Yesterday belonged to the Canal du Midi’s engineering: the Malpas Tunnel, Fonseranes staircase and Orb Aqueduct.
Today was about the city behind it all.
With the boat remaining moored, we had a full day to explore Béziers—the birthplace of Pierre-Paul Riquet and a city whose history extends far beyond the canal he created.
A slower start
After yesterday’s demanding passage through Fonseranes, there was no need to start the engine or prepare the ropes.
Instead, we could enjoy a slower morning aboard before walking into the city.
Béziers rises above the River Orb, so exploring it inevitably involved leaving the level comfort of the canal and climbing towards the historic centre.
After days of locks, we had apparently exchanged vertical travel by boat for vertical travel on foot.
The Old Bridge
Our first destination was the Pont Vieux, the medieval bridge spanning the River Orb beneath the city.
Its stone arches have carried travellers across the river for centuries. From the bridge and surrounding riverbank, the view towards Béziers is one of the city’s most memorable.
Above the rooftops stands the Cathedral of Saint-Nazaire, occupying a commanding position on the rocky heights.
Yesterday, we had seen the cathedral from the Orb Aqueduct. Today, we would make the climb towards it.
Saint-Nazaire Cathedral
The Cathedral of Saint-Nazaire dominates Béziers.
Much of the present Gothic building dates from the centuries following the destruction of an earlier cathedral during the Albigensian Crusade. Its fortified appearance reflects both the turbulent history of the city and the strategic importance of its position.
From the terraces beside the cathedral, there are sweeping views across the Orb, the vineyards and the surrounding countryside.
The Canal du Midi could be seen threading through a much larger landscape—the remarkable result of one man’s determination to connect Toulouse with the Mediterranean.
A city with a difficult history
Béziers is beautiful, but its past is not always comfortable.
In 1209, the city was attacked during the Albigensian Crusade. Much of the population was massacred after Béziers refused to surrender suspected Cathars.
The destruction became one of the most notorious episodes of the campaign.
Walking through the peaceful streets today, it was difficult to reconcile the modern city with the violence that once took place here. Yet understanding Béziers means recognising both its architectural beauty and its darker history.
Through the historic centre
From the cathedral, we continued through the old town.
Narrow streets, shaded squares and historic façades gradually led towards the broader avenues of the nineteenth-century city.
The change was striking. Medieval Béziers felt enclosed and defensive; the later boulevards were spacious, decorative and intended for public life.
Cafés provided opportunities to stop, observe the city and conduct the sort of careful research that required coffee, wine or both.
Allées Paul Riquet
At the heart of modern Béziers lies the Allées Paul Riquet, a broad promenade named after the creator of the Canal du Midi.
A statue of Riquet stands prominently along the avenue, commemorating the engineer in the city of his birth.
Born in Béziers in 1609, Riquet spent much of his fortune and the final decades of his life pursuing his extraordinary canal project.
He died in 1680, only months before the Canal du Midi officially opened.
Riquet therefore never witnessed the completed waterway operating in its entirety. More than three centuries later, boats like ours continue travelling through the structures he conceived.
Just a Minute: Pierre-Paul Riquet
Pierre-Paul Riquet was born in Béziers in 1609.
A prosperous tax collector, he became convinced that a canal could connect the Atlantic and Mediterranean, avoiding the long and dangerous sea journey around Spain.
The greatest challenge was supplying enough water to its highest point. Riquet developed an ambitious system of reservoirs, channels and feeders drawing water from the Montagne Noire.
Construction began in 1666 and employed thousands of workers.
Riquet invested heavily in the project but died in 1680, before the canal opened the following year.
His Canal du Midi remains one of Europe’s greatest engineering achievements.
One minute—and a lifetime devoted to making water cross southern France.
Plateau des Poètes
We continued towards the Plateau des Poètes, a landscaped nineteenth-century park connecting the city centre with the railway station.
Its paths, planting, fountains and statues provided a peaceful contrast to the busy streets around it.
After several days aboard a boat, there was something novel about wandering without needing to consider navigation, bridge clearance or the movements of other hire boats.
Although hills remained an unexpected feature.
Dinner and the ballet
Our day ended with a lovely meal at Le Patio, enjoyed within its atmospheric courtyard in the historic centre.
Chris then took us to the ballet—a rather more elegant conclusion to the evening than ropes, locks and disagreements about steering.
After a day exploring Béziers’ history, the performance revealed another side of the city and provided a memorable finale before we returned to the boat.
Returning to the canal
By evening, we made our way back towards the boat.
Seeing Béziers from its streets had added important context to yesterday’s journey. Fonseranes was no longer simply a spectacular flight of locks; it was part of the legacy of a city, an engineer and a much broader history.
The boat remained exactly where we had left it—always a reassuring discovery.
The city behind the canal
Our day in Béziers revealed a place of striking contrasts.
It combined a medieval cathedral and a difficult past with elegant boulevards, peaceful gardens and an enduring pride in Pierre-Paul Riquet.
For us, it also provided a valuable pause after one of the most demanding and memorable cruising days of the holiday.
Tomorrow, we would leave Béziers and resume our journey eastwards, drawing ever closer to the Mediterranean.
For tonight, we remained beside the Canal du Midi in the city where its creator was born—grateful that his improbable idea had become our route across southern France.