105km of 2285km so far…
After a whole baguette with nutella for breakfast, I packed my bike and joined the Canal du Midi from within the city. I was hearing a lot about this canal for a long time during my trip, so I was very enthusiastic about cycling it this morning.
Canal du Midi connects the Atlantic with the Mediterranean, going through many cities and villages. Along the canal for the majority of its length, there is a path for bicycles and pedestrians, so for about 20km from Toulouse, I was seeing many people cycling, jogging, walking and having picnics.
The canal within the city
One of the many locks
The path by the canal
Since I woke up, there was a complete overcast and I hardly saw the sun during the day. Todays surprise was my first puncture of the trip. After 2200 km, a piece of glass managed to go through the tire and its inner protective layer. I stopped at the side of one of the canal’s lock to have a look and of course half way the repair it started raining. It rained a lot and I had to put my water proofs and ironically the rain stopped just as I started riding again.
The place I had the puncture
pat pat pat.... for pate
One of the small ports
Canal crouse
In total I cycled 50km by the canal, but unfortunately after that distance the tarmac finished, so I had to abandoned it. Cycling on the road and with a nice tail wind I was going faster and I knew I could make it to Carcassonne. On the way I passed through the nice city of Castelnaudary, full of old houses and churches.
Castelnaudary
Luckily I made it to Carcassonne the minute before the tourist information was closing, so I managed to get the information I wanted. As it was wet all day, I was considering the option to stay in a hostel again and after I realized where the hostel is located I decided to stay there and also take the next day off to visit the city.
The old city of Carcassonne
105km of 2285km so far…
After a whole bagguette with nutella for breakfast, I packed my bike and joined the Canal du Midi from within the city. I was hearing a lot about this canal for a long time during my trip, so I was very enthousiastic about cycling it this morning.
Canal du Midi connects the Atlantic with the Mediterenian, going through many cities and villages. Along the canal for the majority of its length, there is a path for bicycles and pedestrians, so for about 20km from Toulouse, I was seeing many people cycling along, jogging, walking and having picnics.
Since I woke up, there was a complete overcast and I hardly saw the sun during the day. Todays surprise was my first punchure of the trip. After 2200 km, a piece of glass managed to go through the tyre and its inner protective layer. I stoped at the side of one of the canal’s lock to have a look and of course half way the repair it started raining. It rained a lot and I had to put my water proofs and ironicly the rain stopped just as I started riding again.
In total I cycled 50km by the canal, but unfortunately after that distance the tarmac finished, so I had to abandoned it.
The view from the hostel
