Do the French canals have any water?
 

Hi,
Last summer I read that several of the French canals were without water or had very low levels of water due to the terrible drought. We are planning a week's cruise on a self-drive boat in Burgundy in late May, and we wonder if the situation has now improved. We will appreciate any information you can give us. Thank you.

Since the recent devastating floods, I'm sure the canals have water. You could check with the people from whom you are renting the canal boat. They would probably be happy to share the information with you.

Have a good I(and wet) trip.

You won't know untill you get there. We took a barge trip in Burgundy a year ago and had to go more on the river because of the low water in the canals. But the other poster is probably correct also.

The self-drive boats have a much shallower draught than the hotel barges, so I think that you should be OK. If your trip is not fixed yet, here are some suggestions:

1. Go upstream rather than downstream, it saves time at the locks because the locks are usually kept open on the downstream side.

2. Go one way rather than round trip. You are traveling so slowly that you do not want to repeat the trip just to return the boat.

3. You can often get an early bird discount if you rent before the end of February.

We had planned a self drive on the Burgandy in April '03, but it was closed to low water, so we went on the Nivernais, which was fine.

We did run aground one evening, just below a double lock. When the locks opend in the mornoing, they freed enough water for us to continue on.