July 2, 2017

July 2, 2017

Yesterday’s visit to Pont du Gard piqued my engineering interest in aqueducts so this morning we drove to the nearby Barbegal aqueduct. It delivered water to Arles from the Les Baux hills. This 200-yard remnant is about 20-feet high and sits hidden in a rural area. It is cool being able to walk it without anyone around. Barbegal is unique in that the aqueduct hits a hillside where two sets of eight water wheels powered a flour mill. It is considered the greatest known concentration of mechanical power from the ancient world.

If we need to be reminded what happened to all the Roman edifices in Provence, all we had to do was watch the road. It is lined with square stones that probably came from the aqueducts. What a terrible fate for such an ancient construction! We even see a length of aqueduct in the middle of a nearby Roundabout.

From Barbegal we drove west on the tollway. Ninety minutes later we exited in Beziers, one of the oldest cities in France. It is located on a bluff above the Orb River. We stopped here to visit another World Heritage Site, the Canal du Midi. This waterway was completed in 1681 and connects the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean. The route was first surveyed by Leonardo da Vinci in 1516. After he invented the modern canal Miter Gate in Milan, the French king invited him here to work.

Two unique features of this marvel can be seen in Beziers. Our first stop is at the 1856 Canal Bridge, where the canal passes over the unpredictable Orb River. About a half mile down the canal we see the Fonserannes Locks. This is a staircase of eight oval locks that can raise boats 65 feet. We watch two boats enter the complex and begin the descent. We are shocked by how many tourists are watching with us.

From Beziers we got on the Tollway again continuing west. We stopped in a rest area for lunch. We got a little bit of a scare when we temporarily misplaced our toll ticket. The toll booth is not manned so I am not sure how we would have gotten out. Many things are automated in France because of the strict labor laws. Even the Burger King at the rest area had automated ordering kiosks.

Our next destination is another World Heritage Site, the Medieval City of Carcassonne. It is the largest fortress in Europe. We check into our hotel and rest awhile. We then give ourselves a walking tour of this massive hilltop city. We start with a very long hike around the exterior stopping at the Old Bridge on the far side. When the French conquered the city, they evicted all the citizens to a new town across this bridge.

The French beefed up defenses by adding a second set of walls and towers. We next walk the circuit between the walls. This is where jousting tournaments would have been held. Looking closely at the walls, you can tell the original Roman construction, from the later Languedoc lords, and finally to the Medieval French. The walls, towers, bastions, and high location made enemies think twice about attacking. Carcassonne faded into history in 1659 when the border with Spain moved sixty miles south.

Finally before dinner with the crowds now thinned out, we make a circuit of the interior city. It is a narrow hodgepodge of restaurants and shops with a cathedral and keep on either end.

We were going to eat in a restaurant terrace facing the tall keep but the winds are vicious. These are the Mistral Winds that regularly plague the South of France. For us they are a blessing as they bring cooler temps from the north.

For dinner I had the traditional Languedoc meal of Cassoulet. It turns out to be a crock filled stew of beans with duck and pork sausage. Quite good and filling Medieval chow!

With the tourist crowds now in their hotels we made one last circuit of the intra-wall area. I was hoping to catch Carcassonne lit-up, but the sun sets far past our bedtime this far north.