Paris Live-Aboards

Enlarge Photo

Photo by: Mary South

Ahab’s father cruised Adriana through the canals of Burgundy during his first full summer aboard and he still tosses off the lines occasionally. Many of the live-aboard boats along the Seine don’t move at all — they are decorated with flowers, shrubs — even small trees — deck furniture, bicycles, grills. But there are many peniches that still look shipshape and ready to cruise.

I can imagine the dilemma. While exploring the canals and rivers of France would be hard to resist — they’re extensive enough to provide years of cruising — leaving Paris would be nearly impossible. And as with any good neighborhood, there’s a real sense of community among the live-aboards. They keep an eye on each other’s barges in bad weather or when someone goes away for the weekend; they host parties and barbecues in the summer months; they are friends and neighbors and — in Ahab’s case — family.



Of course, there are some drawbacks to the situation. The traffic on the river is steady, and at times the passing lights of the highly decorated bateaux mouches full of tourists can be annoying. There are occasionally drunk and uninvited guests who have to be chased off the deck of Paros, Ahab admits. There’s no super to call when things go wrong, and this is, after all, a boat, with the more complex electrical, tankage and other maintenance issues we all know and love. And then there are those famously long, gray winters in Paris — and the occasional flood.

“We had to take a boat from our boat to reach the quay!” says Ahab of last year’s flood.

Four hundred eighty-two miles long, the Seine rises from Saint-Seine near Dijon and empties into the English Channel at Le Havre. More than half of its length is navigable by commercial boats, though seagoing vessels can come only as far as Rouen, about 75 miles upriver from the channel. This tidal section of the Seine Maritime is followed by a canal with four large locks leading to the mouth of the Oise River at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. Multiple locks at Bougival/Chatou and Suresnes lift vessels to the level of the Seine in Paris, where it meets the Marne River. (The Paris stretch has 37 bridges!) The average depth of the Seine, which is dredged and controlled by locks, is about 31 feet, and the current can be brisk. Upstream from Paris eight locks allow navigation to meet Montereau-Fault-Yonne. From here, larger ships can continue upstream to Nogent-sur-Seine. After this point, the waterway is navigable only by small vessels, and all navigation of the river ends completely at Marcilly-sur-Seine.



Of course, not all the Paris moorings, long-term or transient, are along the banks of the Seine. The Port de Plaisance de Paris-Arsenal is probably the best known mooring for visiting private vessels. The north end of the marina is wonderfully located at the foot of the Place de la Bastille. The Bassin de la Villette, in the 19th arrondissement, links the Canal de l’Ourcq to the Canal Saint-Martin. Or for a really central mooring (on the Seine) that reminds you every day that you’re on a boat, in Paris! there are sought-after transient spots available in front of the Grand Palais and Place de la Concorde, at the eastern end of the Champs Élysées. Like the long-term moorings in Port Suffren, these are managed by VNF (Voies Navigable de France), the national waterway authority, rather than by the city of Paris as at the other basins.

I know I have a tendency to romanticize the possibilities of life abroad — especially life aboard a boat. But I should have known that no one out-romances Paris. Imbécile!

See the complete photo gallery.