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French rivers and canals.

ExMemberBobdog
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ExMemberBobdog

ExMemberBobdog

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This may be sacrilegious, but at the prompting of SWMBO I'm contemplating a trip to the waterways of France next year.  Quite an adventure for me, because other than regular ski trips I rarely leave Norfolk.  However I'm becoming a little confused by the wide range of options available.  Most of the internet searching I've done just turns up the boat hire companies, each of whom, of course, claims to be the best, and each praises their own cruising area.  Wondered if anybody here had been, and what areas they would recommend/avoid?  Even better, anybody able to recommend good guide books from which I could do some more research?  

 

I've taken a fancy to the Penichette style of boat, anybody got experience of these?  

I would prefer to be somewhere relatively uncrowded (so maybe early season, before the school holidays, or late season, once they've all gone back). Don't want to be near big towns, but the odd small town/riverside village would be fine.  I'm thinking of taking bikes and an inflatable kayak with us.  Lazy cruising, moor up for a few glasses of local plonk and some grilled fish/meat, quiet evening playing scrabble or reading a book (no TV needed), up early to cycle to a shop for a baguette and some croissants, cruise on down a bit further, pop into the kayak to do a little paddling around etc etc ...  

I'm not overly fond of the heat - so don't want to head too far south - and it would be good to have a different kind of scenery than at home (some hills for example) but other than that I'm fairly open minded.

 

Grateful for any advice/info.

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JawsOrca

JawsOrca

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I've heard lots of good things said about the Canal du Midi too. It's south so (as usual) the weather will better and apparently it comes out close to the Med.  I've never been though.. if you (or anyone) goes please do a tale as I certainly want to go one day. cheers

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MauriceMynah

MauriceMynah

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Hi there,

 

I’m sure you will love the French canals as much as you love the broads. There will be differences in very much the same way that there will be similarities .

 

The idea of visiting the various wine growing regions and sampling their delights is as appealing to me as it obviously is to you. I have even wondered about taking Nyx across the salty bit and having an extended stay there. I have little doubt that, as with any boating holiday, there will be a great reluctance to come home.

 

Whilst I have little or no knowledge about these waterways, I have gleened some information from what I consider a reliable source.

 

The canals are run by the french government. The department directly responsible for the navigation of the waterways is the Autorité de Bateau (AB) headed by Docteur Jean Packhomme.

 

A word to the wise here. There is a groundswell of opinion that Docteur Packhomme is in  some way linked an organisation (Le Arress Pebea) who are intent on changing the French canal network from "Le Frere de parc nationale" to full "Parc de Nationale" status, for reasons best known to themselves. Whilst this “alliance” is in question, it has to be noticed that there has been no attempt by Docteur Packhomme to distance himself from this controversial organisation.

 

I hope that helps :)

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Griff500

Griff500

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The Saone or more specifically the Petite Saone has far fewer locks than the likes of the Canal du Nivernais or Bourgogne. Locaboat (Penichettes) have a base at a small village called Scey-sur-Saone and this area is relatively uncrowded (or was when I lived there a few years back!) Lots of great restaurants close to the river or the canalised parts of it where the locks are. Or you could hire from from Le Boat further downstream at Gray. 

 

September can be a great month for weather but July and August can sometimes be as hot as the South as is more subject to a Continental climate. In any event the countryside is undulating and there are plenty of wild moorings under trees to stay in the shade...

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ranworthbreeze

ranworthbreeze

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Hello Bobdog,

 

Timothy West & Prunella Scales did an episode in each of the two series of their Canal Journeys on of these programmes was on the Canal Du Midi.

 

The canals do look interesting I have seen some other programmes that feature the wine growing regions.

 

I am sure that you will enjoy it, it is just the question of who to book through. Like Holland all the locks I believe are manned.

 

Regards

Alan 

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webntweb

webntweb

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Hi Bobdog,

 

We really enjoyed our holidays on the Canal du Midi and Canal du Rhone a Sete (the continuation of the Midi).

 

We went first time in August when it was very hot but the plane trees that overhang the canal gave plenty of shade. Unfortunately a lot of these trees have been removed since to try and eradicate a disease spreading via their roots from tree to tree, so there are large sections with no shade now.

 

Next time we went in mid May and the weather was brilliant never less than the low 20s and not higher than 27 degrees. I think early to mid June would be an excellent time to go.

 

As Alan says most of the locks are manned but there are a few exceptions such as the Canal du Jonction which connects the Canal du Midi to Narbonne. Here the locks are automated, worked by a combination of buttons and magic eyes. The last lock entering Narbonne has a pole on a wire suspended over the centre of the canal which you twist as you pass under. This starts the lock mechanism.

 

Attached is a pic of the seven waterway personnel that arrived to fix a stuck automatic lock.

 

Roy

post-29679-0-27734800-1433546634_thumb.j

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Poggymale

Poggymale

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Went on the Canal du Midi a couple of years ago. Lovely scenery, parts quite busy as per the Broads and lovely weather - that was in May. There were 6 of us which worked well in the locks taking turns and we had a couple of bikes which also worked well. If you go make sure you fill up with water at every opportunity as working water points were extremely hard to find.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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ExMemberBobdog

ExMemberBobdog

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Of course, you'll all know why Nelson won at Trafalgar?  It was all down to the signal he flew before the battle; "England expects that every man will do his duty".  The French commander signalled "To the water, it is the hour", which I'm sure you'll agree lacks a little punch?  Maybe it was better in the original French; "A l'eau, c'est l'heure". (Try that in your best 'Allo 'Allo fashion.) :)

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Baitrunner

Baitrunner

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Well I would really like to hear how your trip goes if you get it organised?

We have just just got back from a long weekend in eperney- champagne region.

The weather was glorious, food fantastic, people really friendly and did I mention the champagne? We managed to try 42 different types!! Needless to say the car stayed in the car park and came back very heavily laden!

And to cap it all, on sat and sunday they had a Belgian beer festival in the town square. Not a fight or argument in sight.

Anyway the point was the river on the edge of town looked gorgeous and the rivers and canals we passed enroute really got the mind thinking that a boating holiday in France has to go on the bucket list.

Please let us all know how your trip pans out.

Grace would you like a list of our favourite tipples we tried?

Ps. For all the men on here the women didnt even complain about the lack of shoe or dress shops to look in - just looked forward to the next glass!!

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