Canal du Midi on Le Boat in France

When we were asked if we would be willing to extend our France trip by a few days to go boating down a canal, I was beyond ecstatic!  The lovely people at Le Boat wanted to show us what it would be like to experience boating in France.  Um, OK, dream come true.  After our brief yet lovely visit in Carcassonne, we rode in a car to Homps, a little area where boats were docked and we spent our first night on a boat in our individual rooms (rooms sleep two) and private bath. Our particular boat had 4 rooms and 4 bathrooms, a kitchen below and an amazing deck above, including room to lounge (as you see me doing above), seating in the back and an outdoor grill!  We spent two nights on Le Boat, with one true full day from Homps to Le Somail.

First, this video that will explain it all!

{On mobile?  Click here.}

About Le Boat

Anyone can rent a boat to sight see down the canal.  Le Boat offers several different types of boats all over Europe so you can go at your own pace while enjoying your mobile hotel.  It’s kinda like cruising only private.  If you enjoy boating anyway, this is definitely the route for you to take.  I grew up on a lake, though our Sea Ray was nothing like this amazing boat provided by Le Boat, and you won’t get any motion sickness, the boat doesn’t rock even while in motion and the canal is very smooth.  At night, you dock and anchor so there are no weights and again, the canal is a quiet body of water.  To plan your boating vacation with Le Boat, click here.

We woke up the next morning and walked to a little market.

I had to take a few photos, this little gem is for sale by the way.

Then I got all nosey and peeked into someone’s backyard.  Look at this garden!  When I came back, a little old lady was outside checking on it and I thought to myself, that’ll be me one day.

The tiny market had pink and orange, and green toilet paper.  Do you see how the French just have more fun, even in el toilette?  If only I had more room in my luggage you know I would have bought some pink toilet paper.

About our boat

Here’s the inside of our boat, I’m with Crystal and Beth.  We called our boat the Princess Cruise line since we had the Captain and honestly, the three of us can’t do anything that involves sportiness.  So we pretty much lucked out and were thankful that we had Captain to go through the locks and manage on his own.  We would have been useless!

Our friends – four of them had to go on another boat.  Thankfully Dave had a sailing/boating license and was experienced so he could handle the boat.  Again, anyone really could, but it was much easier with him since he was on a boat full of girls.

The Locks

Here is a lock, after the water has gone down.  You need to watch the video I’m including at the end of this post to see how it works.  Le Boat will help and explain how to go through the locks, as there are several down the canal and you must take turns.

Feeling on top of the world in France!  John Mayer playing a sweet breeze, oh the life!

Duck!  Watch out for those bridges!

Who let this crazy drive the boat?

Scheduled was an exclusive wine tasting at Château de Paraza.  We had a bit of a climb, but it was worth the view.

I really wanted a donkey after meeting these two who took a huge liking to Amanda but backed away from everyone else in the group.  Donkey whisperer!

Now onto wine tasting in this chateau.  This has been in the family for generations and they have lots renovations planned.  It’s amazing yet mind blogging the details and upkeep of such a lovely place.  I asked if they planned on having weddings here one day and they said they were planning on it.  So, I’ll be your photographer if you want, just saying.  I mean, I’d be perfect for it since I already scouted the place.

This little spot is the kitchen area where the cooks way back in the day used to hang out and make the meals.  I thought of Downton Abbey of course.

However, the stairs hit this very low ceiling.  Here’s Dave showing.  I mean really, could you imagine carrying food and all sorts of things having to duck so low?

We jumped in a jeep and got a gorgeous eyesight of a tour of all their vineyards.  They are one of the oldest estates dedicated to growing vines in the South of France.

Look at this chicken coop! The girls were clucking and were so excited to see people I had to run over and snap a few photos for inspiration and to share.

Now those are real French hens.

Now trust me when I say French food is absolutely amazing, no doubt about it.  However, sometimes when you’ve been away from home for so long, you crave the familiar.  Even the things you rarely eat back home, like a burger.  All of us freaked out when we saw a burger delivered to another table that well, some of us had to order one.  This was at L’eau à la Bouche.  We fell asleep with happy tummies.

The next day Francois from Discover France showed us the different bikes we could take to discover France.  OK so maybe I took a picture to show you again how beautiful France is, and the people.  Shame on me.

A little bit about Discover France – you can do a bike tour in Spain, Italy, Holland/Belgium, Czech Republic/Austria, Switzerland, Croatia, and Sonoma County, California.  I want to try the Sonoma County one since my friends and family are in Nor Cal.  And you can also do the Tour de France route.  They will plan your entire tour, give you a GPS and itinerary so you can stop for lunch, sight seeing, wine tasting, whatever you want, just tell them and they will plan it for you.  Just another way to discover France!  Click here for more information.

If you are not athletic as myself you can choose to ride an electric bike, one little pedal it goes so fast!  Weeeeeee!

Here we are with our Captain, such an amazing guy!  Thanks Captain for keeping us safe and your amazing company, you truly were such a fun captain to be around, the experience would not have been the same without you.  Also thanks for cooking lunch for us.

Time to say goodbye to our Le Boat and go onward.  Goodbye sweet room!

Onto Montpellier tomorrow!

Have you seen my 3 minute video tour of France?  Click here.

Equipment used: Sony NEX-5R (c/o), 50mm f1/.8, 16mm f/2.8 + 18-55mm (c/o), 18-105mm f/4 (c/o) + Canon Powershot S100

Diana Elizabeth thinks when she looks back at photos she sees people who are part of her memories forever.  

Related posts:

• Fashion in France
• Montpellier
• Canal du Midi on Le Boat in France
• Carcassonne
• Marseille
• Aix-en-Provence
• Nice
• Video Tour of the South of France