OENORANDO "BETWEEN CANAL DU MIDI AND VINEYARDS"

At the gateway to Béziers, the vineyards stretch along the banks of the Canal du Midi. The Oenorando will lead you to discover the landscapes and the mosaic of grape varieties, in IGP Pays d'Oc and IGP Coteaux de Béziers, which benefit from maritime influences on terroirs of rolled pebbles, caressed by the local wind. The walk lasts around 3 hours and covers 10 km.
Just imagine... Just 60 years ago, instead of the soles of your hiking boots, you'd have seen the imprint on this beaten earth of the horseshoes used to pull the barges. These pot-bellied boats, their sides overflowing with barrels of local wine, sailed down the canal to Sète, before leaving for faraway places... Or back up to Toulouse, to water those who worked hard, under the sun and in the factories. All this "blood of the vine", produced in the surrounding plots, was put into barrels, loaded and transported by the essential artery that was the Canal du Midi.

Riquet's work made a major contribution to the economic development of Languedoc in the ^17th century: thanks to river transport, of course, but also to the canal's water, which irrigated thousands of hectares of farmland between Toulouse and Sète. The main cargo was wine, but cereals, textiles and coal were also transported. And passengers, who traveled much faster and more serenely than in carriages on rutted roads, at the mercy of highwaymen.