Yesterday we repacked our bags. The warm clothing went into one bag which was buried at the bottom of the boot. You've guessed; this morning we had a surprise. Why was that water coming out of the sky? Why was I wearing a dress and flip-flops? In a car park in Beziers I rooted around and found some warm layers, socks and boots.

We set off, in our waterproofs, to walk the 1.7Km to Les Neufs Ecluses, the 9 locks on the Canal du Midi built in the early 1600s to complete the waterway link between Toulouse (Atlantic) and Sete (Mediterranean). The river Orb had been used, but its water levels were erratic, so a series of 9 locks were built, along with about 2Km of canal and a canal bridge over the river. It would be a massive project nowadays; the mind boggles to think of the man and horse-power that were needed to build the canal 21.5m above the surrounding land, then build the locks. The river there is wider than the Thames in Reading, the canal bridge spans it plus a bit, I'm guessing at least 60m and the width of the bridge must have been 10m wide with a wide pathway each side of the water, built of dressed stone with archways. Bear in mind this is 21.5m above the river too!

20 years ago we visited when the attraction was the 20th century alternative to the locks, the Pente d'Eau, a giant contraption painted bright red & blue which transported a boat plus water in a metal box by crawling up an incline on rubber wheels, driven by diesel. The 9 locks were overgrown, silted up, their wooden walkways rotten and lock gates seized up. Today the Pente d'Eau is redundant, its paint faded and pathways overgrown, whereas the locks have been restored, dredged, their gates replaced and hydraulic rams fitted with remote controls. How wonderful to be able to cruise the waterways 400 years after they were built.

There was a huge queue of boats waiting to go down the 'staircase'. The locks are oval, and would only fit one rivercruiser at a time. The locks operate on a strict timetable, so even though there were no boats waiting to go up, the 'down' sequence would not start until 1.30. We wondered if all the boats would get through in 2 hours, because from 3.30-5.30 it would be the 'up' sequence again.

As we walked back to the car, we noticed a section of the canal had concrete edges. A road has recently been constructed under the canal - at the original ground level, so 21.5m underneath. We wondered how long it had taken, and how many workers, compared to the bridge builders 400 years ago.

The drive to Millau was grey & rainy, but the bridge still had the 'wow' factor as we crossed. There's a viewpoint with a visitor centre, so there is a photo in today's album, but it would have been so much prettier with a blue sky.

This evening we walked round Millau, much of which dates from the 1600s judging from dates carved on archways, though there is a C12 tower in the centre. I'd like to go back on a sunny day as it was too chilly, even wearing our layers, to spend much time there. It seems quite arty, there were a lot of small galleries and large public sculptures, but also a large number of closed-down shops with their windows blanked with paper or posters. There is criticism of British towns where empty shops are turned into charity shops with concessions on rent/rates, but having seen so many scruffy empty units in Spain and here, I think I now agree with English councils' decisions.