France Guide
Getting around
With the most extensive train network in Western Europe, France is a great country in which to travel by rail. The nationally owned French train company, SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer), runs fast, efficient trains between the main towns. Buses cover the rural areas, but services can be rather sporadic, with departures often at awkward times. If you really want to get off the beaten track, by far the best option is to have your own transport. Approximate journey times and frequencies of the main train, bus, plane and ferry services can be found in the "Travel details" at the end of each chapter.
Canal and river trips
With over 7000km of navigable rivers and canals, boating can be one of the best and most relaxed ways of exploring France. Expect to pay between €800 and €2000 per week, depending on the season and level of comfort, for a four- to six-person boat. For details of firms offering canal and river holidays contact the Fédération des Industries Nautiques ( 
01.44.37.04.00, 
www.france-nautic.com ). If you want to bring your own boat, Voies Navigables de France (VNF) ( 03.21.63.24.24, www.vnf.fr ) can provide information in English on maximum dimensions, documentation, regulations and so forth.
The principal areas for boating are Brittany, Burgundy, Picardy-Flanders, Alsace and Champagne. Brittany's canals join up with the Loire, but this is only navigable as far as Angers. Other waterways permit numerous permutations, including joining up via the Rhône and Saône with the Canal du Midi in Languedoc and then northwestwards to Bordeaux and the Atlantic. The eighteenth-century Canal de Bourgogne and 300-year-old Canal du Midi are fascinating examples of early canal engineering. The latter, together with its continuation the Canal du Sète à Rhône, passes within easy reach of several interesting areas.
The through-journey from the Channel to the Mediterranean requires some planning. The Canal de Bourgogne has an inordinate number of locks, while other waterways demand considerable skill and experience – the Rhône and Saône rivers, for example, have tricky currents. The most direct route is from Le Havre to just beyond Paris, then south along either Canal du Loing et de Briare or Canal du Nivernais to the Canal Latéral à la Loire, which you follow as far as Digoin in southern Burgundy, where it crosses the River Loire and meets the Canal du Centre. You follow the latter as far as Châlon, from where you continue south on the Saône and Rhône until you reach the Mediterranean at Port St-Louis in the Camargue.