Tag Archives: French Country 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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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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