Discovering Southern France: The Canal du Midi

By Sarah Franklin

I've had the privilege of spending time in the Languedoc Roussillon region of France for the past five summers and I've fallen in love. Whenever my family arrives in Toulouse, we rent a car and head out of the city and straight into the countryside. The first time I saw the fields of sunflowers alongside the road, driving towards Carcassonne, I was aghast, “gob smacked,” and overwhelmed with the visual beauty. So much so that my husband had to pull the car over; so I could be closer to these dancing heads who follow the sun like New Englanders in springtime. Then there were the vineyards. Perfectly straight corridors of chartreuse vines, lush with low hanging fruit, high cypress trees and an occasional old stone barn. The route between the Massif Central and the Pyrenees, following the Canal du Midi, had me from the start.