Going with the flow through the wine region

Richard Collins explores the idyllic vineyards of the Languedoc.

IT IS easier to travel from Paris to the Mediterranean on the “train à grand vitesse” than by plane. The waiting and stresses at airports are avoided and you get to see the countryside. The TGV runs so smoothly you hardly notice its motion. Most importantly, rail travel is better for the environment; trains generate far smaller amounts of greenhouse gases than planes.

France has first-class transport systems nowadays, but during the reign of the Louis XIV, things were different. The Sun King was a bellicose monarch, constantly squabbling with his neighbours. His wars created problems with transport and communications in France; ships sailing between the Atlantic ports and the Mediterranean were forced to run the gauntlet of Spanish warships. It was safer to drag goods overland on horse-drawn carts, despite the financial and human costs incurred. The Romans had dreamt of digging a canal to speed things up. Henry IV toyed with the idea. So did Cardinal Richelieu and feasibility studies were commissioned. The experts decided building a canal was out of the question.

Béziers in Languedoc, the great vine-growing region between the Rhône and the Garonne, has a fine tree-lined boulevard, 600 metres long. It is named after Pierre Paul Riquet, whose statue has pride of place in the town square. Born in 1604 to wealthy aristocratic parents, he was the 17th century equivalent of a tax inspector. Salt was a major industry then. Riquet collected state levies from the salt producers, keeping a share for himself. But this diligent civil servant had an entrepreneurial streak; he dreamt of digging a canal to link the Mediterranean with the Garonne at Toulouse.

The problems confronting Riquet, however, were not just engineering ones. The court at Versailles was a hot-bed of intrigue which would make the goings-on of the Mahon Tribunal look positively virtuous. Riquet spent years at court before getting the ear of King Louis; the odd suitcase of cash, no doubt, helped to secure a few favours. At any rate, he got royal approval for his great project and was allowed to proceed at his own expense. The foundation stone of the Canal du Midi was laid in 1667. Riquet was rich but the endeavour exhausted his resources; he even ploughed his daughter’s dowries into the venture. Nor were his motives altruistic; he expected to make a fortune on toll charges, just as he had done with the salt producers.

The Dutch had invented the lock with its gates and sluices. Using locks, a canal could be built through almost any terrain but there had to be a supply of water to feed it at the highest point. The resourceful Riquet soon found a source — the waters draining from the Montagne Noire. He set about combining little rivers and streams to form a reservoir in the mountains.

Small hills could be negotiated using locks; the “stairway” of nine locks at Fonserannes near Béziers is most impressive; the water level rises by 21.5 metres over a distance of 312 metres. When a large hill was encountered, Riquet either cut through it or dug a tunnel. His was the first canal in the world to run underground.

A man ahead of his time, he created a social welfare system, paying his workers twice the going rate and not deducting for holidays or sick-leave. But fate would not be kind to him; he died while the last kilometre of his canal was being dug.

The famous waterway, 240km long, was regarded in its heyday as the Eighth Wonder of the World. It now has UNESCO World Heritage status. This is civil engineering on a human scale, a harmonious blend of nature and artefact. The tow path, shaded by plane trees planted to secure the banks with their roots, offers a magnificent walking trail through landscapes of vineyards, “bocage” and picturesque villages. Boat tours are available and bikes can be hired.

The hill fort of Ensérune stands on a 120-metre hill just off the canal to the west of Béziers. One of the most important Iron Age sites in France, it dates from the sixth century BC.

To the east, near the ancient village of Agde, the canal skirts an extraordinary nature reserve. The Étang de Bagnas is a tranquil salty lake. This secluded 561-hectare area, with extensive reed-beds, is visited each spring and autumn by one of Europe’s most exotic birds, the greater flamingo. The “flame bird” does not breed at Bagnas, but flocks drop in for rest and recreation. You can get closer to flamingos here than at the Camarge with its huge open expanses. Also, of the nine species of heron found in France, seven nest at Cagnas. Avocets and exotic warblers breed while, in winter, up to fourteen types of duck are present. The number of bird species recorded to date is 232 (compared with 425 for the whole of Ireland). The reserve is managed by the Association de Défense de l’Environment de la Nature des pays d’Agde, which is renovating a building to provide a viewing station for bird-watchers arriving by canal.