You may ride over it every day. You may even ride on it, but probably on rare occasions.

So it's easy to take the Augusta Canal for granted.

Rest assured the rest of the country doesn't -- and now, neither will the world.

The canal, a brilliant vision of 1800s Augusta and once a mighty engine of commerce, is now one of only 40 sites in the country to earn the designation of National Heritage Area.

The Augusta Canal has banded with its sister heritage areas around the country to form the Alliance of National Heritage Areas. The alliance formed an agreement with 45 similar heritage areas in France to encourage the areas to link up and trade ideas and tourists.

And last March, the Augusta Canal became the first U.S. site to enter into a formal four-year partnership with a site in France: the "Parc Naturel Regional de la Montagne de Reims," or PNR.

This week, a delegation of five representatives from the PNR have been visiting Augusta and studying how the Augusta canal is used and operated and protected by the Augusta Canal Authority and its interpretive center.

They're also getting to know Augusta and seeing all the sights and drinking in the southern hospitality.

Tonight it will be French champagne the group and invited guests will be drinking, as one of the visiting delegation members is the president of the French Champagne Institute.

This isn't just an excuse to party. The exchanges -- an Augusta group will visit the PNR next year -- give members the chance to share best practices and to ramp up tourism for each destination.

One curiosity for the visiting group this year is that the 1845 Augusta Canal is the country's last remaining canal producing electricity for industrial use. It provides power to nearby mills and to the offices and apartments at Enterprise Mill.

There will no doubt be some useful ideas Augustans take back from their visit to France next year.

Another benefit is yet another opportunity to see our city through others' eyes. Dayton Sherrouse, Augusta Canal executive director and president of the national alliance of heritage sites, says the French delegation has been quite taken by the natural beauty of the area.

"They can't believe the trees," he says.

Something to think about the next time you ride over or on the canal.