In Auxerre, head for Le Batardeau also called the Bike House and choose your device — bike, pedalo, boat, paddle, kayak — for a day on the Yonne River and the Nivernais canal once voted more beautiful than the famous Canal du Midi. The path along the water is so serene and beautiful. We did it twice: one day by bike, then by boat.
We turned the ride into a loop by picking up the Voie Verte, giving us more than km of biking in beautiful Burgundy. If you ride the loop, allow time to enjoy the sights — and take binoculars! Accommodation is plentiful. In an area full of rivers, Louhans is a great spot. What you will see is plenty of birdlife: black redstarts, green woodpeckers, kingfishers and shrikes included.
Amanda Harrison. The rolling hills and steep valleys of the Baronnies sit in the space where hills turn to the Pyrenees. Huge trees are clothed in moss, their branches bearded with lichens, and emerald ferns carpet the forest floor. And through this French jungle tumbles the Arros, fed by snowmelt and rain from the Pyrenees.
A few years ago, as an aquatic alternative to Interrail, I travelled around France using its extensive network of canals and rivers. Hitching lifts on barges and working boats was a dream, and friendly owners frequently gave me a glass of red wine to reward my sense of adventure and attempts at French. The stretch around Agen, on the Garonne, was a delight, the canal passing through fields of plums and peaches as blooming yellow irises greeted boats as they sailed by.
Turquoise green water below, blue sky above and up to metres of rocky crags either side of your canoe. For me, this is the best way to experience the mile Verdon Gorge near Castellane in Provence and imprint memories that will last a lifetime.
