Sat 3rd to Tue 6th Oct 2026
Continuing our journey south, we stopped briefly to look at a historic bridge and then later, had lunch at the small city of St-Pons-de-Thomières, before parking-up at Homps, a small village next to the Canal du Midi, where we stayed for 3 nights before moving west, following the route of the canal to spend a night at Trèbes, a small town on the River Aude.
We had had a lot of rain and the road climbed considerably, reaching a height of over 1,000m and into the clouds. At times, the visibility was very poor, but there were also some opportunities to admire the view:
We stopped briefly to have a look at the Pont St-Ètienne de Cavall, which was built in the 12th century. Its narrowness explains why it has been superseded by a modern road bridge alongside. Sadly, it is becoming rather overgrown, so I could not get a clear view.
St-Pons-de-Thomières:
Although small, St-Pons-de-Thomières is another city with a historic cathedral.
Note the Statue of Liberty and the string of bras hanging across the building.
We dodged the torrential rain showers to have a look and when we were walking around the far side, had to take shelter under “La Port des Morts” to avoid a drenching.
Although large, the cathedral is considerably smaller today than it once was. It was an abbey church and it has a traditional rood screen with high ornate gates keeping the public out of the choir and chancel, in the nave.
Homps:
Our plan for going to Homps was to have a cycle ride along the Canal du Midi and our park-up for a couple of nights was directly opposite a marina on the canal. The village, although pleasant, was not especially interesting.
The marina is the base for a canal boat hire company called “Le boat” and nearly all the vessels there, belonged to them.
Our planned cycle ride was due to take place on Sunday, but this was a complete wash-out with torrential rain keeping us holed-up all day. We ventured out only for an evening meal in a local cafe, the Rive Gauche which I would definitely recommend.
Our cycle ride was therefore postponed a further day and we booked an extra night on the aire. We were however entertained as the local Pompiers had a play with their hoses:
We rode out down the canal towpath in the direction of Beziers. The main points of interest were the locks or “Ecluses”, all of which have lock-keepers with remote controls that operate all the lock functions. Sluices and gates are all driven by electric motors, so unlike canals in the UK, the boat crews only have to deal with their craft, keeping it alongside the lock wall and under control. We noted that this lock-keeping service would finish at the end of October for the Winter, so presumably all canal traffic then ceases.
Another point of difference to locks in the UK, is the shape of the lock-walls. The UK tends to have straight sided locks, designed to take long narrowboats, but those on the Canal du Midi are bowed out.
The Canal du Midi is 240Km long (360Km including branches) and connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, via the Garonne River and the Étang de Thau at Marseillan. It was completed between 1667 and 1681 and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Trèbes:
Moving on from Homps, we stayed the night at a France Passion site in Trèbes, which had a farm-shop. These sites are free, but there are no services. The expectation is that in return for the free park-up, you make a purchase from the shop. Many of these are vineyards, but this was an olive-oil producer. However they did also sell wine!
A feature of the stay was the fact that they have some donkeys and a large, ugly pig. We didn’t see the donkeys, only hearing them occasionally, but saw the pig.
We again took a ride along the canal, passing some locks:
…and stopping to pass the time of day with a woman who spied us passing her house.
Brigitte is Belgian, lives in the UK and has a house next to the canal which she and her husband use a holiday home. The house was built at the beginning of the 1700s. She explained that the small chateau, just along the road was built a little later, as the original one had been demolished when the canal was built.
Tomorrow we head further west. TTFN and see-u-later.
