The French canals have a mystique all their own and the idea of taking your own boat down the elaborate canal system from the English Channel to the Med has to be on the bucket list of many a cruiser. You take the mast down when you enter the Seine and then cruise through the French countryside like a motorboat. You pass through Normandy to Paris, then join the mighty Rhone and dodge the barges all the way to the Med, stopping each night in some of the loveliest wine country in the world. Brit Nic Compton made the trip and his excellent article is in Yachting Monthly. Read more.
