cruising the canals of europe
Hi group,
I've just reread Weston Martyr's "The 200# Millionaire". It's got me dreaming about cruising the inland waterways of Europe. Thing is, the story was written in the 1930s. It claims that you can get pretty much everywhere in France and central Europe through inland waterways, even all the way to Budapest, Prague, etc. Is this still true? Are these inland canals still in operation or have they been abandoned in the last 70 years? If there are still as many possibilities as Martyr talked about, what kind of draft is acceptable? Anyone done it? Regards, -Maxime Camirand |
cruising the canals of europe
mcamirand wrote in news:1178136944.191022.11930
@y80g2000hsf.googlegroups.com: Hi group, I've just reread Weston Martyr's "The 200# Millionaire". It's got me dreaming about cruising the inland waterways of Europe. Thing is, the story was written in the 1930s. It claims that you can get pretty much everywhere in France and central Europe through inland waterways, even all the way to Budapest, Prague, etc. Is this still true? Are these inland canals still in operation or have they been abandoned in the last 70 years? If there are still as many possibilities as Martyr talked about, what kind of draft is acceptable? Anyone done it? Regards, -Maxime Camirand Friends of mine did part of France a few years back. Here is a good starting point: http://www.canals.com/ |
cruising the canals of europe
Hi Maxime,
the french canal network has indeed receded in the past 70 years. The total length has decreased from 12,000 km to 8,000 km in this period. However, most of the routes still exist and provide the ability to go basically anywhere from anywhere but the notable exception of the Loire that is not navigable any more, leading to the network of Brittany being isolated from the rest of the network. mcamirand a écrit : Hi group, I've just reread Weston Martyr's "The 200# Millionaire". It's got me dreaming about cruising the inland waterways of Europe. Thing is, the story was written in the 1930s. It claims that you can get pretty much everywhere in France and central Europe through inland waterways, even all the way to Budapest, Prague, etc. Is this still true? Are these inland canals still in operation or have they been abandoned in the last 70 years? If there are still as many possibilities as Martyr talked about, what kind of draft is acceptable? Anyone done it? Regards, -Maxime Camirand |
cruising the canals of europe
mcamirand wrote in news:1178136944.191022.11930
@y80g2000hsf.googlegroups.com: Are these inland canals still in operation or have they been abandoned in the last 70 years? BBC had a wonderful documentary done by a guy who lived and traveled on a barge pushed by his own little tugboat...er, ah, pushboat. The documentary was done in segments and I watched it as it was posted to alt.binaries.multimedia.documentaries a couple of years ago. It was a wonderful series. He met some really strange bureaucrats going over borders. For instance, the German bureaucrats forced him to add this HUGE anchor and windlass to the stern of his tugboat to comply with some strange regulation on the Rhine River before he could get on it out of France. Of course, there were dealers specialising in huge anchors and windlasses just waiting to steal his money for the project so he could be on his way. That happened in many places as borders were crossed. Some of the bizarre locking systems and bathtub lifts that go up and down massive incline railways up the sides of mountains in the Alps were just fascinating. The documentary just stopped as these, sometimes very old, systems were studied and videos made. My fantasy is a longboat on the canals of the UK. I've a massive list of websites found on Google. What a great way to spend an entire summer in England....just putt putting around with the little diesels before the world runs out of fuel, altogether. Larry -- |
cruising the canals of europe
On Thu, 03 May 2007 01:00:29 +0000, Larry wrote:
What a great way to spend an entire summer in England... Why England when you could do the same thing in the south of France? The French cooking and wines are *much* better, scenery about the same. |
cruising the canals of europe
Wayne.B wrote:
On Thu, 03 May 2007 01:00:29 +0000, Larry wrote: What a great way to spend an entire summer in England... Why England when you could do the same thing in the south of France? The French cooking and wines are *much* better, scenery about the same. Why allow yourself to be insulted en Francais by the French, when the English are mostly polite and friendly? And if they aren't, you can at least understand their insults '-) Don W. |
cruising the canals of europe
Larry wrote:
mcamirand wrote in news:1178136944.191022.11930 : Are these inland canals still in operation or have they been abandoned in the last 70 years? BBC had a wonderful documentary done by a guy who lived and traveled on a barge pushed by his own little tugboat...er, ah, pushboat. The documentary was done in segments and I watched it as it was posted to alt.binaries.multimedia.documentaries a couple of years ago. It was a wonderful series. He met some really strange bureaucrats going over borders. For instance, the German bureaucrats forced him to add this HUGE anchor and windlass to the stern of his tugboat to comply with some strange regulation on the Rhine River before he could get on it out of France. Of course, there were dealers specialising in huge anchors and windlasses just waiting to steal his money for the project so he could be on his way. That happened in many places as borders were crossed. Some of the bizarre locking systems and bathtub lifts that go up and down massive incline railways up the sides of mountains in the Alps were just fascinating. The documentary just stopped as these, sometimes very old, systems were studied and videos made. My fantasy is a longboat on the canals of the UK. I've a massive list of websites found on Google. What a great way to spend an entire summer in England....just putt putting around with the little diesels before the world runs out of fuel, altogether. My dream was to go over the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/2d2ca/#TL But we didn't manage that because it would have taken at least a week. We had to be satisfied with a long weekend where my daughter, grandson and SIL helped with the locks etc. We got my SIL to do it by promising that he could visit the pubs along the way. http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/4a9c6/4ca7d/ |
cruising the canals of europe
On Wed, 02 May 2007 21:41:37 -0500, Don W
wrote: Why allow yourself to be insulted en Francais by the French, when the English are mostly polite and friendly? And if they aren't, you can at least understand their insults '-) My wife speaks fluent French so we could understand the insults either way. I have a thick skin regardless. |
cruising the canals of europe
mcamirand wrote:
Hi group, I've just reread Weston Martyr's "The 200# Millionaire". It's got me dreaming about cruising the inland waterways of Europe. Thing is, the story was written in the 1930s. It claims that you can get pretty much everywhere in France and central Europe through inland waterways, even all the way to Budapest, Prague, etc. Is this still true? Are these inland canals still in operation or have they been abandoned in the last 70 years? If there are still as many possibilities as Martyr talked about, what kind of draft is acceptable? Anyone done it? Regards, -Maxime Camirand The ultimate inland voyage is the Rhine-Main-Danube. The two massive rivers are now joined by canal, and you can enter the Rhine at Rotterdam and exit the Danube Delta into the Black Sea. I believe you need care in your choice of vessel as the Rhine flows North and needs a vessel with ample power to make headway. Allow about 6 months for the trip and also vast amounts of patience as the rivers flow through Eastern European countries where officialdom reigns supreme! I also knew a guy some years ago who sailed his boat from Ireland to Marseilles and entered the French canal system, thence heading north to Brest and back to Ireland. Not the sort of journey you could complete in a 2-week vacation! The main problems with taking a sea-going vessel into the canals are concerned with unstepping and re-stepping the mast. Having recently passed thru the Kiel canal (Nordsee Kanal) east-to-west, I can advise that it can be done in a day! (about70 miles). This is because the absence of locks (one at each end only) and the width of the canal allows a fast passage to be made, particularly if you don't mind sharing your space with a 30,000 ton cargo vessel! I can also advise that the River Elbe is similar to the M1 motorway in UK , or Route 66 in the US! Dennis. |
cruising the canals of europe
"mcamirand" wrote in message ups.com... Hi group, I've just reread Weston Martyr's "The 200# Millionaire". It's got me dreaming about cruising the inland waterways of Europe. Thing is, the story was written in the 1930s. It claims that you can get pretty much everywhere in France and central Europe through inland waterways, even all the way to Budapest, Prague, etc. Is this still true? Are these inland canals still in operation or have they been abandoned in the last 70 years? If there are still as many possibilities as Martyr talked about, what kind of draft is acceptable? Anyone done it? Regards, -Maxime Camirand An ex SF couple - I've been following their travels for a few years now. www.billandnancy.com/ Hoges in WA |
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