Almost 8,000km of canal and river navigations penetrate the French countryside. The author was one of the pioneers of boating in France in the late 1960s and in this book he tells of his encounters as he cruises and eats his way through one of Europe's most popular destinations. This illustrated travelogue also describes the careful advance planning necessary before crossing on his boat Avonbay from the Thames to Calais and his subsequent adventures from the north to Alsace, into Switzerland and Belgium and through the heart of Burgundy to the sun-drenched Canal du Midi.