Canal Boat Adventures in France

I never forget how lucky I am to have a mom who's a flight attendant.
She comes to visit Amsterdam often and has taken me on countless trips around the world.
Even better, her international lifestyle has helped her create a wonderful network of fun, interesting friends who provide excellent adventure opportunities all over the globe.

Jack and Sue, are some of my mother's long time pals and (fortunately for us!) they own a boat in France! We spent a week with them floating along canals in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France.

We had a week of gorgeous sunshine and stopped in some delightful French villages.
Of course, I uncontrollably snapped photos along the way.
Not too shabby for a little summer getaway, I'd say!

First, we flew into Strasbourg from Amsterdam, and rode the train north to Sarguimmines, 

passing through country scenes...

 

Later, we slept along dreamy canals (this was my favorite spot!)..

We stopped in villages and wandered markets, full of fresh goods...



And passed adorable, historic lock houses like these...
 Wouldn't it be fun to open a little cafe
for boaters and cyclists along the historic towpaths?



Daily, we indulged in scrumptous treats...

And surveyed the scenes, visiting small villages along the canals...

 

With only four of us, everyone had a task to do in helping the boat in-and-out-and-up-and-down the locks. Actually, this was the first time I'd ever even been in a lock before!
Some of them were occuring often, making for a pretty busy afternoon of boat riding.

I'll be back with more soon, in the mean see check out this map of where we visited...


View Alsace-Lorraine Canal Boat Trip in a larger map

Have you ever visited the Alsace-Lorraine area? This trip was very go-with-the-flow so I didn't do much research before-hand. Do you usually research a vacation or just wing-it?