French canal holiday suggestions

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John the kiwi

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A couple of years ago i asked for recommendations for Greek flotilla sailing. Thanks to responses on here, we have had a couple of great flotillas with Sailing Holidays in the Ionian and even met fellow Kiwi Barry Neilson in Sivota one evening. We have booked to do a delivery trip in 2020 as 2019 was already booked out by the time we decided.
As a change we are now thinking about a canal boat charter in France for a week or so in 2019.

Having had such great advice here previously:
-any suggestions as to charter company?
-any suggestions as to area?

We like rural rather than city and have the idylic vision of tying up at quaint villages and dining in local rather than tourist infested restaurants and cafes. (yes i know that as tourists ourselves we are part of the problem!)

Thanks in advance
 
We stayed in Capestang earlier this year and drove to Colombiers to hire bikes; there were several companies hiring boats there...fairly rural but not too far to Beziers (sequence of locks) and other pleasant towns.
 
Have a look on www.french-waterways.com www.leboat.co.uk is probably the biggest operator, but the first website has others and google will provide useful leads. As suggested Canal du Midi is probably the most atmospheric with essentially no commercial traffic. Will provide your desired "local" experience although be aware it is very rural and villages are not always right on the canal. A bike is almost a must for exploring and getting supplies (including the all important wine!).
 
The main charter companies are Le Boat, Locaboat and Nicols – we have done two trips, both with Le Boat but the service one receives is very dependent on who is running the base. Both our guys were pretty good but we met one at another base who was so rude that we truncated our stay in his port (last year on our own Dutch cruiser).

Our first 7 night trip was from Gray to Branges on the Petite Saone and Saone Rivers but the Le Boat base at Gray seems to have closed so they are not offering it – a pity as it was a lovely trip with few (time wasting) locks.

The second 13 night trip was on the Garonne from Moutauban to Le Mas d’Agenais and included a trip down the Baise all of which was delightful – some big towns, some small villages.

Since then we have done about three thousand kilometers on the French canals on our own boat but have never been down the Rhone to the Midi and will have decided that we will not do the Midi as, by all accounts, during the high season months it is a boating nightmare of accidents, queues at locks and full mooring places. Just make sure before you book that the Midi has been fully repaired after the damage caused by the floods earlier this year.

Each area has its own charm but as mentioned, be aware of doing a trip with too many locks as they can be very time wasting. A favourite of many hirers is the trip from Joigny/Migennes to the relevant hirer’s base around Corbigny or vice versa. This gives you a bit of river travel to Auxerre and then mostly canal to the destination – a trip of 130 kilometers and 62 locks (plus a couple of lifting bridges).

I all instances I would rather do a one-way trip and would most definitely rather be going ‘downhill’ rather than ‘uphill’.
Every region is different and every waterway is different and all have their own charm and idiosyncrasies so good luck with your choice.

PS: We were advised by a friend who once worked for Le Boat that the Charente River through the Cognac region was the most scenic but as this river is not connected to the main canal system we will have to make a hire boat plan one day!
PPS: Agreed, www.french-waterways.com is an excellent resource.
 
I've done two of these, and used LeBoat both times. Good service from them, process are much the same as other companies.
Canal du Midi recommended as a first trip, most scenic and interesting. Hire bikes too, and each morning step off the boat, sniff the air for the bakery, and cycle off that way and get the fresh croissants and baguettes. Take a flag and whittle a stick for it, and you'll get even better attention. From NZ, though take the black silver fern, we found that the French recognise that far better than the southerncross/unionjack flag. We were entertained by quite a few hakas when people saw that flag. Also you can get a great paperback book of stuff to see/do as well as maps with all the turns and locks etc.
 
I worked on a hotel barge in Burgandy, going down the Burgundy Canal from Dijon ( nice city, boring canal ) to St Jean De losne ( sp ? itwas 1994 ) where we joined the River Saone which is lovely - then Chalon, a very attractive town / city and onto the Canal Du Centre, which is small, windey and very beautiful - a lot of overhanging trees, the British crews used to gather as much Mistletoe as they could carry to sell when back home.

All the barge / peniche operators I knew only dealt with American clients ( jolly wealthy ones too, all nice people though ) so I don't know a contact to charter a boat there, but I can certainly recommend the Dijon / Chalon/ Canal du Centre Burgundy area, Beaune is well worth a visit if you have transport.



Beware it gets very hot in summer and rather cold in winter.
 
We did an enjoyable trip along the Canal du Midi chartering with Crisboat last June. It was supposed to be from Port Cassifieres to Castelnaudary, but our intended boat was damaged the day beforehand and our substitute trip was from Narbonne to Castelnaudary. High winds and low bridges made the first few days a bit challenging, but after that it was lovely. Its a very gentle pace with all the locks on the Midi controlled by lock keepers so when they have lunch nothing moves!
 
A couple of tips I learned when working on a hotel barge; the crews are usually British, and if at all decent a good source of bags of ice and free beer when they see a British ensign and one starts chatting.

At locks in the lunchtime they were supposed to empty the water to the lower level, but a bottle of wine allows you to stay in the filled lock with a good view.
 
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