Canal du midi - Tunnel de malpas near Béziers France 4k by drone

In this film I show you the 165m long tunnel of Malpas through which the Canal de Midi flows, the first built canal tunnel in the world - another great achievement of Pierre-Paul Riquet, the builder of the complete Canal du midi. Dug in 1679 in just 8 days, an incredible feat. But Riquet was in a predicament, due to the very brittle sandstone his whole Canal-du-midi project was in danger of being stopped which his critics tried several times. The work was officially stopped for the arrival of the royal commissioners, but Riquet let his master mason Pascal de Nissan continue working day and night in secret and they managed to break through the 165m long tunnel in only 8 days with a continuous concrete ceiling - and that in 1679! We would not manage that today even with machines! The only thing that indicates the problem today is the name - Tunnel de mal pas - the tunnel of the bad way. A trip through the tunnel by houseboat is a very special experience and before entering, each boat must sound its horn to alert oncoming vessels that it is entering the tunnel. At the edge there is a narrow passageway, secured with an old railing, through which it is possible to pass the tunnel on foot.

The Canal du midi - with a length of 240km it connects Toulouse with the Mediterranean Sea at Sète and was completed in 1681. It brought progress and the way to modernity to the region and was important for the transport of perons and goods until the end of the 20th century. At peak times, 110 million ton kilometers of goods were transported.

Today, the canal is practically used only for tourism, as the whole region is known for its cozy and relaxing vacations on various types of houseboats. However, bathing in the canal is prohibited due to its high microbial load. But due to its brownish-grey color, the canal does not look very inviting anyway. Until a few years ago, the waste water from the houseboats was also discharged directly into the canal.

A technical masterpiece that the master builder Pierre-Paul Riquet had built here with many obstacles and problems after the French King Louis XIV had approved the project in 1666. With its 98 lock basins the canal overcomes

Together with the Canal de Garonne, it provides a navigable link from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, avoiding the arduous journey around the Iberian Peninsula. Already the Romans thought about building a canal, in the Middle Ages even Leonardo da Vinci was involved in the planning work, but they failed to supply the canal with water.

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Special Thanks to Scott Buckley for his awesome music!

Music by Scott Buckley – www.scottbuckley.com.au

Title: A drift among infinite stars

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Kanal - Hausboot - Hausbootferien - Urlaub in Südfrankreich - entschleunigen - gemütlich - Kanaltunnel - Tunnel von Malpas