On the last leg of our European Waterways cruise, from Lezinnes to Tanlay, there are five more locks and some of the group wanted to make the most of the nice weather by walking most of the way. A few others took the opportunity on our last cruise day to ride bikes. Throughout the cruise, Captain Jolanda has made a point of warning everyone not to fall overboard when getting on or off the barge at …
A sunny morning permitted the group to get out to walk on the towpath while La Belle Epoque cruised today from Ancy-le-Franc to Lezinnes, with an excursion in the afternoon to the town of Chablis. A most notable town in Burgundy is Chablis dominated by the spire of the 13th century Collégiale Saint-Martin à Chablis. The city is packed with cellars aging the namesake wine. There are 300 producers with the most prominent being Domaine Laroche. We visited …
Today our cruise on the Burgundy Canal is from Ravieres to Ancy-le-Franc. Following a morning drive into Champagne to inspect the vines at a Les Riceys vineyard, we moved on to the Alexandre Bonnet winery for a demonstration of the making of Champagnes by Ervine, the future wine maker of the winery. Included was a sampling of fine Alexandre Bonnet Champagnes. A Champagne aperitif and multicourse gourmet lunch was hosted by the vivacious Baroness Segolene and …
The cruise this morning took La Belle Epoque from Montbard to Ravieres. For breakfast, individually prepared poached eggs were prepared by Chef Bryan who gave instructions on how to properly cook the eggs (the secret is to boil the eggs for ten seconds in their shells so the whites will adhere to the yolks before cracking them open and boiling them in the swirling water of large pot). A unique character, Bryan began his fascinating culinary …
Aboard La Belle Epoque cruising slowly from Venarey-les-Laumes to Montbard this morning. Nine locks are along this section of the canal permitting several opportunities to get off the barge for a walk or a bike ride. The 12-passenger La Belle Epoque was constructed in 1930 as a freight barge to carry logs from Burgundy to Paris and Amsterdam. In 1973 it was converted into a state of the art luxury hotel barge designed for elegance and …
“April showers bring spring flowers.” Our group of twelve was picked up at a designated meeting point in the afternoon on a chilly day in Paris by Jolanda, Captain of the canal barge La Belle Epoque, owned by European Waterways, for the trip in two private minibuses to the village of Venarey-les-Laumes, a three hour drive of 180m kilometers. Our route south out of Paris took us along the left bank of the River Seine and …
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