We started our 2026 cruising season by letting Air France wine and dine us across the Atlantic.
Amuse bouche and first course.Second course. Not pictured…. third, fourth and fifth courses.
After breakfast (our sixth course) we landed in Paris where we joined the endless immigration queue. Only one hour in the priority line. Then it was time for what was for us a midnight snack …. coffee and pain au chocolate.
We arrived in St-Jean-de-Losne the next day and took a stroll around our town.
First stop, our favorite SJL dive. Jeanne, the proprietress, wasn’t serving food that day but we were only looking for a welcome drink.
And, miracle of miracles, Decize was in the water!
Long story short, jet lag sucks, every year, but we are still happy to be here.
We are about a week away from returning for another summer of cruising the rivers and canals of France. We have gotten pretty good about preparing for our departure but we always seem forget something.
Status of the Network
We had big plans last year for a loop through Strasbourg, Nancy, Toul, Paris and Dijon. Unfortunately several canals were closed due to low water and we were unable to proceed and had to retreat back up the Rhine.
This year France received a lot of rain in January and February. In fact the Seine and our river (the Saone) flooded in a few spots.
Seine in Paris (January 25, 2026)
While not good for everyone this was good news for the reservoirs that supply water for the canal system.
Reservoir status in northeast France – April 2026. Green: >80%, Yellow >60% full
Unfortunately other issues could present problems this year. The picture below shows the current closures that might affect us. The good news is the Canal du Centre, which was closed almost all last summer, is open again. The Canal du Loing, Canal du Nivernais and Canal du Rhone au Rhine are all currently impassable. And the Canal de Burgogne has restrictions and plans to close early in September.
Red Xs are current closures, star is our home port (H2O Marina).
2026 Plan (Tentative)
We want to start by going north to Nancy via the Canal des Vosges which we attempted in 2024 and were stopped by low water. After returning from Nancy we head to Alaska for Roberta’s 50th high school reunion.
After returning for France, we want to go west via the Canal du Centre. It’s been a couple years since we visited the Loire valley and thought it would be nice to return.
Our Adventures 