It’s getting there that’s all the fun: On a river cruise, the destination is secondary
On the Saone River, France – In autumn my mind turns to France where the air seems perfumed with the bouquet of ripe grapes of Beaujolais and Burgundy. Here fields slumber under blankets of late blooming flowers, red, yellow and blue. Much of France is special for its rivers. One – the Saone, where I was not that long ago – winds through Burgundy, a province whose very name brings to mind thoughts of fresh bread and tasty cheese and most of all red wines that are world renowned.
So one morning after taking the TGV high-speed train from Paris and overnighting in Dijon, we took a van to a nearby canal and boarded a barge for a cruise on the Saone.
Our destination was Lyon, but on a river cruise, the destination is very secondary. What matters most is what happens along the way – the scenery and shore always near, the towns whose stone turrets break the sky, the daily fresh cuisine you have aboard, the guests it can be a pleasure to meet.
Our barge, called the Chardonnay, can accommodate 50 passengers, but we were just 22, giving the trip a spacious, easygoing atmosphere.
The barge’s speed, if you can call it speed, is just enough to ripple the smooth surface of the river. And since we had six days to go just more than 200 kilometres, we had lots of time to moor along the way at sunbathed towns whose names echo with Burgundy’s past: Chalon sur Saone, a town of hilly, cobbled streets where photography was invented; Beaune, a wine city but also site of a medieval hospital that is now a museum; Tournus, where we strolled beside buildings among the fine Romanesque architecture; Trevoux, where a bus took us over hills carpeted with lush vineyards to an old chateau where the owner poured his best Beaujolais.
On all the shore visits, we were accompanied by a guide from the Chardonnay crew who often added a bit of context that guidebooks didn’t mention.
On a river cruise, the boat’s design, space and amenities have a unique importance. The Chardonnay has three decks and is 80 metres long. A former tanker, it was redesigned in the late 1990s as a river cruiser by Continental Waterways. (The company, founded in 1966, has 17 vessels and is Europe’s largest operator of hotel barges and river cruises.) The Chardonnay has 27 cabins, which have twin beds, a tiny sitting room with desk, sofa and TV and private bath and shower. The dining room, with four tables for 22 passengers, had open seating so that we moved around from meal to meal.
