Barging. The word alone doesn’t conjure much excitement, but here’s what I’ve learned: it all depends on how you do it and who you are with.
There are 3,000 kilometers of canals alone in the region of Burgundy, located in central France. Burgundy contains France’s richest network of canals, and the locks that make passage through shallow waters possible. The Burgundy Canal itself is 242 kilometers with 189 locks. Plenty of opportunity to get off the barge and walk if you want. Our barge, called the C’est la vie, meandered through serene countryside with white Charolais cattle grazing on green hills, villages, and vineyards; some of the very best vineyards in the world. We visited Noyers-sur-Serein, a renowned medieval village with ramparts and skewed half-timbered houses, a Renaissance Chateau, the town of Chablis, and the Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay ( A UNESCO world heritage site), all the while drifting alongside poplar trees and towpaths for walking or riding bikes.
Dear reader, a little background is in order. After thirty-five years of marriage and five years post cancer, we were in France to celebrate! We decided to include this deluxe barge experience midway through our three and a half week trip as we traveled from Paris south to Lyon.
I took over 500 photographs on this trip, more than usual. Maybe it was the beauty of the places; maybe I was especially happy and grateful to be alive. Whatever the reason, I feel pleasure looking through the photographs now, reading the notes in my small notebook and remembering.
It always interests me to see what I remember after a trip is long past. Usually it comes from a numinous moment that I know I’ll never forget. For some trips, it has been a physical challenge—trekking in Nepal, sleeping in a tent in Africa with the sounds and smells of the night almost too much to bear. This trip was certainly a luxury by comparison, but the moments were no less powerful. Even being able to make our way across a large swath of country by bullet train was a gift. And being able to spend time in one of the world’s great cities, Paris, followed by drifting in the countryside felt balanced. I loved that.
In my funny gray moleskin notebook with a wrist strap (so I always had it with me), I see here a mess of scribbling—the history of Burgundy, the proper French verb for splitting a dessert, a poem here, a quote there. Since I’m no travel writer specializing in the particulars of how to travel in a new place, I thought I’d share some of the curious odds and ends from my little gray notebook. Each scribble comes with a reminiscence. Each scribble has a story.
Odds and ends from one traveler’s notebook:
- The best ice-cream in the world—according to this traveler—is caramel crème with buerre sale’ (caramel cream with salted butter.) Heaven help me.
- From our friends who studied cooking in Paris the week before the barge trip: “mushrooms are really sponges in disguise. Never wash a mushroom. Just buy clean ones and brush them off before sautéing.”
- Charles de Gaulle once said: “How can you possibly rule a country when you don’t know how many cheeses they make?” (We sampled three different regional cheeses at lunch and three at dinner each day.)
- Canals were important routes of communication between the north and south of France, joining up with major tributaries like the River Seine. This waterway in Burgundy carried wood, coal, iron, limestone, wine and sugar beets to Paris.
- In the austere Cistercian order begun around 1118, and made manifest in the complex of buildings known as the Abbey of Fontenay, work and worship were considered the same thing.
- Burgundy is an important and exclusive wine producing area, known for both red and white wines, in particular those from Pinot noir and Chardonnay grapes.
- Robechón cheese comes from the verb “robecher” which means” to pinch the udder again”. It makes the evening milk sweeter and the cheese richer. (I had never thought about morning milk and evening milk in the making of cheese, maybe you have.)
- When you leave Burgundy and head towards the south and the region of Provence, the roof tiles start to look Roman, the oil becomes olive oil, laws change, dialects change, and cows milk cheese becomes goats milk cheese.
The last evening of a Barge Cruise is called The Captain’s Dinner. We had dinner with Olivier Megret, the captain and owner of the C’est la Vie, who, with his English wife, Deb, had made our trip so memorable.
Our group decided to make it special—for all of us. Some played guitar and sang. Others read and quoted Shakespeare and Dante. Our hosts seemed delighted (and a little confounded at how this small group of literary lovers had found one other.)
Then, with a wine glass raised to our captain, Patrick quoted—off the cuff—from Henry V, changing a phrase or two, to wit:
“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that shares his wine with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England, now a-bed,
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here;
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That sailed with us upon the C’est la Vie this week.”
Cue cheers and applause! Glasses tinkled, was there a tear or two? Patrick had borrowed from The Bard to capture the feeling of our week together. And maybe in the end, this will be what I remember most vividly about our barge trip: that we took a chance on a new kind of travel for us and met friends we didn’t know we had.
What was one of your best vacations? What about being “thrown together” with new people, did it work out?
Would you like to see a photo of our group? Click on the links below for a photo of the group and some glimpses of barging on the Burgundy Canal. And please write me if you want more information about the company we used or the details of the barging experience. I’ll be more than happy to share what I can. Wine pairings anyone?
Great post, Susie. We spent a bit of time in France when we were living in England, but I certainly didn’t do a barge trip. That looks like so much fun!
The flat boats (probably the same thing as your barge in France) were very popular in our area of England and I’d always hoped to try that. Just never got around to it.
Glad to hear that you had a great time!
Thanks Shelley–yes, I’d sure do this again. Maybe England next time? I keep hearing English friends talk about ‘flatboats.’
Ooh la la. Vive la France! Laissez les bon temps rouler!
Hey Sue–thanks for checking in and yes, may those good times roll! Oh, btw, is that what they say in New Orleans??
My best was our honeymoon to italy in 2002…gelato every day. The my bus tour of Ireland was second and we had a ball with our busmates…the driver was the true entertainment. I love coming along for your tour.
I can imagine Italy and gelato everyday to be a fabulous vacation. I sure get the bus tour of Ireland too–the Irish are natural storytellers and humorists to be sure. The combination of Irish and Australian made for some very lively and warm barge-mates. Thanks for visiting and ‘coming along for the tour.’ I guess you noticed that if you enlarge the photo of the bow of the boat, you can go in any direction and really see the view!
Such wonderful “scribbles” — tantalizing tidbits from a memorable journey. Nice photos, too. I wish I’d been there just to hear Patrick’s great toast! As for traveling with a group, I’ve done it a few times and found that a good experience depends partly upon luck but also a common interest to begin with, whether it’s wines, history, bicycling, a particular artist’s works, or anything else.
Thanks Marilyn–I’m starting to really love doing more photography.
I don’t think we all knew what things we had in common, but a love of life and a kind of emotionality about life was part of it. Also loving to learn, in general. I was astonished that we had a ‘historian and guide’ along for the ride who could take us into the villages and historical sites. That was completely unexpected.
As for serendipity…..it was pretty great meeting up with you and John in Paris! We couldn’t have planned that wonderful afternoon if we had tried. A bunch of Portlanders in Paris at Paul’s. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the alliteration.) I have pics to send you.
Wine, Cheese, Bread, & Friends, all while serenely floating through the French countryside. I must be dreaming…..Pinch, Pinch; It is a dream. Damn !!!
Well Done.
Your Blog is wonderful,
K
Klaus–you got that just right! Pinch, Pinch was how we felt. Thanks so much for subscribing and writing in, I love it. I hope the four of us can plan some travels in the not too distant future. Susie
Susie I can’t thank you enough for making the extra effort in capturing such amazing moments on C’est la vie. Vince and I consider ourselves honored to have met you and Patrick (as well as the rest of our new friends)! Who would have thought “barge cruising” would be a life changing experience? I had no idea!
So many laughs, stories and shared experiences in just a week…
Makes me smile every time I think of you all. We can’t wait for the next adventure. What do you think? 😉
I think we should definitely stay in touch about it. The Champagne region is calling out to Patrick! Thank you for your kind thoughts. I’m like you: smiling when I remember certain moments….we really had a full and rich week together. It was hard on the morning that we all went our separate ways.
Yes, being the first to leave in the morning after our amazing week together was hard for us too. I still can’t get over how everyone woke up early, donned their white robes and came upstairs for a final hug and goodbye. It really touched us!
What a wonderful way to celebrate 35 years of marriage and a great life together you two. The picture of the “spread” on a traditional table cloth really got my juices going and the picture truly tantalizing. What was on that table and what wines were you drinking? Were Red & White Burgandy wines featured? I’m an amateur foodie and would love to hear more about the menus and wines they served.
Hey Karen, I don’t remember what wines we were drinking on that particular day. There was a different red and a white with both lunch and dinner. I’m sitting here looking over the list of menus and wine pairings and I think I better just make you a copy. You probably already figured out we were near the Cote d’Or (slopes of gold), 48 kilometers of slightly different wine based on such things as soil PH, drainage, a different light, a different slope….what people in the know call “terroir.” This is the location of some of the best wine in the world. I can tell you that we had dinner one night in the village of Chablis, which will tell you what was served! (We learned that Chablis likes to be planted in shallow rocky soil, reds like deeper clay soil.) Also, that the “Burgundies” are made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. We probably tasted a dozen of each at different meals. (We also enjoyed a few favorites from the Loire Valley, Sancerres, that we love and fortunately, so did our captain.) Here were the individual wine locales specific to the region of Burgundy: Chablis and Auxerrois region, Cote de Nuits, Cote de Beaune, Cote de Chalonnaise, and Maconais (Macon), wines from Lyon. (Sorry, missing the correct French punctuation…..) THANKS so much for asking such a great question that got me going back to my notes!
susie-
Loved reading about your barging in Burgandy–did this just happen? I would like information on it. Very much into physical challenges my best vacations have been week long hikes/walks in the UK and the one I did ( depicted in “The Way” film) in southwest
France. That was especially gratifying to find my high school French got me further than I expected.
I’m having an amazing summer at Bread Loaf- Middlebury College- summer campus in the mountains…hiking/swimming out my door doing “Our Town” and amazing acting “work” in the English MA student classroom- a very different/original acting experience. However…it has ( unprecidently) rained every day this Summer- If this continues I figure that is good reason to move to Portland!
Hi John, I’ll email some links about barging and the company we used. I wouldn’t call this kind of vacation a physical challenge however! Unless you determine that losing the weight from eating too much cheese is a physical challenge (which it has become for me.) That said, there were very active people in our group who got off at most of the locks and walked or rode bikes to the next village. There is plenty of walking in villages too. We did this trip just recently; the barge portion was only seven days. The whole trip was most of June 2013. So! You are doing Bread Loaf at Middlebury College–John that is so great. Just right for you. Do you have work in NYC this fall? I bought a book for you the other day–a guide for tourists coming to Portlandia. I’ll put it in the mail tomorrow. It’s very funny in places, just average in others. They kind of run some things into the ground and it gets annoying, imho.
But, as a New Yorker, you totally need this book for surviving in Portland. Come back and do more Portland theatre!
Oh and some irony John…..we haven’t had any rain–we actually need it at this point. It’s been in the low eighties, high seventies and stunningly beautiful–no humidity. THIS is why people move to Portland. Then, they discover that we have plenty of rain in the winter. Honestly? I wouldn’t trade our summers for anything.
Hi Susie,
I always love reading your shared-thoughts and about your adventures, but reading about your trip to France was quite timely as well. I just booked a trip to France for next May! (A friend asked me to join her as she celebrates her 60th birthday; she and I went to Japan on my 60th.) Although we won’t be able to experience the barges, we will have a full itinerary, in and around Paris. It sounds like you had a fabulous trip and made wonderful memories! Thanks for sharing them with us!
Side note: My flowers from the “Susie Seeds” are growing and blooming. I think about you every time I water them…I say, “Hi Susie!” Thanks again for the seeds!
Lots of love,
Genene
That is very meaningful knowing you think of me when you water those seeds–thank you. I’m in there somewhere for sure. May is a pretty fabulous time to go to Paris. You mention a full itinerary in and around Paris. Are you going to Monet’s Garden, Giverny? If you are, we saved a recent New York Times article on a beautiful and unique B&B there to enable you to escape the crowds. Let me know and I’ll send it to you. (susie@troccolo.com) I’d love to hear where you go. My absolute favorite museum in Paris now is the d’Orsay. I can’t believe I missed it before. So great to hear from you Genene! Love, Susie