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Day 1. Friday After your arrival at Hotel
Chateau la Chassagne, nearby Dijon, an air conditioned
minibus will take you to the Hotel Barge located in the
beautiful canal port of Dijon, where Captain Max and his
crew will warmly welcome you aboard, with a Kir Royal
cocktail. The beginning to a unique and memorable journey
through the Burgundy canal and countryside.
Captain Max will also take you on a sight-seeing trip
through the capital city of Dijon, where you will see
the palace of the Dukes of Burgundy, the covered market
place, fountains and manor houses. You will have time
to walk down the cobbled streets and shops, full
of fine French products, from baguettes to perfumes to
cheeses.
After returning to the barge, the time draws near for
your first candle light dinner served with burgundy wine.
The evening is brought to a pleasant close in a
friendly atmosphere by the barges bar where all the drinks
are of course on the house.
 Day 2. Saturday morning
whilst having breakfast, the barge cast off her moorings
and begins her cruise up the canal of Burgundy. Today’s
cruises will take through the first dozen of the
weeks 45 locks. After the captain skillful pilots the
barge under the first obstacle, which is a bridge by Eiffel,
and since rebuilt, you will approach the famous mustard
factory and then pass the picturesque Lake Kir, to Plombieres
les Dijon with its small leisure port, then the village
of Velars sur Ouche. You are free to get on and off board
at any of the locks, the crew has bicycles ready for you,
or you may prefer to wonder off on foot to follow the
canal's towpath. Take your camera with you, some of the
lock houses are very interesting. After a break for lunch,
the barge continues to through the locks to Fleurey sur
Ouche, the village's name means Flowers, which is the
barge mooring for the night. It is a very old village
with many quaint traditional houses, and narrow streets,
explore them at your easy or take part in the program
if you wish. Afterwards your second evening meal is waiting
for you; the view from the dining room over the canal
will delight you.
Day 3. Sunday morning,
whilst the village church bells ring, the barge La Reine
Pedauque slowly glides away from Fleurey sur Ouche. The
midday destination is the small village of Saint Marie
sur Ouche. After a few locks the canal passes below the
domain of Chateau la Chassagne and then makes a
sudden left turn to contour the nearby hills, the canal
hugs the road which climbs over to Nuits saint George.
There is now a dramatic change in the country side as
the barge moves into the heart of Valley Ouche, when the
barge arrives in the village, don't forget to take look
at the beautifully flowered garden of lock house number
36. Slightly upstream from here the barge will moor up
for a Sunday lunch shaded by the tress lining the canal.
You will have plenty of time to wonder off into this village,
if you look hard, you'll discover two places with memorials
indicating where members of the Resistance were executed.
In the afternoon the barge continues up the canal towards
the village of Gissey sur Ouche. This very quaint village
has many interesting old buildings such as a 300 year
old wash house, with crystal clear spring water flowing
through, there are even a few of the older villagers
who still use it. Try and photograph the old hotel,
and search for the railway buildings. The adventurous
traveler can wonder off into the hillsides and forest
to check out the wild boar parks.
Day 4. The day is very
important, as you will be introduced to some of the secrets
and pleasures of the Burgundy wines. You'll have plenty
of time to enjoy your breakfast, and prepare yourself
for some very serious wine tasting in the Burgundy wine
capital of Beaune. The minibuses will take you along the
small roads and over the hills, down into the Cote de
Beaune. The sudden change in the landscape always impresses
travelers. Suddenly all around you, you see vineyards
for miles and miles. Vines that have been cared for, for
many hundreds of years, by many generations of families.
You'll be in some of the most famous vines of the world,
such as, Aloxe Corton, Corton Charlemagne, Pommard, Mersault,
Poullinay Montrachet.
Your guide will skillful introduce you to the Burgundy
vineyards by explaining the differences between the Bordeaux
and other vineyards. He will show you why the wines taste
different from one vineyard to the other, the harvesting,
and pressing and fermentation process. In the 18th century
cellars, you'll be shown how the wine is matured in oak
barrels, the transfer of the wine to the bottles and the
aging.
A wine tasting is organised to introduce you to the 1000
different tastes of Burgundy. From the Hautes Cote de
Nuits to Gevery Chambertin to Volnay, red and white wines,
how to make roses, why wines have forest fruit or nut
taste, many of the secrets will become clear to you. You
will of course have the chance to buy wine, and for those
who wish to profit from the occasion, wine can be selected
and sent to your own front door.
By lunchtime you will be ready for the short bus ride
to a wonderful restaurant which is set in a very old wine
cellar in the village of Volnay. This village has many
premiere cru wines such as Clos des Chenes, a rich red
wine, there are many choices form the menu, but if you
are unsure which choice to make let the Captain guide
you in selecting your entr� and main course.As is typical
in France your meal will last a couple of hours; afterwards
you will be ready to continue the exploration of the Burgundy
wine capital of Beaune. The visit of the 15th century
Hospice is a must; just looking at the incredible architecture
and roof of this building will astound you, the old city
ramparts and the Tower of Philippe le Bon, the wine museum.
You can also visit the shops along the small pedestrian
streets, try and find the cheese shop, where you can also
do some cheese tasting!
Normally you will return to the barge in time for an
aperitif, then you'll have the time to relax and savor
the flavours, which you encountered during this special
day.
Day 5: Tuesday's cruise
begins with the barge continuing up the canal heading
towards the small villages of La Bussière sur Ouche,
which hides on of the most interesting Cistercian abbeys
of the Burgundy region. On the way, whilst the barge slowly
winds it's way through the valley, you will pass through
the villages of Barberiey sur Ouche and Saint Victor,
on the hillside to the right you can see the ruined feudal
castle of Marigny, which dates from the 11 th century.
The barge will normally arrive just before midday giving
you plenty of time to walk the few yards from the mooring
to the abbey. Your guide will show you some very interesting
buildings dating from the 11th century, and the
huge wine press which is nearly 500 years old, built out
of very large oak trees, the lake and parkland with the
old paths walked along by the monks for hundreds
of years. The atmosphere of calm and tranquility always
impresses visitor.
The afternoon cruise is an idle time for landscape lovers
to sit on the sundeck and enjoy the countryside slip by.
As many of the locks are quite far apart in this section
of the canal it is also a great time to cycle or walk
along the shaded path. Watch out for the elegant heron
fishing birds or the fast flying kingfishers. The Ouche,
which is following the canal, hides many places where
you can swim in cool spring water. For those who like
trout fishing, bring along your rods, or talk to the captain,
who will gladly organize things for you.
The barge generally arrives late in the afternoon in the
small port of Pont d'Ouche, if you have organised a balloon
trip, the balloon crew very often take you in hand from
here. Otherwise there will of course be an excursion organised.
Once again your evening meal will enchant you, whilst
the sun is setting try and look out for the deer who often
come down to drink by the river.
Day 6. Wednesday is a very
busy day for the barge crew, as the barge will leave Pont
d'Ouche to climb up through the last dozen locks, of your
cruise. After a couple of hours, you will see Chateauneuf
perched on a hillside, guarding the plateau of Auxois.
Try and cycle off at lock number 16 to visit the Chateau
of Chaudenay, where Jean de Chaudenay built an earlier
version Chateauneuf. Your lunch time mooring will be at
the foot of Chateauneuf, shaded by the trees, this is
a very pleasant place to take an aperitif. There is also
a charming lock selling local handcrafts and jewellery
just beside the barge.
After lunch the barge will push through the staircase
of locks in front of you, to the small canal port of Vandenesse
en Auxois, almost at the summit of the canal of Burgundy.
Here the captain will a 180 turn with the barge in one
of the few turning places available. The barge is then
moored up with the sundeck facing the hill of Chateauneuf
in the distance. The minibuses will then take you on a
visit to Chateauneuf, apart from the very brave who can
always attempt to cycle up the step hill to the village.
If you are in luck, your weeks cruise may coincide with
on of the many festivals that are held in the village
of Chateauneuf, such as the medieval market where you
can buy traditional gingerbread and honey, watch knights
in armor on horseback jousting.
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View from you lunch time mooring |
This evening is also the Captains farewell dinner,
where you will be treated to a fine dinner. It is an
ideal time to ask the Captain to tell you stories of
barging and the canals, with the generations of family
behind him, he can tell you of barges that cruised on
flooded rivers, or the loading 250 tonnes of corn to
be delivered to Holland. The evening often ends with
brandy at the bar on board; Chateauneuf lit up in the
night sky in front of you. You'll probably also be thinking
about the memorable week you have had far away from
the stress of every day life.
Day 7. As today is disembarkation,
your captain will have already arranged everything with
you. If you have a train back to Paris, or a rental car,
whatever, the minibuses will take you exactly to where
you want. After a hearty breakfast taken without any haste,
enjoy a finally walk around the village of Vandenesse.
The crew will say farewell to you from the gangplank and
you'll most likely leave the barge feeling sad, and you
may even have to hide a tear as you wave good bye to La
Reine Pedauque.
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