From the Marne Canal to the Rhine, a distance of 378 km, you will have plenty of time to (re)discover the beauties of Alsace and Lorraine aboard your Pénichette®. It’s culture and nature all the way from Strasbourg to Nancy.
From the Lutzelbourg Locaboat base, you can choose from various different routes. Obviously you won’t want to miss Strasbourg, so you can try a flammekueche (cheese, onion and bacon tart) amongst the half-timbered houses, and admire the extraordinary panoramic view over the Vosges and the Black Forest from the steeple of its imposing cathedral. History fans will also want to stop at Saverne to visit the château of the Rohan family. From Lutzelbourg, you could decide to cruise along the Sarre Canal towards Germany and Saarbrücken or head for the Moselle canal. That way you could explore Nancy and try a box of Bergamotes, those delicate sweets that taste of Earl Grey tea, in the wonderful Place Stanislas. Then you could glide along towards Pont-à-Mousson and Metz.
On your way along the Marne-Rhine canal, you will pass through the famous Saint-Louis Arzviller inclined plane. This inclined plane is a kind of lift for boats that works in a similar way to a funicular railway. It was first put into service in 1969 to replace the 17 locks, which had been very difficult to negotiate. It’s the only structure of its kind in Europe and the most frequently visited technological attraction in the region, with 140,000 visitors a year! It has to be said that travelling up the lift is a feeling you won’t forget in a hurry. To help you get over the excitement, you could go and dive headfirst into the beautiful Gondrexange Lake, whose history goes back to the middle ages.
