Tag Archives: European Waterways

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Barging through France!

I have written a couple of times about my desire to try barging; that is, taking a small barge through canals.  Bill and I have been on several cruises, but they’ve all involved sailing on large bodies of water.  A barge cruise is different.  It’s slow paced and the focus is more personal.

I’ve been interested in barging for years, but I think this month’s trip to Burgundy kind of sealed the deal for Bill and me.  I feel pretty certain we’re going to book a barge cruise soon.  I’ve looked at two companies that offer barging.  One is European Waterways, a British company that offers barging in several countries throughout Europe.  The other is French Country Waterways, which is an American owned company that only offers barging in France.

I have received a lot of literature from both companies.  At this point, I think I’m leaning toward booking with French Country Waterways, mainly because of their emphasis on food and wine.  Bill is a big cheese lover and French Country Waterways provides them in abundance.  However, I must admit that European Waterways has tempted me with its stunning videos and broader range of places to go.  Also, I think European Waterways is a bit less expensive.

Although I have been wooing Bill with videos and talk about barging, I think what might have sold him is the brochure we got from French Country Waterways last week.  He sent me an email to tell me it had arrived and I told him to have a look at it.  Naturally, he was very impressed by it… kind of the same way my mom was impressed when I had a brochure from Hebridean Island Cruises sent to her.  She had originally meant to book a cruise for a week and ended up doing two weeks on the Royal Crown river cruise.  I’ve actually been wanting to try river cruising too, even though they tend to cater to people a lot older than Bill and I are.

So it’s a choice between European Waterways, which goes to France, Ireland, Scotland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, and England…

 


Or French Country Waterways, which does Champagne, Burgundy, Loire, Alsace, and Lorraine…

 

The choice is going to be difficult.  Even if we choose French Country Waterways, which goes to fewer places, I am so tempted by each of the itineraries.  What a wonderful problem to have!

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Now where?

I usually have someplace I want to visit next after I take a big trip.  Right now, I have to confess, I can’t think of where we should go next.  It’s probably because I’m pretty nervous about what Bill is going to do next.  Leaving the military is a big deal.

April 25 is when Bill goes on transitional leave.  He’s out of the Army on July 1.  It’s going to be odd having a civilian husband.  It looks like the Army isn’t going to have a lot of jobs available when he’s done, either, so we may end up moving.  I think it’s likely we’ll move anyway, because we hate this house we live in.

I was hoping we’d squeeze in one last cruise before we leave the Army… and maybe we can do that, though it might not be the kind of cruise we usually do.

I’d really like to go to Ireland, but that may be more than we can afford this year, since we are still recovering from Spain and Portugal.  I’m still interested in doing a river barge cruise with European Waterways in France or Ireland.

This looks like it’s about my speed!
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Ireland? or France?

So I think Bill and I are definitely thinking we’d like to go back to Europe for our next trip, whenever it may be.  We are definitely interested in barging or perhaps doing a river cruise, even though I read with some dismay about troubles river cruisers have been having because of flooding in the Danube.  I’m not linking to any particular thread on Cruise Critic.  Just go there and have a look if you’re interested.  There are a few folks who have had their river cruises suddenly turn into bus tours.

I do worry that if we did a river cruise, we might be a bit on the young side.  But then, we were among the youngest on our Hebridean cruise in November and it wasn’t really a problem.  In fact, I would love to do another Hebridean cruise, even if it’s a river cruise.  I hope they offer them next year.

Barging would be different because only a few couples go at a time and the barges go so slowly that you might be able to walk faster.  You run the risk of being on a barge with people you don’t like, of course… or perhaps they won’t like you.  But you also get a lot of personal attention and the chance to really get into the local scene.

European Waterways has put out some very enchanting looking videos.  We were looking at Ireland for next year because I haven’t really been there and Bill hasn’t been in almost 30 years.  And Ireland is where his “people” are from.

However, France is barging country and Bill loves France.  He loves the wine, the cheese, and the cuisine…  I like France too.  So we’ll see what happens…

I would hope I’d be less likely to get seasick on a barge, too…

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Barging in Europe…

As if I didn’t need any other temptations, now I’m tossing around the idea of taking a barge cruise through Ireland or possibly France.  I had already been watching French Country Waterways’ Web site for some time, but their prices seemed a bit out of our reach.  They also only do cruises in France.  I would love to do a French river cruise sometime, but I think I might want to visit Ireland first, since I have no real memories of ever going there (if, in fact, I did).  I lived in England in the 70s, but I was  a wee lass at the time and don’t remember everything about the experience.

But then I started looking at European Waterways, which offers French cruises, but also has barging in Ireland, Germany and Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium, Scotland, and Italy.  Barging is different, really, than regular cruises.  The vessels are very small and intimate, with only about a dozen people or so at a time, sometimes more, sometimes less.  And you travel at a very slow pace… slow enough that you could get off the barge and walk if you wanted to, easily keeping up.  It’s all inclusive and informal, yet the food is supposed to be very good.

Of course, yesterday, I got an EOB from my dental insurance provider.  The fuckers denied my claim for payment for my cleaning and exam.  I think it’s bullshit and plan to raise hell about it.  Met Life Dental sucks, though.  It actually makes me miss United Concordia.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand…  I showed the video to Bill and he was delighted.  We might just do this.

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