Boat...cruise...?

This weekend I didn't have my own excursion planned, good because I have plenty of homework to keep me busy. However, Saturday was a sort of day trip sponsored by the programme, where we were supposed to be going on what they called a boat cruise on the Canal du Midi from Grau d'Agde on the Mediterranean to Marseillan further east along the coast. We were a little hesitant to set out at eight in the morning on the first cold and rainy day in weeks, but still we piled on the bus. I think our instincts may have been right on this one.


We got to Grau d'Agde a little before the boat did, so we walked toward the sea. I was the only one insane enough to be wearing shorts and sandals, so I walked on the beach a bit, collecting a few seashells. Most everyone else went to the end of the pier to look at the lighthouse, and before long it was time to embark on our journey.

This was a small boat, and there were easily 70 people on it. I think calling it a cruise may have affected some people's expectations of what the boat would be - this was clearly a fishing boat with some seats put on it. I sat near the back, which was fine at first. We went first into the sea and past an old fort, and then up the river Hérault to Agde, where we stopped for a three hour lunch.

As we were disembarking at Agde the rain really started. I went with a few others on a search for a relatively inexpensive place to sit and eat for the whole time - harder than we'd thought as being Saturday in March most everything in this small town was closed. We finally found a pizzeria where I had an onion soup and we sat for the entire lunch break, save stopping for dessert in a bakery on the way back to the port.

It was still raining rather hard so everyone tried to move into the covered part of the boat, which was quite crowded and made seeing the sights narrated to us a bit difficult. We started to navigate the canals from here - what I remember is a lock unique in the world in that it is round and has three levels of water; one to the Atlantic, one to the Mediterranean, and one to the Hérault. We were supposed to have passed through a bird sanctuary as well, but it was hard to tell. By the time we disembarked in Marseillan we were all cold and tired and maybe a little seasick. Not the best day I've had, but still, another experience.