Canal related holiday in France

[David Schweizer]

We are considering spending a couple of weeks in France later this year, and although we are not planning a boating holiday, we are planning to take our Bromptons and would like to be able to cycle along some canal towpaths.

 

We have been to France a number of times, but never to an area where there were any canals, so this would be a new venture for us. I know that there are several forum members who live in France and many more who have boated there, so any advice on the prettier parts where we could possibly rent a Gite would be welcome, preferably not too far south, but away from the more populated areas.

[Albion]

A lot of the French canals have had the towpaths upgraded to cycleways with paved surfaces (courtesy of EU funding IIRC). The Nivernais and the Burgundy do for sure but what I cannot tell you is whether it is a full length upgrade as it has never affected me on the boat. The Nivernais is pretty nice all the way down (the Sardy lock flight is nice and with wooden beamed non-automated locks) but I would advise choosing only the central region of the Burgundy for the prettiest scenery (The valley of the Ouche is lovely) because either end of the Burgundy is rather uninteresting. It is a bit industrial and scruffy close to Laroches-Migennes at the western end and rather straight and boring from Dijon eastwards.

Those would be my starter areas from what I have boated so far. The northern limit of the Nivernais is at the lovely city of Auxerre and only slightly further north is the western end of the Burgundy. It would take you about 4.5 to 5 hours to drive to Auxerre from Calais via the A26 (toll motorway) Autoroute des Anglais (this avoids driving via Paris and its ring roads).

Roger

Edited January 1, 2017 by Albion

[Graham Davis]

The Nantes-Brest Canal seems to be popular with cyclists whenever we are over in Brittany

[Richard T]

There are a lot of cycleways in Brittany which follow canals and the routes of disused railways.https://cycling.brittanytourism.com/

[magpie patrick]

The Nantes-Brest Canal seems to be popular with cyclists whenever we are over in Brittany

 

That would get one vote from me, and I have cycled much of it about 15 years ago

 

It would be remiss of me not to mention that Frome's twin town, Chateau Gontier, is on the Mayenne navigation, and the Chemin de Halage is cyclable throughout (85km). I haven't explored it much (yet) though...

[IDS]

We cycled a bit of the Nantes-Brest whilst staying in Malestroit last year. Very accessible and well surfaced. Lots of interesting places to go in that part of Brittany. Also great environment around Golfe du Morbihan with cycling opportunities on the islands and surroundings.

[David Schweizer]

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, we are looking into accomodation near several of the suggested locations. I should point out that neither of us is a "keen" cyclist, (as in Lycra etc!), and the bikes are foldable Bromptons, which are really only suitable for fairly flat and smooth surfaces, hence the idea of canal towpaths.

Edited January 2, 2017 by David Schweizer

[stagedamager]

Carcassonne is a nice centre to work from. There's direct flights from several airports

Dan

[cheshire~rose]

We holidayed near The Canal du Midi in September staying at La Redorte. and we were travelling around the area through 2 weeks.

 

While our trip was more about looking at properties than canals inevitably we tended to take a detour to see any bits of canal nearby whenever the opportunity arose.

 

I have to say that while the scenery was lovely I found the huge numbers of plastic hireboats on that section put me off wanting to boat there. Once I realised that I was looking at the equivalent of The LLangollen in August I understood a bit better, I love The Llangollen in March/April but would hate it in August.

 

I want to see The Nivernais next

[Stuart Davies]

A possibility would be to fly to Beziers from Bristol using Ryanair, very cheaply and then you are within a very short distance of the Canal Du Midi.

 

The best time for this canal is around May or early June. The weather is generally good and the flowers will be in bloom.

 

Beziers to Carcasonne and back would make a good week's break and there's trains all along the way if you want to cut out a bit.

[Tam & Di]

Are you proposing to stay in one area, or spend a few days and then move on? I'm not sure it would do two weeks, but I think you would very much enjoy some time at Briare where there is an aqueduct (pont canal in French - an aqueduct is what the Romans built for moving water about) over the river Loire. There are a lot of smaller old canals there, plus you can look at how unpowered craft worked themselves across the river by swinging on their anchor and using winches pre-pont canal. There is also a factory that made ornamental buttons used by missionairies as tokens to exchange with "natives", a superbly ornamented church, a boat museum ... Lots of stuff. You can cross the pont canal and explore that side too, plus going the other way you are not far from the Sept écluses (7 locks) at Rogny - the ancient pre-Freycinet locks. It's a very interesting region.

 

Tam

[Pluto]

The Festival de Loire, 20-24 September at Orleans, is well worth visiting, with a wide variety of historical inland boats attending, together with a variety of other events. You can easily get to see the Canal de Briare, which is quite close by.

[Stilllearning]

We holidayed near The Canal du Midi in September staying at La Redorte. and we were travelling around the area through 2 weeks.

 

While our trip was more about looking at properties than canals inevitably we tended to take a detour to see any bits of canal nearby whenever the opportunity arose.

 

I have to say that while the scenery was lovely I found the huge numbers of plastic hireboats on that section put me off wanting to boat there. Once I realised that I was looking at the equivalent of The LLangollen in August I understood a bit better, I love The Llangollen in March/April but would hate it in August.

 

I want to see The Nivernais next

 

Good luck with the property search. Not being sure how much experience you have of house hunting here, may I just say that house prices are still tending to (mostly) fall, and that it is unwise to look upon a house purchase here as an investment that will yield any short term profit. It may be that you are well past the rose tinted glasses stage, in which case ignore me and get on with looking. We looked for years, and in the end the only way we were able to decide on where to buy was by limiting ourselves to one small region. Otherwise, let's be honest, everywhere is nice.

[Athy]

Otherwise, let's be honest, everywhere is nice.

This sums up my feelings about France quite succinctly - though I would have to suffix it by "except..." - my list would include Decazeville, much of the North-East, and Perpignan which, when we stayed there, smelled odd.

[Dav and Pen]

The towpath of the Burgundy canal is well used by cyclists and most of it is tarmac paved ( dam site better than the roads in Northamptonshire) and there are marked velo routes taking in points of interest. Where I keep my barge there is a fine chambre de hote which has overnight groups of cyclists whose luggage is moved around for them but also individuals. If you started from near the summit at Pouilly en Auxois it's al downhill to the R.Soane where there's the Vois bleu which is part of a real long distance cycle way ending in Budapest but that's a bit far for two weeks.

Enjoy

[Stuart Davies]

That sounds like a wonderful adventure ( goes off to google and dream )