Agen – The Garonne River and its Aqueduct

This postcard may or may not have belonged to my grandpa. I didn’t scan the text on the back, which suggests that it’s not one of his. It's likely just a card that I bought somewhere because it depicts my hometown, Agen.

There are two notable things here. First, obviously, the washerwomen. I’m actually surprised that the Garonne River was used for washing laundry. I suppose it was much cleaner back then. (It’s not that bad nowadays; the advantage of not being in an industrial area. Nevertheless, in this day and age, I doubt any large river is clean enough for laundry.)

Second, in the background, you can see the aqueduct that allows the Canal de Garonne to cross the river. We simply call it the "canal bridge" in Agen and around. Growing up there, I always took this structure for granted. However, it’s actually unique because it's not a road or railway crossing the river, but rather another waterway. The aqueduct itself hasn’t changed much since the 1840s, but the riverbanks look very different. First, the river was encased to prevent the common floods of the past, even during my childhood. Later, a road was built to go around the city instead of through it.