Le Son 7

Capestang (French pronunciation: [kapɛstɑ̃]; Occitan: Cabestanh) is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France.

The Capestang bridge over the Canal du Midi at PK 189 at Capestang is a very important structure for those wishing to motor on the canal. It is used as a measuring device as it is the lowest structure on the canal. A boat, with an air draft under 3.3 m (11 ft) at the center and assuming a beam no more than 5 m (16 ft), a height of no more than 2.4 m (7.9 ft) at the extremities, should make it under the bridge. A British boat builder who builds boats for several of the boat hire companies in France builds their boats to meet these requirements. Even though rebuilt in recent times, being historic, it was felt necessary to retain its small dimensions.

Montels is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France.

Poilhes (/pɔj/) is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France.

The Pont Serme or Pons Selinus, later called the Pons Septimus, was a Roman bridge of the Via Domitia in Hérault, southern France. The approximately 1500 m long viaduct crossed the wide marshes of the Orb and the Etang de Capestang west of Béziers, surpassing in length even the Trajan's Bridge over the Danube. Today, few traces remain of the viaduct, other than its name, which has passed over to a nearby village.

The Oppidum d'Ensérune is an ancient hill-town (or oppidum) near the village of Nissan-lez-Ensérune, France, located between Béziers and Narbonne close to the D609 (formerly RN9) and Canal du Midi. It has been listed since 1935 as a monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture. The settlement was occupied without interruption between the 6th century BC and 1st century AD on a hill with good views over the coastal plain, being close to the Via Domitia, the Montady lake, and fertile agricultural land below. There is a museum on the site which offers a display of some of the finds on the site, as well as giving more information about the fort and the field system. Below the oppidum was the swamp of Montady, (centred on 43°19′12″N 3°07′24″E ), which is now wedge shaped fields separated by irrigation ditches that converge in the centre. In the 13th century, the swamp was drained; the ditches allowed water to flow to the centre of the circular depression, from which it was conveyed through underground pipes several kilometres to the south. The drainage is still functional and remains in use.

Montady (French pronunciation: [mɔ̃tadi]; Occitan: Montadin) is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France.

The Étang de Montady (English: "pond of Montady") is a drained endoreic pond or lagoon, is now more accurately a former freshwater wetland, located near Montady and Colombiers, midway between Béziers and Narbonne in the western department of Hérault in southern France.

Maureilhan (French pronunciation: [moʁɛjɑ̃]; Occitan: Maurelhan) is a commune in the Hérault department in southern France.

Quarante (French pronunciation: [kaʁɑ̃t] ; Occitan: Cranta) is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Quarante is a hilltop medieval village from the Gallo-Roman era, just 1 km from the famous 17th century Canal du Midi, 8 km from Capestang, 25 km from Béziers, and 35 km from the Mediterranean Sea. The closest train station with service to Paris is in downtown Béziers, and the regional airport is Beziers Cap d'Agde near the Mediterranean Sea. International airports within an hour are; Carcassonne to the north, Perpignan to the east, and Montpellier to the southwest, with Toulouse being two hours north. Installed on a Roman oppidum, the town had a significant occupation during those times, as evidenced by the artifacts found and available for viewing in the local museum. The Sainte-Marie de Quarante Abbey, built in 902, is located in the town square. You can still see the original rempart walls, towers and prison in the ancient town center on the stone roads from the 12th to 14th centuries on Rue des Remparts and Rue des Bichettes. Quarante has had a relatively peaceful history over the centuries, mainly focused on wine and olive production which is still relevant today. Quiet, with very light tourism, the village seduces by its proximity to some of the most beautiful cities of the region, but also by its natural and preserved environment. This area boasts over 300 days of sunshine a year, perfect for the local vineyards and olive groves. The village has a middle school, bakery, butcher, grocery, pizza take-out, bar and restaurant, wine tasting, hair salon, B&B, gites, doctor, pharmacy and post office. Postal code is 34310.

The Malpas tunnel carries the Canal du Midi under the d'Ensérune hill in Hérault, France. Excavated in 1679, it was Europe's first navigable canal tunnel and is a monument to the determination of Pierre-Paul Riquet, the chief engineer. It is located in the commune of Nissan-lez-Ensérune near to the archaeological site Oppidum d'Ensérune. There was great disappointment when the works reached the hill d'Ensérune. A few metres of digging in hard rock revealed a very brittle sandstone subject to slippage. Colbert, the prime minister, halted the works when he was made aware of the situation. The portal was blocked and the workings re-sited. Riquet's detractors took advantage of this situation to impede the project. Colbert announced that he would send royal commissioners to decide the canal's future. The advice of the Chevalier de Clerville, architect to Louis XIV, was to cross the river Aude rather than tunnel through the hill. Riquet, however, maintained his preference for a tunnel because of the extra problems that crossing the Aude would create. Riquet's response was to ask his master mason, Pascal de Nissan, to continue tunneling in secret despite the risk of collapse. In less than eight days, the tunnel was complete with a concrete ceiling throughout. The tunnel is 165m long with an arch 8m above the canal's surface, and removed the necessity for an extra lock. By the time the Malpas Tunnel was excavated in the seventeenth century, the hill had already for several centuries been the site of a tunnel, dug in the Middle Ages, to drain the Étang de Montady. This pre-existing tunnel is said to have been Riquet's inspiration for the Malpas Tunnel. In the nineteenth century, a third tunnel was excavated, passing through the Hill d'Ensérune beneath the Malpas tunnel to house the Béziers to Narbonne railway line.

Cuxac-d'Aude (French pronunciation: [kyksak dod] (listen); Occitan: Cucçac d'Aude) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. The French operatic tenor Léon Escalaïs was born and died in Cuxac-d'Aude.