The Canal du Midi, considered by many to be France's premiere canal, flows for over 240 kilometres through the rolling countryside of the Languedoc.
This video follows the waterway from its terminus in the Port de L'Embouchure in the city of Toulouse, through the farmlands of the Lauragais Plain up to the summit level at The Col de Naurouze. We then continue as the canal begins a descent of over 190 metres as it drops down through the vineyards of the Minervois to eventually arrive at the port of Sète on the Mediterranean.

Many plans to link the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas had been proposed over the years, but all had suffered from the same problem - how to provide a reliable source of water to feed a canal? This problem was finally solved by a salt tax collector from Beziers :

As he travelled around the Languedoc collecting taxes, Riquet observed that waters arriving at the Col de Naurouze flowed both to the east and to the west, making Naurouze the ideal location for a summit pound. Riquet diverted water from the rivers and streams of the Montaigne Noir along specially constructed feeder channels that ran from the mountains to Naurouze. This provided the much needed water and a 5 kilometre long summit pound was constructed  between Méditerranée Lock and Ocean Lock. The feeder channels are still in use today and Riquet is acknowledged as being the father of the Canal du Midi.

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© 2005 Thomas Video Productions Limited