Read up! :: Books on France, the Waterways and Canals

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	Cruising French Waterways - Hugh McKnight - A guide to the varied network of rivers and canals that penetrate almost every region of France. It provides information on the history, architecture, engineering structures, chateaux, historical sites and scenic attractions of each navigation, enabling the reader to identify areas of great beauty and interest. Maximum craft dimensions are provided together with details of bankside moorings, repair yards, shops, restaurants, fuel and water points and appropriate map and guides for each section. This edition includes all recently restored navigations and explains newly introduced licensing and personal qualification requirements.
	Through the French Canals - David Jefferson - has probably tempted more people to explore the beautiful waterways of France than any other book. A bestseller for many years and now in its 11th edition, it is the essential planning guide for anyone wanting to cruise through the stunning scenery of the French waterways, or who is simply on passage from the English Channel to the Mediterranean. Packed with photographs and updated practical information on local facilities, distances, heights and depths, tunnel lengths, cost of living and shopping, it particularly mentions the local wines of the region.
	European Waterways, A User's Guide - Marian Martin - Anyone who admits to a sense of confusion when confronted with the bewildering array of European waterway signs, symbols, rules and regulations should find this book useful. The author demystifies this world for the visitor, thereby eliminating any problems that may arise. This second edition includes chapters for Americans considering cruising the European waterways and for Med-bound sailors.
	European Waterways Regulations - RYA - This book is an excellent starting place for the novice. It clearly illustrates the signs and symbols you are likely to encounter on European waterways, as well as providing other essential boating information.   International Certificate of Competence - RYA - This book aims to help yachtsmen and motorboaters pass the ICC test - essential for anyone wanting to take their boat to the inland waterways of Europe and to many European coastal waters too.
		Navicarte Guides Fluvial - Cover every navigable French waterway and although perhaps not perfect are nonetheless indispensable. Every kilometre is mapped with detailed information about locks, streams, channels, moorings, bridges, etc.
	Vagnon Mini Atlas - presents a concise cartography of all the navigable French waterways, large and small, and makes it possible to know the principal characteristics of them. The map of the French inland waterways included is very detailed, and makes it possible to prepare river routes, without surprises.   Imray Chart C32 Bay of the Seine - perfect for the Seine (Le Havre or Honfleur) entrance into the inland system.
	AA Road Atlas - The 9th edition of this popular A4, French road atlas is fully revised and updated for 2007. France's clearest road mapping is provided by Institut Geographique National (IGN). French road names are used throughout, plus there is road mapping for Corsica and Central Paris included. New for 2007 is a French route planner with road atlas pages shown. Each page has been titled with its geographical location so you can turn to the page you need more easily. Plus, there are 32 new city centre plans in and around busy centres and a full colour county unitary and administrative area map.
	Narrow Dog to Carcassonne - When they retired, Terry and Monica Darlington decided to sail their canal narrow boat across the Channel and down to the Mediterranean, together with their whippet Jim. They took advice from experts, who said they would die, together with their whippet Jim. On the Phyllis May, you dive through six-foot waves in the Channel, are swept down the terrible Rhone, and fight for your life in a storm among the flamingos of the Camargue. You visit the France nobody knows - the backwaters of Flanders, the canals beneath Paris, the heavenly Yonne, the lost Burgundy Canal, the islands of the Saone, and the forbidden ways to the Mediterranean.
	Watersteps Through France - Bill and Laurel Cooper - When Bill and Laurel Cooper decided to spend the winter in the South of France, they took their seaworthy but half-finished Dutch barge "Hosanna" by an inland route through the canals and rivers of France. Climbing the watersteps of the Massif Central, they passed through some out-of-the-way places, made a variety of friends and had many adventures before they arrived in time for Christmas in the Camargue. In this book, the Coopers describe their experiences of the French, their folklore, customs and food.
	La Belle Saison - When Patricia Atkinson - bestselling author of "The Ripening Sun" - first moved to France, her intention was simply to establish a vineyard. Over the years, however, she found herself becoming integrated into a way of life that, had she stayed in England, she would hardly have believed existed. "La Belle Saison" is Patricia's eulogy to this way of life: a testament to the timelessness of the beautiful French countryside, the bounty of the land, and the generous-hearted French neighbours who showed Patricia that a simple life has many rewards.
	C'est La Folie - Charts the author's bid to fulfil a childhood dream of becoming a real Man as he struggles to make the journey from clinically social townie to rugged, solitary paysan. Life-affirming, laugh out loud funny and written with insight and affection (and boasting more than its fair share of larger-than-life locals, bilingual chickens, diminutive but over-sexed sheep, invisible rodents, diseased root vegetables, manly power tools with unpronounceable names, not to mention a fair few femmes fatales), Michael Wright's tale of a new-found solitary life in France is as much an elegy for rural France, fast disappearing under the invasion of 'Les Anglais', as for his own lost innocence.
	Hot Sun, Cool Shadow - The Languedoc is famed for its landscape, legendary gastronomical pleasures and rich culture, stretching from the Rhone to the Pyrennees, it is one of Europe's oldest provinces and one of it's most fertile regions. Hot Sun, Cool Shadow, is a vivid account of their quest for the finest wines, cuisine and characters. Along the way they discover ancient houses, take in the scenery that inspired great artists like Henry Matisse, retrace the steps of Toulouse-Lautrec, and recreate typical dishes of the region; finally settling themselves in this staunchly independent agricultural region, where life moves at a steady pace under the mellow sun.
	Signs of the Heart - Hope's dispatches from the French Front - from the villages, cafes, bars and junk shops of Languedoc - do not describe rural idyll but a world of rogues and raconteurs, lovers and losers whose two preoccupations are inextricably entwined: love and death. "There is Sophie, a New Zealander who believes she is God. There is Lizzie from Lancashire who plies her trade as a prostitute with expatriate Britons only. But in Hope's hands this gallery become neither charming eccentrics nor colourful locals, but an exotic shifting populace that reads more like persuasive fiction than travelogue.
	Mini Rough Guide to Paris - is the ultimate pocket handbook to Europe's most alluring city. The new, full-colour section introduces Paris' highlights, with incisive accounts of all the top sights from the Eiffel Tower to the Marais quarter. There are expert reviews of all the best hotels and restaurants, plus expanded coverage of the all the top bars, shops, clubs and markets. The guide also covers excursions away from the city, including day-trips to Disneyland Paris and Versailles. This portable guidebook comes complete with clear, readable maps that have grid references for all the top attractions and recommendations.
	Rough Guide to Languedoc and Roussillon - combines rich cultural and historical information and lively coverage of all the sights with detailed practical information - for all budgets. Special attention is given to outdoor activities, including cycling and hiking as well as boating the region's famous inland waterways. Expert advice is given on making the most of the region's gastronomic specialities and vineyards. Coverage is close up and critical - the guide tells you what to see, what to pass up and gives you all the inside information to make your travels in the region rich and rewarding.

Seascapes Books