E-bike travel: If you want to experience a leisurely adventure on holiday, you should try river navigation. A journey across rivers and canals is a whole new experience with previously unknown perspectives and experiences. And houseboating isn’t entirely sedentary either, especially if you have an e-bike like the Hercules Rob Fold with you.
Water has always exerted a great attraction on us humans. Who doesn't like to live near a big river, who doesn't like to spend their holidays by the sea? And who doesn't dream of being on a boat? You don't have to go out on the world's oceans in a deep-sea yacht - inland shipping also has its appeal and offers the opportunity to get to know a landscape in a completely new way.
France is particularly suitable for this. The large neighboring country has the largest network of waterways in Europe with around 8.000 kilometers of navigable waterways, which also includes the extensive canal system. Large parts of the country can be explored in this way, and you don't need your own boat either: you simply rent one, for example from the provider Le Boat, who makes it very easy to overcome any inhibitions with glossy brochures and a great website.
A (boat) license? Not necessary. The taxes? As easy as driving a car, but at a comfortable ten to twelve kilometers per hour. And so the decision to spend the holiday in a houseboat is quickly made. Especially since Burgundy is a sailing area close to the border that can be reached quickly from southern Germany.
Our Hercules Rob Fold e-bikes have to come with us!
Our tour group consists of two couples in their prime, and without school-age children we can easily avoid the high season, which is also reflected in the price. Of course, it can be a little more comfortable for us, and so our choice of the Le Boat fleet falls on a recently modernized Royal Mystique - a magnificent boat for up to six people, which seems tailor-made to us four adventurers. In St. Jean de Losne, we are greeted warmly by the staff at Le Boat and, after a few formalities, we pick up the boat. First, we unload the simple folding bike that comes with the boat and bring our compact Hercules e-bikes on board. The practical instruction on our "dream ship" takes place in French, a smattering of English and with hands and feet, but we get along and quickly learn how to drive the boat. A quick test drive together to make sure that our “captain” has understood everything, and then the great adventure begins.
For our seven-day tour we have chosen a charming section in the Saone valley. It starts in the port of St. Jean-de-Losne, where Le Boat has a large base, south via Chalon-sur-Saone, which is well worth a visit. Behind the small town of Tournus we leave the Saone to the left, because there we enter the smaller Seille with its many meanders and three hand-operated locks, which takes us east to Louhans.
Relaxed but never boring
Houseboating is a relaxed and safe journey. The hustle and bustle remains on land, but there is still no everyday life on board. No day is like the other, there are so many new and different impressions. The day begins with a shared breakfast on the sun deck; if a bicycle is on board, fresh baguettes and crispy croissants are not far away.
Our compact Hercules e-bikes are not only perfect for getting bread rolls - going ashore is part of house boating, and we are always out and about in the towns and villages along the river, visiting the sights or cycling a bit along the gravel towpaths along the bank .
Hercules Rob Fold: A practical folding bike for relaxed shore leave
We have two Hercules Rob Folds with us, one with a five-speed hub and one with eight speeds, both powered by the Bosch Active Line PLus motor. This allows us to make quick progress on our tours, and the drive power can be dosed so well that we feel safe in every situation, even though we are not exactly "e-bike professionals". With high handlebars we roll through the hot late summer wind, and even without suspension it is very comfortable to sit on our folding bikes. For us as somewhat older cyclists, the only thing that takes some getting used to is the disc brakes, which decelerate really sharply - it is very practical that both bikes are also equipped with a coaster brake, which we can of course master from the FF. You can also get the Hercules with a freewheel. It is practical that the battery is not built into the frame tube, as is the case with many e-bikes, but is attached to the outside. The battery, which weighs around 3,5 kilos, can therefore be easily removed, which makes the bike noticeably lighter when we bring it on and off board. In general, the weight difference compared to a conventional large pedelec is significant, and the folding function has also proven its worth on the boat. This turns a Hercules Rob Fold into a compact package that is stable thanks to the two-legged stand and does not have to be leaned against anything.
If you don't plan to loosen up the boat trip with bike tours for two, but just a bike for the trip to the Bakery needs is also well advised with the Hercules Rob Fold. With the Hercules, you can easily adjust the saddle and handlebar height, so that people of all sizes can get along with it very well.
The celebratory highlight of our vacation days is dinner. The French love to enjoy their multi-course dinner with the usual accompaniment of wine. Since we usually dock at the destination in the early afternoon, it is possible to reserve a table in a restaurant - which is really important because the restaurants are very busy in the evenings. Gastro tips are available on the Internet or, even better, from the "Capitainerie" at the port. There you also have to pay for the overnight stay with water and electricity on arrival – not an expensive pleasure at ten to twenty euros.
The river trip is the focus
For a team of mostly inexperienced seafarers, there is of course a lot to experience on the water. Fortunately, our captain has a sailing boat at home and is therefore perfectly suited to take the helm. As an engineer, he also takes on such responsible activities as filling the water tanks or monitoring the power connection. Our luxury boat alone has three showers, two fully automatic toilets, a beloved air conditioning system, two spacious bedrooms with double beds and a great fitted kitchen that every bachelor would envy us for in their apartment. However, the space on deck is tight and we have to carefully secure our e-bikes - imagine if such a Hercules were to disappear under the water...
Locking is hard work!
A small highlight on our waterway is always the locks. The large locks on the Saone are operated by lock keepers who watch over us from high up and are no doubt surprised at our activities with a smile. The big locks are scarier because they're huge, but still less complicated for us newbies. Once the lock has been released, you drive in slowly and look for a stopping place. In the small rope that we navigate towards Louhans, however, we come across locks with manual operation - this means that at least one crew member has to disembark to operate the two gates, each with two doors. It's quite exhausting, and you also have to run in a circle around the entire lock: left wing of the front gate, then once around the lock and right wing closed. The same game with the two rear gate wings. Everything to? Then we can start. There is movement when the locks are being locked; Later, while enjoying a drink on the sun deck, we proudly chat about the last passage through the lock. We are all little heroes of river navigation.
The beauty of such a river trip, especially for newcomers, is the feeling of being on an adventure - and that alone makes the experience worthwhile. Once you've decided on an area, rent a boat and then set off on an adventure. Of course, with a boat you are more tied to the river and less flexible when it comes to longer trips of discovery on land. The beautiful chateau is just a bit too far from the river and the winery would be much easier to reach by motorhome. But that is what makes a boat tour so appealing. This is your flow now! There is always something to discover on the banks; Even small towns and larger cities are not far, especially if you have e-bikes with you. And last but not least, you can meet nice boat people at the landing stages. Boating holidays are different, but young and old, big and small have a lot of fun on board. Try it! In addition to France, Le Boat also offers other varied and easy-to-navigate waterways for the perfect family and group holiday (click here for an overview).