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Canal du Midi to lose 2,000 trees
The 42,000 plane trees that border the Canal du Midi are iconic to say the least. So pay attention at the back of the class: 2,000 of les platanes in the Languedoc are about to be cut down, and in a...
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Trompe-l’œil pleasures #2
Regular readers will know that here in the Evening Hérault we are big admirers of the trompe-l’œil facades you come across on buildings across the Languedoc. So here’s another fine little example from...
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Ireland’s palm trees are dying out
Believe it or not, Dublin has hundreds and hundreds of palm trees. But after last winter’s snows and freezing temperatures these wonderful trees have been dying off in great numbers. A dying - or dead...
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How wide is a canal?
Stretches of the Grand Canal in Dublin were emptied earlier this year (for dredging). When canals are empty they become unfamiliar. They reveal different dimensions. In the case of this Dublin canal,...
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Cherry soup from Poilhes
Poilhes (pronounced “poy”) is a charming little village on the Canal du Midi near Béziers, between Colombiers and Capestang. It’s quite a sleepy hamlet. Population: about 500. Restaurants: 2 (La Tour...
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Le Canal du Midi en chirurgie
“Chirurgie” is French for surgery, and here is a scary new video of radical chirugie, “root and branch” surgery – literally. Some 2,000 of the famous platanes or plane trees along the Canal du Midi...
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Things to do in the Languedoc #1: outdoor stuff
Here are just some of the many things to do outdoors if you are visiting the Languedoc-Roussillon this summer… 1. The Canal du Midi Easter until the end of October Now is a good time (as in a good...
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Jeremy Clarkson on the Canal du Midi
Once in a while the English-language newspapers do a review of Languedoc-Roussillon. Usually it’s by travel correspondents who fly in, get a quick handle and fly out again. Sometimes they get a “Big...
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The fabulous Étang of Montady
The English word “ponds” doesn’t do them justice. It doesn’t capture the sheer scale of some of the étangs of the Languedoc-Roussillon region in the south of France. In the hierarchy of things, things...
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Dead trees, Canal du Midi
Along many stretches of the Canal du Midi in the Languedoc there are gaps now, where the diseased plane trees have been cut down. All that’s left are stumps, sometimes used as mooring posts by barges....
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What’s the speed limit on the Canal du Midi?
The Canal du Midi is currently closed for its winter break. When it’s open, the official speed limit is a very leisurely eight kilometres an hour – a brisk jog – or just 3 kph when passing moored...
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