Canal du Midi

The Canal du Midi (Occitan: Canal de las Doas Mars, meaning canal of the two seas) is a 241 km (150 mi) long canal in Southern France (French: le Midi). It was originally named the Canal royal en Languedoc (Royal Canal in Languedoc) but the French revolutionaries renamed it to Canal du Midi in 1789. It was considered at the time to be one of the greatest construction works of the 17th century.

The canal connects the Garonne River to the Étang de Thau on the Mediterranean and along with the 193 km (120 mi) long Canal de Garonne forms the Canal des Deux Mers joining the Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The canal runs from the city of Toulouse down to the Étang de Thau near the Mediterranean.

The Canal du Midi is now used primarily by tourists, recreation, and housing. It attracts more and more river tourism, sailing on chartered boats, restaurant-boats, or hotel barges such as the Anjodi. This tourism has grown from the 1960s under the leadership of the British then exploded in the 1980s.

The canal was featured prominently in the BBC television series Rick Stein’s French Odyssey, further publicising the canal to a British audience. Busier than the Seine it alone accounts for one fifth of French river tourism and 80% of passengers are foreigners — mainly Germans, Swiss and British.