Rowing the Canal du Midi in France

France, August 18-22, 2008
By Ralph Smith

If getting the most out of a vacation yet still maintaining your rowing fitness interests you - read on. If enjoying the food and wines of France, making new friends and doing something memorable and worthwhile appeals to you, - read on.

It was this attraction that convinced over two hundred rowers from nine different countries to sign up for the 27th annual Canal du Midi rowing rally in August of this year. Rowers completed the 128 mile/206 Kilometer route from Toulouse to Béziers, France in five days. The Canal du Midi - a manmade waterway has linked the Altantic with the Mediterranean since the seventeenth century. It is a lovely, peaceful ribbon of water that winds its way through the southwest of France. The canal’s banks are lined with shady trees and paths perfect for the non-rowing partners who prefer to cycle or jog. Pleasure boats and narrow canal boats comfortably share the route, interrupted only by a series of locks, bridges and marinas. Prior to the rally, rowers find their way to Toulouse by plane, car or train where they receive their orientation and rally instructions. To row with a minimum of discomfort for twenty kilometers in the morning and another twenty or so after lunch will take a little getting used to for short sprint rowers. But it is worth preparing for ahead of time. For one thing, there is a different eating experience awaiting you at various stops although your midday lunches are provided by the rally organizers. In the towns such as Carcassonne and Castelnaudary there’s the famous Cassoulet (we would call it cassarole or stew). In August you’ll only be able to eat a third of the serving. In the Minervois wine region its duck and goats cheeses that are special. In Béziers you can look for the shell fish of the Étang oysters, mussels and shrimp. All to be enjoyed with the great Languedoc wines. The fine red wines of Corbieres and Minervois and the rosé summer wine all help Canal du Midi live up to its World Heritage Site reputation.

But as a word of advice from someone who completed the 2008 event - it is a race after all is said and done, not a recreational row through France.

Interested persons should contact The Association Toulose Pierre-Paul Riquet (ATPPR) for information regarding the 2009 event.

*Ralph Smith is a member of the Don Rowing Club in Ontario, Canada and the rowing section of the California Yacht Club.