When we spent the night in Columbier on the Canal du Midi a decade ago, with the camper, we found a nice place just next to the canal near this barge converted into a houseboat. The vessel measuring 33 m by 5 m had been stylishly converted into a modern house, without compromising its shape, was thickly painted, was well maintained and ... was for sale. The next day, during a chat with the marina master, I learned why the ship was put up for sale. Living on the water can be wonderful, but it has limitations, for example, you have electricity, water and an installation for the disposal of waste water. This was all available at the small marina of Columbier but the village is relatively remote, outside a small supermarket and a café-restaurant, which are closed outside the summer months, this small old village has nothing to offer and how pleasant it is to stay there in the summer, so dead it is in the autumn and winter. Permanent berths, equipped with the necessary infrastructure, near the cities are scarce and expensive. That was precisely the problem of the young couple (with a toddler) from the houseboat: far from their work, far from the school and far from any entertainment. For more than a year they have been looking for another berth in vain and therefore sold their beautiful houseboat (asking price: 200,000 euros). Image size: 260 x 360 mm