Day 5: ALOUETTE!

A few more pics from last night in Paris along with our trip today.

The new courtyard area where we enjoyed a beverage before heading to dinner (at the hotel).  So beautiful.

Heading to dinner at Monsieur Bleu:

The train journey was around 4 hours to Beziers from Paris.  Nice easy lovely experience.

We were greeted by Olivier to transport our baggage into town where we stopped at a Bistro to have a drink and a bite or two.

Belmond picked up the tab for drinks and began bringing out food for us to enjoy.

Then Jo picked us up to take us to the barge:

We got off the train and were immediately directed to a bistro that was a former prison that was so cool.  Everything was taken care of, so we sat down and drinks and appetizers began arriving.

BEZIERS:

 

Looking back at where we had drinks and tapas:

Walking along toward our barge and seeing the Locks:

There are so many locks along the Canal du Midi, and they can be recognized by their oval shape. 

These engineering structures are absolutely essential to navigation and totally fascinating to watch open and close to allow boats to go by.

A lock is a simple ingenious structure. 

A lock consists of a chamber (basin), enclosed at either end by mitre gates with two leaves.

Boats pass through these locks in 3 stages, according to the principle of communicating vessels:

1. When a boat traveling upstream approaches, the downstream (bottom) gate opens and the boat enters the lock chamber.

2. The downstream gate closes behind the boat. The sluices (valves) on the upstream gate are then opened. Under the effect of pressure, the water from the upper canal pound flows into the chamber and raises the boat until the chamber and the pound are at the same level.

3. When the chamber and canal pound are at the same level, the gate opens and the boat can continue.

It's incredible to watch.

3 boats queuing up to enter a lock.

Walking up to our home for the next 6 nights:

Joanne brought us to the boat (she'll be our guide off the boat), and she introduced us to the rest of the crew - Captain/Pilot Sebastian, Chef Emma and Hostess Kate

More food more drinks and we were off!

We are ready to begin our 6 day adventure!

Pilot Sebastian at the helm as we leave Beziers.

Fresh herbs for our meals:

We unpacked settled in, and the cruise began.

We left Beziers and floated along the beautiful Canal du Midi.  According to Wikipedia: The Canal du Midi is a (150 mi) long canal in southern France. Originally named the Canal Royal en Languedoc (Royal Canal in Languedoc) and renamed by French revolutionaries to Canal du Midi in 1789, the canal is considered one of the greatest construction works of the 17th century.

The boat docked around 7:30pm and after that we were seated for dinner.  It was sumptuous.  

Beetroot with goat cheese and deviled hazelnut

Pistachio crusted cod with roasted carrots and potatoes

Cheese course with locally sourced blue, goat and a cow's cheese similar to gruyere

We then enjoyed talking and watching the sun set (around 11pm here).

Bonne nuit du le Canal du Midi!