As I mentioned earlier, this will be our fourth European boating trip, so there are a few things we've learned to prepare for. For example, and this sounds so basic, we need to know the exact address of the base from which we start our trip. Last year, when we went to Holland, it sounded like the base was right in the middle of a small town, easy to find. But when we got there, we had no idea where we were going and the small town isn't so small when you're dragging suitcases! So, today, David emailed FPP to find the addresses of both our starting and ending bases.
We have also inquired about the possibility of renting/borrowing a VHF radio for the trip. We had one when we went to Belgium and it was a lifesaver! When we got to bridges or locks that needed to be opened it was so much easier to be able to radio them and ask how long we'd have to wait.
We have secured two apartments - one for the first two nights in Paris and one for our last night. This is always a leap of faith - will they look like the pictures, will the landlord actually show up to let us in or have they taken our money and run? If worse comes to worse, we'll just find a hotel, but I feel confident. We still have to map out our driving route from Paris to Louhans. I also have to finish finding out every bit of information about each town we'll be passing through on our trip. I like to scope out all the interesting sights and good restaurants in advance. So, there's still some work to be done!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Friday, September 7, 2012
More Prep Details
We plan to fly into Paris and then spend two nights there. In recent years, we have sometimes rented an apartment instead of taking a hotel room. Apartments are larger, but they actually cost less than hotels! You have a kitchen (as if I plan to cook anything) and can rent as large and luxurious a place as you want (and can afford). The drawbacks are that they're not always as nice as the pictures and there aren't things like soap or shampoo there. And of course, no front desk or concierge. However, we're taking a leap and renting an apartment for the first two nights and a different place for our last night in Paris before we come home. Hopefully it will all work out.
Our next challenge was getting from Paris to our starting point. Actually, establishing a starting point is a challenge! Our water travel route is from the small town of Louhans to the small town of Pontailler Sur Saone. Or, depending on weather issues, it may be the reverse! Now while there are train stations in these towns, the times that the trains arrive from Paris won't work for us - they're either way too early or way too late. So, the plan is to rent a car and drive from Paris. Of course there's no Enterprise there to pick up the car from us, so we have to return the car, but not to either town. There's a car rental return near Louhans and we just found out there's a bus that can take us from the car rental place to Louhans, but we have to get there before noon. If not, then we'll have to cab it. Hopefully it'll all work out. And I'm sure we'll find lots of English speaking people to help us along the way! LOL!!
I just realized that I ended each paragraph with "hopefully it'll all work out". Either way, you'll read about it here!
Our next challenge was getting from Paris to our starting point. Actually, establishing a starting point is a challenge! Our water travel route is from the small town of Louhans to the small town of Pontailler Sur Saone. Or, depending on weather issues, it may be the reverse! Now while there are train stations in these towns, the times that the trains arrive from Paris won't work for us - they're either way too early or way too late. So, the plan is to rent a car and drive from Paris. Of course there's no Enterprise there to pick up the car from us, so we have to return the car, but not to either town. There's a car rental return near Louhans and we just found out there's a bus that can take us from the car rental place to Louhans, but we have to get there before noon. If not, then we'll have to cab it. Hopefully it'll all work out. And I'm sure we'll find lots of English speaking people to help us along the way! LOL!!
I just realized that I ended each paragraph with "hopefully it'll all work out". Either way, you'll read about it here!
Preparation
Our upcoming trip to boat in the Burgundy region of France will be our fourth European boating trip! By now, David and I kind of have these trips down to a science! (Or so we hope!) The first, and most important steps have already been taken - selecting a route, a boat rental company, and a boat.
We wanted to try boating in France as this is the country with the most choices of routes, and we decided on the Burgundy region, mostly because it was fairly easily accessible from Paris. We prefer either a circular route or a "one-way" trip. This greatly narrows down our options as I think most of these boat companies prefer you to start and end at the same point. However, we found a trip with some locks, but not an overwhelming number, and a chance to see many towns and villages without spending too much time on large shipping routes.
On past trips, we have twice used Le Boat. They make planning the trip and selecting the boat very simple....it can all be done on line. One time, we used Locaboat, with which we were very happy. On this trip, we have decided to try France Passion Plaisance, a France based company. Since we were booking kind of late in the season, we needed to find an available boat that would meet our needs. We prefer a slightly larger boat so we have enough room for ourselves and all our stuff. Also, David, who will do almost all the "captaining" prefers a "flying bridge" boat - one that he pilots from outside, on the top deck. He feels that he is best able to see all around and only drives from inside during inclement weather. We have settled on the Linssen Vlet 1030.
We wanted to try boating in France as this is the country with the most choices of routes, and we decided on the Burgundy region, mostly because it was fairly easily accessible from Paris. We prefer either a circular route or a "one-way" trip. This greatly narrows down our options as I think most of these boat companies prefer you to start and end at the same point. However, we found a trip with some locks, but not an overwhelming number, and a chance to see many towns and villages without spending too much time on large shipping routes.
On past trips, we have twice used Le Boat. They make planning the trip and selecting the boat very simple....it can all be done on line. One time, we used Locaboat, with which we were very happy. On this trip, we have decided to try France Passion Plaisance, a France based company. Since we were booking kind of late in the season, we needed to find an available boat that would meet our needs. We prefer a slightly larger boat so we have enough room for ourselves and all our stuff. Also, David, who will do almost all the "captaining" prefers a "flying bridge" boat - one that he pilots from outside, on the top deck. He feels that he is best able to see all around and only drives from inside during inclement weather. We have settled on the Linssen Vlet 1030.
 |
| This is a picture of the Linssen Vlet 1030 |
 |
| This is the layout of the Linssen Vlet 1030 |
As you can see, this boat has ample seating in the back so we can enjoy the ride together. There is a sunroof to let in light and fresh air, and you can walk around the whole outside of the boat easily, which should help in tying up and going through locks. In the layout, you can see two cabins, in the bow and aft, along with two toilets, but only one shower. Shouldn't be a problem with just two of us. There also appear to be two seating areas (the orange colored parts), one next to the interior controls and one by the galley (kitchen). There aren't any pictures of the interior of this boat, that I have found on line. Hopefully it'll be nice!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)