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 …
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 …
European Waterways, Europe’s largest luxury hotel barging cruise company, announced that its new luxury hotel barge, Finesse, poised to launch her maiden season in May 2016, will be cruising a new route as part of the company’s continuing expansion of vessels and services. An eight-passenger, deluxe double-decker vessel, the Finesse will cruise the River Saône and Canal du Centre in Southern Burgundy through vineyards and past historic towns and villages. Staffed by a crew of five, she …
ABOARD RENAISSANCE- Rain dampened the deck, streets and roads but not our memories as we hugged the crew and piled into our trusty van with deck man, driver, guide and captain-in-training Arnald Poussin for the three hour-drive to Paris. More hugs as he dropped us of at European Waterways’ Paris meeting center, Hotel Westminster. Just enough time for lunch, to tour the Eastern Antiquities collection at the Louvre (a weak but heart-felt gesture of scorn for the …
ABOARD RENAISSANCE-The weather gods seemed to be exacting their due as we woke in Briare to gray skies that threatened rain. Carol and I checked out the market behind the church of Saint Etienne and found just about everything one could possibly need to sustain life – vegetables, fruits, meats, fish, cheese, bread, milk, plants, medicinal herbs, clothing from underwear to shoes, furniture, beds, mattresses, even a suite of purple pots for cooking. Few villages or small …
ABOARD RENAISSANCE-Quiet and leisurely start to the morning; chef Luke’s breakfast special, pain perdu, French toast. We had to have it, right? We cruise along normally until one door of the lock at Ouzier-Sur-Trezes refused to open enough to let us exit. The lockmaster, our captain and deckman try unsuccessfully to fix the problem. Three more men arrive – lock keepers no longer inhabit the houses alongside but drive to one lock after another within their district …
ABOARD RENAISSANCE-Cannot believe how fortunate we are weather-wise. Predictions had been for cool temperatures for one sunny day between rain and clouds. Instead it has been warm and sunny. All the better to sun and lunch on the foredeck. We have been alternating morning excursions one day with afternoon ones the next. Quite civilized, especially when nothing except breakfast begins before 9 a.m. Today we are moored, with a number of other barges, at the village of …
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