Gliding through the water with the sun blaring above, the only sound is the occasional tweet of birdsong or observation from our guide. Oh, and the slurp from my ice cream cone.
‘Look to your left, you can see an otter,’ he says, before delighting our three children by letting them each take a turn steering our gondola along the network of waterways.
For two blissful hours we are transported to France’s answer to Venice — minus the cruise ships, overpriced trinkets and endless queues.
Canal charm: The Marais Poitevin wetlands are France’s answer to Venice – though far quieter
Dubbed the ‘green Venice’ because a layer of green duckweed covers its myriad canals, the Marais Poitevin in the west of France, just an hour’s drive north of La Rochelle, is the second-largest wetland in the country.
Until the Fifties, the only way to reach the villages in the area was by barge. We hop aboard one at an embarkation point called Bazoin, but you can also hire your own self-steer boat at any number of piers along the way and explore the nature reserve and birdwatching sanctuary — which is home to 57 species of dragonfly.
I am wary of areas promising to be Little Venice or The Parisienne Quarter, but it’s not far off here.
Not only does this canal network cover a whopping 370 square miles, but it provides a peaceful haven for adults and a place for children to learn.
We spot heron, kingfishers and deer, but the highlight comes when our guide stirs up enough methane gas from the base of the swamp to cause a huge flare when he sets it alight.
Our ten-year-old son and his eight-year-old twin siblings are impressed.
In the early years of parenthood, my husband and I had assumed we would schlep our children to all corners of the Continent, but the reality is we keep returning to France because it’s so easy.
With three children, a lot of luggage and a tight budget, the cost-effective combination of a car-ferry, the fresh air and a campsite bursting with every activity you could wish for has proved a winning combination.
All smiles: The Chalmers children were impressed by the canal network in the Marais Poitevin
With this in mind, we base ourselves in a luxurious mobile home at Sequoia Parc, two hours south of ‘green Venice’ near Rochefort in the Charente-Maritime region on the Atlantic Coast.
It’s a five-star, 45-hectare resort with a swimming complex boasting five slides, its own ‘river’ complete with a whirlpool and splash zone.
The park rivals Center Parcs with its tennis courts, horse riding and petanque, but it’s too hot to do any of it.
Thankfully, the site is like a village — with tents, mobile homes and cottages dotted along lanes all leading to the open-air pool complex and central plaza.
Most of the guests seem to be families and our children soon befriend some youngsters and trot off to the kids’ club and the evening entertainment.
Away from the site, we spend a great day at La Rochelle’s aquarium, a 40-minute drive, home to 600 species and famous for its Gallery of Lights — five giant tanks of luminous sea creatures.
For me, the high point is the charming town of Royan.
Bombed in World War II, only a few examples of belle-epoque architecture remain, but much of the town has been rebuilt and is now a near-perfect Fifties seaside resort.
The result is a low-level, easy-to-walk and child-friendly centre peppered with some cutting-edge brutalist structures such as the so-called ‘concrete cathedral’, the award-winning Church of Notre Dame.
We could have visited the nearby fortress port of Rochefort, Palmyre Zoo and the sandy beaches of the Ile d’Oleron, but when there’s a giant pool on your doorstep, why bother going anywhere else?