Barge Cruising in France

By Rick Sylvain

FRAGNES, France – Maps say we are in the heart of France, the confluence where the lazily winding Saone River meets the Canal du Centre. But to passengers aboard the luxury hotel barge Adrienne, we are at the intersection of blissful and soul-stirring.

“Bless their little hearts,” says Matthew Walsh of the blue lobsters that only hours before were poking around the seafloor rocks off Brittany. “They were ready and waiting for us.”

The blue (now very red!) lobster tails are the overture to another night of dining fine aboard Adrienne, of French Country Waterways, sauntering along the rivers and canals that thread through the pastoral charm of Burgundy, home to some of the finest Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays on earth.

Walsh not only captains Adrienne, he leads shore excursions, describes each of our meals and amazing wines to rich detail, and shops markets in villages for the day’s menus. Including – as he puts it – “fishy products.”

Chef Tadek Zwan’s variation on the legendary lobster Thermidor has all 12 passengers – from Key West to Hong Kong – doing their happy dance as Walsh shares the history of the French classic.

In 1891, to celebrate the opening of the play Thermidor by dramatist Victorien Sardou, a Paris restaurant came up with a recipe for lobster Thermidor.

“The play has long been forgotten,” Walsh says. “The dish lives on. Proving once again what’s really important in life: a play or food.”

Food indeed.

If you seek an unforgettable week cruising the Burgundian countryside, getting immersed in medieval towns, chateaux and estates, wining and dining in ways you never dreamed possible, and tiptoeing through vineyards that produce some of the world’s most prized wines, your barge has come in.

Mostly plain-Jane on the outside but with comfy interiors, spacious staterooms and staff that caters to every need, hotel barges of French Country Waterways ply canals and rivers throughout France. This is France as it was meant to be seen: slow-going and intimate, not the lightning round of the tour buses.

Burgundy with its picturesque, sloping vineyards and church steeple villages is one of four wine-making regions the hotel barges of French Country Waterways call home. Others are Champagne, Alsace-Lorraine, and Upper Loire.

The Canals of France

France’s canal system had its origins during the reign of Henry IV in the early 17th century. It evolved into an efficient network linking the provinces with major trade centers. In their heyday, barges transported everything from wine and grain to timber and pig iron. Earliest transport was horse-drawn following well-worn towpaths. Fancier barges offered an alternative to hardscrabble travel on primitive French highways.

One marker of each hotel barge is its narrowness, to navigate through locks. Dozens of locks operate on Burgundy’s 600-mile web of waterways to lift or lower boats and barges through the ups and downs of water levels.

Adrienne lowers or climbs perilously within inches of each lock wall.

We rise. We fall. It’s a rush.

Here is where the easygoing pace of barge cruising grabs hold. Some stretches between locks allow passengers to step off and walk the towpaths or grab a bicycle and pedal to an onward lock, rejoining the barge. Pony up the Euros and you can even drift above this dreamscape in a hot air balloon.

Aboard a bike or a pied, France’s rural charms unfold. Villagers walk their dogs canal-side, anglers fish for carp and catfish, a frantic world seems to drop away.

“I cleared off all my work so I could come onto the barge, sit back, relax and let the world go by,” said Richard Clements of Oklahoma City, sailing with his wife, Melissa.

La Cuisine

Lunches and dinners onboard Adrienne are their own adventure.

Fine cuisine is religion in France. With each ringing of her tinker bell, Matthew’s wife, and our hostess, Angela Walsh, calls the faithful to something special. Gourmet lunch buffets and four-course candlelit dinners are a celebration of the great gastronomic centers that surround us.

Fresh breads and buttery croissants are brought on board each morning, still warm from the village bakery.

Chef Tadek slips from behind the scenes long enough to explain each kitchen recipe. Divine salads and a quiche du jour pair with lunch entrees that might be a dreamy beef bourguignon or a spectacular turbot he sauces to perfection.

With Burgundy’s capital Dijon a stop on our journey, Agneau roti cuit aux herbes et la moutarde highlights one dinner menu. Other evenings around the wood-paneled dining room include chef’s take on guineafowl, a juicy magret de canards and the traditional filet de beouf. Garden-fresh fruits and seasonal legumes, as well as savory desserts, are the supporting cast.

“Food and wine is center stage,” Matthew says. “If you hear someone opening a can, it’s not here. Everything is sourced fresh.”

Fromages – ah les fromages! Adrienne passengers are treated to 26 spectacular cheeses, each introduced by Angela or her colleague, Meg.

We savor cheeses preferred by Napoleon, a cheese Louis XIV the Sun King was partial to, cheeses that date to Pliny the Elder, Morbier (soot in its ageing history – now that’s unique), award-winning Epoisses, a cow’s milk cheese sourced from this region. We sample a creamily textured roquefort from the south of France, brie, camembert, a buttery bleu from Auvergne in south central France – each three-cheese course becomes more than a bridge between dishes, it is a celebration of France.

On Shore

French Country Waterways even takes the elegant dining experience ashore. Along each route, one night is set aside at a celebrated restaurant for an evening of fine cuisine. Ours is in the village of Chagny. Lameloise of Chef Eric Pras boasts three Guide Michelin stars – and by night’s end, we all agree, is worthy of each.

Burgundy’s wines can thank a unique terroir of climate, topography and soil for their world-class character. Two principal grapes, Pinot Noir for the red and Chardonnay for the white, thrive in the vineyards that slope to the water’s edge or push straight up to a quaint village we tour such as Montrachet, or a made-for-exploring chateau like Clos de Vougeot. The old chateau annually celebrates the finest appellations from the Cote-d’Or wine-making region.

An actual French count favors us with a bienvenue to his Chateau de Rully, wrapped in vineyards not far from the Saone. Raoul de Ternay leads a wine tasting in the Chateau’s medieval kitchen – but promises not to name each of his ancestors hanging in oil paintings, in room after room. The hillside castle has been in his family for 26 generations.

Matthew presents and pours spectacular reds and whites before each lunch and dinner. Many are premier cru with a prized grand cru or two – Burgundy’s highest classification – among the two dozen he will uncork along our way. Some were favorites of Thomas Jefferson. Unlike the vast vineyards of Bordeaux, small and territorial is the name of the game in Burgundy. Vineyards are demarked, defined and fiercely claimed by their owners.

Smallish as wine-making regions go, Burgundy serves up riches of wonderment as Adrienne locks through canals and slips past quaint villages that date centuries. These ancient hills knew the footsteps of the Dukes of Burgundy, in their time more powerful than the French kings.

⁃ Beautiful Beaune, medieval wine capital of Burgundy, home to a magnificent 15th century hospice and historic quarter. Every wine shop makes me wish there wasn’t a schedule to keep.
⁃ Picturesque Chalon-sur-Soane. Stroll the narrow winding lanes leading from the historic main square. Especially at night it is the vibrant heartbeat of town, anchored by a beautiful twin-spired cathedral and ringed by colorful old timber-framed houses.
⁃ Dijon, the town of medieval buildings, delicious food, and fine wines, is of course most famous for its moutarde. In the shadows of the Cathedral of Saint Beningus (13c) is a shop lined with a dizzying array of mustards. Go ahead. Belly up to the tasting bar for free samples. When in Dijon, after all…

At our final mooring, in Chassagne-Montrachet, somewhere after the foie gras et Poire Caramelise, glasses clink as Matthew offers a toast. It is brief but the perfect summation of a week aboard Adrienne experiencing the timeless beauty of Burgundy.

“To all,” he says, “happy days.”

#FrenchCountryWaterways

If You’re Barging…

Not cruise ships nor long riverboats, hotel barges accommodate far fewer passengers on more intimate sailings following quiet waterways that crisscross Europe.

Sailing season for the luxury barges of French Country Waterways is April through October. Cruises are six nights, Sunday to Saturday. Guests are met for escorted transfers at the pickup point in Paris, taken to their vessel and returned to the same hotel.  For Alsace-Lorraine, passengers are picked up/dropped off in Strasbourg.

Onboard attire is casual resort wear and comfortable shoes. Dressier is the rule for the night ashore and the Captain’s Farewell Dinner. Handsomely furnished, lower-deck staterooms are richly furnished and appointed with full-sized beds, private bath. Crew is bilingual. For France’s changeable weather highly recommended is an umbrella and hooded jacket or windbreaker. Dress in layers.

Galleys are small and not equipped to accommodate restricted diets, but consideration will be given to simple food allergies. Any special dietary requirements should be communicated in advance.

For more including 2024 sailing dates and rates: French Country Waterways 800 822-1236. Ask about charters or shoulder season rates. Just announced: 25 per cent off select April 2024 sailings in Champagne aboard the hotel barge Nenuphar.

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