Narbonne: boats hotels and trains! Buffet focus

It's up to you but I don't really see the point of going 3 times to "Les Grands Buffets", it's just a restaurant known for its huge buffet at €63 without drinks, not a place that you "visit".
Once ok, but why 3 times when there are dozens of other possibilities in Narbonne.

In Narbonne you can rent a small electric boat for a few hours. But Narbonne is not located on the Canal du Midi route so there is no base where you can rent a boat to travel it for a longer period and pass the locks.

The two train companies that provide Barcelona Narbonne are the French company SNCF or the Spanish company RENFE. See their websites for schedules and prices

from the restaurant website it sounds like you can't really just rock up and hope to get in; there are pretty severe penalties for cancelling unless you are badly ill, in a car crash or equally bad, with official letters. I can see how you can reserve for one visit, but to hope you can return without reservations sounds risky.

You should stay in the center of town and walk to and from Les Grands Buffets. It's only 1.5 kilometers, about 1,300 steps. If you are there in summer, it will still be light walking back at 10pm.

I'm sure you know that you have to make your reservations as soon as they come online. There was yet another TV documentary about it on French TV a couple of nights ago. It's very popular. Right now, there are two cancelations for this week and one next week. Otherwise, there isn't a table available to reserve until two dates in September. So, to get something, you'll have to watch daily and grab the reservation. You might be able to get two slots on consecutive days, but I don't see anything now.

Edit to add: A group of friends who went last month said they enjoyed the whole thing. They reserved seven months in advance. We live an hour away and would like to take visiting family one day. Being able to sample classical dishes that used to be found in the best restaurants is an interesting opportunity, but to me even better is how well all the customers are treated and respected by the staff. People from all social classes feel comfortable and welcome...if they can get a reservation. LOL

I didn't visit Les Grands Buffets when I stayed in Narbonne in 2019. There are plenty of places to eat in Narbonne including the food market in the centre of the town.
I took a French TGV from Narbonne to Barcelona which takes about 90 minutes.

Thanks so much to everyone for their replies.

I'll set about making a reservation as soon as my dates confirm but I'm trying to book for late July or I'll return at the end of my trip in September.

I really do want to go at least twice. This restaurant holds about 4 Guinness world records and represents the top produce and dishes of every region of France. It's a tribute to Escoffier's cooking and the passion of its owners iiuc.

It's not 'just a buffet' to me. Buffets are not common where I live so probably I'm less offhand about it. My town is too small to have a traffic light.

Buffets are also a nostalgic family tradition, from when there was just one beautifully done buffet in our region, and my late father fell in love with this new and amazing concept. We'd go for a Sunday treat then spend the rest of the day swimming, summer and winter, in warmed pools at the venue. This buffet is widely held to be the best buffet in the world. So... there's other food but I'm going to Narbonne for the buffet.

Thanks especially for the kind reservation and boat and train information, all much appreciated. The electric boats sound fun, it might be going solo on anything more is too much for me.