We are picking up our Boat to cruise from Branges to Gray in June and hoped to collect a Budget rental car in Paris when we fly in and drop the car in Louhans (about 4 Kms from the boat base) as per the Le Boat%26#39;s website information. However it appears that Budget do not have an office in Louhans and I can%26#39;t seem to find any other rental company nearby.
Does anyone have any advice about car rental companies either in Louhans or close by to Branges so we don%26#39;t have to travel a great deal of kms to get to the boat base.
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I don%26#39;t see car rental companies listed in Louhans either. Your best bet is to drop the car off at Dijon and take the train to Louhans. The ride is approximately one hour and requires no transfers.
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How about sending an email to Le Boat?
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I did email Le Boat here in Australia and they told me to email car hire companies direct - not very helpful I%26#39;m afraid.
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Have you thought of the TGV Paris-Dijon, then the local to Louhans? Both Branges and Louhans are pretty small. Think about where you plan to obtain provisions for the boat.
On the way to Gray you will pass some very interesting country. The R. Seille is quite tranquil, you will work the 4 locks yourselves (not hard). Tournus affords an opportunity to get food, the ATAC is very close to the moorage on the R. Saône. Chalon sur Saône has an excellent marina, nearby supermarket and many fine restaurants. St. Jean de Losne also is a great place to moor. Many services, including an English language book exchange.
The river gets rather %26quot;forest-y%26quot; closer to Gray, but still many fine places to stop. Gray itself is good.
Beware the large locks on the Saône unless you are very experienced with ropes. The middle cleat will prove invaluable.
Good cruising,
N-B
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Many thanks for your tips regarding our cruise. We travelled on the Canal de Midi last year so quite familiar with the lock systems with ropes. Last year 65 locks compared to 12 this year so it seems like it will be a dawdle this time round.
Good to know we have chosen an interesting sector to cruise - after last year on the Midi we thought it would be very hard to top the beautiful scenery, restaurants and chocolate box villages of that area.
Appreciate all responses for this post.
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Hi!
try to type economybookings.com.
they operate in many french locations and offer brand new cars to hire.
Check it!
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Sorry I can%26#39;t help with car hire info for Branges, but can give you a few tips for you journey.
The nearest large supermarket to Branges is in Louhans for stocking the boat up. Alternatively, the base will provision the boat for you, see LeBoat%26#39;s website for the downloadable provisioning list.
During your boat introduction at the base, make sure they show you how to reverse into a mooring if you%26#39;ve never done it before. Many or the ports on the journey require this, and it%26#39;s nothing like reversing a car!
The base will direct you through the local lock, direction upstream to Louhans (well worth the visit and the supermarket is close to the mooring and open Sunday mornings), to show you how it works. If you are one of the last departures of the day, beware, there are no proper mooring sites between Branges and Louhans, and if it%26#39;s a weekend, even good looking sites amongst the trees are populated by anglers camps. You could end up like us, complete novices trying to reverse our boat into one remaining gap on the pontoon in the dark.
Your first real encounter with navigation buoys will be just after going through the Seille%26#39;s first lock at La Truchere. Remember you are still officially going downstream at this point so %26#39;red buoys on the right%26#39; otherwise you go straight into the sandbank. Another 20/30 meters and you will head right onto the big-boys river where it all changes to red buoys on the left when going upstream.
When going through the big guage locks, it is far easier to rope up to one of the vertical pole bollards as the ropes just slide up the pole as the water rises.
Hope this helps, feel free to ask for more info.
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Hello ,
Is this a recommended tour for a famely with to kids under 10 ?
what are the sailing hours if any ?
How many hours do we have to spend on boat each day specific for the route?
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