Wat.” This is incorrect. Though it is true that Angkor Wat is the best preserved and grandest of the Khmer temples, there is much more to the Angkor region. Indeed, researchers using satellite imaging have concluded that Angkor was at its peak the largest preindustrial city in the world. At its fullest extent the functionally integrated urban core covered 390 square miles. That is more than 17 times the size of modern Manhattan. Within Angkor’s historic borders are over a 1,000 temples.

The modern map of Angkor

The first temple we visited in Cambodia was Angkor Thom. We reached this complex of ruins from our hotel in Siem Reap in the back of Mr. Panha’s tuk tuk. Before entering the Angkor temple area Mr. Panha pulled over and stopped at the visitor center to let us purchase admission passes. A three-day pass to visit the temples of Angkor costs $30 per person. (United States dollars are the standard currency in Siem Reap.) Even after a short time in Cambodia thirty dollars for three days seemed expensive. How quickly our price perceptions had changed.

We entered Angkor Thom through the south gate. All five entrances to Angkor Thom are similar. First a stone bridge crosses a wide moat. Large impressive sculpture railings depicting the perpetual tug-of-war of the Churning of the Ocean of Milk bracket the road bridge. On the far side of the moat the entry boulevard passes through Angkor Thom’s gray stonewalls by way of a massive gate complex. On the tower above the entry portal four large faces stare eternally in the each compass direction.

The Bayon Temple

Bapuon Temple

Angkor Thom is large. The city complex covers 9 square miles. Inside the walls there are many temples and many things to see. Mr. Panha dropped us near the Bayon temple and suggested we spend two hours exploring this and the ruins to the north. At the time two hours seemed long and more time than we needed. But by the time we finished our exploration of the Bayon and Bapuon temples and the Leper King and Elephant terraces we had been on our feet for more than three hours. We could have easily explored twice as long just here but the impossibly steep scrambles up the sides of the temples under the hot sun on the humid day was taxing our jet-lagged bodies.

The Bayon temple was our personal favorite. Still standing amongst the three-dimensional maze-like complex are 37 towers of the original 49. Each tower has large faces, from two to four, carved into the stonework. As you creep through the endless passageways and small courtyards the ancient faces repeatedly come into view. It feels like a paranoid acid trip; you are constantly being watched. Always around each corner is another staring face.

Of course there are plenty of tourist faces in the Bayon temple also. The UNESCO-designated temples of Angkor draw over two million visitors each year. But at least in the labyrinth of Bayon it was easy enough to happen on spaces that are completely tourist free. But while we could escape from the masses of people we could never get away from the eerie gaze of the tower faces.

Compared to Bayon, Bapuon Temple feels less exotic or at least less eerie. Bapuon does not have large stone faces constantly overlooking the tourists. The rockwork is less sculptural and more patterned. Though there are common elements amongst all of Angkor’s temples, each structure has it’s own distinct style.

Angkor Thom’s temples and the terraces are impressive feats of construction. Relatively easy to work laterite supports the structure. Sandstone blocks, often intricately carved with bas-reliefs and geometric patterns, cover the base laterite rock blocks. Even in the modern state of decay the temple ruins are extraordinarily complex and elaborate. One can only imagine how spectacular Angkor’s works were soon after they were completed. Modern Hollywood set designers would be envious.

A large stone face on the Bayon Temple

Bas-relief image

After our tour we headed with Mr. Panha for lunch at a nearby restaurant. Cambodian cuisine fits in a niche between the food of its neighbors Thailand and Vietnam. The fare is not quite Thai nor is it the Vietnamese food that we know. As served to us the Khmer dishes were mild. We learned later that restaurants cater to the perception of Western tastes and tone down the heat. If you like your food spicy hot, be sure to ask for the chopped fresh pepper condiment that can be served on the side. But be careful with this Thai pepper salsa. It is stupendously hot.

Angkor Thom is a good place to begin explorations of Cambodia’s ancient Khmer temples. It is so much unlike any place we’ve been. Exotic, eerie, impressive, astounding, complex, and spectacular, there is an endless list of adjectives that can be applied to describe Angkor. It is almost overwhelming.

Buddhist monks in Siem Reap

Canal des Deux Mers: Montauban to Castelsarrasin

anotherheader — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:00:43 +0000

Cruising between the locks near Montech. The water slope is on the left. (color IR)

Canal de Montech and Canal de Garonne

Our day in Montauban started with a scolding. The port’s Le Boat agent gruffly informed Becky that the Herault was moored in a “reserved” spot. When we tied up the prior day the agent was out for the long French lunch. All around the pier we searched dutifully for “no mooring” signs; we found none. So it was news to us that Le Boat, a barge rental company, had dibs on the docks in the port. In any event, as the saying goes, it is better to ask forgiveness than permission. In this case our option was to wait hours in a hot boat to ask for authorization to moor where we couldn’t.

The reprimand reminded us that we prefer to be admonished in French, or English with a heavy French accent as it was in this case, rather than in German. Being chastised in German sounds serious; the German language is the iron fist. In German, when you are being scolded, there must be serious consequences coming soon. On the other hand, the French language is the velvet glove. It is hard to take anything said in French or with a heavy French accent too seriously.

The rebuke encouraged a rapid departure from Montauban. Locking down on the Canal de Montech nine locks needed to be cycled before we could return to the Canal de Garonne. We took advantage of the canal’s remote control lock activation system by dropping Becky with the remote commander, Gigi, and a bike, on shore so they could ride ahead and trigger the locks in advance of the Herault’s arrival. At each lock, once our boat’s rope was set and the exit cycle button was pushed, Becky would mount up and pedal ahead to trigger the next lock. The system worked well; the lock gates all opened just as the Herault arrived. We returned to Montech near noon. Our fast exit from Montauban left time for a pleasant lunch on the porch of the canal-side Michelin-listed restaurant in the old lockkeeper’s house, La Maison de l’Éclusier. (Regrettably we’ve learned that this establishment is now closed.)

After lunch we continued our westward journey on the Canal de Garonne. Just past the intersection with the Canal de Montech is the Montech Water Slope. The Herault is too short to qualify to be moved by this locomotive driven wedge of water. Indeed, I suspect that the water slope is rarely used these days. We saw few moving barges that were long enough, 30 to 40 meters, to be eligible to bypass the parallel locks on the mechanical contraption.

In the Herault we descended from Montech on the linked set of five locks near the Water Slope. After finishing the lock chain we continued down the canal through three more locks. This brought us to the popular barging port in Castelsarrasin. Castelsarrasin’s park-like grass banked port is pleasant on warm days. We tied up, checked the port office and saw that it was closed for the day, and headed into the village searching once again for fresh vegetables.

A modern bridge crosses the Canal de Garonne near Montech. (Color IR converted to B&W.)

As usual we passed by six open pharmacies before we finally found a small convenience store. Why are there so many pharmacies in France? And why is it so hard to find fresh vegetables? In the town’s Petite Casino “supermarché”, we rescued a collection of limp root vegetables two days after they should have been discarded. These would have to do for the night’s meal.

The next day we’d move on along the Canal de Garonne. Were we enticed to leave Castelsarrasin’s well-tended port to continue our search of fresh legumes? Or did we leave because we wanted to get on with our journey? At times it seems that our hunt for fresh food pulled us forward faster than the intrigue of the unseen sights ahead. Maybe our cruise across France on Canal des Deux Mers was truly just a hunt for the next decent market.

Log

Day 20

Start: Montauban

Finish: Castelsarrasin

Travel time*: 7.2 hours

Cruising time**: 5.4 hours

Distance traveled: 24 kilometers

Lock chambers transited: 17 (this ties our personal record for the trip)

Weather: Clear, warm

At the end of the day, our trip across France was 54% complete based on cruising time and 51% complete based on distance covered. We had passed through 147 of the 246 locks (60%) of the locks that we would cross.

* The time between the start of the day and the end of the day.

**As measured by the hour meter on our boat. When the motor is running we were either moving or standing by to move (like in a lock).

Canal des Deux Mers: Montbartier to Montauban

anotherheader — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:41:52 +0000

Inside the Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption de Montauban (HDR)

Canal de Garonne and the Canal de Montech

Just after 9 am, after the locks opened, we left our private canal side mooring near the Forêt d’Agre and headed northwest on the Canal de Garonne. Five kilometers and one lock later we reached the intersection between the Canal de Montech and the Garonne’s canal.

The Garonne and Montech canals connect at the top of a water slope. The improbable Montech Water Slope is a locomotive driven device that lifts large barges past five locks on the Garonne’s canal. At the waterway intersection we turned right onto the Canal de Montech. Passing through an arched red brick bridge we were on our way to Montauban.

Built in the same era as the Canal de Garonne, the Canal de Montech covers 7 miles with 9 locks to link Montauban’s lower town to through channel of the Garonne canal. The style of the Canal de Montech is similar to the Canal de Garonne. There is one noticeable difference. The lock cycles on the Canal de Montech are triggered by a remote control rather than by a pole suspended on a wire over the channel.

Looking somewhat like a garage door opener, a wireless remote is provided by a technician at the first lock. Locking down, you simply cruise within range of the lock and push the correct button on the remote. No maneuvers are needed to get under a suspended pole or to get a crewmember to shore. Once the button is pushed the lock cycles appropriately, the gate opens, and you sail your barge into the lock. For boaters Canal de Montech’s lock activation system is an improvement. Short of a fulltime lockkeeper, it is the best way triggering locks that we saw on our cruise.

It didn’t take long before we reached Montauban’s canal port tucked in near the railroad tracks. After we tied up, apparently in the wrong spot we learned later, we headed on foot to the old town. It was too hot and humid to linger on a stationary boat in the stagnant air at the docks. Up a hill from the port, across the tracks and the Tarn River, is Montauban’s historic district. Reaching central Montauban took longer than we imagined particularly on a warm day.

When we finally reached Montauban’s center it was clear that we weren’t going to make a second trip up the hill this day. It was too hot and our boat was too far away. Making the most of our single visit we wandered the town, found a few Invaders and enjoyed the coolness inside Montauban’s red brick arcaded central square, the Place Nationale. Perhaps we were influenced by the heat of the day but we decided that the quiet Place Nationale is our favorite plaza anywhere. Under the square’s arcades we ate both lunch and dinner.

Gigi and Becky on the bank of the Canal de Montech

Across the Tarn in Montauban

The conclusion was slow in coming but we ultimately decided that we actually like Montauban. An afterthought in many guidebooks, its location overlooking the Tarn and its red brick buildings give the town a distinctive feel. Still we don’t like Montauban well enough to want to hike up the hill from the canal port on a hot day. I’m not sure we like any place well enough to do that.

It seems that Gigi liked the port better than we did. She took advantage of an off leash moment at the end of the day to run laps around the grass area near the docks. The assembled navy was unimpressed by her extensive obedience training. It served as reminder. Gigi needs more work on her retrieves. And if you speak English in a foreign country, like crews on the boats in the port, don’t assume that those around you can’t understand what you are saying!

Log

Day 19

Start: Montbartier

Finish: Montauban

Travel time*: 3.9 hours

Cruising time**: 3.7 hours

Distance traveled: 16 kilometers

Lock chambers transited: 10

Weather: Cool and still in the morning, warm in the afternoon

A typical bridge crosses the canal

An abandoned lockkeeper's house on the Canal de Montech

At the end of the day, our trip across France was 51% complete based on cruising time and 48% complete based on distance covered. We had passed through 130 of the 246 locks (53%) of the locks that we would cross.

* The time between the start of the day and the end of the day.

**As measured by the hour meter on our boat. When the motor is running we were either moving or standing by to move (like in a lock).

From Montech, a chain of locks continues on the Canal du Midi. On the right is the top of the Montech Water Slope.

Canal des Deux Mers: Toulouse to Montbartier

anotherheader — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:36:59 +0000

Backlit trees and mirror smooth canal waters (color IR)

Canal du Midi and the Canal de Garonne

“We’re sinking.”

On the phone with Chris from Locaboat, our boat rental company, Becky uttered the most dreaded of all phrases in the barge renter’s vocabulary.

Écluse du Béarnais, our final lock on the Canal du Midi

Earlier in the day in Toulouse’s Port Saint-Sauveur our morning was much more mundane. A productive round of shopping for fresh food at the nearest marché couvert overfilled the Herault’s larder. It was with some reluctance that we pulled out of the port a half an hour before noon. We stayed two nights in Toulouse; we could have stayed much longer. Toulouse is too large and too interesting for a short stay. As we left we never imagined that the Herault’s demise would be proclaimed before the day was over.

Five kilometers and three locks ahead was the western end of the Canal du Midi. With good fortune we would finish the Midi and make it to the start of the Canal de Garonne before the automated locks closed at 12:30 pm. We weren’t so lucky. When we twisted the pole suspended over the channel to activate our first lock, the Bayard écluse, nothing happened. Unbeknownst to us, VNF’s trash skimming barge that we had seen earlier was busy pulling debris out of the lock’s chamber on its conveyor belt. We’d have to wait for the cleaning boat to finish before we could proceed. And by the time the VNF barge was done it was too late to make it through the Midi’s remaining locks before the lockkeeper’s lunch. Maybe we should have stayed an extra day in Toulouse after all.

The VNF canal cleaner

The VNF cleaning barge merely delayed our gratification. After lunch we transited the western-most lock on the Canal du Midi. Passing under the arch of a red brick bridge we left the Midi and entered the Port de L’Embouchure. Here the Canal de Garonne, the Canal du Midi, and the little used connector to the Garonne River, the Canal de Brienne, intersect. We had come 150 miles and crossed through 63 locks with 91 chambers to reach this point. A celebration of sorts was in order so we spun a power circuit around the port before we motored through another arched red brick bridge to the start of the Canal de Garonne. Our journey on the Canal du Midi was lamentably complete but our cruise was not finished. Ahead of us was the second major waterway of the Canal des Deux Mers, the Canal de Garonne.

Formerly known as the Canal latéral à la Garonne, the Canal de Garonne receives water from and travels along the Garonne River for most of its length. Starting in Toulouse, the Garonne canal extends 120 miles and passes through 53 locks. The canal’s western end returns the Garonne’s water to the river at the upper extent of the Atlantic Ocean’s tidal influence near Castets-en-Dorthe.

The Canal du Midi in Toulouse

Becky makes waves on the Canal de Garonne

Before the Canal de Garonne was constructed cargo floated to the Atlantic on the Garonne River. Here as in many other places floods and drought limit navigation of the natural waterway. Hence the Canal de Garonne was built in the mid to late 19^th century to provide a more consistent transportation link between Toulouse and the ocean.

Becky twists a pole to activate a lock.

Leaving Toulouse the Canal de Garonne seems an obviously different channel. At its beginning the Garonne canal is mostly straight. The initial stretch leaving Toulouse is scattered with a line of junky boats barely tied to the shore and only just floating. It is perhaps the most unappealing stretch of the entire Canal des Deux Mers.

There are other differences between the Canal de Garonne and the Canal du Midi. The Garonne’s lock chambers are rectilinear boxes typical of the canals built in France in the 19^th Century. Box shaped écluses are perfectly functional but they don’t feel as historic as the Midi’s ovoid locks. And, like the locks descending from the Océan écluse on the Canal du Midi, the lock cycle actuation is automated. Here a pole suspended on wires over the channel triggers the lock. With a twist of the rod from the deck of boat the lock empties or fills as needed and the gates open. Once tied inside the écluse’s chamber bargers activate the last step of the locking cycle using a canal-side button. The system usually works well; the locks cycle quickly.

Two red lights means it is time to contact the VNF.

Occasionally automated locks do not function as expected. When this happens boaters summon roving VNF personnel by cell phone or by the chamber-side intercom. Indeed, eight locks in on the Canal de Garonne at the Écluse de Castelnau we twisted the suspended pole and nothing happened. Two red lights on the signal pole told us that the lock was out of service. We needed to get on shore and contact the VNF on the lock-side intercom.

The service docks for each lock on the Canal de Garonne are located before the twist pole lock cycle actuator. In the wind it was easiest to bounce off the bank, perhaps a little harder than intended, and maneuver back to the dock. Soon Becky was on the bank. In shorts she waded through a field of stinging nettles to reach the intercom. As usual the VNF came rapidly in a car.

Back on the boat there was a problem. I could hear a motor running constantly. Soon I determined that it was the bilge pump that was running full time. The bilge pump’s function is to remove water from the bottom of the boat. As long as it can expel water faster than water is coming into the hull the pump prevents the craft from sinking. Somehow the Herault’s bilge had been triggered by our bump into the bank. Were we now taking on water? Is that why the pump was running full time?

The locks doors are open and we are free to go.

Quickly I dug through the overfilled binder-clad boat manual that Locaboat had included with the Herault. Somewhere there was a brief discussion of what to do if the bilge pump float gets stuck in the “on” position. Pulling up the floor panels in the galley I searched for the crucial pump. It wasn’t obvious where the bilge pump was but I could see the hull easily enough. I could also see that there was a lot of water, way more than I expected, in the bottom of the boat. I moved everything I could see and nothing shut the bilge pump off. Now I was concerned. Was the pump running because we were taking on water? Did we puncture the boat on a stray piece of rebar on our bank maneuver? It didn’t seem possible but why else was the bilge pump on full time?

It was time to call Locaboat. Becky had the phone in case the VNF intercom didn’t work. Securing the Herault to the dock, I waded through the nettle field with Gigi to find Becky engaged with the VNF technician. I told her we had a problem and we needed to call Locaboat. She didn’t seem too concerned and continued to focus on practicing her French. I reminded her that if we were taking on water and the bilge pump cut out we might sink. We really needed to resolve this problem soon, ideally before we went through the lock.

Pont-canal de l’Hers

Would we be the first renters to sink a boat?

Becky was quickly on the phone with Locaboat. She was relayed to the nearest base and was soon talking to Chris from Agen.

“We’re sinking,” Becky told Chris.

The Herault and crew inside the Écluse du Béarnais, the last lock on the Canal du Midi

Out of earshot, I hadn’t heard this.

Not surprisingly the phone was soon thrust into my hand.

“The bilge pump is running full time and there is water in the bottom of the boat,” I told Chris.

“But Madame said that the boat is sinking!” Chris exclaimed.

After assuring Chris that the Herault was not in immediate danger of being left at the murky bottom of the canal she sought advice from a technician.

“Look for a white switch on the hull,” Chris soon relayed back.

I had seen this white box before and had pulled at to no avail along with everything else I could see in the bottom of the boat. Now with the new information I went back and looked more carefully. There was in fact a “lever” imbedded in the middle of the white box. Pulling the lever stopped the pump. Apparently this was the float. I eyed the water in the hull suspiciously for a couple of minutes half expecting to see the level rising. It didn’t. The bilge pump had been stuck on. We were not sinking after all; the hull was not punctured.

All through our hysterics the VNF technician waited patiently at the lock. Undoubtedly he understood more English than he could speak. I’m sure he suspected that we were in a self-induced state of rental boater panic. When we cleared the lock we got a slightly bemused “there goes another loopy set of rental boaters” look. At least the wacky boaters keep him employed.

From the Port de L’Embouchure arched bridges lead to the Canal de Garonne (left), the Canal du Midi (middle), and the Canal de Brienne (right)

Surviving the crisis of our own creation we continued on. The junky boats were long gone and the scenery was improving. Hills were rising not far from the still waters of the mostly arrow straight canal. On the banks low trees shaded the water.

Past the Pont-canal de l’Hers we started scouting for place near a town to moor for the night. Being near a town meant that there would be fresh croissants from a local boulangerie the next morning. We saw no spot that appealed so we continued on. Just before lock closing time we transited the Emballens écluse and were on an 11.5 mile-long pound. With no lock gates ahead we could now cruise until it was dark.

Past the bridge the Canal de Garonne begins.

When we were certain we would not find a suitable village-side mooring spot we slid dinner into the oven and continued on until the food was ready. Finally we staked up to the bank at 7:30 pm near the Forêt d’Agre. We were by ourselves. No boats, houses, or boulangeries were near. It was certain now that would not have fresh croissants and pain au chocholats the next morning.

Ten minutes after we pulled to the side of the channel we were dining on an Iberico pork roast purchased in Toulouse and sipping Languedoc wine. Our sinking was deliberately forgotten in the peace of our temporary home. Nights like this, tucked in some quiet forested segment of the canal, were some our favorites of our journey. No event during the day could overwhelm the luxury of having our own private canal-side spot for the night.

Log

Day 18

Start: Toulouse

Finish: Montbartier

Travel time*: 8.2 hours

Cruising time**: 7.3 hours

Distance traveled: 43 kilometers

Lock chambers transited: 12

Weather: Clear, warm

At the end of the day, our trip across France was 48% complete based on cruising time and 46% complete based on distance covered. We had passed through 120 of the 246 locks (49%) of the locks that we would cross.

* The time between the start of the day and the end of the day.

**As measured by the hour meter on our boat. When the motor is running we were either moving or standing by to move (like in a lock).

Canal des Deux Mers: Gardouch to Toulouse

anotherheader — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:30:04 +0000

The Herault at dock in Toulouse's Port Saint-Sauveur (HDR)

Canal du Midi

The western terminus of the Canal du Midi is in Toulouse, a day’s cruise from our night’s mooring spot in Gardouch. Though by intent we would not make it to the exact end of the waterway this day or the next we easily could have. Even at our sometimes-deliberate pace it took us 15 days to travel the Canal du Midi from the Étang de Thau along the Mediterranean Sea to downtown Toulouse. If we had skipped the side trip to Narbonne and cruised on our day off in Trebes it would have taken us just 12 days. It’s funny how traveling the Canal du Midi’s 150 miles in 12 cruising days had mutated from feeling painfully slow to surprisingly fast. Still the reality of our pace is incontrovertible; our progress was Iron Age slow. We could have walked across France this fast.

A sign identifies each lock on the Canal du Midi

Perhaps our perception of speed was influenced by the changes of scenery. Gone now is the Mediterranean coast, the vineyards of the Minervois, and Bram’s garden feel. As we started descending from the Canal du Midi’s summit at the Océan écluse the urban density of Toulouse slowly crept in. Bram’s rural English garden feel was gradually replaced by emerging suburbia. Though there were few boats on the water, the repurposed towpath saw an increasing density of cyclists making a day of it from Toulouse.

The single locks on the descent to Toulouse from the Océan écluse are all automated. Automated here means that that the lock cycle activation is triggered by a box on the side of the chamber. The system works easily enough. It does have its quirks though. Quite to our surprise we learned that the automated locks take lunch breaks just like the manned écluses. Apparently the automated lock union negotiates work rules with the same enthusiasm as the rest of France’s transportation workers!

On the way to Toulouse we stopped briefly at Locaboat’s small lock-side base in Negra. During a splash-and-go stop the technician topped our tank with 87 liters of diesel (we burn about 3 liters per hour of cruising), filled our water tanks, and rapidly repaired a host of small problems on the boat. With the automated lockkeepers lunch and the pit stop we approached central Toulouse at rush hour.

Plane trees reflecting from the surface of the Canal du Midi (color IR)

The Cathédrale Saint-Étienne de Toulouse holds the remains of the Canal du Midi's builder, Pierre-Paul Riquet

Nearing Toulouse’s old town the canal’s character changes. Motorists in the midst of their commutes race along the roads paralleling the banks. An unending row of large Freycinet gauge barges lines the shore. No longer do these barges transport cargo or passengers. Now the boats serve as spacious residential housing. The old towpath is itself popular. Strollers and cyclists compete for time on the paved strip. For the residents of Toulouse, the Canal du Midi is now more important as a band of open space than as a navigable waterway.

In Toulouse the Canal du Midi has been modified to accommodate modern urban growth. Most noticeable on the cruise to Port Saint-Sauveur is the Herbettes Aqueduct. Finished in 1983, this metal-troughed canal bridge crosses over a busy four-lane freeway. We didn’t expect to look down from the Herault’s deck to see semi trucks passing underneath us! Can there be any better demonstration that the Canal du Midi is an anachronism?

One of Canal du Midi's classic ovoid shaped locks

Not far from the Herbettes Aqueduct is Toulouse’s canal port, Port Saint-Sauveur. Port Saint-Sauveur would be our base in Toulouse for the next couple of days. On arrival the Capitainerie redirected us to a suitable spot on the metal dock complete with water and electricity. Toulouse’s Capitainerie spoke only French to us. For reasons we don’t entirely understand–perhaps it was her diction and the context–we could pretty much understand everything she was saying. It almost made it feel like we understood French. But we know better.

La ville rose or the pink city as Toulouse is known was a pleasant surprise. The city is remarkably livable with its hubs of small squares surrounded by red brick faced buildings. It is a good place for a walking tour; it is a good place to dine outdoors. Indeed, Toulouse is a place that is worth visiting intentionally. Two days is too short a stay. We can always plan to come back.

The Herbettes Aqueduct crosses over a freeway as the Canal du Midi enters ToulouseLarge residential barges in Toulouse

The Budha Boat Spa on the Canal du Midi, Toulouse (color IR)

Find more about the Canal du Midi here.

Internment of Riquet of Bonrepos

Log

Day 16

Start: Gardouch

Finish: Toulouse

Travel time*: 5.7 hours

Cruising time**: 4.7 hours

Distance traveled: 32 kilometers

Lock chambers transited: 9

Weather: Clear, warm

At the end of the day, our trip across France was 43% complete based on cruising time and 40% complete based on distance covered. We had passed through 108 of the 246 locks (44%) of the locks that we would cross.

* The time between the start of the day and the end of the day.

**As measured by the hour meter on our boat. When the motor is running we were either moving or standing by to move (like in a lock).

A child and cheese are on sale.

The tower of the Basilica of St. Sernin in Toulouse and a cyclist on the Canal du Midi's towpath (color IR, red and blue channels swapped)

Gigi, Becky, and the Herault

Canal des Deux Mers: Castelnaudary to Gardouch

anotherheader — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:22:56 +0000

A private boat emerges from the Écluse de Laurens

Canal du Midi

This day we woke in Castelnaudary’s pretty port. For a moment we toyed with staying longer; we had found a nice spot. But before long our restless curiosity returned. The lure of crossing the canal’s high point pulled us back onto the water.

There is a significant technical challenge to route a canal between two seas. Inevitably, a waterway of this type must cross a divide, the “parting of the waters”. A divide is a high point; it is the ridgeline where water flows opposite directions to the different seas. Think about this for a moment. Without mechanical intervention, how do you get water to flow to the top of a ridge? Divides are, after all, one place on earth where you will never see a significant river.

Obélisque de Riquet

At the behest of King Francis I in 1516, Leonardo da Vinci examined the feasibility of building a canal across Languedoc. Leonardo identified supplying water at the summit as a major hurdle to such a canal’s construction. All subsequent proposals for a Canal-du-Midi-type waterway to link the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean were plagued by this concern. Indeed, without a major construction project no one could demonstrate with absolute certainty that an adequate water supply could be brought to the highest point of the canal route. In the 17^th century even the amount of water needed to maintain a waterway of this magnitude was at best an educated guess.

Pierre-Paul Riquet’s conjecture was that a dam set well up on Montagne Noire (Black Mountain in English) coupled with a set of collection and supply channels could bring sufficient water to Canal du Midi’s high point. This needed to be proven. Indeed, before approval for the full-scale construction of the Canal du Midi was granted, France required that a viable water supply be demonstrated. Thus the construction of the Canal du Midi began with the raising of a large dam and the excavation the supporting water channels. At the time this was the largest civil engineering project in Europe. Saint-Ferréol was just the second major dam built on the Continent. As Riquet believed, the functioning dam proved to provide water sufficient to service a navigable canal. Riquet was subsequently granted approval to complete the entire canal across France.

Canal du Midi crosses southern France’s water divide or partage des eaux near the village of Le Ségala. On the western side, a raindrop flows to the Atlantic Ocean; on the eastern side of the divide, the rainwater ends up in the Mediterranean Sea. The canal crosses the geographical divide in the midst a 5 kilometer-long pound fed by Saint-Ferréol and held between the Mediterranée and Océan locks.

Between our morning start at Castelnaudary’s port and the Mediterranée écluse there are four locks including a double and a triple. We made fast work of the locks and reached Canal du Midi’s highest pound by early afternoon. Past the Aqueduc de Vasague near the “parting of the waters” we floated the Herault to bank and tied up.

Three chambers of the de Laurens lock being filled at the same time

Climbing the hill from Bassin de Narouze we reached the Obélisque de Riquet. Riquet’s heirs constructed this monument to canal’s primary contractor in 1827 not so long after Riquet’s canal construction debts were finally retired. We had to visit Riquet’s obelisk; our journey required us to pay homage to Canal du Midi’s creator. With Gigi roaming free we dutifully trudged up the hill to base of the memorial. At the side of the obelisk, we could see for a good distance in all directions. Below us the tree-lined canal snakes to the west and to the east. The gentle ridge where the Canal du Midi crosses the partage des eaux is barely perceptible.

Becky's loogie into Canal du Midi's highest pound will flow both to the Atlantic Ocean and to the Mediterranean Sea

Back at the boat we unhooked from the bank. It was not far before we reached the end of Canal du Midi’s highest pound at the modern location of the Océan écluse. As we arrived the keeper was busy in conversation with a friend. Eventually he noticed that we were waiting in the channel and opened the lock’s gate. For the first time on the Canal du Midi we were locking down; the lock’s chamber was full of water as we motored in.

“Are you sure you want to go this way?” the lockkeeper asked first in French and then in English.

The gatekeeper’s unexpected question made it feel like we were about to cross into another dimension. It must be unusual for hire boats to cross this way. We told the keeper that we knew what we were doing. Of course as usual we really didn’t know what we were doing but at least this time we knew the direction we were headed. We were heading downhill.

The écluse keeper seemed satisfied with our answer. He noted the Herault’s registration number in his book and proceeded to tell us in some combination of French and English about the automated locks that we would soon encounter. That there would be automated locks on this portion of the canal was news to us. The automation was newly installed and our map book was out of date.

The keeper of the Océan écluse explains the use of one rope to hold the boat in place in the lock.

Before the Océan écluse keeper released the water from the lock he showed us a trick for holding our boat in place in the chamber with a single rope. Wrap two lock-side bollards with one rope and stand on board the boat holding the rope’s end. This arrangement makes it easy for one person to hold the barge in place during the turbulent locking cycle. After the rope lesson and the automated lock instructions, the keeper opened the sluice and let the water flow from the chamber down to the Atlantic Ocean. When the lock’s gate opened we were free to transition to next dimension. We were going down towards the Atlantic.

The lock operation cheat sheet

Past the Océan écluse the Canal du Midi was quiet. It felt like we were now on a different canal and on a different journey. Of the few boats we saw most seemed to be private boats, frequently sailing boats, fixed on making it to the Mediterranean side for coming the winter. Before we stopped in Gardouch for the night we crossed through two automated single locks and a double that still had a keeper.

Until this day it felt like our trip across France was just a variation of the standard hire boat vacation on the Canal du Midi. Somehow the Océan écluse keeper had set the stage. It now felt like our journey was something different. When we crossed the divide we left the standard tourist itinerary behind.

Log

Day 15

Start: Castelnaudary

Finish: Gardouch

Travel time*: 7.3 hours

Cruising time**: 5.6 hours

Distance traveled: 26 kilometers

Lock chambers transited: 14

Weather: Clear, warm

At the end of the day, our trip across France was 39% complete based on cruising time and 36% complete based on distance covered. We had passed through 99 of the 246 locks (40%) of the locks that we would cross.

* The time between the start of the day and the end of the day.

**As measured by the hour meter on our boat. When the motor is running we were either moving or standing by to move (like in a lock).

Canal des Deux Mers: Bram to Castelnaudary

anotherheader — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:12:40 +0000

Canal du Midi

Dawn broke with a low fog clinging along the Canal du Midi’s water. The evening before we eased into a pretty spot canal side just past Bram’s port. Tied to the bank we spent a quiet night. In the morning we woke to find that fog had transformed the canal. With the low light filtering across the reflective still canal waters, our private mooring spot had become magical. Times like this underpin our love of canal travel.

Waiting at the St. Roch lock (color IR)

As we loosened our ropes and headed up the canal, the fog gradually dissolved. Even in the sharpening light this section of canal seems a beautiful garden. Willows and low planes line the grassy banks. Every kilometer or so, a lock appears. Near each lock, or écluse in French, is a stone lockkeeper’s house. On this stretch of canal, the keepers’ houses are particularly well maintained, each with its own uniquely styled and well-tended plot. Here the Canal du Midi presents not as a vein of an industrial transportation network but as a pond in a large English garden.

We traveled west on the canal with the locks coming frequently. Twelve écluses with a total of 17 chambers lifted the Herault 133 feet over just 9 miles. This was the highest number of chambers we would pass in a single day on our entire voyage on the Canal des Deux Mers. The waterway rises here to cross France’s water divide. In another day of cruising we’d reach the low ridge that separates the Atlantic and Mediterranean drainages.

This day the pattern of the passing through the locks became repetitive. Enter the lock, loop ropes to the well-worn bollards topside, and keep tension on the nylon cords as the lockkeeper fills the chamber with a gush of water. When the upstream gate opens, the ropes are collected back onto the boat, and we motor out into the pound in search of the next lock.

Normally no longer used, laundry wash stations like this are common along the Canal du Midi.

Multiple chambered locks or lock staircases break the pattern of travel through the écluses. Some times the staircase écluses operate as separate linked individual locks. Other times we entered a multiple chambered lock to see the internal gate doors open wide. Once all of the locking boats are inside the first basin the lock’s rear gate is closed and the keeper releases a flood of water from the far upstream sluice. The deluge fills all of the chambers until water flows over the top of the rear gate. When the flow eases the barges creep forward to the next chamber and secure again to the topside bollards. Behind the boats the large metal gate closes with a Get Smart-style thud. The torrent is released again this time filling the lock to the level of the last closed gate. The cycle repeats until the final basin is filled, the upstream gate is opened, and the boats motor out onto the pound.

Just before Castelnaudary is the quadruple écluse St. Roch. St. Roch would be our final lock of the day but first we had to pause tied to the bank for the daily lockkeepers’ lunch. Our pooch Gigi quickly torpedoed any thoughts of a quiet rest. Gigi had a different perspective on a lunch stop. Here was an opportunity run wild and create maximal havoc. After all nearby there were people to bark at and stinky pools of water to wade in. What more could a young dog ask for? When the locks reopened at 1:30 pm we had to wait a little longer as the boats leaving Castelnaudary were moving down through the chambers. The delay was a good thing. It took us all of the extra time to corral our rambunctious canine.

Still waters reflect on the Canal du Midi (color IR)

At this point in our journey we’d spent enough time on the canals to develop a sense of when we are approaching a rental boat base. The clues are typically simple; new boaters usually pilot their craft in a state nearing panic. Outside of Castelnaudary we figured we were nearing another base as we saw a Le Boat barge struggling down through St. Roch’s four chambers. The boat seemed newly rented; this was likely the first lock of any sort that the crew had attempted. As we loitered in the channel waiting for the rental boat to clear the last step of the lock our assumption about the boat’s crew was bolstered. Forward on the deck of the exiting boat was a middle-aged woman wielding her boat’s utility pole towards the Herault as if in a medieval joust. We were yards away and well clear; we couldn’t have collided with the oncoming boat if we tried. Further, our canine terrorist was secured below deck. Nevertheless the unspoken message was clear. We were not to come near the new renter’s boat. Undoubtedly this boat’s crew would soon relax into the rhythm of the canal. The new crew phenotype typically lasts for a short time. After a few kilometers and a couple of locks all canal cruisers ease into the boater’s carefree lifestyle.

A hire boat leaves a lock on a foggy morning near Bram

Past the St. Roch écluse staircase and the Grand Bassin, a large hand excavated lake, is Castelnaudary’s high-tech canal port. After tying up on the shady side, we reported to the Capitainerie office. For 9 euros we received an electronic card that activated the electricity at our spot, allowed us to add up to 1,000 liters of water to the boats tank (in 100 liter portions), and to use the newly remodeled showers in the port office. Castelnaudry’s port management system is an amazingly cool way to cater to canal boat visitors.

Castelnaudary’s port also has a shiny new sewage pump for removing waste from the passing boat’s black water holding tanks. I doubt it is used much. Most boats sewage heads directly into the canal. It is an unsavory little secret that many of the canals in France function as sewers for the passing boats.

The port in Castelnaudary is quiet and the town is comfortable. Here relaxation seems to be the primary visitor attraction. There is one thing in the village that we could not miss. Castelnaudary is famous for its cassoulet. Indeed, Castelnaudary claims to be the world capitol of cassoulet, whatever that entails.

A chamber of the St. Roch staircase (color IR, red and blue channels swapped)

The St. Roch lock staircase is closed for lunch.

A classic peasant’s dish, cassoulet is a baked dish of beans, sausage, typically Toulouse sausage, and duck. (As we’ve traveled about we’ve seen variations on the meat used.) The perfect cassoulet develops a crust on the top during baking. It is a hearty filling dish meant to satisfy workers.

I had my required Castelanudary cassoulet at La Maison du Cassoulet. Indeed it was the best cassoulet of our journey. And this would not be the last time that I had this dish on our voyage through the Languedoc. As we neared the high point of the canal we were firmly ensconced in cassoulet territory. Soon the canal water would start moving downhill. By then our boat would be carrying a passenger with a few extra hearty cassoulet pounds around the middle.

Castelnaudary's Grand Bassin

Log

Day 14

Start: Bram

Finish: Castelnaudary

Travel time*: 5.7 hours

Cruising time**: 4.7 hours

Distance traveled: 15 kilometers

Lock chambers transited: 17

Weather: Clear, moderate temps with calm wind

Inside Castelnaudary's canal port

At the end of the day, our trip across France was 35% complete based on cruising time and 33% complete based on distance covered. We had passed through 85 of the 246 locks (35%) of the locks that we would cross.

* The time between the start of the day and the end of the day.

**As measured by the hour meter on our boat. When the motor is running we were either moving or standing by to move (like in a lock).

A foggy morning near Bram

Mountain Biking: Black Rock Oregon

anotherheader — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:22:29 +0000

Bonzai Downhill

Outside of rural Falls City Oregon is the Black Rock Mountain Bike Area. Since 2002 BRMBA members have built a network of trails under the Oregon Department of Forestry Management Plan. The result has been anointed as an IMBA epic. It is perhaps the best web of full on free ride flow trails in the United State’s Pacific Northwest.

With one-day to ride we’d get just a brief overview the area. Staying in Falls City, we made the short drive to the staging area. From our truck we climbed through the forest to the top on Socialist Valley Road. At the top four loamy trail corridors snake down the mountain.

Rolling in at the top of Bonzai Pipeline

Black Rock features biking specific flow-style trails. The routes vary from smooth and easy to fast and big. Where there are stunts or obstacles, alternative lines are usually available. The net effect is that each trail has many usable braids. With four trails and their multiple lines there are many different ways to link a descent together.

We took the easiest route down, the Bonzai Downhill. On this trail banked turns and wide wood ramps warp down the hill. Though this trail is not hard it is the type of ride where knowing the line lets the wheels run fast. Here squeezing out extra speed on repeated runs is the best approach. Unfortunately we didn’t have the chance for repetitive drops during this visit. Nor did we get the chance to try the harder trails in the area. And for sure we won’t be riding the hardest stuff at Black Rock. At its extreme Black Rock offers drops and launches big enough to cause even the New World Disorder pros to balk. There’s some seriously big shit here. It’s great to see big stuff being built south the Canadian border.

Truth be told, Black Rock is really not our style of riding. We tend to prefer the Old School pucker up and pick a sketchy committing technical line style of mountain biking. Our tires tend to stay in contact with the ground. We have to work to get the most out to the modern flow-style trails that Black Rock offers. Nevertheless, it is good to mix things up and ride something different every now and then. It is important to push our riding style.

For riders like us Black Rock is a chance to mix in some flow riding into the mountain biking trail diet. For New School riders, Black Rock is more. It is the main course. In this neck of the woods, flow trails don’t get much tastier than this.

Picasa pictures

Road gap

Canal des Deux Mers: Carcassonne to Bram

anotherheader — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 01:13:47 +0000

The D4 heads from Bram to the Canal du Midi (color IR)

Canal du Midi

We arrived in Carcassonne on the Canal du Midi expecting to stay two nights. Somewhere we realized that one night and an afternoon exit wasn’t so different from an early morning departure after a second night in the port. Traveling in a canal boat, we were free to stop anytime we wanted. We are way too irresponsible to not take advantage of that type of freedom.

It rhymes: Each écluse on the Canal du Midi is marked with its name and the distance to the nearest locks. (Color IR converted to black and white.)

Soon after stuffing our larder with edibles purchased at Carcassonne’s open-air market, we loosened our lines and motored out of Carcassonne’s port. This day there was no destination. We’d cruise until we found a nice place to stop. That spot appeared just past the bridge in Bram. Pulling to the side of the canal, we drove the rental boat’s metal stakes into the bank and tied up for the night. The spot we chose was perfect. It was quiet; we were the only boat on the bank. Still we were near enough to Bram that we could take the bikes and ride into the village on the path.

Next morning Becky would retrace the bike route and bring fresh croissants and pain au chocolats from the commune’s boulangerie to the boat. (The luxury of an excellent boulangerie in every town is something we miss when we leave France.) In the calm of the morning air our place along the canal bank was transformed. Lush, quiet, and isolated, it felt like a large English garden. The still fog magically misted through the trees. Our spot was idyllic. We had not realized it when we arrived but now it was clear; we were now in the midst of the prettiest section of the Canal du Midi. Indeed, we had found a very, very nice place to stop.

Log

Day 13

Start: Carcassonne

Finish: Bram

Travel time*: 5.4 hours

Cruising time**: 4.4 hours

Distance traveled: 25 kilometers

Lock chambers transited: 7

Weather: Clear, moderate temps with calm wind

The gate of the Lalande double lock is open and waiting for us to enter.

Becky holds the Herault in place in the Herminis lock.

At the end of the day, our trip across France was 32% complete based on cruising time and 31% complete based on distance covered. We had passed through 68 of the 246 locks (28%) of the locks that we would cross.

* The time between the start of the day and the end of the day.

**As measured by the hour meter on our boat. When the motor is running we were either moving or standing by to move (like in a lock).

D4 near Bram (color IR converted to B&W)

Hire boats leave a lock

A stone bridge crosses the Canal du Midi (color IR, red and blue channels swapped)

Stone bridge (color IR)

Stone bridge (color IR, blue and red channels swapped)

A stone bridge crosses the Canal du Midi (color IR, red and blue channels swapped)

Canal des Deux Mers: Trebes to Carcassonne

anotherheader — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 01:41:29 +0000

Reflections over the Vauban designed Orbiel Aqueduct

Canal du Midi

With the Herault’s well-worn ropes stowed on board we gently throttled out of the Trebes’ small canal port. This morning there was no wind. The water was as a mirror still reflector of the fated plane trees that line the banks. Under the conditions a slow exit seemed appropriate. Canal du Midi is its finest on tranquil windless mornings. We tried our best not to break the channel’s calm.

Ages of ropes have grooved the Fresquel lock's rim stones.

Our day’s stretch of canal was familiar. Last summer we stayed nearby at Chateau Canet. Then we cycled from Trebes to Carcassonne on the Canal du Midi’s repurposed towpath. On the way we crossed by four locks and over two bridge aqueducts. Today we established that it is much faster from Trebes to Carcassonne on a bike than by a canal barge. Nevertheless anyway is a good way to travel this section of canal.

Near Carcassonne the Canal du Midi deviates from its original alignment. Pierre-Paul Riquet, the canal’s entrepreneurial builder, wanted to route the waterway through Carcassonne. Taking the canal into Carcassonne was more costly than constructing a channel along an easier route near the Fresquel River. Deeply in debt, Riquet sought financial support from the Carcassonne municipality. At the time the canal project and Riquet himself were unpopular with rulers of Languedoc; the Consuls of Carcassonne rejected his proposal. Thus the easier route was built and for years the Canal Royal de Languedoc, as the Canal du Midi was first known, followed the course of the Fresquel River two kilometers from Carcassonne’s center.

Lock edge stones worn by the passage of years of barges (left). Becky gets Alonsomania (center) and pilots the Herault into a lock (right).

Once the Canal Royal de Languedoc was finished and functioning Carcassonne understood the value of a central canal port. A solution was proposed; a spur channel from the main canal would be built that would allow boats to travel into the city. In the mid 18^th Century construction of this secondary canal began. Soon the technical issues proved overwhelming. It was decided that it was more viable to reroute the entire Canal du Midi through Carcassonne.

Work on the canal’s new alignment began in 1787 but proceeded slowly. In 1810, the new channel complete with a canal port in Carcassonne was commissioned. Riquet’s vision of taking the canal through Carcassonne was ultimately realized more than a century after the Canal Royal de Languedoc was inaugurated.

Canal du Midi reflects the plane trees and a characteristic arched stone bridge.

The Herault crosses le Fresquel on the Pont-canal du Fresquel. Near this point the canal deviates from its original alignment.

Carcassonne continued to fund urban improvements along the new route of the canal until 1855. The legacy of this work today is attractive. In Carcassonne, as it does in many of the cities that it passes through, the Canal du Midi functions as a band of parkland.

For modern barge travelers the Canal du Midi’s route through the heart of Carcassonne is ideal. With a modest mooring fee, bargers stay in a convenient park-like central location and explore the city from the comfort of their mobile temporary homes. Not far from the boat docks are Michelin-starred restaurants and open-air markets. In Carcassonne as in many places in France, traveling by canal boat has its advantages.

Carcassonne's lock is the last step before the city's port.

The Carcassonne lock filled with water.

**********************

Log

Becky powers the Herault into a lock.

Day 12

Start: Trebes

Finish: Carcassonne

Travel time*: 2.8 hours

Cruising time**: 2.7 hours

Distance traveled: 13 kilometers

Lock chambers transited: 7

Weather: Clear, moderate temps with calm wind

At the end of the day, our trip across France was 29% complete based on cruising time and 28% complete based on distance covered. We had passed through 61 of the 246 locks (25%) of the locks that we would cross.

* The time between the start of the day and the end of the day.

**As measured by the hour meter on our boat. When the motor is running we were either moving or standing by to move (like in a lock).

Pont-canal d'Orbiel (left) and the Hotel Terminus in Carcassonne (right)

The gates close behind the Herault in the small pound between the Fresquel locks.