Florida Waterways
“Boating a French canal”
By Kevin McCarthy

While most of the articles I write for this publication are about Florida Waterways, occasionally I will add a non-Florida angle for comparison/contrast. Such is the case for this month, when I deal with a French canal as an option for boaters who want a different kind of challenge, and the chance to see European and Canadian waterways from a different perspective.

In May 2019, my wife, son, his wife, and I flew to France, where we rented a 33-foot-long cabin cruiser for a week on the L’Yonne Canal south of Paris. We drove the boat ourselves, stopped along the way where we wanted, and spent each night on the boat in peaceful surroundings. It took us a leisurely seven days to boat the thirty miles or so, going through 49 locks, all of which were operated by local lockmasters. We went from Tannay to Migennes, stopped to visit towns along the way, saw very few similar boats, and sampled the local food/wine in picturesque French towns.
Because we drove the boat ourselves, and used the galley to cook some of our meals, the cost, averaged over four people, was about $100/day/person. The weather was surprisingly cool in early May, but the canal was very quiet before the busy tourist season of June – August began. Putting several boats into the relatively short locks demanded care and a slow speed, but boaters along the canal, many of whom are Americans, who don’t speak French, were usually polite and accommodating.

Late in the afternoon of each day, we usually managed a 4 p.m. break for wine and cheese on the top, open deck and then walked into the nearest local town for dinner, usually arriving back at the boat by 9 p.m., before the sun set. This was our fourth such boating trip (three in France, one in Scotland), but for the first time we had wifi, which kept us in touch with the world. We did not have any TV, so we were blissfully unaware of the crises in the world.
We used LeBoat.com each time, but another fine boat-rental company we saw along the way was locaboat.com. If you want to see different parts of the world in a different way, i.e. from the canals, I would recommend such a trip. Spending a few days before and after such a trip in Paris, was an added bonus. We found the French people in the towns and along the canal to be gracious and kind. All in all, it was a great experience.
Kevin McCarthy, the author of North Florida Waterways 2013  (available at amazon.com), can be reached at ceyhankevin@gmail.com.