We’re DONE cruising Canal du Midi at the ROUND lock – our last day on inland waterways of France

Ep28: Just 12km to the sea via Canal du Midi and we’re done with cruising the French canals. After motoring more than 2850km to get here, where next? Cruising The Long Way Down becomes Sailing The Long Way East. How far will we get before our time runs out? Can we remember how the mast and sails should be rigged?
It was always our intention to travel from our home in Yorkshire through the middle of France to the Mediterranean Sea on our sailboat OPTIONS. It is a fantastic journey with many good and not so good bits – but would the mast arrive and would it still be in one piece after transport from Dunkerque? Time to turn left . . .

Acknowledgments and links:
Canal du Midi UNESCO: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/770/
Da Vinci lock gate: https://civil.lindahall.org/mitergate.shtml
King Francis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_I_of_France
Pierre Riquet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre-Paul_Riquet
Boatloads International mast transport: http://www.boat-loads.com/
Allemand Shipyard: https://www.chantier-allemand.com/en/home/
Grau d’Agde: https://www.capdagde.com/en/le-grau-dagde/
Fluviacap Route Planner: http://www.fluviacarte.com/en/fluviacap
VNF Main Site: https://www.vnf.fr/vnf/
VNF Route Planner: http://www.vnf.fr/calculitinerairefluvial/app/Main.html
French Waterways Main Site: https://www.french-waterways.com/
French Waterways Routes: https://www.french-waterways.com/practicalities/canal-depths/
European Waterways, best 6 canals: https://www.europeanwaterways.com/blog/top-6-canals-cruise-france/
Dutch Barge Association: https://barges.org/9-uncategorised/347-wg-intro
Navionics: https://www.navionics.com/gbr/navionics-plus-france-lakes-and-rivers-4.html