Ever since the late 1980s, Philippe Corset and his wife have been cruising on the canals of France, either with their family or with friends. This is the story of a quiet passion for travelling the waterways.
My wife and I can boast that we have 2,500 locks behind us! We were bitten by the canal boat holidays bug in 1988 after reading an article about it. We wanted to give this kind of adventure a try and we’ve hired 34 Locaboat boats since then. What we liked, right from the start, was the type of boat on offer, the kind that’s designed like a barge and is ideal for gentle, slow cruising. At the start we tried out other providers, but their boats were often like launches that you’d use on a lake or on the sea, while we were after the pleasure of cruising slowly: just watching the landscape change as you go with the flow, in an atmosphere of peace and quiet that you only get with these Pénichettes®. People often ask us why, as a Swiss couple, we feel we have to come to France to find peace and tranquillity. But we like that special feeling you get from cruising on waters that are as peaceful as the canals. And don’t forget that France has more than 8,000 km of inland waterways! So we’ve been everywhere: Alsace, the Canal du Midi, the area around Nevers, the Saône, the Garonne etc. But we always opt for a trip in autumn or spring so we can take advantage of the bargain prices. We’re not too bothered about the weather: rain or shine, the pleasure of watching the countryside changing all the time is simply indescribable.
