When I first imagined biking in France, it was along a path free of cars and traffic. We would stop every so often to eat a croissant or have a picnic for lunch of baguette and cheese.

Now that we are over a week into our trip, I can say I had it exactly right.

Here are some idyllic photos of our first week of biking the Canal du Midi from Ville de Franche to Damazan.

The Canal du Midi is 240km long and links the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. It was envisioned, and its building was directed by Pierre-Paul Riquet, a tax farmer.

I looked up tax farmer, and it was someone who collected the Salt Tax, an extremely unpopular tax that was in place for hundreds of years, only truly ending in 1946. Evidently, it was also a salt tax that financed the construction of the Great Wall of China. Anyway,

Whenever I hear tax collector, I think of these guys:

But this is what he actually looked like:

Anyway, at first, he had a lot of support for the build, including from Louis XIV- the Sun King. You know, this dude with the big house and the nice legs

However, the project had so many issues that even the King lost interest, so Pierre-Paul Riquet used his own money to finance the canal, later making his family very rich and me, 384 years later, quite grateful for this beautiful path through France.

The canal was finished in 1681 and included all sorts of engineering feats for the time, such as cool water bridges.

Now we are on the Canal du Garonne, which is similarly beautiful.

Pastry Dedication - Éclair

I dedicate my first French pastry eaten in France, the Éclair, to my dear, beautiful friend, Corrina, who was my first paid subscriber.

The word Éclair translates to ‘flash of lightning’ in reference to how quickly they are eaten.

They are made from choux pastry, filled with crème pâtissière, and topped with icing.

I haven’t attempted making choux pastry before but from everything I’ve seen on The Great Canadian Baking Show it isn’t easy. I will try when I get home because just like my friend Corinna, Éclairs are freaking amazing.

Next Post: a kid’s perspective. I’ve had a request to hear from Lucas and what he thinks of this trip. So if you have any questions for him send them to me or post them below. 😄