Waterways Guide 20: Picardie by Editions du Breil (2015)

The plains of Picardy possess a closely knit network of navigable waterways, one of the most dense on the whole French mainland. These canals and rivers have been used for centuries to bring the riches of the north to the Paris region.

They are, even today, heavily frequented by commercial barges but they also provide a link for leisure craft in transit between Paris and Belgium. As you leave the Paris area, you will first take the Oise. This river which joins the Seine downstream from the capital, is one of its most important tributaries. It is also an important commercial waterway plied by barges of all sizes but moorings are plentiful and well equipped and transiting leisure craft well looked after. It is an attractive river hidden from the world by a dense curtain of trees and, following the tranquil curves of its down_stream section, it is difficult to believe that one is cruising through the busy Parisian sprawl.

At the end of the Oise, you will have to choose between the old canal Saint-Quentin and the canal du Nord, a