Sailing Destinations - Paris and the French Canals

While at anchor aboard Distant Shores III in the Bahamas, we talk about our favourite sailing destinations from 30 years of cruising. In this episode, we take you into Paris by sailboat and under the city streets in old tunnels that you can navigate with a boat. We show how to prepare a boat to travel through the French Waterways and provide resources to help you plan your own voyage.
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Resources for cruising the French Waterways:
distantshores.... A summary of our 10-week voyage through the French Waterways from the north coast, south to the Mediterranean Sea plus links to blogs and videos that we created about this wonderful adventure through France by water.
www.vnf.fr/vnf/...
The official site for Voies Navigables de France. This is where you buy your permit and check for closures on the French Waterways and other navigational information.
www.french-wat...
An informative English language website run by experienced cruising sailors on all aspects of the French waterways. A great place to start to learn how to prepare for a trip through the canals whether on your own boat or chartering.
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Principal photography by Paul and Sheryl Shard.
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About
Paul and Sheryl Shard are award-winning travel documentary television producers and videographers and have been cruising internationally since 1989 documenting their global adventures for television, social media, in books and sailing publications. They have sailed over 110,000 nm including 9 ocean crossings and are the producers and presenters of the Distant Shores sailing adventure TV series which is broadcast to 47 million households in 24 languages around the world. Through their TV programs, KZbin videos, articles/blogs and popular cruising seminars, the Shards help anyone dreaming of setting sail to get out on the water and experience their own adventure safely and comfortably.
#sailing #sailinglife #frenchcanals

[@SailingSquib]

One of the best french canal cruising videos I found on KZbin, maybe we start our own journey next year the Rhone up with our boat

[@DistantShoresTV]

Thank Peter! The next two videos we're planning are also on the French Canals so stay tuned :-) It would be interesting to go UP the Rhone. We came down the Soane and Rhone on our trip and I think the reverse trip might be fun (so long as there wasn't too much current)

[@The442nd]

What a gift it is to find you guys!!!!

[@benmoody2975]

We did this exact route last year, from Le Havre to Port St Louis, and before we made the journey, we had watched one of your videos entering such a small lock! We thought if a large yacht like yours can go down, we surely would be ok. You made it look so easy! (Also The Frenchwaterway site below is a wealth of info!)

[@pirateracer69]

Hi guys, I arrived in Paris with my motorcycle as a youngster in 1995. Went around France starting in Normandie (50 th anniversary of ''D DAY'' without knowing), followed the Castle wine road to bordeaux and then the Riviera. Got back to Paris via the Napoleon route though the Alps. Best trip of my life. I highly recommend visiting France.

[@DistantShoresTV]

That would have been wonderful and a great way to see France Marc! Nice!

[@French-waterways]

Civilisation, friendly polite people, gorgeous countryside and wonderful 10,000km of canals to explore, wine, bread, cheese . . . Brilliant!

[@paterson00]

Awesome video. Who knew that canal was there. Loved watching Ruby Rose adventures through France and i know they were inspired by yours. Very pleased to see you have videos of your yours too.

[@danielwampler7375]

I would love to travel along the Seine river. What a great idea.

[@noelfaulkner6293]

Just a great video, I've been to Paris many times and I never knew about the canal , my wife if from paris he he, I have motored a bit of the Sein great clean marinas and great food and wine , yep the french know how to live , looking forward to the next episode x

[@andrewp3456]

Lovely video. I've been to Paris probably more than 10 times and didn't realise these underwater canals existed. I've heard of many cruisers going from UK to Med via the French canals. Seems like a wonderful way to travel; so serene!

[@ericlaurent6084]

Very nice. And excellent comments.

[@ronaldwhayesjr]

I must say it's as if I was watching it professionally done documentary. Kudos to both of you you should be very proud of the work that you have done not only on your boat but with the production of your videos. I am a new fan and will continue watching.

[@nickfury324]

My wife and I hope to buy a canal boat one day, retire and live and travel through France and other parts of Europe our boat will take us. This was one of our favorite travels with you when it first came out. Nice to see it again in it's newer form.

[@Darth.Fluffy]

The world's oldest temporary structure. Well done, Gustave.

[@mikehaney2583]

You guys look great, so relaxed. I wish you had more new shows, I miss the weekly shows. Your French Canal Series is one of my favorites and it's #2 on my bucket list. Keep making great videos!

[@dannygaiquy5555]

I would love to do this one day - looks adventurous!

[@DistantShoresTV]

Danny, it was a great voyage. I hope you get the opportunity to do this one day.

[@christineengle5584]

What an incredible journey through the canals. Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to the continuation of that adventure.

[@jmo8415]

I always love your videos but this one leaves me in awe,,, WOW...

[@DistantShoresTV]

Thanks J Mo! I was a very fun trip for sure! Glad you enjoyed it. We're doing a "Part 2" next week :-)

[@jmo8415]

@@DistantShoresTV looking forward to seeing it. Thanks

[@thearchibaldtuttle]

Hi from rainy Switzerland!

[@CEOsario]

Great job...Thanks for info....Thanks for sharing...

[@FredGallefoss]

Wow, what a special experience. Man, the list builds up!

[@dianeswift]

I love your videos because they are so exquisitely filmed.

[@sailingrollingstone8723]

Thanks for this great video. We are in Dover currently awaiting the new season, and contemplating the trip down to the Med via the French canals. Our concern about our 1.8m draft is the main thing we need to work through. You guys' narration is really good.

[@paulkennedy477]

You seem to have inspired Nick and Teresa over on the Ruby Rose channel...... ! We're all still waiting to hear about their travails in and on the canals of France, no doubt inspired by you two. Love these archive films by the way.

[@sailingrubyrose]

Paul and Sheryl have been hugely inspiring to us and yes, we never would have thought to do the French canals if it weren't for these videos, which we watched many years ago while we were living in London and still in the preparation/dreaming stage!

[@DistantShoresTV]

Thanks guys 💕❤️🇫🇷 it looks like you had a great trip in the Midi and we’ll look forward to seeing your videos when they come out!!

[@R.E.HILL_]

Cool video... Had to take a break from traveling in France... I do nothing but eat to much when visiting.. get hungry just watching this.. 😊

[@DistantShoresTV]

haha yes we had similar problems. We even bought bikes to get more exercise but then I'd ride from the boat to the patisserie :-)

[@billhanna2148]

Always love your channel for all the thoughtful insight and technical aspects.. since we can't travel you provide our vicarious need to get away with you from the comfort of our home

[@englishrose1122]

Beautiful xx

[@myjavadogs]

What a wonderful trip!!!

[@thesailingkiwi]

How cool was that

[@bill4nier]

Your videos are really inspiring! Thanks for sharing.

[@humanafterall2076]

Fantastic!

[@suziq5293]

Awesome! I wanted to travel the rivers of Europe since my youth. What a beautiful experience and thank you for filming it to share!

[@ttystikkrocks1042]

Thanks to you, my bucket list just got longer! You've also made a powerful argument against me getting a catamaran. Your thoughts on this? How does that shallow draft work in heavy seas?

[@ianpaulhughes]

I believe they had a swing keel.

[@papabeanguy]

Wow such a cool experience

[@mammag61]

Have so enjoyed watching you through all your travels. You are inspiring, educational and entertaining! Thank you-

[@gary5831]

First time on the channel. VERY impressive subject mater and nice video work.

[@DistantShoresTV]

Thanks Gary and welcome aboard :-)

[@Sean-be8lg]

Great video as always. I sure wish new episodes were on TV (AWE Channel). 👍

[@BoateronTour]

France has fantastic canals. We also sailed over the former Canal de l'Est. But if you can't speak french it is sometimes very difficult.

[@SailingPauHana]

Your French canal and Erie Canal videos were my favorite.....I liked the old Two Step episodes too.

[@markpitchford7375]

France is my favorite episode

[@bjasoncrew]

love your videos, as always. before finding your series we'd no idea you could traverse France by boat. Someday.

[@jeancpt]

At 07:32 you see a little red ferry. That's Duclair where we lived when I was little.

[@kevin3434343434]

Great video, thanks! If I don't end up going cruising, this is my fallback!

[@Schaneification]

Nice Trip down memory lane .

[@The_Arby]

Nice trip in France...Looking forward to seeing the next episode DS TV :-)

[@dragonblee1]

Wonderful, I do admire your courage and breathed again when you were through it.🇦🇺 cheers.

[@matthanson4920]

What an awesome trip! Thanks for sharing it with us!

[@highontaiwan]

That must have been amazing. I just visited London and Paris for the first time almost one year ago. I can imagine that it must be even more exciting to visit by boat.

[@mahadbahad9895]

seines mouth is quite far from london . you could also go from netherlands and belgium canals to paris

[@dave-221]

Awesome vidéo... Thank youuuuu....

[@cnc75adventures49]

Awesome 👍👍

[@TheErricBrown]

I have never been to France but would like to explore the country in this manner of transportation.

[@DistantShoresTV]

Turns out you can travel France and also Holland and Germany with the canals!

[@TheErricBrown]

@@DistantShoresTV Wow, it seems to be such a tranquil way to explore the world.

[@French-waterways]

@@TheErricBrown It is. Wonderful.

[@SCCFORUM]

Amazing.

[@sausage5849]

Great to see another series coming out!

[@Helloverlord]

Just amazing!

[@timothylang1677]

You guys are amazing! What a way to see Paris! Thank you so much for sharing. Enjoying your videos.

[@DistantShoresTV]

Glad you enjoyed the video Timothy!

[@CoolAirVw]

love the video

[@thepnt034]

That would be a dream. Dutch houseboat through paris.

[@mds-lf3kl]

Oh THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I've wanted to see this for years :)))

[@DistantShoresTV]

Glad to help!

[@judd_s5643]

Really glad you decided to create this content. Thank you!

[@smokedoliver1]

What a unique trip!

[@GaryBoyd02]

Awesome job fellow Canadians!

[@MonkPetite]

A very nice report,, thanks for sharing ..well done

[@hmasonhicks]

I've lived in Paris for the last 9 years and I've never seen a commercial barge (Peniche) in the Canal Saint Martin. I thought that they were all diverting from the Canal Ourcq (from the River Marne by the NE) to the Canal de Saint-Denis (to join the Seine to the NW) at La Villette, thereby bypassing the center of Paris. I'm happy that you proved me wrong. great video. I haven't seen yet seen the continuation of this series, but I saw what appeared to be an overview video of your entire journey through the canals. I do hope that in upcoming videos on this tour, that you have been more specific in identifying your route and where you are at different points for those limited few of us who are familiar with the localities. I think that you may have departed the Seine at Saint Mammes (near Fontainebleau) and followed the Canal du Loing south from there. If so, that must have been spectacular. I've bicycled its towpath many times... Cheers!

[@DistantShoresTV]

Thanks Mason! We did indeed travel through the Loing-Briare-Lateral a la Loire route canal route to Chalon sur Saone then the Saone/Rhone to the Med... And you're right it was spectacular!! 👍❤️

[@Jmmondeau]

It's on my bucket list with my Aquarius 21 swing keel.

[@srqlisa7881]

Ok, that was cool and I had no idea of the beauty of it all, but seeing so close is amazing. Thank you for sharing. :)peace

[@supershane1960]

Yep, definitely want to do this one day. Glad you did it because I'd never even heard of it before this... Cheers for now... ;-}

[@RomainSandt]

Nooooo that was good, wanted to see more of Paris.

[@TheAngelhard]

Thank you so much, really inspiring. Amazing. Great Video.

[@Pippinstravels]

Thanks for all the great ideas guys. I was in Dublin a few weeks ago, didn’t do the Guiness factory (season 8) thought of you as I passed by and then sailed back up the Irish Sea. You have been to so many wonderful places but the one that stands out for me is Syria. You captured it on film before it was destroyed, so sad what a great loss to civilisation. Most places you could go back to but not that one. Keep up the good work, I’m looking forward to the new season DVD, can I pre order?

[@DeanF]

I can't wait for the next episode! You two do wonderful video documentaries! Thanks!

[@DistantShoresTV]

Thanks so much for the kind words Dean!

[@prasatsurin]

Amazing ! What an experience, I wanna do 2 ! lol

[@john3Lee]

Interesting video - Thanks.... Btw, with the mast down in the position you fixed it, its more stable then having up right, as you lowered the centre of gravity...

[@DistantShoresTV]

Correct. The boat is more stable but I did feel the mast itself was a bit wiggly with the temporary lashings and wooden horses etc...

[@johnrichard6802]

Well done with this presentation. I found it disconcerting going along the underground canal. Not a time for lack of attention. Living in southern California I found myself wondering what would happen should an earthquake make its appearance with all those bricks overhead.

[@MarceloFidelis]

First of all congratulations, I've neve wounder how spectacular one trip like this could be, thank you very much for sharing. Would be very nice if you share the amount of money you are spending in this journey. It would help our plannings.

[@gafrers]

It was wonderful then (2012) and it's wonderful now.

[@AdamC5013]

incredible footage and travels!

[@phantomxter]

Awesome! Thank you so much for sharing.

[@jackfrossed7965]

very enjoyable, thank you! but. . . and i am sure i speak for many on this, but it would be nice to have a more leisurely sail down the seine from the le havre all the way to paris. this condensed version is nice, but the sense of landscape is lost when you cut from le havre to chateau gaillard to the eiffel tower. for those of us who have sailed, a really long - and perhaps boring to others - video would be sublime!

[@pjotr1338]

How can your boat be more ¨top-heavy¨ with the mast laying on deck instead of standing up??

[@ttystikkrocks1042]

Give 'em a break- they're sailors, not engineers!

[@kentfletcher8539]

@ Cale You're right, of course, the boat would have less roll imparted due to the mast mass being lowered, and it's righting moment increased dramatically. It's just the perception of the boat being different, because they're not used to having it all down at just above deck level.

[@trialsport]

Don't forget that the keel would have been raised for this trip and that would have raised the center of balance as the lowering of the mast would have reduced it.

[@kentfletcher8539]

@@trialsport While they may have raised the keel for the actual canals, they had no reason to do so in the Seine.

[@DistantShoresTV]

You are right Cale. The centre of gravity of the boat is lower with the mast and rigging down.That mast is pretty heavy and it sure felt a bit unsteady balanced on my mast supports and like it might try to break free when we rolled.

[@MrZachalewel]

What a neat passage, thanks for putting this on youtube!! Isn't there a place where we can buy y'alls content? I can't remember the name of the site for the life of me... But you used to sell all the content in a package.

[@StoneShipman]

6:58 "Now top heavy with a mast... ...on deck." Isn't your mast always on deck? And doesn't laying it down instead of standing it up lower the center of gravity? You're less top heavy than usual.

[@Jyock]

I have a Cornish Shrimper 19 I would like to do this trip in it. Now to sail it from Spain or trailer it to France.

[@duncanmaxwell1481]

Totally remember that thumbnail from the last mission impossible movie.

[@DistantShoresTV]

Yes we saw that one too! Probably many who saw MI thought they'd made up a set for it and that it wasn't a real place :-)

[@colinstobbart599]

Would love to do the canals on our narrowboat. 63ft x 6.10 ft

[@TheLT704]

Well I am intregued by what you did..when you lowered your mast.. surely this would have been extra weight this increasing your diesel costs ?? I would love to know the cost of transporting a mast..it would make an interesting comparison.. And just for the record I'm Keen to do the same thing..I have spent the weekend perusing boat's from 35 feet...

[@andrewvoron4490]

Как с другой планеты!...

[@TheMilford99]

Well that was different from the plethora of yachting vids.

[@Maloy7800]

So... part 1 is called Sailing Destinations - Paris and the French Canals . Part 2 is absolutely logically called Sailing South through France, and part 3, quelle surprise, is called Part 3. 😀 You should probably rename a few videos for smoother viewing by people who just accidentally bump into your channel.

[@karyhansen5082]

I wonder why you would not turn the boat to cross the wakes at a more perpendicular angle and reduce the side to side action of going straight.

[@adrianvalbuena8158]

Awesome!!! Canting keel power!!

[@HarmanRobotics]

Their boat has a swing keel, not a canting keel.

[@adrianvalbuena8158]

@@HarmanRobotics True!

[@blahblahjumpswing1504]

they built a rocket in that tower, dont believe me! watch, Tomorrowland :-P

[@derkhawkins2575]

beats a backpack

[@TheLT704]

It just dawned on me..did the boom go with the mast on this journey ?? Obviously the boom is an important piece of rigging and I I only saw the mast in the footage..

[@DistantShoresTV]

Yes, the boom is lying on the deck so is not always in view.

[@johnswanson6994]

Thanks for this inland tour, on a sailboat no less! Is it possible to charter a canal boat? What kind of licensing is required?

[@French-waterways]

Yes, you can charter a boat - many sizes/types and bases through out the 10,000km network. www.french-waterways.com/boating-holidays-vacations/hire-boating-holidays/ You don't need qualifications, but obviously knowing how to handle a boat helps a lot!

[@spwb2k]

did we just become best friends?

[@californiakayaker]

Notre Dam. You must have filmed before the fire ?

Well NO SHIT?!!

[@wilsmith6551]

Any other countries and waterways?

[@tommasomazzarotto2774]

i'm actually 1.85m draft.. can i cross it??thanks

[@ianburne751]

Having to stop for a red light is NOT scary

[@Joynerashley]

What was the smell like in the tunnel?

[@DistantShoresTV]

It was fine and just smelled like the river until our boats were all milking around waiting for the barge at the end. Then the diesel fumes from the boat motors started to be noticeable. 😅

[@MRunar007]

im in

[@fernandog.1575]

Why the flag of Canada is too small?