Ferries to France
There are many ferry services, most prominently across The Channel [La Manche] and from southern ports across the Mediterranean to ports in Europe and North Africa. Five principal services are:
- Brittany Ferries, car and passenger ferries between northwestern ports and ports on the southern coasts of the UK and Ireland, Tel: 08 25828828, \vww.brittanyferries.fr in French and English.
- Emeraude Ferries, car and passenger between northwestern ports and Jersey, www.emeraudeferries.com in French and English.
- Societe de Navigation de Normandie (Hugo Express), passenger catamarans between northwestern ports and the Channel Islands, Tel: 02 33610888.
- Societe nationale maritime mediterranee ferry Corse (SNCM), car and passenger ferries between French ports and ports in Algeria, Corsica, Sardinia and Tunisia, Tel: 08 25888088, www.sncm.fr in French, English, German and Italian.
- Compagnie Tunisienne de Navigation, car and passenger ferry connections to Tunisia, Tel: +216 7134177, www.ctn.com in French, English and Arabic.
The French part of AFerry, the UK-based global distribution system (GDS) for ferry information and bookings, provides what may be the best single overview of international ferry connections to and from France, www.aferry.fr.
Many companies offer houseboats and other boats for hire on canals and other inland waters; the French Nautical Industries Federation [Federation des industries nautiques] provides a directory of them on its website at www.Jrance-nautic.com in French and English. Votes navigables de France (VNF) is a central clearing house and source for information on inland waterways, with a head office at 175 rue Ludovic Boutleux, 62408 Bethune, www.vnf.fr in French and English. The VNF affiliate of Paris, Port autonome de Paris, regularly updates and publishes a comprehensive, clearly and profusely illustrated recreational boating manual and guide to the Seine waterways, entitled Guide du plaisancier, in print and online; contact the office at 2 quai de Crenelle, 75732 Paris Cedex 15, Tel: 01 40582742, www.paris-ports.fr
