barging in burgundy
TRANSCRIPT
Cheryl LeJune
Ocean Cruising
Coral Princess Guest Capacity: 1,974 Number of Crew: 895 Length: 965 feet Height: 203 feet Number of Decks: 16 Guest Cabins: 1,000
River Cruising
Viking Longship Bragi Guest Capacity: 190 Number of Crew: 48 Length: 443 feet Number of Decks: 4 Guest Cabins: 156
Canal Barge Cruising
Savoir Vivre Guest Capacity: 8 Number of Crew: 1 (+2) Length: 80 feet Width: 16 feet Number of Decks: 1 Guest Cabins: 4
Canal Barging What?
Where?
When?
Who?
How Much?
The Burgundy Canal
Our Trip
What is Canal Barging? Barges are vessels carrying 4-22 passengers that cruise
through European canals, primarily in France.
Canals were originally built (1700-1800s) to provide easy access from farms to markets.
Barges were built to spec to fit in the canal locks. Tow paths run along side of canals for tow animals to pull the barges.
Barges have now been repurposed, or built specifically for, the hotel canal barge business.
Today, canals are used mostly for tourism.
Where is Canal Barging? Europe
France, Holland/Belgium, Ireland, England, Scotland and Germany
Most barge cruises are in France.
Available through barge brokers, not travel agents
Most barges privately owned
Use full-service brokers to help sell their capacity
Barging in France
When is Canal Barging Season? Barge season is typically from mid April – the end of
October.
Each canal has a season decided by the government and could change slightly each year depending on weather.
Who Canal Barges? Couples
Groups of Couples
Families
Women
Many times a barge is chartered by a family or group of friends.
What is Cost? Total vacation cost includes:
Airfare
Hotel to/from barge
Train
Cancellation Insurance
Barge There are various ratings of barges: Charming, First Class,
Deluxe and Ultra Deluxe
Barge typically includes all meals, drinks and tours
From $3500 per person for Charming Class; barge only
From $6500 for Ultra Deluxe; barge only
Our Trip My bucket list
Planning while convalescing with friend
Where to go, how to decide?
Used The Barge Lady
Asked about when to go
How much it cost
How to organize train, transfers, etc.
Meal planning
Great help answering our questions
Our Trip We decided:
Go in fall; low season
Pick Charming Class
Pick barge that gives us dining ashore each night
Very happy with our decision, Savoir Vivre
We used mileage for airfare
Barge Lady booked RT train tickets from Paris to Dijon
We booked our hotels in Paris on each end of trip
Our Trip Savoir Vivre
Our Trip Total distance traveled, 30-40 mi
Barges travel about 6 km/hr (4 mi/hr)
Barged 2-4 hours a day and toured other half of day
3 Staff:
Captain Richard stayed on board
Hostess Anaϊs lived near by and came aboard for meal and cleaning
Tour guide Laura lived near by and came to pick us up for tours
The Burgundy Canal Canal de Bourgogne Canal is 242 km (150 mi) long with 190 locks
Plans started in the 17th century
Construction from 1775 to 1832
Canal connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea via the Seine and the Yonne to the Saône and Rhône rivers.
Highest point, Pouilly-en-Auxois, is 378 m (1240 ft) above sea level. At this point, canal goes through a 3.3 km (2 mi) tunnel.
Lowest point, at junction with the Yonne, is 79 m (259 ft)
Reservoirs were created to feed the canals
The Burgundy Canal Canal de Bourgogne Upon completion traffic was not as anticipated
Lock sizes were a constraint on volume
Tunnel too narrow to allow passing barges
Railways soon began to compete with barges
Current uses of Burgundy Canal
Commercial barge traffic restricted to small areas
Privately owned boats
Hotel barges
Tow paths for hikers, bikers and joggers
Maintenance on locks and canal done during winter
The Burgundy Canal Canal de Bourgogne
