Canal du Midi

The Canal du Midi is unlike any other canal—it is a stroke of reason through the irrationality of geography. The idea was to connect the Atlantic and the Mediterranean without the detour around Spain. Pierre-Paul Riquet embraced this idea, and from 1666 to 1681, a 240-kilometer-long waterway was built—with locks, aqueducts, and dams that still seem to have been magically set in stone and water.

Near Béziers, the masterpiece is revealed: the Nine Locks. Nine steps that carry boats up and down like a water elevator. Not a spectacle with the roar of cannons, but a quiet engineering feat that has been running reliably for over 300 years. Here, you can see how far you can get with patience, craftsmanship, and a few wooden gates. More on Wikipedia