The Canal Du Midi was idyllic, a popular trip on the calendar of Australian company Bushwise Women. The five of us from New Zealand and Australia floated gently along the ‘Canal stopping at villages to buy fresh produce, taste the wine, and visit ancient sites along the way. It was simply – France, in all its glory.

It was to be a sabbatical of sorts – I had come to the end of one chapter in my life and it felt like time to dream new dreams – it was time to travel. I had scoffed at Liz Gilbert’s book Eat Pray Love: “we don’t need to go on some grand expensive tour to find ourselves, we can find ourselves anywhere.” But I did go on the grand tour, and Liz’s book Eat Pray Love became my constant companion and guide on the four month trip, as did the women I traveled with and met along the way.

In New Zealand we have several tour operators who cater especially for women travelers and as I am not a confident traveler, especially on my own, joining a small group of women seemed a great place to start. The Tour Calendar on the Women Travel NZ website showed a few tours that fitted my timetable and plans. I was soon booked in to Bike and Barge the Canal du Midi with Bushwise Women along with a two week Morocco Odyssey with Venus Adventures.

Morocco was something else – this trip took me right out of my comfort zone and it was worth it. In a country like this a great guide is a must – especially for women traveling alone. Julie Paterson our guide from Venus Adventures for Women made it safe for us to dive in and explore this ancient country. We entered into another world and we were given the tour of a lifetime – from shopping for carpets to riding a camel into the Sahara to sleep under the stars.

Our handsome local guide Adil proudly escorted our group of eight women. Other men asked him where the men were, and they looked at him enviously when he said “there is just me!” Guide Julie had warned us the shopping is irresistible, I said maybe a carpet… but of course no woman could resist. The bargaining began and by the end of the trip our bags were bulging, large packages had been posted home and we had contributed greatly to the local economies of every place we visited.

These two fabulous tours were the framework around which I built my travels. I wove in side trips with friends to Prague and Rome, stayed in the fabulous Women’s B&B near the Duomo in Florence, rented an apartment in Lucca through Rosanna Capatinin of Eliotropica Travels for Women and spent a week in the south of Spain in Diva Espana retreat for women. All over the world women are not only traveling, but women are offering accommodation and tours especially for women travelers. As a born networker I could not resist building a new website which connects these and so Women Travel the World was born. Now I have even more excuses to travel. Whoopee!!

First Printed in Tourism Review Magazine

Links: Women Travel the World Women Travel Blog Women Travel New Zealand Venus Adventures Bushwise Women

On her table was a flyer advertising a 12 day art tour of France that she escorts annually to France. It is called Renaissance to Modernism – a journey through an artists eye and this year (2009) it is 29 September – 10 October.

“The tour is aimed at inspiring, educating and creating an understanding of the foundations of modern art and practice.”

Contact: Glen Armstrong New Zealand ++64 9 525 2363

House of Travel artTravel@hot.co.nz

Ali and Lizzie have traded busy lives in the UK, for a life of hosting this B&B during the tourist season. They have lovingly restored this old building which was originally a convent and school. It is light and airy, very comfortable – but its age and character shines through.

The stairs are worn by the centuries of wear, there is a computer in the Mother Superior’s room, which now doubles as a massage room (what would Mother Superior have thought of that?!), there is a swimming pool, lovely long tables to eat at, and the centre of the village metres away.

There is a Le Couvent labeled wine in your room, thick feather duvets on the beds, shuttered windows opening to the enclosed garden, and hand made lavender soap in the bathroom.

I know what it means to run a lodge/B&B and these two have it down to a fine art. Last night they gathered the nine guests for an early evening apperatif in the courtyard under the trees. Breakfast was a table groaning with fresh provisions, some of it made by them – they have a vegetable garden, chickens, and their own vineyard down the road.

The only problem – I am only here two nights – definately book in for a week here and use it as a base to explore the south of France – preferably after a week on the Canal du Midi.

In my one full day here I visited nearby coastal ports, and of course the Castle/Abbey of Cassan. I want to come back.

They largely welcomed Jews and Saracens, and those whose christian faith diverged from that of Rome. The latter were regarded as heretics, and for the first time a Crusade against christians was waged on European soil. For 50 years they were hunted down, many were burned at the stake. It was the beginning of what would become the Great Inquisition when all opposition and independent thinking was quashed .

This Rome sponsored Crusade seems no different from the current Islamic practice of Jihad – they look pretty similar to me – opposition to all that is different and challenges mainstream thinking. Opposition that is strong enough to want to kill and destroy the other.

Perhaps it is simply the age old battle fought out on a different front – between light and darkness, between love and fear, between openness and control.

To me it seems no different from the present battles being waged in the Anglican Church over the inclusion (or not) of gay people. This is something I have been in correspondence with Anglican bishops and others over recent months as they have met in Lambeth, England to pontificate on such issues.

It is a simple choice to me – there is only Love or Fear. We either accept, love and welcome or we must crush, control and expel. Sometimes we move from one to the other, but the journey of life for me is to live more and more with love and openness.

Unfortunately the bishops seem to have offered gay people up on the altar of unity at all costs, and we are to be left out in the cold, unless we (like the witches in the past) recant or at the very least keep silent.

A sad indictment on the Church, and the inability to learn from the past. At least here in the South of France the independent Cathar spirit is being reclaimed as the old language is being used and taught again, and regional pride and independent spirit is being restored.

It’s not easy travelling alone – negotiating driving in a strange country and trying to navigate as well has had me going round in circles more than once. Sitting alone in a restaurant, wondering where to go next – all these things are the challenge of travelling alone.

But it is also a time to reflect and take stock – no other ‘noise’ keeping you from harsh reality.

I have a new mantra – “I am open to love and life and what the future offers”.

So doorways, windows, passage ways are what my eye is drawn to along the way. It’s giving me a great focus for exploring the country and reflecting on this staging point in my life. There are so many openings – some sealed up, some often used, some which offer promise and possibility – it is a fantastic metaphor. So I have started a series of pictures of windows and doors, it seems an apt thing for this transitional time in my life.

I will add more to this collection of photos over time – click on them and view them as a slidesow.

Pierre Paul Riquet from Beziers sank his entire fortune into the venture when from 1667-1681 12,000 people laboured on the 240 km long canal that would link the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. There are 350 bridges, aqueducts, and locks along its length, with 300 year old Plane trees lining the route – giving shade and a lovely dappled light. It truly deserves the World Heritage Status it was given by UNESCO 1996.

Breakfast was fresh bread and croissants and cheese – the muesli brought along by Yvonne was mostly uneaten. One night in the Puys region we had a simple green puy lentil dish with pork in a canal side restaurant.

Another night it was Crepe, and other nights Yvonne cooked on the boat. One night Sam found some figs growing wild, I cut them up, drizzled local honey and Rose on them and after half an hour in the oven they were amazing.

The highlights for me were definitely the fresh bread, the cheese and the wine, and the restaurant we started and finished with – which was fantabulous, and not expensive Le Vieux Logis in Vias

Click this link to go the Canal Photos, and view them as a slideshow.

It took a while to organise our boat at the Crown Blue Offices– we were meant to be away at 4pm, but it was 5pm before we had had our practice ride, loaded up the bikes and headed off to the first lock. We moored up just before the 2^nd lock, as they close at 7pm and shared a simple meal of tuna pasta and wine on the boat.

We were just 100 m from the town square so we gladly did a circuit of the town in the lovely evening before bed. The rain had stopped and the weather promised to be hot and sunny for our trip. Next morning Sam went out for a walk and found a small co-operative winery 30 m from the boat. We headed back to take photos, and taste and buy – a very nice carton of Rose. The local Rose is great and became our wine of choice for the trip.

Then we were off, on our own with a few small locks to practice on before the real challenge of the 7 connecting locks of Fonseranes. Unfortunately we just missed out on getting through before there was the obligatory 1.5 hr lunch break, and then we had to wait until 4pm before our side was allowed through. Like it or not, we were having to adjust to the slower more gentle pace of French life. However this time delay enabled team leader Yvonne and I to ride the bikes up to explore the beautiful old part of Beziers.

As 4pm neared and we waited for the light to turn green, there was a bit of saber rattling as some tried to get in ahead of those of us who had been waiting, but we were amongst the group of 3 who entered the first of the locks. The canal climbs 21.5 m over a distance of 280 m, and it is a real challenge – many come just to watch the process – very entertaining at times I am sure.

The late afternoon sun beat down relentlessly as we threw ropes, steered the boat into tight spots and out again, but by now the five of us were a well oiled team, and at the last lock we got a well done cheer from some of the spectators. Not bad as earlier in the day when we were still raw recruits someone else had said ‘Bon Chance’ – good luck.

We were a little behind in our schedule, so stopped by a small village. We shared a lovely cold bottle of champagne, but when we went in search of food, the only open cafe was out of food, so it was back to the boat for leftovers, and we fell into bed exhausted.

Day three dawned hot and sunny again, and we had a great day cruising along with 54kms without locks. Just one before we stopped at Argens Minerva for the night. I spent most of the day being chief pilot which I loved. We stopped off at small villages, rode our bikes along the canal, and generally slipped into the rhythm of our canal days.

• visit the bakery for fresh provisions
• cycle down the tow path ahead of the boat
• explore villages along the way
• meet up at a lock to help the boat through
• have a coffee in a village
• gather around the table for lunch.

Afternoons are spent wine tasting, sleeping, reading, steering the boat, sitting in the sun. We all keep pinching ourselves and asking where we are, we all respond in unison “the South of France”. It was hard to believe, but here we were – in the south of France, all chilling out and unwinding from our other lives.

It is amazing cruising through this country – old abandoned crumbling walls, beautiful unspoilt villages, vineyards as far as the eye can see, and beyond that wind turbines on the horizon powering us into the future.

It’s the juxtaposition of new and old that I relish – on top of an ancient house, a satellite points to the stars. The French seem to be happy with a slower pace of life – quietly working through a line of people with questions, a midday siesta – closing the locks on time for lunch, not matter how many are waiting.

We were a little frustrated by delays along the journey, but it was for us to adapt to this slower pace of life. Unfortunately we had to return the boat to the place we picked it up at Port Cassiferes, so we needed to allow time to travel back the way we had come. In the end it seemed that we might miss the great medieval fortress of Carcassone.

We decided it was faster to ride the bikes and save navigating of the locks, so the five of us set off. An hour later we were only at Trebes, and we decided there that 3 of us would catch a taxi the short ride to Carcassone which was a great decision.

Carcossone is a one of the largest and oldest fortresses in Europe, and a fantastic place. We did a tour of the walls on a mini train, then went into the old town, which was a tourist trap maze of shops and eateries. Finally the old church and a toilet (I find one on land whenever I can!).

Cycling home I got a flat tyre, which slowed us even more. By the time we reached the boat we were all totally exhausted, it was all we could do to muster our reserves and cast off, heading this time down the canal.

The last day was a big one – we had to get back through the seven big locks at Beziers, numerous other small ones, stop at an archeological site and get close to the final port ready to return the boat at 9am. The day went really well – I got to steer through the 7 locks which was fantastic – a little over enthusiastic at the first lock, I nearly left someone behind, but after that it was smooth saliing – once again big crowds there to watch the process and cheer us on.

After that we headed to the tunnel of Malpas where we anchored up to see a fantastic roman archeological site – the Oppidum of Enserune which dates from 6^th Century BC to 1^st Century AD. Walking amongst the houses, the cisterns over 2000 years old was breathtaking, as was the 360 degree view from the settlement. Yvonne is an archeologist by training which was great. We had cycled and pushed our bikes up the steep hill, which was worth it for the ride back down the hill.

Then it was full steam to Vias where we had decided to go to our favourite restaurant, Le Vieux Logis What a wonderful way to start and finish this trip – sitting outside as the evening fell, sharing stories of our trip and enjoying fabulous French hospitality. The evening was made even more perfect when the sounds of flamenco guitar reached us. We followed the sound to find the Square crowded with people and vibrant music drawing you up to dance. Magic!

Carcassone was my first stop – my first go with Ryan Air – very efficient, cheap and on time. A bus was outside the airport to take passengers into town for 5 pounds or in my case to the station – La Gare. The driver could not have been friendlier and more helpful, and I began using my high school french for the first time in many years

30euro taxi drive took me from the airport to Vias, a seaside town and the Hotel Le Mucrina – a simple hotel with a swimming pool, 5 mins from the old village. The hosts William and Jacqueline were incredibly friendly and helpful. Yvonne and Fiona from Bushwise Women,who had arranged the trip were due later, so I slept with the windows wide open looking across to the older part of town. For dinner we walked into town and found the last table at Le Vieux Logis. It was perfect – sitting out on the small road under the stars eating a very leisurely meal (16E) – we had duck, mussels, goat cheese, sorbet. It was everything a french meal promised to be and more. Next day we could not resist going back for lunch the next day – I had the goats cheese salad with pine nuts and walnuts and honey dressing. yum