Sarastro

The towpaths are accessible to service vehicles only. You may bike or walk along them.

Pruneau

I lived for several years near the Canal Latérale à la Garonne near Agen. I can therefore confirm that cars are not allowed on the towpath, but that there are, of course, places for cars to park to allow pedestrian and cycle access to the canal banks.
When the news of the tree-felling along the banks of the Canal du Midi was announced there really was a sense of doom and gloom in the area. However necessary an action it may be, large stretches of the canal are going to seem awfully bare to all those who love it.

DarylMay

The canal is always hikable and bikable, but in places it can be muddy after rain. Sometimes, you need to switch sides, which is always possible at bridges or locks. I have walked it from the Mediterranean to the north end of the Canal de Garonne, to which the Canal du Midi connects in Toulouse.

For details, please visit http://mylongwalk.com/france.html

In fact, that site describes a hike from Italy to the Atlantic coast, including those two canals and portions of the Canal du Rhone.

MmePerdu

An old thread but I'll add that several years ago in preparation for walking the Burgundy Canal I picked up quite a comprehensive guide at Stanford's in London, Editions du Breil's Waterways Guide. All text is in French, English and German, It's a large format with lots of excellent maps, text & photos and there seem to editions for many of the canals in France. I recommend them highly.

Michael

<i>and cars can travel the length of the canal on either the towpaths or an adjacent highway.</i>

Not for the section we did between St. Florentin and Monbard, although the path area might be wide enough for service vehicles. This was quite a long time ago, but I can't imagine that the paths were modified to accept general vehicular traffic as it would drastically alter the appeal of taking a boat trip on the canal.