After covering 52 kilometres and negotiating 31 locks in less than two days, the Canal du Midi finally insisted that we stop.
It was 1 May—Labour Day and a public holiday across France. With the locks closed for the day, our boat would remain securely moored in Trèbes.
For once, we were not disappointed.
Nowhere to cruise
The closure of the locks meant that continuing towards Homps was impossible.
On a tightly planned holiday, an enforced pause might have felt inconvenient. After our demanding journeys from Castelnaudary to Bram and then onwards to Trèbes, however, it felt perfectly timed.
There was no engine to start, no distance to cover and no ropes to prepare. Our only obligation was to remain exactly where we were.
Canal life can quickly become focused upon the next lock, the next mooring and the next destination. May Day gave us permission to stop travelling and enjoy the place we had already reached.
A slower morning aboard
We began the day at a considerably gentler pace.
Without a cruising schedule, breakfast could take as long as we wished. The boat felt different when it was no longer simply transporting us somewhere: it became our floating home beside the canal.
We watched activity around the port, enjoyed the stillness of the water and gave our arms an opportunity to recover from the previous 31 locks.
Even Chris and Adam found remarkably little to disagree about when there was no boat to steer.
Exploring Trèbes
Trèbes developed at the meeting point of several waterways, including the Canal du Midi, River Aude and River Orbiel.
Its canal port remains central to the town’s character. Boats line the water, paths follow the banks and cafés and restaurants make it an inviting place to pause.
Away from the port, the older town rises towards the Church of Saint-Étienne. Its history stretches back long before the canal, but the arrival of Riquet’s waterway transformed Trèbes into an important stopping point for trade and travel.
Our walk gave us time to explore without repeatedly checking the clock or calculating how many locks remained before closing.
Restocking the boat
A rest day also provided an opportunity to replenish our supplies.
We visited the Intermarché on Boulevard du Minervois, returning with fresh food and—despite the quantity loaded aboard in Castelnaudary—several things we had apparently been unable to survive without.
Storage space aboard a hire boat is limited, but this seldom prevents holiday shopping. It merely encourages increasingly imaginative arrangements inside cupboards.
Wine, naturally, was treated as an essential provision rather than an optional extra.
The surrounding Aude countryside is rich in vineyards, including Domaine Le Fort near Montréal. We were travelling through one of France’s great wine-producing regions, making local bottles an important part of experiencing the landscape.
Purely for cultural reasons, of course.
Eating aboard
Rather than going out for dinner, we spent the evening eating on the boat.
There is something particularly satisfying about cooking aboard after a day spent exploring. The towpath gradually quietened, reflections settled across the canal and Trèbes became calmer as evening arrived.
Our mooring gave us a canalside dining room without needing to move more than a few steps from the galley.
After two intensive cruising days, simplicity felt luxurious.
More than a lost cruising day
May Day had initially appeared to be a restriction around which the itinerary needed to be designed.
Instead, it became an important part of the holiday.
It allowed us to experience Trèbes as somewhere more than an overnight mooring. We could walk through the town, restock the boat, enjoy a leisurely meal and appreciate the pleasure of remaining still.
Slow travel should include time to stop.
Tomorrow, the locks would reopen and our journey would resume with another substantial cruise: approximately 29 kilometres and 14 locks between Trèbes and Homps.
For tonight, however, the engine remained silent, the ropes remained tied and the Canal du Midi belonged to those content to go nowhere.