by Carol Canter
Last updated: 12:00 PM ET, Mon August 8, 2016
Photo courtesy of European Waterways
La Belle Epoque, European Waterways' six-room floating boutique barge hotel, cruises the Burgundy Canal each week spring to fall between Tanlay and Venarey-les-Laumes. The 12 passengers who sign on will be taking a slow and sensual six-night journey from nowhere to nowhere. They could drive the same distance - 40 miles - in no time, but what illuminating and palate-pleasing experiences would be missed.
For a cruise aboard La Belle Epoque is slow travel at its finest, a luxurious opportunity to explore the legendary landscape of Burgundy, France's renowned wine region, as a staff of experts feeds your mind, body and soul.
An onboard bicycle for every guest is an invitation to pedal the towpath that edges the canal, or veer off into tranquil hamlets, bustling villages and alongside family farms and gardens. Some guests walk for miles along serene wooded pathways, which open to dreamy vistas of flower-strewn hillsides grazed by snowy white Charolais cattle. Even on foot, they can easily keep ahead of the barge, whose speed never tops 4 mph.
Captain Jolanda leads guests on daily excursions to places of no small magnificence: Ancy-le-Franc, a 16th-century chateau with Renaissance murals; Abbaye de Fontenay, a peaceful Cistercian abbey with cloisters, ponds and gardens; medieval villages whose flower-draped half-timbered houses ooze charm and photo ops. At the hilltop village of Flavigny-sur-Ozerain where "Chocolat" was filmed, one might easily conjure the lovely Juliette Binoche wandering the winding lanes.
History-rich Alesia, from its strategic perch at the summit of Mount Auxois, overlooks countryside now bucolic, if a bit ghostly in a late afternoon mist. Perhaps that's because in 52 BC, the last bloody battle between the Romans and Gauls was fought here.
At the Wednesday food market in the achingly picturesque hamlet of Noyers-sur-Serein, passengers indulge their fabulous French food fantasies. With the guidance - and wallet - of Captain Jolanda, one points to the freshest or most unusual or most mysterious or most mouth-watering foods to bring back to the barge kitchen of La Belle Epoque's exceptional young Chef Wojtek. There he prepares the large but tender stalks of white asparagus that called to one group of passengers on a late May cruise, the wispy wild green asparagus, the celeri remoulade and the cornus - or "horned" green and red tomatoes bursting with flavor. The group feasts on these, along with escargots, pâtés and rillettes, cured hams and sausages, salads and rhubarbs and berries. This is a lunch to relish and recall, as everyone "à table" has a stake in its outcome.
That said, a week on a barge is an idyllic way for a family or group of friends to organize a personalized pampered reunion. In fact, charters make up fully half of bookings for European Waterways, according to Director John Wood Dow. He says tennis groups have been returning for 15 years, tying in a barge cruise with Wimbledon or the French Open. There are golf groups, hiking groups, watercolorists, and quite a few multi-generational families - from the grandparents on down to the children - who charter a barge as an alternative to the large villas they often rent.
A look at the Themed Cruises drop-down menu on the company's website shows the full range of options, from Antiques and Art and Opera cruises to Flower Show, Whisky Trail and World War One Commemorative Cruises. Larger groups have the possibility of booking a Tandem Cruise whereby two barges travel together along a canal.
European Waterways offers barge cruises in nine countries, including nine regions of France. In addition to Burgundy, the most popular hotel barging area in Europe with five canals, countless historic chateaux and thousands of acres of vineyards, French regions include the Canal du Midi, Alsace & Lorraine, Loire Valley, Gascony, Bordeaux, Champagne, Paris and Picardy.
Other countries include England, Ireland, Scotland, Holland, Belgium, Germany & Luxembourg, and Italy, where the company's only 20-passenger barge, La Bella Vita, will offer a special Opera Cruise on August 20-27, 2016.
Prices for a six-night cruise aboard hotel barge La Belle Epoque are from $5,090 per person in a twin/double cabin, including all meals, wines, an open bar, excursions and local transfers. Transfers between Paris and the barge are also included. Full barge charters are also available for families and groups.
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