Le Canal des Deux Mers à Vélo day 5 - 65 km from Toulouse to Castelnaudary

The stretch of canal from Toulouse to Castelnaudary was a bit more exposed than more of the journey so far. I had been warned that there had been some disease in the poplar trees along this section and that a lot had been cut down to prevent spread of the disease. The surface was also a little bit rougher, but I was riding a gravel bike with reasonably fat tyres, so it was comfortable enough.

Arriving at the Grand Bassin of Castelnaudary, it feels like you have arrived at a coastal port. Except this large basin is more or less half way from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean and was the original source of the Canal du Midi.

Castelnaudary is considered (by some anyway) to be the home of cassoulet. Knowing this, it was a bit of a mission of mine to sample a local cassoulet. The Logis Hotel le Clos Fleuri where I was staying had a rather nice restaurant and served cassoulet, so I ordered that. It was excellent! If you do stay there, it’s worth making a point of booking yourself in the restaurant early. It seems to be popular with locals and filled up fast.