Construído que foi o canal em tempos em que os motores pertenciam ainda ao reino da ficção científica e sendo a vela impraticável, os barcos avançavam pela força de homens ou cavalos que os puxavam pela margem, seguindo um caminho de terra que bordejava o curso de água. A função deu-lhe o nome : chemin de halage, ou, em português, caminho de sirga.
Se a nossa viagem tivesse sido feita há uns séculos bem podíamos ter sido protagonistas de episódios como o que Jerome K. Jerome descreve no seu "Three men in a boat"*:
Of all experiences in connection with towing, the most exciting is being towed by girls. It is a sensation that nobody ought to miss. It takes three girls to tow always; two hold the rope, and the other one runs round and round, and giggles. They generally begin by getting themselves tied up. They get the line round their legs, and have to sit down on the path and undo each other, and then they twist it round their necks, and are nearly strangled. They fix it straight, however, at last, and start off at a run, pulling the boat along at quite a dangerous pace. At the end of a hundred yards they are naturally breathless, and suddenly stop, and all sit down on the grass and laugh, and your boat drifts out to mid-stream and turns round, before you know what has happened, or can get hold of a scull. Then they stand up, and are surprised.
“Oh, look!” they say; “he’s gone right out into the middle.”
They pull on pretty steadily for a bit, after this, and then it all at once occurs to one of them that she will pin up her frock, and they ease up for the purpose, and the boat runs aground.
You jump up, and push it off, and you shout to them not to stop.
“Yes. What’s the matter?” they shout back.
“Don’t stop,” you roar.
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t stop—go on—go on!”
“Go back, Emily, and see what it is they want,” says one; and Emily comes back, and asks what it is.
“What do you want?” she says; “anything happened?”
“No,” you reply, “it’s all right; only go on, you know—don’t stop.”
[...]“I see. Give me out my red shawl, it’s under the cushion.”
You find the shawl, and hand it out, and by this time another one has come back and thinks she will have hers too, and they take Mary’s on chance, and Mary does not want it, so they bring it back and have a pocket-comb instead. It is about twenty minutes before they get off again, and, at the next corner, they see a cow, and you have to leave the boat to chivy the cow out of their way.
There is never a dull moment in the boat while girls are towing it.
Hoje, que os barcos avançam impulsionados pelos cavalos do motor, os caminhos de sirga são uma mais valia para o canal. Protegido do sol pela sombra dos plátanos, choupos e pinheiros que estabilizam as margens, o caminho convida a passeios a pé, de bicicleta, a cavalo, à pesca ou à simples contemplação dos barcos que passam, das garças, patos e ratos almiscarados que fazem do canal a sua casa.
É um outro olhar, uma outra descoberta. O Canal du Midi de bicicleta pelos caminhos de sirga? Huummm, quem sabe, um dia....
* A versão integral de "Three man in a boat", cuja leitura se recomenda vivamente, está disponível no Project Gutenberg.
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