Ancient Canal Du Midi Postcards and Photographs Toulouse - Carcassonne.

Pictured below: Lac St Ferreol.

Pictured below: Lac St Ferreol

Pictured below: Lac St Ferreol

Pictured below: Lac St Ferreol

Pictured below: Rigoles du Canal Du Midi, Ecluse de Laudot.

Pictured below: Canal Du Midi in Toulouse at the port de l'Embouchure.  The place is littered with used condoms.  I also saw a homeless dog dragging a dead animal it tried to eat.  Shame on Toulouse for this filth.

Pictured below: Canal Du Midi in Toulouse at the port de l'Embouchure.

Pictured below: Canal De Brienne in Toulouse.  This short canal dates from 1776.  It connects the Canal Du Midi and the Canal Lateral de la Garonne to the Garonne River.  It is also used to supply water from the river to the Lateral Canal.

Pictured below: Canal Du Midi and Pont des Minimes in Toulouse.  The columns were constructed in 1832.  The patent office was located inside its base.  In 1940 they were taken down.  They are now symbolically represented in the offices of the Conseil General a few meters from here.  In 1906 an electric tramway was added.  The bridge was rebuild between 1966 and 1969.   The canal has lost its glamour in Toulouse, with the round bassins having been replaced by rectangular ones to allow larger ships to pass.  When I was here I also found 4 new hypodermic needles laying next to the water.

Pictured below: Canal Du Midi in Toulouse, showing the old and new footbridge, called the Passerelle Negreneys.  Homeless people sleep under this bridge now, but are hidden behing the bush on the left.  I had to be carefull not to step  in dog poop while taking this picture, Toulouse is covered in it.

Pictured below: Canal Du Midi at the Gare Matabiau in Toulouse.  The building dates from 1905.  There has been a train station here since 1856, when it was a stop over for the Bordeaux to Sete train line.  I saw a homeless man peeing against a tree here in full view of all.  Typical for Toulouse.

Pictured below: Canal Du Midi in Toulouse.  The passage des soupirs footbridge.

Pictured below: Ecluse de Montgiscard, Canal Du Midi, France.  The low building on the right is/was the washing house.  The locals would come here to do their laundry.  These laundry facilities were in use up to the 1850's, all along the Canal Du Midi.  But many were not covered, like this one.  You can see the women washing their clothes in the old picture in fact.  Also notice the size of the trees on the left bank.

Pictured below: Canal Du Midi towpath in Castelnaudary.  Even the trees line up with the old picture.  It is fun to see that there were bicycles along the Canal Du Midi 100 years ago already.

Pictured below: Castelnaudary.  Ecluse St Roch.  This was the first overnight stop for the mail/passenger boat that used to travel up and down the Canal Du Midi.  Like all the other overnight stops, this place has a building were passengers slept, a horse stable, and a small chapel.  The chapel here is on private land though, and no longer accessible.

Pictured below: Canal Du Midi in Castelnaudary.  Ecluse St Roch.  The bicycle path is on this side of the canal.  Note the difference in size of the trees in the photos below and the photos above.  The trunks of the plantane trees grow up first, and outward later.

Pictured below: Canal Du Midi in Castelnaudary.  This is the Grand Bassin.  Winds can blow very hard accross this open space; in the past even horses have been blown into the lake.  This lake is the same size as the cite of Carcassonne.

Pictured below: Canal Du Midi in Castelnaudary.