The Grand Trek

The general plan to reach the Mediterranean is to travel along the mêlée of canals by the shortest route. By all accounts, this is not quite the quickest, but the most scenic of the routes. The quickest involves taking the commercial canalways through Paris and then towards the south. These have a higher speed limit (12 km/hr – 6.5 knots) but carry a high volume of commercial barges (péniches) that frankly, frighten the life out of me. We encountered them some years ago when we travelled up the Seine to Paris – they remind me of the old ‘Bo-Bo’ steam trains as they forge their way up and down the waterways. They are 300tonnes bulk containers which are more than 35 metres (115 ft) long and travel generally throughout France and Belgium. The locks on these routes usually accept 4 péniches at one time, so you can imagine how insignificant an 11 metre-boat looks beside them in the lock. Didn’t like ‘em last time, not looking forward to ‘em this time. So it helps taking the ‘scenic’ route.

For some time I’ve been gathering books, and charts but have found only a few websites that give an insight into the voyage down. One website has recently been overhauled from the journey of a boat named ‘Grehan’ into an encyclopaedia of French canal cruising. It can be found at http://www.tagweb.co.uk/french-waterways/ and is an extremely useful reference. In fact, I contacted the author by email a few times and have purchased my canal charts (Fluviacartes) through him. I wanted to ensure I had the most up-to-date editions, and he supplied all but two. As is the French way, instead of continuing to sell current editions whilst preparing a new one, they stop all sales until the new edition is published. This leaves me in a quandary as the publication of Picardie and Champagne-Ardennes are continually being extended. I can obtain a Dignon or Breil guide, but of course they don’t ‘butt’ up to the Fluviacartes in areas, and none of them are that easy to read for all their colouring. I’ll have to rely on my 1990 edition of Champagne-Ardennes and a 1984 edition of Imray’s ‘Inland Waterways of France’. Perhaps I can buy, beg or borrow a copy on the way.

The route I’ve pencilled in takes us along eleven canals to reach the Rivers Saone, then Rhône, and get us to the Med. Some of the main towns we will pass through are Calais, Cambrai, St Quentin, Reims, Chalon sur Saone, Lyon, Valence, Avignon and Seté. A total of 1226km (761 miles) that includes 230 locks and 5 tunnels, one of which is 5.6km (3½ miles) long. Its gonna be fun!