Our Houseboat is the Paqurette, model Penichette 935W. It has two double beds(one under the kitchen table) and one twin. The main cabin area consists of the kitchen and driving area. The bathroom is small, and the shower has a pull-out nozzle from the sink and a pump and drain on the floor.
A houseboat is similar to an RV but on water. You can dock anywhere you like. You must fill up on water and electricity daily to keep her running smoothly, so it was best to find a campground/dock with both of these.
After driving for what seemed like forever from Paris and then driving in circles in Digoin trying to find the dock, we arrived just in time for them to let us into the houseboat. We will have to wait until the morning for our driving lessons.
The dock manager was ready to give us our lesson at 10 a.m. the next day. After 15 minutes of half-English/half-French lessons, they sent us on our way.
On the first day, everyone was excited to take a turn at the wheel. The kids did really great! Ella loved listening to Taylor Swift sing as she drove, and Miles loved watching everything happen outside.
Locks, locks, and more locks! Part of cruising the canals is going through the locks. Luckily, all the locks we went through had lock keepers, so they did most of the work. Our job was to maneuver the boat into the lock and secure the rope to the land. Easier said than done! our first day of locks was a bit rough, but by the end of the trip, we had it down to a science. Even Ella and Miles helped. Ok, mainly Ella, Miles, of course, being Miles, fell in the water trying to run to the rope. (Don't worry we fished him out.)
