Last modified: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 11:30 AM EDT
 |
Gustave Eiffel, designer of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, also designed the Briare Bridge, a 2174-foot bridge that spans the Loire River and a popular spot for river barge cruises. (Photo by Roger Fasteson)
|
Barging through Burgundy
BY LINDA FASTESON FOR THE SUN CHRONICLE
Gourmet foods, vintage wines and vivid culture. While travelers can find these three things just about anywhere in the world, there's one place that truly delivers the good life to its visitors without them even having to leave their barge.
Burgundy, the heartland of France - the land where Charolais cattle become the finest beef, Bresse chickens are raised for poultry dishes of the highest quality and Burgundy snails are combined with Chablis wine and garlic butter - is known for producing the ingredients that go into creating the area's renowned gastronomic delights and the sights that evoke images of idyllic French countryside living.
You can get this taste of the country not by running through Paris, but by winding through quiet canals throughout the Burgundy region by river barge - an unhurried reflection of daily life in the area embodied by joie du vivre - the art of living.
Each day on board and its stops along the way are a unique sampling of the local culture through its regional wines and cuisine, outings and casual observations. You might travel past little-known communities or visit a medieval village, historic town or troglodyte dwelling carved out of the rocks. Your day might include a wine tasting at a small vineyard or amidst aged oak barrels in an underground labyrinth of vaulted passageways. You might stop at a colorful local market, spot a group of men in a spirited game of lawn bowling called petanque, explore a Romanesque abbey or visit the grand Renaissance-style chateau that inspired Versailles. Or get off the boat and head for a hot air balloon to view the storybook countryside.
We found ourselves in the midst of medieval villages and in a landscape reminiscent of Impressionist paintings. The region's canals at times seemed no wider than our barge, but our back door route revealed plenty of vignettes of everyday life in a way seldom seen by tourists.
The region
Burgundy - we know it as a deep red hue, the color of a wine from a country where it is named not by the grape from which it is made, but by the region in which it is produced. The Burgundy region, southeast of the country's capital Paris, is fruitful, prosperous and rich in history, culture and gastronomy.
Parisians take the highway or high speed TGV train here simply to partake of a favorite dinner. Visitors are drawn from around the world for the legendary foods and wines and the joie du vivre that is difficult to define and best understood by experiencing it.
Burgundy was once a powerful independent province ruled by the influential Dukes of Burgundy, whom Philippe the Good called "lords of the best wine in Christendom." Culinary terms referring this region have come to symbolize the world's finest cuisine.
Burgundy's hillsides provide the ideal terroir - mild climate, warm dry summers, nutrient rich soil, sufficient rainfall - for the fruitful production of grapes. Family-run vineyards are part of the area's 60,000 acres of vines arranged in orderly rows. One of the loveliest and most colorful times to visit is autumn - September and October, when there are festivals and the caves are open.
The canals
Transporting goods though what was often hilly region was once an arduous task accomplished by horse cart. In 1727, work began on the Canal of Burgundy, a connection between the Yonne and Saone rivers. The system of locks through this agricultural region of small towns and hamlets was completed in 1832, enabling barges carrying hundreds of tons of cargo to navigate hilly terrain and pass through France's inland waterways from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.
Today, many of the barges have been converted to floating luxury hotels. Barge travel provides a behind-the-scenes view while offering the convenience of cruising - unpacking once and traveling effortlessly while relaxing, dining, and enjoying onboard amenities. Everything is taken care of, including local excursions with your own tour guide in an air-conditioned minibus.
The barge travels slowly, about the pace of a brisk walk, along tree-lined canals. The pace is never rushed, and is as active as you like. Stroll or ride a bicycle along the towpaths, explore a local village, and wait for the barge to catch up with you at a lock. Watch the lock keeper operate hand-swung bridges and locks in the centuries-old way as his children wave from their garden or the windows of their historic cottage. If you arrive at a lock during or too close to lunch time in this country where break times are strictly observed, you will wait. This is part of the experience. This vacation is about immersion in local life, not the speed or distance traveled.
Barge life
Our cruise of local and culinary discovery was aboard La Belle Epoque, the flagship barge of European Waterways Ltd. Before it was converted to a floating hotel in 1995 and refurbished in 2006, La Belle Epoque was a freight barge carrying logs from Burgundy to Paris and Amsterdam. Built in 1930, it is 126 feet long, 161/2 feet wide and can travel at a maximum speed of 10 knots.
European Waterways is in its 35th year of barging holidays. Their barges travel the canals, rivers and lagoons of France, Scotland, England, Ireland, Italy, Holland and Belgium. Two barges, Enchante and Napoleon, are being added in 2009, cruising in Provence, Carmargue and the Canal du Midi.
Our crew, which consists of a captain, a tour guide/deck hand, two housekeeper/hostesses and a chef, offered attentive and personalized service to a maximum 13 passengers, most of whom were from North America or the UK. Crew members hail primarily from the UK and speak English and French. Our captain, chef and housekeeper were from England. Our tour guide was a former rugby player from Scotland, and the other housekeeper was from New Zealand.
We were picked up by our tour guide at a designated Paris hotel and driven to the barge, where we were welcomed by the captain and rest of the crew with a champagne reception.
La Belle Epoque has a sundeck, a small spa pool, a wood paneled saloon, a small library, and a dining room with a table large enough to accommodate all passengers. The seven comfortable passenger cabins have twin or double beds and en-suite facilities and are referred to as two suites (150-165 sq. ft.), one at each end, four junior suites (125-130 sq. ft.), and one single cabin (90 sq. ft.). The barge is fully air-conditioned, and electricity is French 220 voltage.
The all-inclusive pricing per person ranges from $3,100 in value season aboard La Dolce Vita in Venice to $6,490 in regular season aboard the Renaissance, which was added to the fleet in 2008, and travels in the Upper Loire and Western Burgundy region of France. Charters begin at $22,000. The suggested gratuity is 5-10 percent of the cruise price, paid in local currency at the end of the trip.
Cabins may be booked individually or the entire boat can be chartered with family or friends. Charter itineraries can be customized to accommodate special interests.
Tennis tournaments and golf competitions can be arranged for sports enthusiasts. Theme charters focus on special interests like festivals, hiking, golf or wine. Two-barge tandem cruises can be arranged to accommodate up to 21 passengers.
The dress code onboard is casual. Bring comfortable walking shoes to wear on deck and for tours. Evenings may be chilly, and as with most travel, layers of clothing work well. Bring along a sweater, jacket, rainwear and an umbrella. Dress up as much as you like for the Captain's Dinner on the final night, but you needn't add much more to your suitcase than a blazer for men and a dress or pantsuit for women. I brought along a dressy jacket that could be worn with classic black slacks used throughout the trip.
This is a true getaway and an experience of the art of living - there is no phone or Internet service onboard this barge. Smoking is allowed only on deck and away from other guests.
The six-night cruises run from Sunday to Saturday and are all-inclusive - meals, regional wines with the candlelit dinner, open bar with alcoholic and soft drinks available at all times, daily excursions with your onboard guide, bicycles, binoculars and local transfers.
About our journey
La Belle Epoque's route usually follows the lower Nivernais Canal and River Yonne, but since ours was the first trip of the season, we traveled from the winter docking spot near the seven 350-year-old locks of Rogny-Les-Sept-Ecluses to Moret-sur-Loing, a medieval town that inspired such Impressionist painters as Monet, Renoir and Sisley.
If booking a trip at the beginning or end of the season, be sure to clarify in advance just what the itinerary will be. Our trip's itinerary was not the norm, so future passengers can expect differing locales in a different order than this trip. It's best to log on to the company's Web site to request a brochure for specific cruise itineraries.
On our trip, there was time to explore the charming village of Rogny-Les-Sept-Ecluseson our own before settling in for dinner. The first day's excursion was a tour of the building site at Guedelon in Puisaye in Yonne. Most people saw the site simply as an abandoned quarry in the woods, but Michel Guyot, who rescues historic sites throughout France, saw the building blocks - wood, stone, sand and clay-of a 13th century castle. Using only the medieval construction techniques available at that time, a team of 50 - quarrymen, blacksmiths, carpenters, ropemakers and more - continue work on a project expected to take 25 years to complete.
Then we were off to the village where the Briare Canal spans the Loire River with a 2174-foot bridge designed by Gustav Eiffel, which was quite the site as we moored on the canal by a 12th century church in the village of Montbouy.
In Chablis, we toured a former 9th century monastery, site of a 13th century oak press and other historical treasures. A wine tasting followed at the Domaine Laroche, producer of Chablis wine for five generations since 1850. At Domaine Bersan in St. Bris, we walked amidst aged oak barrels in a sometimes eerie underground labyrinth of vaulted medieval passageways, some dating to the 11th century.
Mooring that night was at Montargis, a city known as the Venice of the Gâtinais for its many canals. The next morning we explored its lively market and strolled through the streets to the historic shop where the almond candy created for the Duke of Praslines during the reign of Louis XIII is still made according to the original recipe.
Later that day we were off to a fortified hilltop, Chateau Landon, the birthplace of King Henry II's father and a wealthy town in the Middle Ages. The royal abbey we visited was devoted to St. Severin, who healed King Clovis. Stone from this area was used to build Notre Dame and the Pantheon in Paris. Men were gathered in the center of town for a spirited game of petanque.
On our fifth day, we explored the grand Palace of Fontainebleau. Begun in the 16th century as a hunting lodge and expanded over the next 300 years, this Italian Renaissance extravaganza surrounded by a 50,000-acre forest is one of the largest royal palaces in France. Marie Antoinette lost her head before it touched the pillow in the opulent bedroom designed for her, and Napoleon left for exile in Elba from the grand horseshoe-shaped staircase he had commissioned.
We moored just south of Fontainebleau, in Nemours. A family from this town, the du Pont de Nemours, made a fortune in chemical manufacturing in the United States.
During the last full day of our trip, we were back to Fontainebleau for the colorful Friday Market. After lunch back on the barge we headed to Vaux-le-Vicomte, the grand Renaissance-style chateau that became the inspiration for Versailles. There are outstanding displays depicting the political intrigue that led to owner and finance minister Nicholas Fouquet being imprisoned by King Louis XIV.
Vaux le Vicomte was the site of the fairytale wedding of Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria and San Antonio Spurs basketball player Tony Parker and featured in movies like "The Man in the Iron Mask," "Dangerous Liaisons" and "Moonraker." The gardens are among the best in France.
Our final night we were moored at Moret-sur-Loing where a church here is said to have been inspiration for Notre Dame of Paris.
Regional cuisine
The day begins with a continental breakfast that always included fresh breads from local bakeries. Lunches tended to be salads with cold meats or quiche. Dinner was a regional specialty like pork dijonnaise or duck a l'orange by candlelight, topped off by a plate of regional cheeses, each course accompanied by a regional wine such as Pouilly-Fume, St. Veran or Nuits-St-Georges.
Each cheese comes with its own story. Legend has it that Ossau-Iraty is one of the first cheeses ever made. This ewe's milk cheese from the Pyrenees is aged in caves or mountain huts until it reaches its hazelnut fragrance and buttery flavor. It is said to have been created by the shepherd son of Apollo. Burgundy's creamy Chaource, made since the 14th century in a town by the same name, was one of Napoleon's favorites. The pungent and creamy Epoisses, first produced by Cistercian monks in the 16th century, has a rind made orange by the washings with Marc de Bourgogne brandy. Valançay is a goat cheese from the Loire Valley. This favorite of Napoleon is said to have been designed in a pyramid-shape for him during the Egyptian campaigns but made with a flat top after the defeated Le General himself severed the peak with his sword.
Wine production in France can be traced back to the Gallo-Roman era and the early religious settlements. Among our many dinner wines were Pouilly-Fume, a white wine of the Loire valley entirely of Sauvignon blanc grapes, St. Veran, a relatively new appellation similar to Pouilly-Fuisse, produced with chardonnay grapes in the village by the same name in the Maconnais region of Burgundy, the robust Nuits-St-Georges, a rich and complex pinot noir with a long finish and one of the most famous Burgundy wines, and Montagny 1er Cru, a chardonnay from the town of Montagny in the Cote de Chalonnaise, where the renowned terroir has been honored with the designation 1er Cru.
The good life
While some choose to see the sights, these river barge cruises exist to provide an overall experience of the region through cuisine and an unassuming view into the daily lives of French towns.
However you choose to explore the region though - with your taste buds, eyes or both - do so with the expectation that you'll be living the good life along the waterways of France.
Seekonk's Linda Fasteson writes monthly for Living Well. She may be reached for travel tips or comments at rolidakr@comcast.net. |
