Hello everyone, I’ve been mulling over moving to France long-term but I struggle with the idea of owning a property and being fixed in one location. I’d really like to live on a Dutch barge on the French canal system and wonder if anyone knows if owning and living on a barge in France would satisfy the permanent residence component of the visa requirements? I suspect it may complicate getting registered in the French health system.
Thanks, and best wishes
Steve
If you are able to get yourself identified as gens du voyage you may be able to do that, otherwise you are expected to have a fixed address, (which can of course be a rental), like the vast majority of French people. There may be special rules for barges.
This gives a flavour of the issues. And for a visa you only need an initial address so you could spend three months in a holiday home while you set up and once “resident” in X could maybe establish that commune as your domicile with the marie. There are ways round all these issues if it’s what you want to do.
Don’t we have a barge living member on here? If anyone can remember a name a link may bring good advice forward. 
Possibly @Bargeman !
T’is I living on a barge 
.
The ice of the cold snap with nights down to -8⁰ has melted, but the salon temperature remained a cosy 25⁰ throughout.
I’ll help if I can.
The simple answer is “yes” it is possible, there are quite a few of us scattered around.
Steve, you can DM if you want to.
We have been here since 2008 so know a lot about it.
Or we can chat openly here.
Chat openly is good for future readers ( or even current ones who are interested but not yet asked questions.)
Ah, my only excuse is that your username was not specific enough for me. 
Pleased you’ve made contact and I’m sure your help will be welcomed. 
Question: if a gentleman from Delhi decided to live on a barge, would he be known as an “onion bargee”?
Please, chat openly!
I often walk along the Midi admiring the range and quality of your floating homes, so interested in the practicalities and so much more interesting than some past topics…
OK, the original question was about living on a boat, the type of boat doesn’t really matter.
In truth the process of obtaining residential status and health care is exactly the same as someone living in a house or apartment.
Where it becomes a little more difficult is proving where you live.
You will probably not have the “normal” proof documents:
Electricity Bills.
House insurance
Gaz bills
Fixed phone line.
Water bills etc.
But what you can get is Port Mooring bills.
An Attestation from the port operators.
This should be enough to get into the Tax System, CPAM (for health) depending which way you get entitlement.
Register car
Register boat.
As for type of boat, a barge of some type is better in my humble opinion.
Don’t know, but there most be plenty of Grand Union bargees in the UK
That is brilliant, if I didn’t live in a house and an area that is perfect for me, I would love to wander the waterways in a narrowboat, what a shame there isn’t a canal on the top of this hill. 
That’d certainly be a longer-term project than your pond was…
Well, now that shouldn’t stop you
The town of Langres is 475m above sea level.
To get there by barge from the Mediterranean it takes working through 17 big locks on the Rhone (up to 22m lift) then 5 on the Grande Saone (average 3.5m lift) 3 on the Petite Saone, and 43 on the Canal entre Champagne etc Bourgogne. (average 2.5m lift).
So 477m or 1558 feet of uphill in 69 locks, before going down hill to Vitry 239m in 71 locks.
It’s an up and down life, but “each lock brings a new horizon” as my wife and Admiral says..
Where to this summer? Up to Belgium, hmmm, Holland, no been there, Germany again, possibly. Down to the Med, not again yet, up to Paris? Yep, that might work.
The ice from the cold snap has melted.
I’ll fetch me spade and make a start in the morning.
Oh bugger, just remembered I’ve only got one arm.
Tell me more about your barge? I assume it is in you avatar, but difficult to see the detail other that it is not small !
Do you ever travel on the Canal du Midi!
(Actually what is the term: a yacht sails, a ship steams, a barge ??? Surely not travel? Plies maybe??)
it “barges in” I would have thought… 