Boating holidays in France?

Has anyone here been on a canal holiday in France? We really wanted to go, but they are so expensive it is unbelivable.

Where did you go?
And which company?

I haven't but I had done research for friends who wanted to do it and after comparing all the companies I can only say that they are all about the same price (which is indeed pricy for a family but affordable when a group of friends share the cost). Here are the companies I found:

http://www.en-bateau.com/
http://www.holidayboat.net/lot%20aval.ht...
http://www.connoisseureurope.com/destina...
http://www.canal-du-midi.org/english/aqu...
http://www.midicanal.com/index.htm
This website has the most detailed information:
http://www.crownblueline.com/

Also, some of the best itineraries have a lot of locks to cross and require 5 hours a day of navigation, which is a lot. My favorite is Castelnaudary (west of Carcassonne) to Port-Castafi猫res (on the Mediterranean). I have seen people do it and watched them pass the locks, it's fun (at least to watch!). I guess it's fun to pass the first few locks but the excitement must wear off when you reach the 30th lock! There is a big boat traffic jam in summer at the 17th century multiple lock of Fons茅rannes near B茅ziers but it's a fascinating piece of engineering!

I would suggest the Canal du Midi or the Lot river if you want to be sure to have good weather. The Lot has the most picturesque villages (and you can hire a car one day for a day-trip to Rocamadour) but the Canal du Midi is historic and goes by Carcassonne and other attractive places too.

If you hire a self drive boat the cost is very low.

No I haven't but would love to do the midi.

I have done the Canal du Rhone a Sete ... right through the Camarque region. We were a group of 5 friends and used a rental company in St. Gilles ... this canal is not as crowded as some of the bigger and better known ones.
A big plus is that you do not need to stop in the ports for staying overnight but you can stay anywhere along the canal.

We did the trip very early in the season, just 3 weeks after opening. Not a lot of other boats and the weather was already very, very nice ...

I can only recommend it - a great experience and living on board with friends is just great!

A tip: Spoil yourself and take a bigger boat than you really need - the extra room just adds a lot to the overall experience and not having to transform the dining room into beds for the night is so much more comfortable.

enjoy!