Wintering on the French canals

[George]

This summer I intend to leave Greece and head for the south of France where I would like to spend some time on the canal du midi.
I am also thinking of spending the winter on the canal and would like to find a town or village where I could leave the boat safely for a couple of months to return to the UK.
Has any on wintered on the canal system and can recommend a good town with a little bit of an atmosphere or any advice.

 

[Sea Devil]

port de plaisance, 21170 Saint Jean de Losne - FRANCE - is a good place to winter or leave a boat - lots of cruising boats are there and it is very safe - A proper marina with pontoons and electricity etc. Not the most convienient for transport or shops but excellent to leave a boat in.

Stacks of places to winter - one nice one is just before the entrance proper to the Rhone nice village and alongside mooring - not sure about leaving a boat alone for long there.......

 

[Sea Devil]

Just realised you posted canal du midi = Around toulouse are several places which should be safe enough - boat yards - nice area and easy for transport to UK

 

[George]

Thanks for that will look them up, port de plaisance sounds nice, proberly be walmer than the canals.

 

[rrees]

Have a look on Cruisinglogs.org.uk

If there are no enties for what you want put a request in, I'm sure some kindly sole will answer you.
We have been berthed in this area for a few years now and know the area quite well. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[LadyInBed]

Carcassonne is lovely and has a good stone water frontage for tying up. Not sure about long term security but it will be a lot more secure than Toulouse, I was unhappy leaving the boat there for a days sight seeing. Another option is to lookup the hire boat companies and see if they have storage room in their mariners.

 

[Grehan]

Check winter closing.
The canal du midi maybe and the canal lateral a la garonne certainly are closed during some winter months.
Toulouse is an excellent place, with an excellent Capitain(ne) - Sylvianne - and good security, but it gets booked for the winter. We know people who are over-wintering there now.
Carcassonne is OK but you might also consider Beziers and also Castelsarrasin, which is small but has a good boatyard run by Veronique and Bernard where lots of Brit yotties leave their craft out of the water and under cover. Not surprisingly, that also gets booked up well in advance.
There's also a place whose name I forget on a northernward cul-de-sac type spur off the Midi near Sete, with a modern basin set amidst modern buildings, where people ovewinter. We know people who've done that. They said it was a good place, although the management changed and it's now not as good as it was. (what a load of rambling nonsense . . !)

Guide to some places on the Midi and the Garonne lateral on our website - see "Places"